Stef

My mother always says to my 7 betta tanks “just put them all together in one tank, it would be so much less work for you”. 🙄

Nice stand and gorgeous fish!!

I have a Flex 9 and the filter flow was waaay too strong for my betta. I put two pre filter sponges over the outputs and it helped. Try a floating betta log or some other tube to suction to the glass. They love those. Will help give him a place out of the current and they just love to hang out in their “cave”. I have a few from LidPropz on Etsy.

This is my first go into bigger tanks - 20 gal UNS 90L. Hope you enjoy, I’ve had a lot of fun researching and building this one. Plants: Rotala, Java fern, Buce, Anubia, Amazon Frogbit, Crypts, Swords Stock: Plakat Betta, Panda Corys, BN Pleco, Ramshorn snails Hardscape: Seriyu stones, Mopani wood, coarse sand capped over UNS Controsoil Equipment: Coop medium sponge filter, Dymax SlimFlo 500

Hi folks. Found this egg (I think) clinging to some moss. Seems dented. Is it viable? I have 7 panda corys, a betta and a female female BN pleco in this 20 long. Tank was set up in March this year.

He’s a beaut! I have a red plakat. He’s very sweet and respectful of his snail mate.

I use Terro stuff too. Be careful when you trim the spout/opening. I had some leak out on my counter and floor and the liquid set up like concrete and I could hardly chisel it off. Or set it on something to protect surfaces. I’ve also heard cleaning off their scent trails works - you’ve seen how they March in lines. I’ve used Windex with vinegar this year (not spaying near a tank) and it helped.

Thanks @Zenzo for the fast reply. After work today I'm going to remove the large rocks and looks for anything dead/decaying along with water change, water change and more water change 😉. Only the frogbit has been looking limp and mushy so I removed the worst of it yesterday. I thought they could have been contributing. My test kit bottles for Ammonia say they expire Feb 2026. Testing my other tanks I get 0 Ammonia. I have Co-Op Ammonia test strips and they read 1 ppm on this tank. I forgot about the Pothos option. I thought they suck up excess nitrates, not ammonia but am happy to try them. I have mesh bags too and will definitely pick up some plants. I forgot to add that all the babies are an inch or smaller. They were born April 20th.

Hi All, so I've been getting ongoing Ammonia readings on my baby BN Pleco growout tank (20 Gal Long) that was set up on May 31. I've been doing daily 50% water changes since June 5 when .25 ppm of Ammonia was detected. I'm using API Master Test kit and have been consistently testing every morning and getting .25 ppm Ammonia until today when I got 2 ppm Ammonia. When I set up the growout tank, I transferred over a seeded medium Co-Op sponge filter as well as a seeded HoB (Dymax Slim Flo 240). The Dymax was on my 10 gal and I know it's small, but it was seeded and all I had at the time. On June 15 I also put in another seeded sponge filter from an existing 5 gal plus a new AquaClear 20 HoB. I have been feeding heavily because there are 117 baby plecos plus their dad in this tank. Way more babies than I initially thought. I have been vacuuming out uneaten food and reduced feedings (quantity and feeding every other day instead of daily). I also was reading in another post about false Ammonia readings when using Prime (which I have also been using), so I experimented with yesterday's water change and used API's Stress Coat as a dechlorinator. This morning was a bit of shocker to see 2 ppm Ammonia. I treated with a dosing of Prime to de-toxify Ammonia in the meantime. I tested the clean dechlorinated water in the bucket prior to putting it in the tank and it tested 0 Ammonia. My tap is also 0 Ammonia (city water). Pictures of the tank are below along with today's Ammonia test. I have seen no deaths and all babies and dad acting normally. No red gills, no labored breathing, etc. My next plan of attack is to clear out the large rocks and driftwood and look for any uneaten food and continue with daily large water changes. I've also been adding bottled bacteria (API StressZyme). Any other suggestions? Keep riding it out with water changes? I have also added Amazon Frogbit from other tanks, but it doesn't do well in this tank. I have seen the babies rasping on it and it just looked ragged, melted and leaves stripped to the point of being see through plus it gets blown around in the flow from the HoBs and sucked up in the intake tubes. I have tons more frogbit from other tanks I can add. As you can see the tank is hardly planted. Just a spare Anubias, a section of PSO, frogbit, 2 marimo moss balls and some windlov java fern seedlings. Other parameters: Temp: 78 F Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 0 PH: 7.6 Back wall of tank is blacked out with static background. Tank sits in my laundry room in front of a glassblock window. The clip on Aqueon light is only on when I do maintenance since the tank gets a good amount of natural light and faces west and doesn't have much for plants.

That’s a handsome male plakat with those long ventral fins. Congrats!

