Hi, I wanted to add some things concerning the two local fish stores. In my experience, I live in Phoenix, Arizona but the 5 or so fish stores within drive-able distance i feel are far more beneficial to visit than a big box store like petsmart. Not to down talk that store but the way i view it is those fish stores are specialty stores and only work with fish.
When I first started, I was as addicted to fish as could be and would spend so much time at both kinds of stores just staring at fish and studying the products for fish. Being a college student and only having a minimum wage part time job, I didn’t have the budget to buy uselesss things so i did my homework. When I was out of money, I would go to the petsmart just down the street from me and kill like an hour in there just in the fish section. With this being said, I would converse with the employees and found that usually those fish stores had more similar knowledge to what I found on Aquarium Co-op’s YouTube channel than the Petsmart. Now, my sister works at a Petsmart grooming dogs and she knows that since they have so many different kinds of animals, employees get little training on every animal so as to help the general customer population help when asked.
I wanted to suggest, as i learned from watching an Aquarium Co-op video, do some recon in new fish stores. If i remember correctly, Cory mentioned to pay attention when the store gets their shipment (normally toward the end of the week) and make a mental note of if the store quarantines or if they sale fish as soon as getting them in. That second method usually adds extra stress of fish and decreases survival rates.
Lastly, Cory had a video on siphoning from a tank. They are really old videos so you may have to scroll a bit but what I do in my 20 long is i siphon any visibly loose detritus if it bothers me but really, it just gets used from the plants especially the more plants you have.
You’re doing a great job, keep the spirit alive!! 🙂