xXInkedPhoenixX

Hi @Kbait. I can't speak to the med trio myself as you may see with others answers that will come we all might have different philosophies on quarantine periods. But if you choose the med trio route, always do it. I, myself only treat when there are signs/symptoms of illness. However you would like to treat your new fish in quarantine- go for it and stick with it. What I can speak to some is Otos. My first set of 6, 5 of them died within a week- no real signs or symptoms. My best guess was the starvation bit most talk about that they have a really hard time recovering from (because they were eating- my tank was cleared of diatoms and they ate other food I gave them- there are some that say by the time they are past starvation it is hard for them to make it- those say there are good bacteria in their stomachs that once dead cannot repopulate- I can't speak to that either). I treated my second for Ich because once they got out of the bag it was totally obvious (no idea why it couldn't be seen at the store other than the tank they were in was planted). So I successfully treated them with ParaGuard. I did partial water changes every day (there were 7 of them in a 3 gallon tank it was about a half gallon water change), then I would redose. I DID NOT stop feeding mine. All 7 of them made it through (and later bred in my tank). With Otos, personally with their reputation for being underfed when we get them, I wouldn't stop feeding them- that's me. So, having observed 60 of them (my babies) over the last four or so months in my grow out tank, yes, they do sit/rest with fins down and at their sides. When they're on the glass, make sure their gills/gill area are not red (ammonia burn at the least)and their little bellies are like pearls from the sea. Very good luck to all of them, they are a joy to have.

Good lawd you and the BABIES!!!! 😄 Fish Folk and the magic fish room!

@GameCzar nah they were just advanced reader copies hahahaha! They were very pale silver in the tank so it was really hard to make sure, but they are bright orange in my tank now so we're all good.

@Patrick_G I could let a feed store slide. And the ESL thing- but it IS a giant fish store. However, I get the impression they do the bulk of their business in the larger fish though they have a decent selection of small ones. (no Strawberry Rasboras though). (and the ESL employee had to ask about the Rasboras a few times and one time said Rasberry. hehe)

I'm already in love with the little poops.

@lefty o I think it might be a little ESL but I thought it was very cute. And yes, at that price I got 10. Maybe more than I should have but that's why they do that right? 🙂

.....I was looking for Ember Tetras....(oh here they are!) 🙂

Toro. He reminds me of the red bullfighters use.

Aww that's so very sad, he was a handsome fishy. 😞 What a terrible freak accident.

Hi, welcome! Post pics in a thread when you get a chance!

I did Google it, seems like it's not a full red, and some people (like myself) might have thought the plant was dying so good to know! 😄

I guess I'm more into the ethereal sci-fi like Donnie Darko....

That's really cool is Val supposed to turn red? I thought it was always green?!

Aww sorry for your guppy loss. 😞

Oh absolutely my girl always interacts. She's literally pooping right now or I'd post a pic of her saying hi. We'll give her her privacy. 😆

Hi! Great tank!

Hi 🙂 I will let others speak to the cycling process, this takes time, there are lots of helpful youtube videos on it that Aquarium Coop puts out and others- if you haven't watched those- watch them. There is no set time on cycling for example cycling takes X amount of days. Every experience is different. One thing that's hard to learn in this hobby is that you need a whole lot of PATIENCE. Understand that in some cases you may not want to add your living inhabitants until MONTHS after you've started your tank for the best chance of success. As to your ph. You do NOT want to get caught in the endless cycle of having to add chemicals or processes to maintain a ph, forget about those ph up or down products on the market- they are ok for emergency situations but NOT good for long term use. So all that being said what you want to do is make sure you have a safe, stable established home for your Axolotis before putting them in there. Caveat here is I keep fish on the higher ph side (my tanks can run from 6.8 to 7.6 generally). Some things to consider adding to your tank: Driftwood, leaves. Provided these are safe for the species you plan on keeping (so do your research) but things like driftwood and leaves like Cappata, Oak, Almond leaves are all natural and more stable ways of lowering ph. Driftwood generally lasts longer, leaves you will have to keep adding and sometimes removing, you may want to do both. This will color your water with tanins (looks like tea) and some people do not like this look but it's good for your inhabitants and it can be lightened by water changes. There are also things like peat moss some add to do this as well. Especially if you don't like the idea of tannins- the other thing you may have to look into is your water source. You may not be able to use your tap water if the Axolitis truly could not live in your water conditions. You may need to buy from another source OR invest in a reverse osmosis system (that I can't speak to at all but there are others who can). There are lots of keepers here that keep fish that require lower ph (like Discus). Sometimes we come to the conclusion in the end that maybe the species we really would like to have couldn't really flourish in our conditions or under the parameters we are willing to maintain or can financially maintain and we have to change our course- that's always a possibility in our hobby.

