xXInkedPhoenixX

@mgudyka Well then there's that right? My tank is pretty clean though, even with the algae wafers about. I usually only put about half per day.

Aww @starsman20 my huge condolences to you. I love my snails I'm always bummed when they die.

A little tooooo much fun lately if you ask me! They get to have all the fun I get to do all the cleaning/caring! 🙃

Fishy Friends!!! More!!!! 😮😯 Good lawd, here comes Gen 3

nothing like catfish to bring fun to a tank...

@anewbie I rarely see my adults (and also cannot confirm if they are all alive), they hang out at the sponge filter all day. I only see them dancing at night a little. HOWEVER my babies, they are much more out in the open than their parents, I see them constantly in the parent tank- those of generation 1 I've let hang out in there.

Mine still refuse to eat any fresh foods, just wafers and algae in the tank. I haven't tried cucumber tho....going to do that...

GREAT looking fish!!! (and the tank ain't bad either!) Keep that up and you will have a 75 at some point.

@SeverumKeeper did you mean to get 2 males? Since I only keep smaller fish usually in larger groups so just wondering if they do sort these things out or if you have to remove someone or trade for a female?

I use cheesecloth and a rubber band at the end of my gravel vacuums when I'm concerned about sucking up small denizens. Granted it can still happen, gotta keep an eye on them, but they get stuck to the cheese cloth instead of going up inside the tube and if you're diligent enough about watching you can squeeze the tube to release them hopefully no worse for wear. If there are better ideas for that I'd certainly like to know them!

@mgudyka aww. If it's being bullied you'd have to separate them permanently possibly no? What about trying a tank divider is that possible as a temporary reprive to see if that's the case? Or if you have to move one I'd move the one that's eating/less nervous. The lean one is probably stressed enough? I've never kept puffers so take my ideas with a grain of salt.

I can't speak to the mix per se but they carry the same name. I used the liquid form when I had an outbreak and was successful with it. I contacted API because I was also using heat and still feeding my fish and that seemed to have caused ammonia levels I wasn't comfortable with so I asked them if I could do water changes (because it makes no mention of it in their directions) I did do those and made sure to do it on redose days (which was every other day if I remember correctly). I imagine if you feel mixing meds might be an issue you could change some of the water if that made you more comfortable.

Caught 2 more today for 32 on Gen2

THAT'S more like it. (Too bad I can't let them hatch)

@Jennifer V I'd feel bad if I sucked one of them up. As it is when I do a water change I use cheese cloth and a rubber band at the end so they have a chance against the suction. AND I use a flash light to illuminate them. I need 3 hands really to do a water change. 4 would help too.

@Jennifer V If you think that's labor intensive try doing it with lab pips, it's what my paranoid self is using around my Oto babies.

Ok fishy friends. Short update. As mentioned above the 2nd generation of babies are now floating in a large breeder in the 10 gallon Romper Room. I vacuumed out their turf to prepare for new Hikari Wafers and took a pic, see if you can spot all 30! Momma fish is now hanging out in the corner where she previously laid her other batches. I haven't seen any eggs on the undersides of the leaves at least so far but they are nearly invisible- maybe she's just getting ready. There COULD be another laying female but I've not seen evidence of it or where another female might be posting up. From what I understand the female doesn't lay that many eggs. Going on 30 babies caught each lay and knowing that I've lost only a few that I can confirm before they made it to the breeder boxes I'm betting I only have the one female laying. Maybe someone else who has done this can chime in with their experience.

Thanks @MollyMomma didn't realize my babies were in an email lol. We're as famous as we're ever going to be now 😂 I'm glad I have this forum to come to to talk about my Oto babies. The people in my life have got to be internally rolling their eyes at me by now. 🙄 They patiently wait for me to finish my daily Oto adventure stories. Clearly they don't know the apparent small miracle my fish have performed. Today batch 2 was moved into the larger breeder box (I believe I'm at 33?! I'll be counting or trying to tomorrow) in the 10 gallon grow out tank. The parent tank is undergoing some rearrangement while there *seems* to be a pause in breeding- I haven't seen Momma where she'd usually be sitting to guard eggs. They tend to do their breeding dance at night so while I type this in the dark they may be doing so- I'd never know. I HAD lighting ready for the grow out tank as the final piece came this week HOWEVER technical issues have me returning said lighting to its internet store and I'm waiting yet again on a light. I have this tiny, itsy bitsy LED light that's for a 3 gallon tank for now on a timer and it's TERRIBLE for pictures. I also hope my plants don't hate me too much, thankfully it's in a bright room during the day (no direct light). Thank you @Aquater for that tip, I'm actually aware of that paint! I wish I would have thought of that before. I didn't think black would be a bad color but now because I haven't had lighting I'm second guessing it. I'll know that for next time. 😁

You are very welcome, glad I could help. 🙂

@Casual aquatics I think it helps that it's under a patio cover all its life, never gets too cold for it so it never entirely dies off. I live in a pretty temperate zone. I also grow blueberries and have a couple of bonsai plenty of people said I wouldn't be able to keep alive. I think when people tell me that I'm that much more determined to prove them wrong. 🙃

@Casual aquatics Yep. Been with me for many years chillin in a pot. It has died back and returned like the Gerber zombie that it is many times, despite having fallen off a moving truck once and been knocked over by the gardeners. I also have a near 30 year old Christmas Cactus. ....ohh scratch that, it's 34, my grandma had it in 1987.

Backatcha, from my 15 year old Gerbera Daisy plant.

@Hobbit though my betta seemed good the vast majority of his life (no hiding, active, ate, followed me) -- I won't keep another one just in case it was the cooler temp (78 isn't to me, but hey I'm not a fish) that caused what I think is an earlier death than desired. When I started my other tanks I made sure the species I picked were fine in the unheated tank. I really like not having to worry about a heater breaking/mafunctioning. I'm the type of person that would run 2 just in case the other failed (and that's ugly to me but gotta do whatcha gotta do). I was also concerned about what would happen if it DID fail, or the power went out for 2 days (like @RockMongler) and they were SO used to *insert temp here* that they were unable to adapt? Personally I think it's natural to expect a "high temp" and a "low temp" during the course of a day. My tanks never get below 71 and that's rare. I live alone so I can set my temps wherever I dang well please and that's typically on the warmer end of the spectrum. (75 in summer, at least 74 in winter). Everybody I've picked is good with it- even when the guy at the LFS tried to convince me I needed to run a heater....

...and there's 30, taunting me. Some of Generation 1 is still in the parent tank- they can stay. I think there are 4-6 of them? I never see them all at once.

I did have an unheated 5 gallon Betta tank. His temp was typically 77-78 degrees. He sadly only lived to a bit over a year but the vast majority of that time he was active and healthy.