Celly Rasbora

Hey, y'all! I'm Celly from Bama. In another life, I had multiple tanks, two 29 gallons, a 10 gallon "native tank" (vivarium with a newt) and a five gallon for some Boraras maculatus. I lived in Providence, Rhode Island back then, and my ex-husband and I had a fish guru, "The Fish Doctor," George Goulart, who owned Aqua-Life on the corner of Wickenden and Hope Street. He was the one who introduced me to Rasboras and also to the concept of a fish room. His whole basement was filled with tanks! It blew my young mind. I took a break from the hobby for about 20 years. I stumbled upon an antique Metaframe knockoff at the thrift store, which I bought and started raising Boraras again. It was only a five gallon and it got rusty fast, so I upgraded to a for real Metaframe 15 gallon on a whim. I'm considering setting up a quarantine tank with the five gallon, but just haven't gotten to it. These day I don't have a LFS and so I was very happy to find Rachel O'Leary and then Cory on the yootoobles. It's nice to be able to reference experts to minimize my mistakes. Although I do seem to still make them, a-plenty. I met my now husband on a newspaper forum, so when he came in while I was typing this, I poked him about how we first met, laughed and told him I wasn't "lookin' for nuthin'" 🤣 My nickname is pronounced like you would say the word cello, and I hope my forum handle cracks you up as much as it did me. Thanks, Aquarium Co-op peeps, for all the great information and quality products.

I am so relieved! I thought it was me. However, I cannot read the nitrate test on the upper end, and I'm afraid I've grown complacent about the levels. My nitrate always seems a bit high (how high? dunno.) I thought pothos and other plants were supposed to help with that, so I'm a bit confused. I guess I need to knock back the feeding a bit and stop dosing with Easy Green(?). I also have some plants that are shedding leaves, but I've ordered some snails off eBay (Good money for "pest" snails — it's a sad day 🤣), so hopefully they will help with extra food and plant waste. Plus I remember Rachel O'Leary saying pest snails are excellent barometers for a tank's balance. Too many snails means too much food in the tank, so I'm looking forward to that, as well. What else can I do? I really don't want to stop dosing Easy Green, as my java ferns are making babies and are looking a little unhappy. Would welcome suggestions, as I am always a little shaky on the chemistry.

I recently heard Cory say that disease will die off if there are no hosts. So I agree with Squeegee and Brandy. Also, this is my first post! A lurker no more.