xXInkedPhoenixX

Well @Colu I change water every day in the Accidental Tank and the water I use is prepared usually the day before or within the week (I have 10, one gallon bottles for water changes). They are most certainly cooler than their tank is- I'll try and make them even cooler by just putting them on the floor. So between that and adding more potential mates (maybe even time of year) I'm hoping the Cocama will spawn. I do pretty regular water changes which I think is what started the first spawn in the Parent Tank, but it was more than 1x a week then.

Sadly @Colu doesn't appear so. At least nothing I recognize as spawning behavior. I'm hoping adding to their numbers (since I only have 5) and genetic diversity spark something. My Vittaus did their biggest number in March of last year so I'm hoping the time of year may also help- but it's just a guessing game. I'll have to get a few more Vittatus as I was planning on splitting the 6 I got in this last batch to the Accidental Tank and the Parent Tank. I'm trying to maintain the same habits that I've always had as I'm not sure what triggered it to happen.

I put myself to work today and finished my small snail habitat vase. It was nice to finally get what was formally a small QT tank emptied of the snails...pretty weird of me to try and save everyone that was alive in there I suppose. It took me forever to collect all the tiny snails by hand at the end (there was a thick cloud of detrius). Me, on the cement on my knees in the driveway angling the QT this way and that like a super slow wave machine watching for anything that moved then picking them up and putting them into a mini water-filled bowl. Oh the things I do for this hobby.... I'm super thrilled with how it turned out but it's hard to tell how people here will react to it when we post because I get ABSOLUTELY NO reaction from anyone I know in "real life". 😑 The time till the "deadline" will hopefully help all the plants involved perk up before "judging"!!

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The 2 Gallon QT Well it appears we are over the hump for now. Thanks to the assistance of @Colu and @Odd Duck you two are absolute assets to the forum thank you for being around for support. The rest of you too, moral support really does help us in this hobby. The last 3 of 6 in QT are still with me, look significantly less red than they have been and are lively. I like how the bare floor of the QT reflects as they are not often on the sides of the tank for me to see. Did a water change this morning and all seems well. However, I will continue to 🤞 OTOCINCLUS COCAMA (AND VITTATUS): The Accidental Oto Tank Things are going very well in the Accidental Tank. I'm actually supposed to be contacted tomorrow about getting additional Cocamas if the the LFS got them in. I may end up calling them if they don't call me shortly after opening. I have errands to run anyway. I've decided they'll go for QT in what would have been the Accidental Nursery but since I released all the juveniles I've got nothing waiting for that tank. It'll be nicer for them in there.

@Hobbit the story relation/sentiment is nice regardless. Poor little Ricefish. Losing fish buddies indeed really sucks.

@Odd Duck @Colu thanks as usual. They got their water change, they're all still with me. They'll get another water change in the morning.

They are GORGEOUS!!! Lucky you!! I'll live vicariously, you can do it!!!! 😍

Well at the very least you have a plan formed for other emergencies!

I would also encourage you if you haven't already to try and tempt the Otos with commercial foods. Otos make short work of algae in newer tanks. It's not uncommon to lose some or all of your Otos within a month or 2 time span, sometimes it is due to lack of food. I see you have veggie in there, that's good as well.

Hi @Star Frances. Welcome to the forum. Others may look at the pictures and offer different advice but this is my take. Do what you feel is best from advice as only YOU can see what your fish and tank are doing. From what I can tell of the pictures it appears to be an injury/skin abrasion. Is the look of the area fuzzy at all? If it is that would indicate a fungal infection (which needs medication in a QT if possible). If it's just an abrasion from something in the tank or the fish store tank it will take time to heal. What the concern is when fish get injured are fungal and bacterial infections. If it's not fuzzy keep a very keen eye on it as you have been- when he's up against the glass make sure you see nothing like redness or other white spots on the body and keep an eye on the other Otos and fish. Raising the temperature is good for your Betta as they prefer 80-82 and it is important for their longevity but it will encourage bacteria to grow. What I would say if I were in your shoes is I would add a Catappa leaf or leaf tea to your tank- not only is it good for your Betta it's great for your inhabitants and is naturally anti-bacterial. I would also check your tank for anything too close to the glass that Otos could wedge their way between- IME they do this all the time- trying to squeeze in where they shouldn't.