@lefty o when you say "over run" how many babies are you generally dealing with? I'm at 85 and still a few more to transfer to the growout. Having not had any luck with breeding when I was in the hobby years ago, this kind of caught me off guard. I also do not have any community fish that would prey on the fry. I think my betta gave it his best shot 😉

Will have to try sweet potato as I usually have them around.

@Guppysnailwould removing all hiding places and caves limit or deter any unwanted breeding or will nature eventually take its course? The tank is fairly bare as it is with some drift wood and seriyu stones but there are spaces in the rock pieces they are currently hiding in. I’m asking in the event all 85+ cannot be sold/given away before reaching breeding age.

Hi Again, so I've been transferring all my baby BN plecos to their 20 gal long growout tank. All has been going well with the exception of how many babies there are. I definitely underestimated my initial count. I've transferred a total of 85 babies so far. I believe this is from two different spawns. I found the first group on April 20 and didn't get to remove the adult female until 3 weeks later and started noticing different sized babies after she was transferred out. Problem #1: feeding a group this large; Problem #2: finding homes/lfs to take them before the babies breed with each other; and Problem #3: can a 20 gal Long house this many growing, eating, pooping fish even temporarily until re-homed. @Guppysnail, with this many babies, how much food needs to be offered? I've been giving about 3-4 blocks/chunks (1" cubes) of Repashy Morning Wood daily. Then alternating with about a 6 pcs of canned green beans. If it's not being eaten by the following day, I back off quantities. They don't seem to like blanched zucchini and it goes to mush uneaten. I have every form of pellet too, but Repashy is their go to food. I'm checking water parameters every other day and doing water changes as needed. Do I just keep looking at their bellies and/or whether food is being left uneaten? There's really no algae in the new growout tank yet aside for biofilm they may clean up but is otherwise a clean tank. Is it possible to divide this tank with males and females once they can be identified, or is this like herding cats?🙂 Sorry, this is a lot of questions. I really had no idea they could breed so easily and quickly.

If she likes small pieces, Hikari Micro pellets and Xtreme nano pellets are excellent. Have you tried frozen daphnia? My baby female goes nuts for that. My adult male bettas won’t touch daphnia.

Great tips @Guppysnail, I like easy. They seem like tough little guys, but since so young, wanted to check. Many thanks 😊

Thanks @Guppysnail, so they’re ready to go 👍🏼. Is the acclimation process any different? I have cycled media and plan to use some water from they’re current 10 gal.

Hi everyone, so I got a 20 gal long ready for my baby BN plecos. They were born on April 20 and are growing and eating and pooping like crazy. They’re all in my betta’s 10 gal with their dad which is not ideal, I know. Since this is my first go with baby plecos, I wasn’t sure when they could be transferred to the growout safely (at what age/size). They’re about a half inch long and I have about 15-25 of them. I also wanted to move their dad to the growout since he’s too big for a 10 gal. Mom was already moved to a separate 20 gal so no more babies.

So I found this single white spot on my new betta today. Looks like a white poppy seed somewhat between scales. Not fuzzy. Doesn’t look like ich. pH. 7.6 Nitrates. 20 ppm Hardness. GH 300 Nitrite. 0 Ammonia. 0 KH/Buffer. 60 Water Temperature 77 F 20 gal long set up beginning of April with cycled sponge and cycled Dymax 240. Betta acting normal, have not seen flashing. New panda Cory added to existing group from trusted source about 10 days ago. Did not quarantine 🤦🏼‍♀️

Hi @Odd Duck, what kind of mounting hardware did you use? Stainless? Any washers?

Is his foot attached to whatever he’s on? Or closed up in his shell? I’m sure if another fish was nibbling/mouthing on the shell they could probably move him around a bit if he’s not attached. I’d say keep watching and sniffing. Time will tell. Wish you luck.

I haven’t had a nerite die on me yet but mine aren’t particularly fast movers unlike mysteries. A dead snail will make your hair curl - stink wise. Does its foot look mushy or melted?

Mine love canned green beans (no salt added kind)

I’d like to piggyback on this thread as I too have a 10 gal tank that can only grow val. I have other 5 and 6 gal cubes where plants do very well including PSOs. In my 10, however, even water sprite, frogbit all die. I give a random squirt of EG in the 10 but not regularly. I’ve given up adding other plants. Would removing some Val help or just up my liquid ferts and root tabs to non val plants? The photo is older. The sprite died and the Val is now spreading in the front glass like a curtain. Algae is a plenty.

Thanks @Guppysnail, wasn't sure about 6 on 1 how'd that turn out, but I'll give it a shot in the next week or so. Keep the 3 gal running until things are hunky dory too.