Hi there Sayuri425 welcome to the forum!

@Just a Pygmy Corydora I'm very sorry friend.

@Odd Duck oh yes, yes I have and they are way Squee-able (didn't know about the jam thing, what a trick!). Those pics are wonderful and I'm glad they exist. All my girls knew their names, came when called and were wonderful companions. I wanted nothing but the perfect care for them but the Veterinary care side was the hardest- so again, bless you for doing what you do. "Pocket" pets are amongst the most neglected misunderstood, abused and overlooked (kind of like fish) in the pet industry. I hated hearing people say, why do you take your $5 rat to the vet?!! Ugghhhhhh.....😡 My Vet had pics of my girls on the wall of one of his exam rooms because he also believed more people needed to understand them (even hiimself). These are a couple of the pics he had (one was a dumbo, Sideways- well because her ears were on sideways right? and the other hooded rat is my favorite of ALL time, Story. All my ratties had S names)

@Streetwise don't get me started. THAT would be a very, very, very long thread.

Bless you for being in the exotics realm as you are very much needed. I used to keep hamsters and rats and would love to have had a regular vet who seemed to know anything about my animals. I had one very good one that admitted to not knowing everything but always willing to try and he was a very, very capable surgeon (performed several clean spays on my female rats). I sometimes knew more than him because I did research on the science lab side (a side Veterinarians aren't taught much about per my Vet though there is a lot of knowledge on that side due to science experimentation on rats). He was educated at UC Davis CA so I was a bit surprised by that (and admittedly it wasn't his focus in school- he was a cat/dog Vet for the most part and a great orthopedic surgeon). He was amazing and very kind. I stopped having rodents because I have trouble finding a good Vet for them in my area- and since they only live a short span of time also heartbreaking to keep as I get very attached. Oh very, very good! No knife should go in the dishwasher (this is not for your benefit) but that can severely damage a knife (cheap knives don't meet the definition of knife to me so continue putting those in the dishwasher lol). I actually don't have a dishwasher and I'm ok with that, but if I were to get one in the future I'd only ever put DISHES in it, silverware, but NO complex cutting tools or pots/pans. So thanks for not being one of those kinds of customers I'd want to put palm to face for! 🙂

OMG, never heard Messy Murder Beans, that. is. HILARIOUS.

@Odd Duck oh we're in TOTAL agreement, I would NEVER recommend cheap nonstick- it's not worth it- in any way. BUT I would never tell someone NO nonstick is good because there are good, quality, safe options out there. AND you are doing the exact right thing for you- just not do it AT ALL. Birds are very sensitive animals (we have a Cockatiel in our family) so why try it?! Sounds like you might be in the Veterinary industry. I also worked in the rescue/shelter industry and I'm sure you know and have heard many owners downplaying the things they do/have done. It's very sad. I'm a HUGE fan of Le Crueset and have several "modern" pieces of that HOWEVER my 80-100 year old Griswold pans are the sweethearts of my kitchen and the BEST nonstick anyone can possibly buy (but there are strange people out there who want to put their pans in the dishwasher, so they still need modern non stick....they are missing out).

That's one BEAUTIFUL cube!!!