xXInkedPhoenixX

Could also be a Colombian Redfin or Buenos Aires Ooohhh stripe...maybe not a tetra at all maybe a black line Rasbora

Bloodfin? Hard to tell from pic. Any lines one them?

why are you posting pictures of the bottom of your tank?! 🤣 Seriously though, neat little guys.

I'm very sorry. Bettas are very difficult to keep, you tried very hard for her.

I would pay 10 a month if the fee didn't go through youtube. 🤢

Hi there @johnzhe! Welcome to the forum and I appreciate the sources you've given I'll definitely take a look. I think that's the thing about Otos (and of course that's a general term, different Otos may also have different tricks). In MY research in the beginning prior to getting any Otos at all I noticed more sites list them as HERBivores than OMNIvores so I never started mine on any SPECIFIC protein source. Now that's not to say they aren't. If you think logically of course in the wild they will have protein- how are they to sort, say dead bug or fish matter (protein) from algaes in the river? ALSO consider that some plants are also sources of protein, SPIRULINA is a source a lot of people use for vegan protein. There are other algaes and plants that also contain it such as the kinds of veggies we sometimes feed them in our tanks. THEN look at what I've been feeding them this whole time as a supplement food source: Hikari Algae Wafers, whose number one ingredient is FISH MEAL and there is also FISH OIL and even KRILL MEAL before SPIRULINA even makes an appearance on the list, all sources of protein. So though I've heard others on the web and even on this forum feeding live or thawed frozen foods I haven't bothered. But I'm just a hobbyist and don't have a huge desire to breed 100s of fish at one time. I have the capacity for about 20 or so now for growing out (as I've taken the Accidental Oto Tank off the grow out list and just have small holding tanks). Now take in what I've recently been feeding them: Repashy Super Green (this is a food I've only started giving them consistently since September)- that has, with a quick cursory glance, NO animal based protein in it- BUT they eat THAT before they eat the Hikari. That tells ME they lean towards a plant based diet before they dain to lean on something with more protein. This includes my recently acquired Cocamas. (They also love the English Cucumber they have potassium, fiber, vitamin C, K, A, magnesium- they don't like Zucchini so far, I've tried, I'm not sure what the deal is there). The matter of temperature is a whole other thing. What I can tell you in my experience so far, and I've been right so far, is that my Vittatus started spawning again when my house, hence their UNHEATED tanks, got warmer. As fall/winter approaches- being cold is a peeve of mine. So where they sit the room is pushing 78-80 degrees thanks to my house heater (set at 72) and the space heater (a Dyson set between either 78 or 80 depending on my mood). Both times they have started spawning this is the time it occurs. Because when do animals spawn? When it gets warmer. There's only a few animals that might continue to have babies when it gets colder. I am predicting that I will get more babies as the winter months appear- I could be wrong but we shall see. I hope the Cocama follow suit. Because my tanks aren't heated they get a break at night where the tanks DO cool down (as the Dyson gets turned down to 77-78) and without the natural light the house does get cooler. This is why here I document my parameters too because there is a code in this somewhere. It's all very fascinating isn't it? If everyone has different expreriences with the same species then we really DON'T know everything about them- which I'm fine with- because it keeps the magic in Nature for me. Nature is true magic.

LOL, I love it. It's nice to have a little "camp" in one's life. Makes you smile.

How frustrating!!! I've heard horror stories of moves and moving companies like that too, but you're right- until you hire them and complete the move you don't know. I was so sad to see this post! I am glad that you made it- and glad that most of your fish did too. Here's hoping for a bright light at the end of that dark tunnel.

It looks like you have just gravel as substrate, the plant may or may not eventually rot as Java is a rhizone plant but if it's not too buried it might be fine. Trust me, a lot of people new to plants mistakenly plant them- I had! It's not like they come with instructions and unless you look for the information you just assume a plant needs planting! Personally I have fun looking for things to glue new Java to. so if you ever find anything cool, uproot it and glue it! Honestly can't really say how often it happens, lol, it just does. I take it as a sign of a happy plant. 🙂

I'm 🤞🤞 for you and your little girl.

Fantastic! I really hope he pulls through for you, sounds like you could really use the win right now.

That's totally normal, in fact a good thing as eventually they can be pulled/trimmed if you want and glued to another base. I found one floating in my tank from my Narrow Leaf Java this morning. But my Windelov has them too (don't mind the debris stuck to it.

