CalmedByFish

If you do move the betta, keep feeding the tiny little white critters. 🙂

I often watch the YT videos from a professional shrimp breeder, who swears by pool filter sand.

I wonder if it would work to just use the stalks instead of florets... says someone who's never given their fish fresh veggies. Just a thought.

I haven't had a puppy type of fish, as are often mentioned. But I love the bad attitude of my angel. He sucks snails off the tank walls, just to spit them out. If I put my face to the wall, he tries to bite me, repeatedly running his lips into the wall. If I'm holding the container of his favorite food, and he doesn't see more on the surface, he darts to come stare at the container. He chases platies like a missile, but never bothers to catch. He's very "get off my lawn," and in a fish, that's hilarious. I so want to see this! 🤣 That might be the best thing I hear all day.

That's a lot to go through. Welcome back to the hobby. I hope it's smoother this time. The cool water plan sounds smart.

When I treated a 55, I took out 5 gallons of water first. I don't know your set up, but that might work to make the math easier.

Dogs that have trouble breathing are actually my go-to thought regarding whether intentional breeding is ethical. It's an example that's terribly easy to empathize with.

Makes perfect sense with the behavior I'm seeing. That super dark red male... how shall we say this... never quits. Ahem.

Curious. I have 6 adults (and about 20 fry). Of the 2 adult males, 1 is very dark red - like a layer of red paint on top a layer of brown paint. The lightest color is the largest female. She could almost be called orange. Do you suppose it's common for males to be darker than females, much like other species have more colorful males than females?

I'm very close to deciding whether to try medaka. Among egg-layers, they appear to be one of the less-difficult to breed, often needing no assistance except to be given a ton of plants. From what I hear, the fry can eat whatever microstuff is already growing in the tank, and very fine powdered food. One of the main appeals to me is that the species is super hardy. From the research I've done, your pH, GH, and KH should be fine. I even saw a joke one time that the parameters needed for medaka are "Yes." 😂 Maybe check out YT videos by one of the forum members who breeds them, @Ryo Watanabe. FYI, there are at least 2 other species called "rice fish," and though they all breed the same way, I think medaka are at least a little more tolerant with parameters.

When you look for the difference in abdominal fin shape, keep in mind that females regularly "fold" their fan-shaped fin for a moment here and there, making it look like a gonopodium. So if you see a clear fan-shape, it's very likely to be female. (Rarely, it's a late-blooming male.) But if you see a gonopodium shape on a fish you really like, and the body shape doesn't make it obvious that it's a male, keep staring at the abdominal fin for a minute to see if maybe it'll open into a fan. You might get a really cool female by doing that.

That is BEYOND cool. I love it when fish do something that makes my jaw drop. (Other than eating each other, ya know.) That question of whether the babies all turn out to be female is interesting. When you can tell, please let us know. Has this mom ever been with males?

I don't remember what I'm allowed to link, but if you search YouTube for something like "how to propagate anubias," you'll get good instructions. I did it a couple weeks ago with an anubias nana petite that had grown a tiny branch. Super easy, just need to think it through first.

Amazing difference. Good job, Human! ❤️

I think "no" is likely. My angel ate fully grown male endlers, and scared the fully grown females so bad that they hid until they lost a lot of weight. Guppies are bigger than endlers, but not by much. At least have a Plan B ready, if you do try it. Edited to add: A shoal of 6 adult dwarf platies is working out great with the grouchy angel. He chases, but never catches. They don't even seem to mind. So platies might be worth looking at.

Just a big-picture thought here. Supposing all the tank panels are made of the same material, that would imply that such a chip is possible anywhere on the tank, which would make me question the durability of the whole thing. With acrylic, shouldn't such a chip not be possible?

There's an update on the super cool big shrimpy.

I just came across a picture of an alien blue a couple days ago, and my jaw dropped at the color! Can you tell me anything about aliens? ... is a question I thought I'd never ask.

I'm researching getting a blue betta, but I specifically am choosing the species because I love the vibrant blue they often have. I'd be very bummed if I got a blue betta that later turned black or other colors. Is there a way to choose a blue betta that will stay blue?

Huh. I keep 6 ramshorns with my 6 neocaridina, just so I don't lose the nitrogen cycle. I've thought they need almost identical parameters and food. I guess I better follow this thread.

Yeah, a 2" long male is not fully endler. The one with blue looks like a "Blue Star" to me, but one that hasn't gotten all of his color yet. I'll PM you a link to good pictures of blue stars so you can compare the markings. Sorry some of your fish weren't healthy or fully endler. That stinks.

It's so interesting that blue and whatever made orange tux! I would've thought blue would be involved. Good luck with your new color!

There are a lot of interesting things in your post, but WOW that betta's a looker! 😍 Welcome to the forum.

The base color of your platies is white or silvery, right? As far as I remember, red platies are the first live bearers I've had that were anything but silver/gray when born. All guppies and endlers have been silver/gray. I don't remember about my dalmation molly fry though.

Yeah, we and @Ireneare the only forum members with them, as far as I remember. Your view makes good sense to me. Thanks.