xXInkedPhoenixX

I had the exact same problem with a female giant galaxy koi. Complete failure to thrive- she passed. What I SHOULD have done as a last ditch is ask the breeder what specifically they fed and try that. The only think I could think of was maybe the water difference from TX to CA and stress of shipment was too much. I know lots of people order fish online and LFS get fish that way, but it completely turned me off to the whole process and now I'll only "save" a Betta from the box stores.

Yay!!! Sad bowl doesn't look so sad right now!

I'm sure this shelter indeed appreciates you. I used to be in management for a cat/dog shelter but we got critters too and it was harder to get volunteers to work with them as opposed to cats/dogs so often the employees had to do double duty for them (I have had 5 pet hamsters- Jet, Patriot, Cheeky, Sasquatch and Chupacabra- from that job because of that AND even changed some employee's previously held opinions to "hamsters and rats are scary" to "these are the coolest animals ever"). Keep doing what you're doing!

Look forward to reading about your adventures! In one convenient space! 😆

@Georgiapeach88 I'm sure you could rig it with somethin like that. I do like that feature on this tank. I already use window cling film for the backs of my tanks so it's possible.

@Georgiapeach88 the mesh you see is actually part of the glass and a feature of the Flex tanks, it's supposed to "hide the waterline" since it's a rimless tank.

@Beardedbillygoat1975any chance you can send me a pic of that baffling? 🙂

🙂 no worries there's actually a lot going on on the profile page so it can be missed.

Hi! go to your profile page, in top right corner drop down for you're profile go under account settings then to the signature! 🙂

Mine aren't takers for green beans either. You can keep trying until maybe they try OR maybe they'll never try. I see a lot of other forum members putting them in tanks and their snails eat them- so I can't help but be a little miffed. Mine tend to like the cucumber slices I put in. I just keep trying different things until they show interest. I generally keep this sort of thing in the tank for 24hrs before I remove it.

Hi! They look good to me. I'm not sure of either of those species BUT I find the girls in my fish of choice are usually a bit plumper than the others.

Hi! My Otos aren't hair algae eaters but they love most of the other stuff so they're great. When I had it, probably at about the same month mark as you I had to manually remove most of it myself and dial back the lighting, you can do this by either dimming or cutting the duration or both. Myself I just bought a dimmer switch and turned the lights back some until the hair algae rarely came around. THEN I added a duo of Nerite snails. Haven't seen it much since!

Oh yeah, I do that too, I just get into it and THEN when I'm finished think, hmm, I should have taken pics. Oh well. Other people are better about that than I am, they'll document stuff for me. 😄 I'm not great at pictures anymore anyway (says me with 2 Nikon dslr and several lenses), I can if it's my only task but if it's just because I'm trying to show something I don't have time for all that fuss. I guess I'll never have a job as an instruction manual writer! ....look forward to you documenting your adventure! I'll live vicariously.

I've seen several posts about reineckii not doing well or "optimal" in anything but high tech set ups. I have some in my low tech and it's not dead, but it may or may not stay- I also don't use ferts soooo...

Oh and real bamboo pots don't have holes so that comes in handy. I used my lucky bamboo's old pot in my grow out tank for a sword.

Oh I think you'd do fine at least for a good number of years before you'd even have to check. I found a couple of images, so the first one looks like that's about as crazy as you can get- but the 2nd ones are more what I saw when I pulled mine and they are beautifully healthy stems. IN FACT I happen to have a pic of right after the repot, that's the 3rd pic of course!

I think they stay short, because when I pulled the plant there was nothing long enough to warrant the repot I did other than the height needing a better center of gravity so the plant wouldn't topple if that makes sense. I'm pretty good with potted plants, only have a container garden- so I know what root bounded plants can do- and this was farrrrrrr from it.