Ok. I'd probably treat her for bacterial as this is what fin rot is- even if the rip is new we don't want it to get worse. Check for ANYTHING in the tank that might have caused her to rip her fins. I'd follow @Irene's guidelines here: Watch "How to Cure Fin Rot the EASY Way!" on YouTube I might do a small water change while checking for sharp areas as a precaution but your water parameters are fine. However when I treat a fish that's always the first thing I do.

Since a small group of Endlers replaced my idea of a centerpiece Betta in my Flex9 I've been working towards that. Unfortunately with my first group of 4 I'd lost one in QT and sadly yesterday lost another to an ultimately unknown illness after trying to treat with meds for a week. My ongoing saga of trying to fully stock my tanks continues and the stocking of my 8mos old 20 gallon again on hold. So I went back to the LFS and got 4 more Endlers (literally the last 4 they had) to add to the 2 who are constantly chasing each other in the Flex. So the newbies are in QT, hopefully they all make it. Do you name your small group individuals too? The two in the tank I have left are Drogon (yes Game Of Thrones) and Phoenix. (SIP lil Koi) Now meet: Falcor (Luck Dragon from Never Ending Story- I keep suggesting the name on the forum nobody takes it, so I'm insistent- ha!) he's the biggest and fanciest of the 4. NEL (stands for Never Ending Light, one of my favorite songs ever) who is all white. Torchlight (multi colored orange and yellow marks) and Flare (just a dark orange strip down his body- remindint me of the color of flares). They've been really hard to get pictures of....Endlers never stop moving.....

Someday I'll have a giant tank with 1 pleco and hundreds of small community fish. Not sure if it'd work, but it's my dream.

There are 2 things you can do, just drop them in the tank (I'd probably rinse them first- that's just me) and let them be. OR you can boil them and let the tannis get released like tea let it sit and get dark- and save that water- add during water changes. Since she's sick, I might drop a leaf or 2 in now and boil the others.

Well parameters seem fine, I'd make sure the temp is on the higher end (lesson learned with Bettas, trust me). Now that I know her fins were like that what about the rest of her? Any other visible changes? What have you been feeding her?

Woke up to find my Tetra Whisper pump was not outputting air like I'd like it. Thankfully I'm a back up plan kind of human so I pulled it today and installed a BIGGER Tetra Whisper. I had the "Up to 20 gallon" pump for my two 20 gallons. One of the sponge filters had no output at all (this my friends is why I run TWO air driven pumps, the other is run by a lithium backed battery air pump for power outages- so neither tank was in any sort of danger). Originally- it only ran one but after addding the 2nd 20 I split the lines. I figured eventually it would grow tired of it. So I had the "up to 60" gallon pump standing by for that day. Apparently today was the day. Wow did that make a difference. I might actually have to turn the air down....

Lots of great shelf liner nowadays. I just put some on my old desk for small QT tanks and it's wide enough that I turn it up against the wall in the back so if any water leaks it won't go down the backside of the desk. In your case for a built in if it went up the back a bit that would be a good thing. Potentially you could secure it with tape OR I'd get some pieces of vinyl/plastick backsplash from the home goods store. It would look nice and protect the wall if the shelf liner came up and behind the backsplash.

Did you toss any gravel/sand too? That will have beneficials on it also. QT happens without BB at times. If I were in your shoes I'd probably make sure Danny was super warm (there's something about humidity and Bettas that people keep mentioning here since the club's Betta talk too but I'm not sure how that's accomplished since I'm not able to view the talk). I might even consider salt treatment and API Stress Coat (or similar). I'm rooting for you and your fish @Lexi B

I'm very sorry, how frustrating. 😞 Do you have another QT? Maybe your main tank could use a good cleaning. I know at this point it's probably grasping at straws and I believe columaris is a really hard one to fight. What are your water parameters right now? Temperature?

Oh no, another sick Betta. 😞 What's your water parameters? Her fins look kind of ragged, was she always like that?

I have a 10 an 4 gallon on mine....and a KitchenAid mixer...and we all know those aren't light....

@Odd Duck They're looking amazing. I remember when you were redoing that tank, it's still one of my very favorites on the forum. I love those Plecos. They're like peaceful aquatic tank Dragons (I love me a dragon!)

Love it! I've been tempted. I love jack o lanterns and one of the bigbox had some I nearly went there. Then there's a seller on my favorite handmade site that did some Grinch themed characters for the aquarium. Also I"m tempted to do a light/bubble curtain- but then I think is this like putting a sweater on a dog/cat?! 🙂