Daniel

We used to call that pattern 'butterfly' back when I was in the IBC.

I'd say closer to 7.6 or even a tad higher. That's a pretty friendly pH. What kind of fish do you have?

Post a photo of your test results and it will generate lots of replies!

Totally agree with @Fish FolkNeeds more floating plants. Mine love spawning in hornwort or bladderwort. This is where mine spawn. And to agree with @Fish Folk again, these are hardy fish, but they need live food.

My most recent Vallisneria planting was in my 1930s aquarium. It didn't doing anything at all for months and months, and then boom it took off suddenly! It went from doing nothing in the corners to suddenly spreading over the entire back of the tank. Many other forum members have reported a similar experience.

I don't remember that happening. There wasn't the pressure to do that.

Rice fish have a very wide tolerance range. I live in Zone 7a and they do fine year round outside. Pygmy sunfish can tolerate 30s F to 90s F no problem.

Yay @Steph’s Fish and Plants! And not to forget the wonderfully named @Sunny Doan who also joined on July 14, 2020.

If you prefer to spend your money with our generous host, the Co-Op offers this feeding cone: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/worm-feeder-cone?_pos=1&_sid=82fae1b3a&_ss=r

The local big box store is 20 minutes away. But the good LFS is more than 1 hour away. I am not sure why, but no matter where I have lived, the good LFS is always at least 1 hour away. 🙂

One inch flowers are bigger than I have ever seen on various types of Amazons swords I have kept. It is always possible that you have particularly healthy plants! I think the plant names we see on labels are just a best guess. I have worked at a plant nursery and seen not everyone uses the same name for same plant. Sometimes hybrids are more vigorous than either parent, so it is definitely possible that your plant is a hybrid. Whatever it is, your plant is really nice!

Just agreeing with @JettsPapa, Pickerel weed (a native plant common in ditches where I live) doesn't really look like Amazon sword. As you can see in the photo above. Amazon swords flowers are small and white and Pickerel weed has purple inflorescences.

I always find it useful to have plenty of infusoria in the aquarium with angelfish fry. It gives them the ability to feed as soon as they ready. After the yolk sac is absorbed they don't have much in the way of resources. Interestingly, I have seen angelfish fry peck at the slime coats of their parents much like discus fry do with their parents. This isn't obligatory like with discus, but it is cool to see:

I have used course sponge filters in tanks with tiny fry. I have never had a problem with the spongefilters causing harm to the fry.

In the past I always used mineral oil in my bubble counters. I never had any problems.

The algae in the first photo is staghorn algae. I would just gently rub it off with my fingers.

Hard to see but looks like staghorn algae. The Co-Op blog has some good algae control articles: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/faqs/hair-algae?_pos=1&_sid=3ea4e5ac7&_ss=r and https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-algae

Very lovely. It must be a joy!

One of my next neighbors working on using RNA interference to suppress Colorado potato beetles. This beetle causes much damage to food crops worldwide. And as @Brandy indicates, using these new tools to understand how biological processes work might be where the real long term value is.

And if eventually hobbyists are able to make non-GMO type edits, then there may not be patent issues. And if the edits improve fitness, say resistance to parasites then the ethical landscape changes.

We are probably not too far away from new era in changing the genes in pets and pet fish that is different from the old school type of GMO that you see in GloFish. Moving genes between organisms using restriction enzymes, or other older technologies is giving way to the more modern CRISPR technology to make edits to the genome. I can mail order synthetic single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) for $95 and get it in less than a week. Someone like our own @Brandy or even a clever biology student could knock in or knock out whatever gene they thought might be interesting. It reminds me of the computer revolution from the 1970s when computers went from being expensive and rare to something a hobbyist could build from a kit. And counter-intuitively since the definition of a genetically modified organism includes the insertion of foreign DNA. and since CRISPR allows for precise genetic deletions or replacements, without inserting any foreign DNA, the end product is not a genetically modified organism, or GMO. Maybe the new fish should be called a genetically edited organism, but it won't be GMO if foreign genes aren't inserted.

Your posts look good so far. @Lizzie Block has a good series of how to's here:

If young fry are too small to eat baby brine shrimp, fry like baby bettas or gouramis for example, I will feed these fry green water/infusoria until they can handle baby brine shrimp. I am sure hydra can occasionally eat baby fish, but it is rare. Hydra have long arms, but they can't go anywhere and do very insignificant damage as predators. Some people dislike the way they look, and dislike the thought of them in an aquarium. Fortunately, there are ways to get rid of them. Some fish will eat them, and cutting back on free floating food causes their population to crash.

I have had an angelfish mauled by cats so badly she didn't have any fins and floated sideways. She recovered over time and and is now one of breeders. And all of her fins grew back.

Hitting the quote button or just typing in the reply box is a good start. Vinegar and salt (separately) are good for scrubbing out aquariums. I don't use them personally because typically I would like the bacteria clinging to the inside of the aquarium to survive and help repopulate the next I use the aquarium (it is however very difficult to kill bacteria). Opinions vary widely on this but I don't disinfect equipment like nets or heaters either.