KaitieG

I am having issues with BBA, mainly on my val and a little on my crypts in my 95 gallon tank. I know val is sensitive to carbon, so I've been hesitant to get too aggresive with that. I haven't changed lighting or feeding or stocking, so I'm not sure why this is all of a sudden an issue. I've been considering my options for fish that might help me out. Right now the tank is Swordtails, guppies, dwarf chain loaches, corys, and a pair of adult angels. Would siamese algae eaters (which seem like a marginal "might eat BBA" fish) or Flag fish (might pick on the guppies?) be an option with that setup? Other suggestions?

Mine are actually quite active. They are SUPER fast and like to zoom around the tank in a pack (or two). They haven't eliminated my snails, but the snails are almost never on the glass since I put the loaches in the tank.

My mystery snails also really enjoy Repashy food. They've gone for Soilent Green, Community, and Iguapo Explorer...not picky, but definitely hungry!

Yep--I got them largely for controlling the snails. They do enjoy eating them judging by the empty shells. The others have done well for the year I've had them.

Guppies and other livebearers are also usually captive bred and are notorious for parasite issues. I know that dwarf chains are captive bred, but I don't really think that precludes them from having parasites. Maybe I'm wrong. All I know is that I had a couple of really skinny ones shipped, they didn't fatten up like the others, and I didn't have success treating them with paracleanse. Levamasole seemed to help one of them and the other died. Not a huge sample size to generalize...just trying to share my observations and experience in case it might be helpful. Overall, I was impressed by the health and quality of the Dwarf Chain Loaches I bought from Aquahuna.

I just ran it like my other tanks at about 78 degrees. I didn't have any issues with ich/fungus/lesions, etc. Just the the isolated skinny ones.

I have dwarf chain loaches from Aquahuna. I've had them about a year. They got reaaalllyyyy delayed in shipping (not aquahuna's fault) and took 9 days to arrive. All but one bag was alive. I ordered 12 total. They sent 14. I ended up with 11. I'd say go for it! You will probably want to run parasite treatments through them when they arrive. I had a couple that got very, very skinny even after QT with paracleanse. They improved with levamisole. So, just a heads up that you might want that on hand.

Congrats!

I use a norwex window cloth. You can get some cheap on amazon too. I wipe it off with a wet towel (usually wet from water changing) and then use the window cloth to get it nice and shiny. No chemicals or spray. I use them on all my windows too (you know, like twice a year when I actually get around to washing those 😉)

I could totally see that happening! I've forgotten to turn filters back on (more than a couple times 🙂). One of the tanks I have the controller on is all plugged into 1 power strip, so I just shut off the whole strip when I do the water change, and then it's pretty easy to remember to turn it back on since there are no lights (the lights are what I actually notice), no filter, etc. if I don't. The other one is a 95 gallon that is super tall. Even with a 50% water change, I don't have to unplug the heaters because they're below the water line, so I just never turn them off. Makes sense why the alarm would be handy in a different tank situation.

I use the same controller as @Guppysnail. There's no need that I can see for a overheat alarm since it shuts off the power to the heaters when it hits temp (that's why I use the controller--it prevents cooking my fish). I can see why you might want a "too cool" alarm, but unless it's a reeaallllyyy cold room and/or you have really sensitive fish, I think you'd likely have time to catch it before anything totally catastrophic happened if you're checking it a couple times a day (say, when you feed).

Amano shrimp are pretty cool--I will say that I got 4 or 5 from my lfs a couple years ago and they all disappeared. When I rearranged that tank a couple months ago, poof! There was one! No idea what happened to the others, but we call this one "the giant shrimp" because he's about 6 times the size of the neocardina in the tank. It's always fun to see him come out and eat. If you're interested in shrimp I'd definitely give them a try, and Aquahuna is a good source.

Moving a few to the tank with dense plant cover is probably a good idea. And keep everybody really well-fed. You could also try a breeder box in one of your tanks for the fry after they're born to keep them safe, but I've personally had good success rates with decent plant cover and a consistent feeding schedule. After about a week, it seems like they're big enough that their edibility seems to decrease for their parents.

I had the same thing happen with my original white clouds. Ended up with one left who lived out its life with the neons for over a year after the others died. Right now I have an emerald dwarf rasbora that apparently got mixed in with my order of ember tetras (as juveniles they look the same), and he seems to just hang as part of the school (though he is more skittish than the embers). Glad they seem to get along with their adpotive families!

