xXInkedPhoenixX

looks like a plant @Mmiller2001 has in his tanks.....

Assuming the tank is cycled when you start adding. If I were to do this I would do any algae eaters/bottom feeders last. I'd probably put the potentially notoriously "sickly" fish in first OR the fish LESS likely to need a seasoned tank- some kind of require that. I see a lot of posts about rummy nose being sensitive so if they're the ones I'd let them settle in in case for some reason they go sideways on me and I need to treat the tank (haven't done much research on hatchets so no idea what their weak points are, but very cool fish). Then I'd go for the next fish, if it were the rummies first then the hatchets. Settle in. Then the bottom feeders because I'd guess by this point the tank is good to go for them (including at some point the shrimp). Then the Gourami. Center piece fish last, as some of them can be jerks. If you add them last they don't feel quite as territorial with the newcomers.

@Atitagain YES! They started using them within a day of placement, not just as hides but something to eat off of. They have a suction cup to hold them on a wall. I got them from a popular handmade goods website. Seller makes custom holes and sands them.

So sometimes things just happen by accident. My 10 gallon was just going to be a grow out tank for baby Otos. So most of it was just thrown together in anticipation for easy catch to the LFS. I went bare bottom and put plants in pots (went with a green jade color on both), threw some of my other random hides/decorations that were pulled from other tanks, fed them from one of the bowls I already had to try and keep it contained. threw in a few glass pebbles, and some rocks from other tanks and some plants attached to rock and wood as well. THEN I decided to KEEP all the Otos. So then I had what I thought was a slightly janky looking tank. I've since gotten them their own zen feeding bowl, added another larger piece of wood to the front with some Narrow Leaf. Otos love a good hide so I got two custom hollow coconut houses (that are up off the bare bottom for easier cleaning) and a "rock" hideaway. It's starting to become one of my favorite tanks. So I went from the first pic (before) to the last pics (now), don't mind the floating breeder I've got 5 new baby Otos in it.

While that (water changes) might have stressed a fish- I've done plenty of water changes for sick fish without an issue and most have recovered. It's important for a sick fish to have super clean water. My two cents is this. Betta fish I'm finding are far more senstive and hard to keep than most other fish. When I saw your post I saw at least 4 others with injuries and deaths of other Bettas. Could you have done something wrong? Sure, it's always possible. Will you ever know for sure, no, but you could get a good idea of what COULD have been done wrong or done differently. I see a lot of posts here where deaths or illnesses happen within a year of owning a Betta. I don't see a lot of people on here boasting about their Betta's 5th birthday. It sucks because I think they're great, but I'll not keep them again.

Don't start with Bettas. Start with hardy schooling fish first.

Aww sorry to hear James. I also hear you on 5 being enough. I have the same plus an active 2 gallon QT right now and it takes a lot of time daily to do my maintenance- which when one works 10-12 hour days takes a big chunk out of free time. One must know ones limits.

Hi! As soon as you can post the pic I'm sure we can help you.

Hi. Hard to tell from the pic. Are they slightly gelatinous with lots of little dots inside? Kind of wave in the water or are sorta stiff out of it? If so probably bladder aka pest snail eggs or similar. They'll pretty much lay eggs ANYWHERE.

Well I guess I'm glad the mystery is solved

If there is a question about survival, if I were you I'd just pull the sick ones but still monitor the tank

Yea those spots seem rather uniform to be Ich when I blow up the pic so I'mnot sure it's that at all unless you spot it on others. The other pics sadly seem to have a fungus? I've never had success with Mela or Pimafix. I'd look into a med that will get rid of that. Check out this video, does that more closely resemble what your fish are going thru?

