CalmedByFish

Sad situation, but helpful info. Thanks. I don't see a reason that fish couldn't get dementia. I know dogs and cats do. True that they're mammals, but I suppose that if a brain exists, the brain can go awry. Just like any form of body can.

I've always heard bettas *must* have a temp near 78-80. I want a betta, but don't want the task of close temp regulation. How's your betta doing? @jkt001I'll be the zillionth vote for ramshorn snails. They're amazing on flat algae (like on glass). Not sure about 3D algae. As for reproducing, I've found that as soon as mine don't have loads of algae to eat, I suddenly have a lot of empty ramshorn snails. (I've even been supplementing with chlorella to try to save the colony.) Because of that, I really doubt you'd end up with too many ramshorns.

@KentFishFanUK , great question! I've noticed that when I have a drop of endlers, the teeny babies shoal together almost immediately. The first hour after birth, they may hide in the plants, motionless, but quickly find each other. Before they're all born, the shoal is already well-established. Then the shoal of big-eyed specks stick together for about a week before dispersing to swim among the older endlers. When 1 newbie doesn't find the shoal, it tends to stay almost motionless. When 2-3 haven't found the shoal, but have found each other, they stay together, moving just a little. So while I don't know about other species, I do know tiny endler fry who have found their big shoal are much calmer, more active, and their motions are less erratic. I've also noticed that among the adult endlers, the more fish there are, the more likely that every fish will eat. They copy each other, so it helps to have as many eyes as possible on the look-out for food, and as many mouths as possible to watch and copy-cat.

By the way, it's been at least 2 years since any humans in this house have had hair like that. I don't know where in the world that hair had been chillin' this whole time.

This makes me laugh. Sometimes I get invested in threads I don't comment on, and come back to check on them. I didn't know other people are doing it, too. I'd say that seems impossible, except I just saw the hair thing! I wonder if their digestive tract is more straight, instead of curvy like ours are.

@Odd Duck and @DebSills, Success! I got the endler laying in my wet hand, snipped the mouth side, and let her rest in a cup of water. Then I picked her up again, and in my effort to get ahold of the toosh side, the hair either broke, or somehow slid all the way out - that one was almost 2" long! She's acting okay now, so maybe she will be. She sends her appreciation. 🙂

Awesome! So the #1 reason for the green water was too much light?

I don't have anything available with an exoskeleton. Might freeze-dried bloodworms be "grabby" like that? Or is there a fibrous type of vegetable I should hunt in my freezer for perhaps? And thanks for the warning. That's so obvious - now that I hear it! Thank you. I'll try to figure that out tomorrow when the light is on.

Considering that your other tanks don't have the wood, and that the pot was merely rinsed first, that seems like it needs investigated further. To get soap residue off of anything (a pot, the tank, decor, your hands if you want to find all your papercuts), rub the item with undiluted white vinegar. I'd suggest not using a rag, since it too has probably been exposed to a form of soap. I either use my bare hands, or clean paper towels. Then rinse rinse rinse. If I remember right, soaps do something to fishes' gills, making it hard to take in oxygen. Even a tiny amount of soap can do it. (I don't know if wood can be vinegared successfully.)

I have a female endler who swallowed a hair. The distance between her mouth and toosh is less than an inch. The hair hanging out her mouth is more than an inch long, and so is the hair hanging out of her toosh. She's been like this 48 hours. I assumed it would pass through, but appears to not be progressing. She is swimming and eating normally. Suggestions?

Sounds like a good idea. I have one particular fish that needs the upper 70's, but I keep the heater completely unplugged if the room is at least 74. Potential heater malfunctions add stress. From now on, I'll likely only add species that can tolerate a wide range. (Though I'm about ready to throw up my hands and get anything that eats hair algae. Piranha. Blue whale. Kraken...)

Welcome back! I used to do things in a way that was harder than necessary. It was a lot more of a chore than a joy. Now I aim for, "If it's not easy, it's not fun." It really is working better. I'm guessing your focus on the ecosystem and fish is going to be good for you. 🙂

The key thing is to test the water. You need to at least know ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. For each tank, write down the readings, with the date, and keep track of it. I did something similar to what you're doing for years. In hindsight, I should've bought a predator fish, and given it about half the new fry from every drop. If you find that the water quality of your tanks is hard to keep in great shape, that's worth considering. Poor quality can be miserable for the fish.

When you look at the Purigen, research what exactly it takes out of the water. Surely there are some types of toxins it can't remove, and it'd be worth knowing. Do either of the other 2 tanks have that same wood, from the same source, prepared in the same way, in the same pot?

See if you can think of anything about this tank that's different from the other 2. Like a substrate, plant, or decor that the others don't have. Or maybe you put some aquarium-related chemical into the water that didn't go into either of the other 2 tanks. Or if it's in a location away from the others, I would be wondering about household chemicals (window cleaner, air freshener, etc). Maybe something invisible got in. I've heard of people putting their hands in a tank without realizing they had on lotion or sunscreen. Or maybe an object in the tank (or the tank itself) came in contact with soap. (I once had to take apart and vinegar a 55 gallon because I got dish soap in it.) Totally just brainstorming here, but my initial thought is that *something* is in the tank that's not in the other 2.

@NanoNano and @Scc1798 Are you guys saying the bubbles would allude to the shimmery effect in the center of the ring? If you are, that is definitely the most important piece of info in this entire thread. 🤣

I think others can do better at answering your questions, but I gotta tell you that Stargate is awesome. 🙂

I was searching the forum for this topic. (Thanks!) Maybe I found the article referred to above. Hopefully it helps someone. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/cloudy-fish-tank?_pos=6&_sid=37fe6a4e8&_ss=r

Clarifying: Is the problem the seam (the glue that holds the pieces of glass together), or is the problem the seal (the touchable squishy silicone that keeps the water off the seams)? Edit: wrong vocab

Nice! There have been a couple other threads related to green water here lately. Did you figure out the original cause? I'm currently fighting green water. I reduce both light and fert, but then that seems to also reduce what the plants need. I'm struggling to find a balance.

Very cool! Welcome to the forum.

First, empty it before you have a disaster. The fix, if even possible, will be AFTER the tank is empty.

BTW, the needles do vacuum up very easily if you want to siphon the substrate. I realize that for a lot of us, siphoning takes place every 3-4 nevers, but... 😂

All I can offer: I've noticed that the new, bright green stems don't shed much. Sections of hornwort that are 12 or more inches from the tip, especially if they're no longer bright green, are likely to make a huge mess. It helps to regularly discard of the older sections.

Welcome! And welcome back to fish-keeping!