xXInkedPhoenixX

Was spending a little time with tanks today. Packed up 4 baby Oto I sold today (I posted it on my Accidental Oto Keeper page) so Koianu is solo again in his tank but I haven't removed the QT wall. Not sure if I want to. I have 20 Oto babies in a floating breeder and they're still too small to add to the grow out but it may only be 2 possible 3 weeks before I can add them. I'll be thinking on it. He's been a very good sport about it. One of 3 Nerite Nanny snails in the tank with Koianu on the front glass this afternoon....with some shameless photo bombing...yes, I know you have a nice rear Koianu.... Meanwhile in the Angry Man tank.... I spotted 2 of my 3 wonderful Horned Nerites (Lock, Shock & Barrel) plotting along with their bladder snail friends on the plants: My baby Black Neon is doing good still but wasn't around when I was taking pictures (saw them earlier though), however it looked like the Harlequins and the Neons were having a momentary standoff: While Punk the Bolivian Ram was singing "I''m so prettyyyyy....oh so prettyyyyyyy..." Or maybe he was being serious, I can never tell:

Hello Betta friends! I know the updates are getting less frequent- mostly because there's not much to report. So you are aware GloBetta Serket is doing awesom in her new tank still, as well as Purple Dumbo girl Zaggi (saw her this week but the tank lights were off, Mum says she's great). White Twintail Halfmoon has had no takeers on the local aquarium club swap/buy forum. I'm not entirely surprised. I was talking to someone about the situation and I explained that shortly after I posted White another keeper (who had liked on my post) put up for sale a bunch of very beautiful wild-type Bettas. This forum has a lot of advanced aquarium keepers who are constantly swapping/buying and looking for breeding projects. No matter how pretty White is the fact remains that the advanced hobby has moved on from Betta like White and are more interesting in wild type and more exotic looking Betta (I think if I posted Koianu, my Koi Betta up, he would get sold- but that's not happenin'). So we're going to readjust and figure things out for White. Here is a pic of White today: Red Crowntail has had a week off the meds. No huge changes to report- as stated before he mostly stays up at the top of the tank but can motor around the surface fine and I haven't seen a lot of side floating. He has found his spot in the corner near a Betta leaf and some floaters. He eats well still and is able to hunt down his foods ont he surface- still reluctant to go below. @Odd Duck would you still recommend Prazi next? Here is Red today at rest in his corner, his color is looking pretty good and he might eventually have some nice blue irridescence on his scales:

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: A New Hope Good news today! So first a correction (I touched on it last post), my oldest babies, I thought I had 6 but because they are so fast and you never see them all at once (and my phone crashing and my aquarium app disappearing forever) didn't help my count. Ultimately I had 5. Sadly one of the little ones isn't doing great so I pulled them and put them in a small floating breeder back in the Parent Tank and hope they recover. They just don't seem to be swimming well and land upside down often- just as often as landing right side up. Belly looks full, no other visual issues so hopefully it's swim bladder that with time and fresher water in the Parent Tank will resolve. I'm hesitant to medicate them because they are so small but I might change my mind later. I'm treating a CPD for what I suspect is swim bladder issue so I could plop them in there at some point. Here's the little one that's being isolated: On to the GOOD NEWS! So I'd determined the four I had left were big enough and ready for a new home. I was going to sell them as a set. Yesterday I went onto the local aquarium club forum and posted them, saying I'd prefer them to go to a home where they had Otos or were planning to add Otos so we could see if they would spawn in other's tanks- I'm hopeful because this week I was helping a friend of mine with a sick Molly and they'd mentioned that they found an Oto baby (from some I'd given them!). I mentioned this in my post. Several people expressed interest. Within an hour (which included me going on a walk after posting- about 20 mins) I had them sold and arranged to meet the buyer this morning. They have a 125 gallon tank with 3 Otos (they lost a couple when they added them- which is not unheard of as we all know)- this is their new tank: They use ferts so that's ok my Otos are used to higher Nitrates (consistently 40ppm) and they don't use a heater which I think is especially helpful as I suspect the temp flux in an unheated tank is a spawning trigger. So off I went this morning to meet the new buyer- for those of you who also follow my Colossal Idiot thread I used Purple Dumbo Girl (now known as Zaggi)'s Betta cup to transport these 4 little ones: They sat in my cup holder for the 20 minute drive to their new, grateful keeper. They are excited to see if they will spawn in the 125 and asked to be notified later for more- they will keep me posted on their well-being and any spawning. Also sent me a message after the transaction to thank me again. So I'm really excited to find buyers that appreciate my little ones. I get it- I still don't know anyone who has successfully raised Oto babies- wouldn't it be cool to have my babies go out in the world and start a wave of Tank Bred Otocinclus- a small natural miracle. I got home to update my "pending sale" post to a "sold" post and found yet another message. So I advised the 6 people who expressed interest would get first dibs on the 20 up and coming babies- of course that includes my buyer. Woo hoo!

