xXInkedPhoenixX

AMAZING! Welcome to the forum and thank you for providing a service to your community with passion! Looking forward to your contributions here!

I would watch them personally and if I felt their behavior wasn't quite what I wanted I'd get a few more. Their bioload isn't big and if your tank is stable it shouldn't effect it adding a few more (whatever your LFS sells them in small groups for I'd do- like when they say 4 for X amount of $). My Harlequins (10) and Black Neons (also 10) hang together and school when I approach the tank.

If it's just a choice between black or blue even Cory had decided though he chose blue for his store originally black is ultimately a better choice (and I believe they were switching over to that for the store). I have window cling film on the backs of my tanks and I like the patterned/transparent looks they lend- it's not for everyone though.

Well, since you asked @CJs Aquatics.... Recently my 7 year old smart phone fell to its death (though it was already on its way out the door)- complete and utter death (would not even blink at me). This sadly made me realize the importance of switching techs before the other tech is depleted....why? Well in the category of fish keeping (as there are so many other categories to cover but we'll just focus on the subject at hand) my aquarium app that I've been diligently keeping for 2 years or so is now completly lost to the ether. So...what to do? I mean my tanks are at a point where -opposite of when I started keeping them- they even need weekly testing or water change notes. (For the most part I was just documenting feedings on a daily basis). Are they nice to have? Yes. Do I need them? Meh....I don't think so. Sad part is, I do have pictures that will help (at least those were saved!!)- but keeping track of how old everyone is, including the tanks themselves will be a lot harder than it was just me opening an app and looking. I know what some of you are going to say- didn't you back it up? Yes, I believe I did- but where it went is beyond me. This wasn't the only app I had issue with not having my original phone to swap information with- up to and including my google account in the play store didn't even have a list of apps I'd downloaded in the past despite having logged in to the account with no issue. So I've been contemplating how to move forward with it all- though I'm pretty sure I'm just going to skip the digital record keeping- maybe just get a paper journal- go back through pictures and do my best to get dates for when tanks started and maybe when fish were added and only in the future document water parameter tests when I do them. I'm open to suggestions from those who are at a level where I am (no need for testing- tanks are stable and healthy) as to what they do but I think I'm over the diligent note taking! I'll tag @PineSong !!

Welcome to the forum! There is no help with MTS here, it's infectious. We just accept and have fun with it. 🙃

Welcome to the forum, this is a great place to grow in the hobby and document your own journey/share your knowledge and experiences!

So new Betta has his name- someone I know with better luck than me looked at the fish and asked about his markings (he's a Koi Betta I replied, bred to look like koi fish)- the name that rolled out just about instantaneously was: KOIANU REEVES. I laughed and I think I'll keep it though maybe the last name would be tweeked a little to REEFS and we can call him Mr. Reefs because try saying Koianu outloud- it's not an easy name to say! He's a good little eater which is a switch from some of the Bettas I've had in the past that were hit and miss with the eating thing. Here is Koianu eating this morning:

@Anjum now I know why kale has the texture of leather! It's the tough old homesteading cowboy. @PineSong I dunno if the spider plant is happy or wants to take over the planet- either way I'm good with it. 🙃

@redfish for mine I've not changed water- daily top offs tho due to a very thirsty Spider plant. It can go a few days without but it can get very low. Mine only has bladder snails.

Well @Patrick_G koi are my current favorite variety and I got a very very expensive one some years ago (from the breeder I mentioned in TX)- a giant koi female and sadly she just failed to thrive and was dead within a couple of months despite my efforts. She was one of the prettiest fish I've still ever seen though here are a couple of pictures from when she first got to me....such a shame I couldn't get her to live: ...and @Flumpweesel we shall see. Like a lot of fish keepers here I've had no luck with Betta fish- so like I said Mr. No Name may or may not have a chance with me. I can keep sooooo many other fish alive and get Otocinclus to breed but I can't get a single Betta to live much past a year. SMH.

This is what 5 and a half feet of Spider plant looks like people (the babies have babies which have babies who are having babies...):

Anyone else have an update form their scapes from scraps? I've taken mine down from its shelf that it started on- the ends of the spider leaves were browning due to less light than it needed- it's such a light hog and the plant lights I have just weren't enough for it anymore. So before I decide to give it away to a relative I thought I'd try one more place in my house- next to my terrarium and Flex9 tank near a big slider window and an LED office light that stays on most of the day. We'll see how it does.

I love "Little Red" one of a trio of snails in my 10 gallon grow out.