FWIW, I have panda and habrosus corys with my shrimp colony, and it's continuing to explode. I do have a lot of plants in that tank like pogostemmon stelatus octopus and hygrophila agustifolia, but the bottom isn't particularly well-planted. I agree with others about filling out the numbers of the fish you have first though.

I don't have any data, though I'll be watching to see what others have. I have similar water to you, though, and I top off with tap water. I tried it with distilled water for a while, but it just got to be a hassle, and I haven't seen any detrimental effects so far (3ish years) with tap water top offs.

I have exactly the same problem with my bottle. It broke off like the 2nd day I had it! No solution that I've found yet except "estimating."

How old is the betta--as old as the substrate? He could just be getting older? I've kept mine in 8.2 PH for about 3 years with no apparent health issues. He is also seeming to slow down at this point, and I've been thinking old age, but others may have a different opinion.

I have a 95 gallon as by far my biggest tank. We actually re-purposed and re-inforced an old antique dresser as the tank stand, and I LOVE having all the drawers to keep all my fish stuff in! The tanks are really tall. I'm 5'8", and the water comes up to my armpit when I reach in to the bottom (I know because there's a nice duckweed line when I'm done 😄 and my shirt is ALWAYS wet, even when I put on a tank top). Just something to keep in mind. I personally like the proportions in comparison to a 75, but maintenence is...uh...wetter 😄 I really like how the plants have grown in on mine. I have val along the back and sides, and it easily grows taller than the walls of the tank and floats on top. I also have some nice swords and crypts in the front. I was on a budget with the tank, so the driftwood, etc. is smaller than what I'd have chosen if I had an unlimited budget. I built up a couple piles of river rocks (50lbs worth, and you really can't even see them now that the plants have grown in) with drift wood on top. If I'd had more $ for hardscape, I would have probably gotten some larger pieces of spider wood to get a more vertical hardscape, but overall I'm happy with how it turned out. My stocking is mainly livebearers, corys, dwarf chain loaches (to help take care of the snails), and a couple angels. I really enjoy watching the tank--there's always something happening. For lighting (again, on a budget) I got 2 Hygger 24/7 Planted lights. They have been plently powerful enough to grow everything I've tried (plus some algae). I'll grab a pic and post it later today--it's cleaning the tank day, so might as well show it off clean instead of having too much duckweed and fingerprinty glass from the kiddos.

I think you'd be pretty safe trying cories. They seem to adapt well for most people. The angelfish I think it just depends on where they come from. I don't know of anyone else who breeds in 350+GH water, but the guy I got these from (through the local club) has been doing it for years, and has beautiful fish. He does plecos and angelfish in his basement, and that's it. Gettling locally bred fish/shrimp was great when the local(ish) club was doing online auctions.

I've bred Aneus cories on accident. When I moved the adults out of QT, I ended up with a babies in the tank. Otherwise they tend to eat their own eggs. The angelfish lay eggs for me, but they're in a commuinity tank and I haven't hatched out fry yet. Haven't ever tried to breed the betta/tetra/white clouds. I don't have an LFS, so it's really, really hard to get rid of anything when I get a batch of fry. Unless I have room for it myself I tend to not breed them (except the livebearers which take care of that on their own!) From what I've read dwarf chain loaches have to have hormones to stimulate breeding and it's super hard to get them to breed in a home aquarium, so I haven't even considered that. I've had good success with blue neocardina shrimp. Their colonies are growing all the time.

I mix cold and hot from the tap to get close. I don't check with a thermometer anymore, but I give it a hand swoosh and get it approximate.

My water is similar (PH 8.0-8.2, GH 350+) and I've had good luck with your typical livebearers (guppies, swords, etc), several types of corydoras, white cloud mountain minnows, dwarf chain loaches, angelfish from a local hard-water breeder, and bettas and ember tetras (despite some of these not being "classic" hard water fish). The only thing that hasn't done well that I've tried is one soft-water bred angelfish and neons (though others have had success with these in hard water). I know a lot of the African cichlids are also great for hard water. I haven't personally gone that route yet though.

My husband has family in the Fox Valley area, and my mom lived in Waukegan for a little while when she was a kid.

Agreed--crushed flakes or fry food will be just fine!