Old, modified wooden desk. Great to hold supplies, knobs clearly old my towel, lol. I have an organizer where you'd normally put a chair, and the pumps are behind it. It actually usually looks neater than this but I've got 2 hospital tanks going right now.

Thanks @Guppysnail for your testimonial. I really love my Aquatop cube and am debating the 7 gallon one and the 5 gallon Pisces. I think they make a quality product and the reviews I've seen for the Pisces have been good overall. I like "plain" tanks just fine but when one is building a "display" tank especially when they are small I'd like something just a little different looking than the norm. @nabokovfan87, totally get it, most kit tanks are trash but there's got to be a decent one out there especially when you modify them- theoretically yes you shouldn't have to but the companies are also keeping in mind ease of use, let alone ongoing revenue from the filters. My Fluval Flex has worked out fine- but it's not a perfect animal- reminds me of the kit tank I bought in the beginning with the plastic hood and crappy light- but this Aquatop looks like a step up- most are saying the light is good- the pump isn't ridiculously expensive to replace (unlike the Flex which I did have to replace but found an aftermarket pump instead because of the $$$ Fluval asked for a new one). Aquatop glass is gorgeous too. The 7 gallon cube is 85 bucks with a lid so I'm already well on my way to the cost of a Pisces without a light, pump, filter, etc. So I haven't decided yet....

Thanks! Yes, same Oto, different name/descriptor. 🙂 Your tanks are beautiful!

@Old man from scene 3 yes, not on purpose though. Most of them are now tank bred from my original 7. I have 20 more new ones recently. I document my accidental breeding here: The Accidental Oto Keeper I've had recent proof that my tank bred Otos breed in other peoples' tanks- my friend who I gave some to recently found a baby. 🙂

Just wanted to post an update in reference to my post below: Some days after my experiment all but the Sword and 2 Marimo balls (so basically Java fern and Guppy grass, I left a couple of questionable rhizones in there) had to be pulled out of the QT and tossed- they didn't make a recovery. This could entirely be because they might have been too far gone. My Marimo have a lot of brown spots so I'm not sure if they will make it either. The tank is going back to its algae state unfortunately but I plan on cleaning it this weekend- it doesn't seem at least so far that the amazon sword is being attacked by the algae so hopefully I can keep it mitigated.

I still have Furan2 so it will be a while until I have to go for the Fizz tabs- but thanks for the heads up! 😄

I agree with @Mmiller2001, plants like AR are definitely going to do better in Co2 tanks but that hasn't stopped me from trying red plants. I have one tiny bit of AR left that ended up doing "best" in my low tech tanks in a short cube with high light- it could do better if it didn't have all sorts of floaters above it. Ludwigia Super Red was a hard one for me as well but easier than the AR in the end. I at first put it in a 20 tall- it has bright lights but clearly it wasn't bright enough to get it going. So I put it in the same tank as mentioned above with the AR- and it grows like crazy. I've taken to clipping the longest pieces and putting them in my 20 tall and those pieces do better now they are closer to the light- but still not perfect. They'll never be the colors that people like @Mmiller2001 can achieve with Co2 but they are another color and texture in my tank. I also have Ludwigia Red Needle leaf- which in my low tech tanks will never be red apparently it's just green but it takes well to a trim and replant. I have lots of Bacopa- that stuff is really easy- probably the easiest of the stems. One of the only ones that takes well to a trim and replant right away and never dies. Do have to say though, I think when you get new stems you are better off floating them in the tank until they grow roots- they are close to the light too and that helps. I've had less failure that way.

