xXInkedPhoenixX

Awesome! Welcome to the forum @Rxhart. Just so you know, we like pictures here. 🙃

Pretty Globetta girl Serket in the sunlight today:

Nothing new to report. Crowntail will be getting his last dose of Expel-P per @Odd Duck's treatment plan on Saturday. Everyone in my house got water changes and some maintenance done today. The desk where the 2 QT tanks sit have a little bit of sun in the morning. Both boys were soaking up the rays. Poor Mr Crowntail still looks sad (don't worry little buddy we're not done with you yet), put some floating plants in his tank today from my Aquatop Cube: HOWEVER....CHECK THIS OUT.... I mean C'MON!! Seriously stunning little boy there.

Welcome to the forum! Very nice fish and snail!

Beautiful tank @Jenna, welcome to the forum! You are among friends and cohorts here!

Today I had a chance to visit Mum's house and check in on Zaggi, formerly of this thread: A COLOSSAL IDIOT walks into a pet store....(an illustrated tail - intentional misspelling- of woe) Things are going well for her per my Mum, says she ultimately chose the name suggested by @Minanorabecause it reminded her of her friend Maggie from many years ago and she liked the twist on it. I asked her if she continues to harass the Guppies and she said no- so that's awesome- but she is a pig, stole the African Dwarf Frog's food from Mum's tweezers while I was there. Mum's tank is a nice green jungle (looks greener than it really is in the picture): The heater she got is apparently doing its job and everyone seems real happy here. Zaggi appears to be thriving, this is very good to see after her ordeal at the pet store. Mum says she's taken under the bridge as her turf. You can see though- she waits at the food dish.... 😆

I'm sorry you are having trouble @CandyEllerKern, Bettas, despite industry saying otherwise, are not easy fish at all- yours in particular will be more suseptible to issues due to the very long fins, IME. I'm no expert, but you don't have to have a tank to QT him. Get yourself a plastic tote (I prefer the kind you can see through 3-5 gallons) and you can squeeze out your sponges into that, get a pump and airstone and you've got a QT. Being in Canada you're short on available meds so I'm not familiar with what you can get. Personally I prefer Kanaplex for an antibiotic but Salt and IAL (Indian Almond Leaf, I make a tea with it) with many water changes may help. If your tub is big enough you can get a small flat heater to make sure the temp is maintained. If he's bloated though- this is where I think it's possible we have organ failure (and potentially Dropsy, so look for pineconing- which is just a symptom of a very large problem). Try Daphnia for roughage if he'll eat anything, bloodworms if all else fails (as most Betta can't resist the worm).

Nope. He's truly beautiful. I have a feeling with the right tank lighting he's going to take breaths away.

Personal experience says that Betta require 80-82 degree water to live OPTIMALLY being air breathers needing humidity. So I'll heat my Betta tanks. Like others I tend to avoid keeping fish that need them because my tanks run naturally from 72-81 (depending on time of year, summer hotter, winter cooler)- and of course this also naturally fluxes. I would also say Discus require 80+ never seen a video or article that didn't say that.

Feeding time in the @xXInkedPhoenixX house this morning. Feeding the Flex9 aka Ember House where my GloBetta Serket has recently moved in from this thread: A COLOSSAL IDIOT walks into a pet store....(an illustrated tail - intentional misspelling- of woe) She's doing really well, her personality is super chill. Beside her co-hort the Hillstream Loach Kirby she's one of the calmest in the tank (well honestly the Ember Tetras are chiller than either of them). I'm really happy about her getting along here. She comes to the top of the tank just like the Guppies and Endlers do though when it's time to eat! This is the view from above: HOWEVER, this is not that exciting when compared to what I found in the Angry Man tank! Today I found a BABY BLACK NEON!!!! Clearly they have been here a while because they are too big to be eaten and are now out in the open- so they've been hiding (smartly) up until now. Less than half an inch long looks just like its large parents. This is so amazing! I never thought my Neons would breed anything! Here is a 14 second video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dfeQkQYjVJSYSMqo6 Little fish are really hard to catch a defined picture of since they move so much (and no thanks to the camera that takes too long to focus when compared with a speedy creature). It didn't help that I was trying to take pics while the little one was catching frozen brine with the adults. I was thrilled to see this though- it's a cute little thing.

Welcome to the forum! This forum has a wealth of experience and knowledge from which we can all learn!