In QT sadly I lost 1 Endler and 2 of 3 Hillstreams. I am totally to blame for that as I didn't get the sponge filter in their tank in time (was just running an airstone and doing water changes the first couple of days and suspect the water was not good. 😞) However, after 19 days of QT everyone else made it through with absolutely no signs of illness. Today my 3 male endlers and my 1 Hillstream went into my Flex9 with 6 Embers and 5 Otos (and Nerite buddies). I've been growing algae for them (as I hear guppies also eat some kinds and I've already seen them picking at the hair algae). It was fun to see them introduce themselves (well the middle dwellers- the Hillstream immediately went off to "do stuff"). They chased each other and the Endlers got all puffy but I saw no physical aggression it all looked like nervous curiosity. That was just after 1pm my time and it is now after 8 as I type this. The lights in the tank are off but I can see everybody moving and playing nicely in the tank. The Embers are much more active now than they were before (they lost some of their buddies in an Ich outbreak due to a pump malfunction and water parameter issue that quickly followed that). The Endlers are so distinctive they got names. Hillstream I'm still thinking about but my thought was Kirby from The Brave Little Toaster. I mean, c'mon, a grumpy old vacuum? Isn't that the very soul of a Hillstream? Thanks to all who helped pick out the Endlers for a centerpiece group. 🙂 You all are gems. Oh and @Guppysnail the 1 hitchhiker CPD made it out of QT too and she went in with the other 8. I'm 98% sure it is a SHE so that I think brings me to 5 girls 4 boys, unless they are still too immature to tell. She is MUCH lighter in color than the rest of them but I have a feeling she will color up. They did a lot of chasing too but they all chase each other and it didn't look like a bad thing. On a side note in the end with the Hillstream(s) I had decided that the tank they were orginally going into wasn't going to provide enough natural food for them (though I'd supplement of course but they'd be in competition with the bladder snails and that's proving to be an issue for the remaing Otos in that tank) taggin for info/fyi @laritheloud @Waka88

Oh my, if all those little white dots are not part of his pattern that's very severe Ich it appears. I had an Ich outbreak in one of my tanks when the pump took a dump without me knowing. So it would not be out of the ordinary for it to happen after a nitrate spike or any other bad water parameter spike. If it looks like the spots on this Oto pic, then treat immediately! The good news if there is any, is to ME Ich isn't hard to treat but sometimes you have losses.

Sadly I would cause they get too big for my tanks, but I know I would enjoy the visit. 🙃

Such a mystery! But very glad they seem to be turning around for you! The loach certainly doesn't LOOK sick.

Hi! Welcome to the forum! Great tank!

Well it's very kind of you to help the animals (and plants). It's a very time consuming but worthwhile task.

I keep unheated tanks myself that's cool 🙂. If you get a chance check your parameters (including ammonia) to rule everything out. If those are fine and the fish is acting normal I'd just keep an eye on it. Tank sounds pretty, you should post a pic 🙂 .

I don't keep ponds/tubs but I've seen your question pending for a bit here. I know FL weather well enough due to a friend out there. I have CA weather that doesn't get super cold either but not like you. If it's really not that many days what about a pond heater? I did an internet search and they don't seem that pricey and since you shouldn't have too many days of really cold I'd imagine not much power would be used. I also remember how Cory talked in a video once about aquariums not (always) needing heaters and he pointed out how so many fish farms (in FL even) raise fish outside in those temps. I'd probably run a heater myself unless they were in a very sheltered area but it was something most of us don't think about until it's brought up.

You really can do it any way you want but its usually easiest to do it at the beginning. I tend to do the bulk of it in the beginning and add later. Yes there is the algae consideration but you can always add a Nerite or 2 to help you with the diotoms and short algaes and monitor the lighting so it doesn't get out of control. Super glue works for plants but I've found the Fluval glue works on pretty darn wet plants and wood so I've never tried the super glue route though I usually have some.

I can say that doesn't look like Ich at all. If it's not fuzzy then shouldn't be fungus. It COULD be a healing injury if that's the case keep an eye on it. And yes, it could be "funky scales". Is the fish acting out of the ordinary? That could also be a clue. What are your water parameters?

Welcome to the forum btw. Hope they get better for you. I've battled Ich, it sucks but in my opinion it's one of the easier diseases to spot and treat successfully.

I could be wrong but it might be their slime coat shedding. This could be an after effect of the meds and stress. It might also have something to do with Ammonia, I'd really advise you to buy a liquid ammonia test when you can- this is probably one of the most important water parameters we need. Plus, after medicating a tank this can sometimes kill your cycle and ammonia would be the first to come into that. I would personally stop the Melafix. If anything I might use API Stress Coat it has aloe in it and might sooth some of that. I hope others take a look here and see anything I might be missing, there's lots of Corycat keepers here.

I like the 2nd look better. Sometimes having to redo something makes it even better- I think this might be the case here.