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The 2 Gallon QT Well this morning I woke up and all 3 Otos are still with me though they look pretty miserable. They have redness up around their poor eyeballs. I'm hoping the Expel-P is helping. I did my spot cleaning and added some water to the tank so I sprinkled a few more granules of Expel and I'm on the 3rd dose of Kanaplex (so 6 days in). I believe them to still be eating as most of what I felt I cleaned up was the remaining Hikari Algae Wafer but not so much the Repashy Super Green (which between Soilent and Super Green my Otos seem to prefer the latter). Either of my med experts @Colu or @Odd Duck have an insight about this: thinking of just leaving the tank until tomorrow morning for a water change. That's more than 24hrs with the Expel but sooner than the 2 days the Kanaplex recommends for the water change. Thoughts? Otherwise I can just do a water change this evening around the time I dosed the Expel yesterday.

I will have to say I have Amazon "Compacta" and they are good for my smaller tank. They will still take up a decent amount of room. I have them in my Oto tank in pots. So if you still want a Sword, do that one!

Yep. That's what I was getting at earlier. Always a good reason for a road trip!!

I vote for Hillstreams too!!! 🙃 Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum @Emīls, we look forward to your pictures and adventures!

Yep, 5 would be too many as they would quickly run out of food, especially in a new tank. Nerite snails don't eat commercial foods and will only SOMETIMES take to things like veggies that we can feed to our other aquatic friends. So Nerites depend on a good amount of algae in your tank. Trust me you will be amazed at what these tiny snails can do and they will quickly become one of your favorite inhabitants. Nerites are great as they won't reproduce and they have very little effect on bio load like a lot of other great snails can do. Keep in mind you can get a female who would lay infertile eggs (they are white and hard) some people don't like the look but it's never bothered me and they are easily scraped off of surfaces. If that would bother you ask your LFS if you can return a female. I have 11 Nerites and only 3 have turned out to be female. Pick one that's attractive to you, they come in lots of colors!!

For a 5 gallon tank- once the algae sets in it's a good sign your cycle is doing well. You can manually remove it by scraping it off the glass and lightly brushing the leaves of the plants (I use a new soft toothbrush). But for a permanent algae eater I'd highly recommend for a 5 gallon tank just ONE Nerite snail. Shrimp should not be added to a tank until it is very well established. Nerite snails are amazing little tank cleaners!

Awesome, I'd say you could put some of the tank water over there to get it close to what she's used to before you move her. I know that those preset heaters typically need to stay submerged as they have some sort of trigger that will break if brought out of the water (as a safety measure). So take a cup of the QT water out with the heater safely submerged then dump the QT water, put in her tank's water, then replace the heater (keeping submerged) she'll only have to deal with a slow temp change. 10 degrees is quite a difference I agree, but if it's done slowly she shouldn't be shocked.

Got home tonight and dosed Expel-P (which is reasonably hard in a tank this small -because it's not *quite* 2 gallons). Everyone was still alive as far as I could tell (dark in my house now with some ambient light) Here's hoping all 3 are still with me in the morning. 🤞

@Bethany92 I'm very sorry you lost your buddy. 😞

Hi! Welcome to the forum. For a beginner I highly recommend Rhizone plants like Anubias and Java Fern (Windelov and Narrow Leaf are my favorites) The Rhizone plants have to be glued to something like a rock, wood or decoration. You can also float them or tie them to airline suction cups and put them along the aquarium walls. These are great plants because- they will propogate for you, they stay a good size for Nano tanks, are great for low tech tanks (like mine), and don't need anything special to survive. Plus they're common just about everywhere to buy. Narrow leaf would make a great background plant! Anubias Nana makes an awesome foreground plant- there are so many options and because they're not planted in substrate you can move them around!

Oh my well but of course THOSE beauties sold. 😍

It definitely hitch hiked. That appears to be a bladder snail!

They are indeed a joy to have in the tank, such a unique fish.

As long as said Loach has plenty of places to hide, plenty to eat and the Betta doesn't harass them I don't see why not. I have 1 Hillstream in a tank with a whole bunch of active tumbling endlers and guppies and the Hillstream is the only voice of reason in the tank. 🙂 I love my Loach!