Hey all, I'm looking at potentially getting a 5 gallon Aquatop Pisces, but I might just go with one of their cubes and build my own tank so to speak- haven't decided. I like the idea of an all in one tank but never been ENTIRELY happy with most of them. Pumps fail, filtration is wonky, cleaning can be a bit of a PIA. Wonder if any of you have one? If you do what do you like or dislike about it? Also have you modified the internal filter? Is it possible to do so? (I realize there are YouTube videos, but I'd rather get "real" user opinions on the tanks)

Just wanted to pipe in regarding "overstocking" a tank. I have around 70 Otocinclus in a 20 gallon tall. It has lots of plants, they are bottom feeders so they're rather messy. I run two air driven filters and an HOB. I have no water parameter issues. If the fish are healthy, water stable, and they have plenty of room to move, the question of "overstocked" is really not about the numbers.

I've treated Columnaris once- it was a B to get rid of and I had losses, so if I even slightly thought it was that I would treat the whole tank. I still am not 100% sure it was Columnaris because it wasn't manifesting in the classic way but it couldn't have been much else. I'd treat the tank at least once even with the infected fish pulled and treated in QT.

Congrats winners!

Don't blame you, must consider your current inhabitants. You might be able to add some Celestial Pearl Danios- they aren't centerpiece fish but they are fun lower tank inhabitants, lots of action and the parameters you have are good. They have small bioload. I have 10 in a 4 gallon cube with no parameter issues. It is heavily planted. I also have 70+ Otos in a 20 gallon tall (it has extra filtration and lots of plants) so really it's all about what you're willing to do to keep the tank healthy. Personally I don't think you need a centerpiece, maybe just a few more friends. @OakenGobydoes this tank happen to be an Aquatop bookshelf tank?

Firstly, beautiful tank. You will get bombarded with people who will recommend Cory but I will be the lone ranger when it comes to saying Otos are great little fish to have in a tank like yours. 6 Vittatus types are small and will have almost no effect on your bioload. They are wild caught so I would not put them in without a good quarantine period. You did not indicate though what your temperature is, that may make a difference when choosing a centerpiece fish- especially when you mention Betta- they should be kept in a tank that is 80-82 degrees to live optimally. I would also like to add I have a tank with Endlers and Guppies as a group centerpiece and that tank works well. It wasn't until recently I added a Betta but she blends in so well with the others she's almost just part of the original centerpiece group 😄

Absolutely, appears to me that Geppetto is a Veil Tail.

It's beneficial- I just got tired of all the detrius they created and I don't have anyone to eat them. My resident Betta Koianu had a full leaf for a bit in addition to my tea but the bare bottom tank he has- well it' gets messy. If he had a tall anubias or other similar plant he'd probably lay his bubble nest there. They are very different than other schooling/shoaling fish. Betta aren't even Cichlids like Rams but they seem as intelligent. Not to say schooling/shoaling fish aren't in their own way but Betta definitely have individual personalities and they learn easily. This is why I quit keeping them for a while- you get attached to their personalities and I wasn't doing well keeping them. Didn't feel I was at their level or meeting their needs properly. I'm trying harder than I have in the past (not that I wasn't trying before, but I've learned a few more things that might help). Koianu broke me of my protest when I decided to keep a Betta in the grow out tank during the "off seasons" and he caught my eye. He's just as curious as what you are describing. My water dispenser is near his tank if I'm over there he's over there. If I'm in the tank he's close to whatever I am doing. He knows where his "food bowl" is (floating ring) and he's not a fan of the divider in his tank for the baby Otos but he's given up on trying to get over there. 🙂 They're fun. Yes I've noticed our shrimp and snail friends don't take to these leaves until they are well soaked which is about the time they create all the detrius I complain about. They do still have tannins in them too even after boiling so good that you can use them.

Also, just caught up awesome work with Geppetto! It's so nice of my fellow forum members to deem me "betta expert" because I am by far below that bar and just trying not to kill anybody. 😆 At times I "rescue" plants from the hardware store because they're dead or dying figuring I can't do much more harm and if they come back great! I suppose I did that with fish this time around. I've learned quite a bit from my thread, and still learning. We'll all learn together. I'm just glad others (forum members and apparently Betta) are benefitting from my learning experience.

