xXInkedPhoenixX

Aww, fishy Friend, I'm so sorry for your loss. I know exactly how that feels and it's a terrible feeling. 😞 What a beautiful fish he was. I hope the new YoYos bring you some comfort.

Neon overnighted in the floating breeder and I released her this morning, she's still swimming fine and behaving very normally despite her deformity. I'm confident this is the best thing for her at this time.

Is it really a matter of dislike though? Like you said and I feel similarly there are lots of fish I think are neat and can see the appeal and I DO LIKE them- they're just not for me. For me this would be Bettas- can't keep them alive to save my life and I seem to be a decent fish keeper. They have beautiful forms in so many colors and wonderful little personalities. I'll enjoy others' Bettas, but no thanks, I'm good over here. 🙃

So today after work I had made an "appointment" to go get a fish from a guy who is shutting down a tank. He had a single Bolivian Ram (possibly male but he didn't seem positive and I'm not sure but don't really care) that was up for sale with the rest of the fish. I've talked about them on here, though I've done my research on them being good for community tanks and wanted one, never pulled the trigger. Nothing more motivating than when someone doesn't want an animal anymore. Poor little guy (or girl) had to tough out a 40 minute drive sloshing around a bit in a carrier (cause I don't have bags). I've done some temp and water acclimating. Once that got done and I prepped a 3 gallon QT got out my trusty ACO Catch Cup and here they are: I'm thinking Punk because I've always thought these guys looked like old school Punk Rockers and I like that genre. I may come up with something else depending on what kind of personality they show once they get settled in. I can tell you poor thing has almost no color is stressed to the nines. It's ok we'll spring back. He's been put in the QT with a plant from my Flex 9, a coconut hut and a used sponge from the Hygger filter from my Aquatop (I've got lots of these in rotation). This tank consequently is where I just pulled a sick Black Neon (whom I suspect has tumors/organ failure) so I cleaned it and here he will stay for the time being (after lights out- light in this case is a desk lamp): ...and he'll stay in QT until I deem them safe to introduce into the General Population of The Angry man tank: Which is another reason Punk is a good name. All aggro an stuff.....ok we mope a little bit right now...aggro later... they'll be king of the tank.

Perfect!! 👍👍

Beautiful fish, hilarious title!

Yes! Time for lights off then back on- works for me with my snail vase and my 4.12 gallon cube (I just have old manual timers). You have a fancy light lots of good ideas here: Fluval Plant 3.0 Scheduling and Programming

@JoeQ speak truth there. @Fish Folk adds an airstone to his heated discus tanks so that's worth a try if you don't have that going. The Siesta might help as lights sometimes add to the temp as well. Negates my comment on surface agitation but I think I'd rather go with the other two options.

@Colu Agreed. I think that's what makes Puffers so dang cute- they look so happy- even killing stuff! 😄

Glad you've had no further loses. It is not uncommon to lose Otos within the first month or so of taking them home- once you get past that point usually they're with you for the long haul. If you are not already, start leaving them out commercial foods to eat/get used to.

I'm wondering- is there a lot of surface agitation? I've noticed a lot of floating plants are not fans of that. Secondly- what about programming a siesta period? Plants seem to do much better when one is implemented. The way the plant melts could also be a sign of a deficiency, we have some good plant experts here that could pipe in

Nerites are better (and excellent) algae eaters than Mystery snails. Nerites cannot reproduce in freshwater (but females will lay eggs on surfaces -scattered all over your tank some people don't like it because they are white and are tough little things). Mystery snails have bigger bio loads than Nerites so you keep less of those- they also need to be fed a healthy diet - algae pellets, veggies, aquatic snail foods, Repashy- all good for them. Nerites don't eat commercial foods most of the time (but I have caught my Zebra Nerites on the Cucumber slices I put out for my Otos). Mystery snails definitely have personalities you can see. They lay eggs above the waterline and need humidity to hatch, they can have clutches that produce hundreds.

Seriously though, I'm dying here. 🥰

Welcome to the forum @A3M0N, looking forward to your contribution to the forum! 🙂

Just to update for any future thread searches by others. No change here with the Kanaplex, IAL water, Aquarium salt and 2x daily Epsom salt soaks. This week I plan to release her back into general population- my guess is she's suffering from tumors or organ failure that is not fixable by meds. I'll let her live out whatever days she has left (not eating) in there- or at the very least in a floating breeder in there. (or maybe she'll be encouraged to eat getting caught up in the morning feeding frenzy)

Expert hair cut. Very Punk Rock. Love it! Still one of the very best tanks here! 👍👍

I have a few that are brave, but of 70 some odd Otos that's not a high percentage! 🙃

They're mostly nocturnal in my experience. Also swim off when anyone approaches.

Awww I love it already!!! 🥰

I'm low tech and don't run heaters but as @Streetwise said, I don't keep fish like Bettas (80-82 degrees) or Discus (80 and up) that REQUIRE heat for good health and longevity. I keep fish that can live in the temp range that my tanks can maintain without heaters and yes the temps flux- my fish do well and I have zero issues related to temperature.

😃🙃 she's a back sleeper!

Welcome to the forum! I really like my Flex9 and I've made a lot of filter changes to it since I got it. They can be modified so I give them credit there! The 32 is a beautiful tank! Should be fun for you and the kids

Well congratulations on the spawn! I hope you get some success with it! 🥳 Ah yes, I'm sure I've asked you about your Rams before, they are, as are your other fish, beautiful. 😍

So the 2 there are definitely the culprits? I mean parents. The Rams....which kind are those?

My extra plants (roots or rhizones) literally just float around in a QT tank and they do just fine. So it depends on whether you want the plant tank to look nice because it's visible to others or if you're literally keeping them as back up/future plants in a tank whose looks don't matter. I personally find it easy to just root around in my plant QT and pull out what I want without worrying about disrupting substrate.