Jealous! I haven't been to a public aquarium in ages. Very cool pics! And what a pretty girl you have! 🙂

(what roots I do remember were no longer than 2" or less)

Hi. Ok, haven't don't this in a tank yet BUT I have lucky bamboo in my bathroom - it has been there for at least 7 years and I only repotted it in the last year because I thought maybe it was time, the original pot was only about 6" tall and maybe 3" wide. It's a very healthy plant- it was getting really tall- I'd say at repot around 19" from what was probably a 8" plant when I got it. Now it's probably 24". In the original pot it was just planted in rocks. Now it has a Caribsea planted substrate base (cause I had it on hand) and blue glass topper. I fill it to the top with water (it goes down about an inch or less) every 7 days. When I repotted it, there were no real roots to speak of so honestly I don't believe they really need much room. I think you're good with "bamboo pots" and you can save the bigger pots for the Val.

@Guppysnail that's sad and funny at the same time

@BriannesFishFam Oh I agree, actually I was going to use some black cross stitching grid I had from another project tank that would work fine for the intake, and I did see that several people just utilized the chamber and stuffed sponge in there and that essentially blocks off the intake passages too. The feeding hole I wasn't terribly concerned about but I thought it was clever enough to warrant a buy- and keep the snails in and cat paws out not that I've had an issue there but there's always an invisible YET somewhere. The props I thought were clever but I can always just set the lid aside. The shop actually offers all those things separately. I'll have to keep an eye on blocked pumps! Thanks for the heads up!

@SheWhoConquers @mountaintoppufferkeeper @Beardedbillygoat1975 @Stef @KAYLON.NICHOLS @James Black @BriannesFishFam I really appreciate everyones replies. I've seen some of the complaints about it online and some of you have echoed those. It's funny we have to think about so much with a simple all in one that in theory is supposed to eliminate all that guess work. Any further thoughts would be appreciated with my plan if I move ahead: LIGHTING: I prefer slow growers anyway so I plan to stock Anubias, Java and Subwassertang. Some drift wood. The light I think would be sufficient for them and low light enough for my Betta who would probably prefer lights a bit on the mellower side. I also already have a timer so the timer thing is not an issue. FLOW: I've seen that the flow on the 9g is rather intense for a Betta with no option to turn it down, so I figure I'll see what it's like initially- Wondering if I could grab some driftwood that might help baffle it a bit. OR I have my 3 gallon GloBetta tank that I plan to put out of commission- IT has a pump that is currently on its very lowest setting. I figured I could pull that pump and use it instead- "worse" case scenario it would run turned all the way up. I saw a youtube where someone did do that (buy a pump that had a flow option) and though it was smaller and didn't reach the bottom there was no issue and it fit the tube fine. DESIGN "FLAWS": So I did see complaints about the feeding hole, the vent size (small fish or invertebrates easily get through), and the lid. I found a solution for all 3 online from a seller (Etsy) and will likely order the set they offer I'll attach a pic. I don't mind taking lids off so propping it up would probably only happen when I'm working with my Betta Spark during feeding times. FILTRATION: I will absolutely keep the bagged filtration it comes with and I have some sponge, fine and course I could potentially cut and put in one or both available chambers. Anyone have any further tips here? I do have questions about the visuals: are your fish/occupants distorted or is there a pretty crisp view? I've never had a bow front tank, the closest I come is the rounded glass corners of the 3 gallon I was goiing to replace and there is quite a bit of distortion but they are only corners. Also are there any cleaning issues to be aware of? I should have plenty of algae cleaners I plan to stock a Nerite that's already with my Betta, some of my baby Otos and possibly some Rasboras.

@KentFishFanUK Oh I have 2 cats. But they stay inside. They enjoy bird and squirrel tv, and can care less about the fish. 🙂

Hi, Aww poor fish. I'd check the labels and see if there are any warnings- some of those could do fine but you don't want to risk them if you don't have to. Check online and see if there are any sites that say people have had issues with them on the scaleless. I see one site that says absolutely no on scaleless fish, remove them too to be safe. It seems Lifeguard is pretty caustic. Be careful when using meds and use exactly as directed!