Glad all is going well with Geppetto so far! Beautiful little fish! Also glad my tea making tips are helping. I find it rather convenient and easy though some might find it involved. Just depends on the lengths one is willing to go to for ones pets! Plus though just adding a leaf is convenient it can cause quite a bit of detrius that isn't so pretty- so unless you have critters that eat them, I prefer to make tea water.

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea not quite my friend. Mine is tan with just black polka dots that arent distorted/mostly uniform unlike @Cinnebuns's. Also doesn't have the striping down the sides on the tail. Besides that I would be no help- I have no clue what kind of loach Kirby is other than "Hillstream" per the label on the tank at the LFS when I got them.

Well sadly first of all seems he'll have to be solo in a tank due to his aggressive personality from this point forward- stress from chasing other fish helping to cause the rot. I've actually not treated finrot on a Betta before as thankfully my rescues did not have it. Personally I've had better experience with Kanaplex in healing most of the issues with my fish let alone Betta. If you want to go medication route that's what I'd do next. If not, fin rot is typically bacterial and often due to water quality. So I'd be on a regular water change schedule 1x a day 10-20%, resalt and I'd invest in Indian Almond Leaves which IMO are a MUST for Betta tanks anyway. I get my subscription ordered from Amazon- Boil a leaf or 2 in a stockpot and let them soak- then use that water in my water change routine. Make sure his tank is no less than 80 degrees and feed high quality Betta food. Make sure he can't see his reflection (more stress if he's flaring a lot) and there's nothing in the tank that can cause damage. Understand too, don't know how far you were from Aquashella distance wise and where your Betta breeder came from- but I've taken to only getting Betta from local breeders because they are raised in your water. This Betta may have been raised in totally different water and the change was a shock to its system. If you have contact information for who you bought the Betta from I'd contact them and get their water parameters and recommendations.

So today I wrote a post for the local forum for White Twintail Halfmoon. Asked a $20 rehoming fee so that I only get serious inquiries for him. We will see if I can find him an appropriate home. @TheSwissAquarist I won't be posting him on this forum as I will not ship him- he's been through enough trauma as it is- I will only subject him to a short car ride- I'm aware of a few locals to me on this forum but from what I've gathered Betta aren't their thing. We'll see what pans out in the next few days.

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The Parent Tank So it looks like I'm standing at 20 babies in the big floating breeder. They are all doing well. I clean their area every day with a pippette and put in new Repashy and/or Hikari wafer pieces and they are eating well. This morning in the little breeder I keep floating in the tank there was an adult- who apparently took it upon themselves to hop over into the box. It didn't seem happy about having trapped itself. The prior day had another adult trap itself between the large breeder and the tank wall. He or she was a bit red- who knows how long they'd been there when I was able to release them. They went frantically about the tank for a bit but soon disappeared hopefully they will be ok. I did get a pic of the early morning small breeder box entrapment though: Meanwhile in the Accidental Oto tank I have a few babies that are in the grow out. I thought I had six but at most in the last couuple of weeks I only count 5. One of them doesn't seem too well, it's not swimming right and sometimes lands upside down. He/She doesn't appear sick other than this behavior, nothing outward when they're not moving- So this is going to delay their sale and I'll need to keep an eye on everyone- I don't believe it's infectious though so I'm holding off on pulling that one.

Update time. A couple of days ago Red Crowntail got his last dose of Expel-P. I'm going to give him a break from meds for the next week at least (other than aquarium salt). He seems to appreciate the floaters I've put in his QT and likes to be lazy on the fake Betta leaf rests I put in the tank too. I did harrass him a little with my finger yesterday during feeding time and he did go to escape my finger by going about halfway down the tank. Didn't stay there long but this is still progress. He chases his food too so that's also good. This is him yesterday: I had an opportunity on a local forum to put White Twintail up for a potential keeper who was looking for a Betta but they did not respond. I will post him on his own some time this week to see if anyone wants him. I think though I'm going to run into an issue with people who are more advanced fish keepers, constantly trading and giving away fish- they're not going to want a "typical" Betta fish- seems the wild types, giants, koi and others are more popular right now. He's gorgeous no doubt but just because I think he's pretty doesn't mean that's what people want. I mean, he was at a pet store half dead so who knows how many people passed him before! We'll see what pans out!