xXInkedPhoenixX

Poor little one, hope you have success and they get better!

I like plants like what you need anyway- there are lots of neat/different Anubia and I am a huge fan of Narrow Leaf Java Fern. They seem so much easier to care for than lots of other plants AND easy to move if you want/need to rearrange.

Moss if you're good at it (I don't happen to be). Floating plants. If you want to get really crazy you could do pothos or bamboo out of the back of your tank. 🙂 I belive Pennywort, Ludwigia Repens and even crypts?

I can see you have an affinity for the super multicolored fish. You have some stunners. I love the Darters though, those are so very cool.

Totally get it. Which is WHY I picked "impossible to breed" fish for my tanks.....then nature played a joke on me....

@Odd Duck I think though everything else I have is perfect for them, my Nitrates probably kill them. They are consistently at 40ppm in most of my tanks though everybody else seems fine with it.

@Beardedbillygoat1975 that's the thing I was trying to diagnose with @Kristin. The pump for the Quietflow is in the water (hence no priming). Mine is totally quiet. So it's possible there is another issue (the lids notoriously rattle but is fixable) or just a defective one.

Though you say you are banned, sounds like your partner is good at helping you to know where the limits might be. You have a lot on your plate!! I think guppies are so awesome but I can barely imagine having so many!! It's all I can do to take care of small batches of Otos!

I agree with @colu as I said in my previous post, pull anyone who doesn't look sick.

Mine (Quietflow) does not buzz or hum at all- however- the times it does it's usually because the lid is a little wonky- once I address it- I don't hear it at all. You can run 2 sponges- I run 2 air driven filters in both my 20 gallon tall tanks. I use a Tetra Whisper rated for up to 60 gallons and I use a pump that has a lithium backed battery- this is so, if my power goes out at least one filter in each tank is still working (both pumps have 2 airline outlets and the tanks sit next to each other). I don't hear my pumps OR my sponge filters (you should never hear your sponges if they are optimized). You can also stack sponges. There's lots of things you can do with them and they are pretty great at filtering, just not the prettiest things. Some people here also rave about Aquarium Co-op's nano pumps but I personally haven't looked into them.

@Minanora it's no comfort but I've sadly killed every shrimp I've tried to keep so I've quit trying.

@Torrey what pymeter do you use?

He looks decent to me. His fins look good. Other betta keepers might have more insight- but if I were in your shoes....if he's acting normal, eating, alert. I'd watch/observe. Do you know your tank parameters and what is his tank temp at? He's new to you so the discolorations could now just be what he looks like or old/healing damage, time may tell.

I'm so sorry friend. The whole forum is here to help you when you're ready to rebuild and/or need support. I know it can be discouraging sadly not one of us here is free from some sort of or several tragedies. Even @Cory says, expect that you will have fish die in this hobby. If you haven't already watched it Cory made a video about Neon Tetra Disease:

What deformations are you seeing? I see in one pic his spine looks slightly curved but in other pics he looks fairly straight so I'm not sure what you're refering to.

Hi there. Yes check valves are definitely important- not as much if the air pump is places on a shelf ABOVE the tank, but that rarely happens- more often than not it's below- which makes the check valve of great importance. Control valves can also be very handy if you don't have those too. Go slowly, be patient. Do your research. Ask lots of questions.

Hi all, just wanted to update with a post-op picture. Frankenball has been recovering very nicely from his unprofessional surgery. He apologizes for his current state as he was just released from QT with a pack of Nerite snails that were rather messy- he's covered with some food residue still. You can see where the blue thread kind of pops out but for the most part you can't see the middle stitching (just a little if you really look, I enhanced the pic so it is more prominent) just the ends, telling me maybe he's growing back together and may eventually absorb his stitches. Just wanted to post this in case someone wonders whether or not this might work. It seems to- just keep your stitches loose!

Maybe this tank will just be a shrimp and snail tank in the future if you keep it. These can be very satisfying tanks to have too.

Hi Silvia, Welcome to the forum. Beautiful betta boy you have there. Is the spot you're concerned about the one on his head that is a little bit of a lighter patch? I cannot tell from the pics but can you advise if it's fuzzy looking at all?

Oh my, I'm so sorry. Your poor fish. In my opinion with what you describe, the pics and images and further research I've done on Neon Tetra Disease it really does appear to be that. Is there anyone in the tank at all that does not appear to be suffering the symptoms? If so pull them if you can and put them in a separate container if possible, as it seems- IF THE DIAGNOSIS IS CORRECT- there is no saving the infected fish as it is fatal and no known cures. I hope others offer opinion for consensus. I think you may already suspect that is what it is too. Until you decide what to do and as long as you feel there is fight left in the fish you can keep them in their with the meds if it's possible it's something else. You will need Clove Oil to euthanize fish. It's the most humane way to do it when you are ready and sure the fish aren't going to make it. You can put them in a container of water and add a drop, sometimes more (google, youtube search etc) to put them to sleep first, then basically you overdose them on it. As to eventually sanitizing the tank. Personally I'd toss everything inside it and anything associated with it. I've never dealt with anything so fatal so I have no idea if plants can be sanitized. I'm not sure if a Hydrogen Peroxide dip would kill off this disease or not. I'd bleach the tank using hot water, a few times. Rinse many times with hot water and leave in the sun for several days or weeks until it was bone dry. The shrimp and snails....are they with your other fish now?

Certainly looks like it could be. Our plant experts are probably in bed they'll speak up at some point... @Mmiller2001 is my plant guy 😄

@Colu oh great. That really sucks.

@Colu have you tried Hikari's BiFuran? I was looking at it tonight to help @lmhicks101 because Furan2 is no longer. It seems like it might be a good alternative if your fish are picky eaters or aren't eating (I typically have the first problem)

You too. Hope it all turns out right no matter what treatment route you go.

Good luck!