On a trip to a local fish store with my 13 year old nephew on a whim I stupidly decided to try my hand at Betta keeping again despite swearing them all off. I have zero expectations for him to live very long but I've done a few things I didn't do before to help him live longer: I got him from the LFS instead of the big box store- now this may mean absolutely nothing as I'm not sure where they source their Bettas from- I could have asked but didn't- my hope is that they buy them from a local that has raised them in "my" water. I've purchased one from a breeder once and that went worse than any of my big box store purchases but I'm in CA and the breeder was in TX so maybe that didn't help. I have a heater in the tank and the tank has been between 80-82.5 degrees. I have been using tank water for all my tanks with a brew of Almond Leaf but I also put one whole leaf in his tank. This tank is actually the Accidental Oto tank (used as a grow out) and has only been occupied by 3 Nerite snails so I figured, why not- it's going to be a while until my baby Otos are ready to move to the grow out so QT will be long over for a "new" fish and I ordered a tank separator for when I do add them in- not that I'm concerned about the Betta doing much- it's more about ease of catching them when they're ready to go to a new home. He doesn't have a name yet. I'm letting someone with more luck than me name him, so TBA. (Though Misslepop has come to mind):

Punk has been with me for 3 months and he's doing well. This morning had some sunlight hit the tank and it brought out some of his colors in a different way- looks like a piece of labradorite to me:

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The Parent Tank Babies are now 2 months, 11 days. After some escaped from the breeder when I accidentally tipped it I only managed to gather up a few of them after. One of my floating breeder boxes isn't as good as the other so I swapped them out so that hasn't happened again. I've also had a couple losses. I've mentioned in the past that the babies kind of freak and mosh pit others to death. I'm down to 6 total- one is isolated as they are super small compared to the others- but otherwise they're all doing fine. I ordered a tank separator for my 10 gallon Accidental Oto tank as it has a new resident and I plan on giving these 6 Otos only part of the tank to grow out in- plus it will make it easier for me to catch them when it comes time instead of the run of the whole tank. Shouldn't be an issue but before I can let them loose in there I have to make sure the tank separator will truly keep the tank separated- meaning that they are big enough they won't try and squish through to the other side damaging themselves. Anyway, here's on of the babies:

New post for Leon. He's gotten more beautiful over time, but I'll admit the jellyfish were my favorite part of this new video!

Sourdough- because I'm tough on the outside and soft in the middle- I'm a little bitter but once you get a taste of me you can't resist coming back for more!! 🙃

@gardenman you are absolutely correct. I have 2 usb airpumps and a lithium backed pump that all look and operate exactly as the ACO's and I got them long before they put theirs out. All made in China for Amazon.

OTOCINCLUS VITATTUS: The Parent Tank So while cleaning recently I tipped the largest of the 2 floating breeders with the older babies and lost some of them to the main tank area. I think over the last week I've caught all of them again as I caught one more this morning. I have to do a head count and make sure. I might be looking for one more. My shift has changed so I'm doing these things at O-dark-thirty in the morning so I'm not at my sharpest- however this is when I get my short daily tank mantentance done and everyone gets fed. The tank lights are off by the time I get home. When I switched my hours my fish did not seem pleased to be up at such an ungodly hour. I can't say as I blame them. Anyhoo the babies are growing nicely: It's a lot harder for me to get pictures of the adults but I'm telling you I have some absolutely gorgeous Oto specimens and some of them seem to be gettiing huge. There was a moment this last week when I was doing a major cleaning that I swear I thought I could see what looked like a juvenile Tiger Oto- maybe it was just an extra gorgeous Vittatus- they move so fast and there are so many places to hide in the Parent Tank that it's hard to spot even a few especially during the day- and while they are more active at night of course I have a hard time seeing the details as it is dark. I was hoping one among these babies could be a Tiger but so far they look llike the Vittatus babies I've raised. One can hope.

He definitely reminds me of a nature show narrator @Chick-In-Of-TheSea

Yep, we've been following here... Not Freshwater, But Fascinating https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/18754-not-freshwater-but-fascinating/

It may have not grown in how you would have liked but I think it's growing at just the right pace (can you imagine the plant maintenance if it grew faster?). Still one of my favorite tanks here on the forum! More Otos! More Otos! More Otos!

Well deserved @Chick-In-Of-TheSea @nabokovfan87 @FrozenFins!

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The Parent Tank Just checking in here, all the babies are doing well in fact I caught 1 more that was about the same size as the original ones found. The solo baby in the small breeder box is slower growing so they remain there for now. I've also seen evidence that there were more babies.....