Ok Betta friends it's update time. Last 2 patients still hanging with me. As I've mentioned before White Twintail Halfmoon is just waiting out days to see what his fate is. I haven't decided what direction to go yet. He's not been medicated in some time, eats well, seems to be enjoying his new spot with some floating plants added like Serket the GloBetta did. I can't believe how pretty he is- I've never seen one quite like him. Anyway thought I'd post you a short Google video of what I see when I look at him: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ew1LqCRtdYCjZLSB6 Then there's the still: I mean, little one has come a long way since that fateful day in September: I'm really proud of all of them- they are such little fighters. Just an affirmation of the will of all creatures to live and what they can do when they just get a little boost from the outside. I say that and want you all to see this (especially @Odd Duck). I took a short video of Mr Red Crowntail tonight: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ctns8gc2pR1aSECQ7 I mean I couldn't be prouder of this one.....of all of them he's been the hardest but the most stubborn. I could tell he was really trying. He's still not there. I don't see him break from the surface (sometimes he'll do it when chasing sinking food but it doesn't last long), but he's swimming more than he has since day one. I'm very much hoping I can get him to full recovery point but I know that will take more time- but I really think he's looking (and especially ACTING) so much better: Much better when compared side by side: So he has a long way to go but showing a lot of promise in recent days. He very much reminds me of art. The art that came to my mind in particular is similar to the artists you mentioned but also one of my favorite fantasy artists, Brian Froud (he designed the puppets for The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, worked very closely with Jim Henson a personal hero of mine). In his book Good Faeries Bad Faeries he does a series that are Spirits, and I love them. These are some: The red one even reminds me of Mr. Crowntail. Even the name of the painting is appropriate. This is the one that reminds me most of Mr. Halfmoon: So if I end up keeping one or both inspiration will come from art and spirit because these two have both in them. Hope you all have enjoyed this update, and thanks for coming along with us. 🙂

@Jennifer V I tend to like to run a warmer house. My thermostat is at 75 in the summer and 72 in the winter. I run lower thermos in the winter because it's easier to zone heat my house. The room where my fish are I run a Dyson heater/fan and set it to 78 (which actually keeps the VERY large room they are in at a bit over 73 at night). My tanks run now in winter from 72-75 degrees. On another thought this may be some of the reason my wild caught Otocinclus spawned- often fluctuations in temps trigger spawning.

I saw this thread and everyone had already chimed in but I figured this would happen: My tanks other than my Betta tank (who REQUIRES higher temps not capable in a normal home without a heater) don't run with heaters- everyone is good and I believe the natural fluxes in temps (which aren't huge but clearly happen in the day/nights) are actually better for the fish.

@redfish I get it, that's why I always break it down they're under $4 a net- however I realize yes you still have to spend the 14 bucks. True we don't know quality but I've yet to buy a "cheap" net that didn't do it's job- definitely though true of other things like pumps and HOB- however even Cory has mentioned that people still have complaints about nets which is why he designed his (and he's gotten complaints with his too- there's always someone lol). I think they only thing I might be concerned with is the extendable part but I'd still try it because having longer reach is always handy in my house with taller tanks.

They will come to the front a lot. Mine also do this, that's ok, when I'm not there they go in and out of all the places I have in the tank for them. That's exactly what I'm talking about, when the Tetras go through the group the Guppies kind of break up and then get back together again eventually.

@JettsPapa I saw that, it's funny that different colors of the same product cost less.

Thanks, he wasn't sick, I think he was just old. I saw your post, I was sorry to see that. I wasn't sure what it was so I didn't answer it- but there's lots of causes for bloat. 9 could be good it's really just group dynamics. It's just like Betta fish, one can be very aggressive the other could be very mellow- same with a group- some could work out fine others can be too much. Just watch your tank, provide places for fish to hide/rest and have visual breaks in the tank. My tank also has 7 Ember Tetras, nobody harrasses them but they seem to help break up the chaos at times. It just depends. 🙂

The answer is no. They will always chase each other and harasss each other. This makes for a very active tank- you do have to watch for aggression and body/fin damage. The key most of the time is to find the right balance of numbers. The more targets a fish has the less chance any one guppy or endler is harassed "to death". I have 3 Guppies (male, 1 recently passed 😞 ) and 5 Endler males. I notice that certain ones stick together and certain ones pick on particular ones- however it's not to the point of anyone getting hurt so it seems I've gotten this particular balance right- the tank has plenty of hides and plants so fish can get away when they need to.

Welcome to the forum @PeaCe nice tank!

Why choose, get them all! 😄 Check this out! https://a.co/d/46hVRkm For $14.39, both shapes and both sizes (and they're extendable, handy) that's less than $3.75 a net. Not a bad deal.

My opinion is that there is a tool for every job. You can't use a hammer in place of a screwdriver. 🙂 I mean, I guess you could but it won't do quite as good as the other....

@Rita I say stick with the Embers. Get a couple of Nerites and call it good!

They (the Guppies) might be 3x the size but they are never faster than the rockets that are Endlers (at least in my mixed tank).

@JohnNYC unfortunately sometimes the industry sets a new fish keeper up for failure- you really do have to be your own advocate and do the research. Generally when I start a new tank I find the fish that's basically the centerpiece (whether it's a solo fish or a group) and build the tank around THAT fish. If the potential candidates for plants, fish, snails, shrimp etc don't have compatible needs or behaviors they get immediately nixed from possibilities. So what I would suggest is figure out which of the 2 fish you'd rather keep, GBR or Neons and see if the LFS will take back the ones you decide aren't for you. Neon Tetras are great beginners fish. Maybe the GBR tank is in your future. 🙂 Sorry you're having issues, but it's true, we all go through issues in this hobby- and we always learn from those issues.