xXInkedPhoenixX

@modified lung just kind of says something about their level of commitment. That would drive me crazy- probably best I don't join.

@Fish Folk your club seems very organized compared to what I can see from mine and has much more information about BAP. The club's site here looks like a very outdated, flashing advertisments galore website so it makes one feel like the club isn't very into their appearance which is a consideration for me too- part of my hesitation.

@Seattle_Aquarist well Roy that's kind of what I was hoping I could do, go see some speakers (they seem to get some interesting ones) and socialize with other people in the hobby. A lot of my friends have left the area and I find myself without a social life. Would be nice to do in person stuff but sadly it seems to be very limited to those who work m-f. 😐

I'm with you @Ken Burke - in the club site I have I can see there are points for spawning, raising fry, points for a talk (minimum 15 minutes), something about documentation, and they require you to donate x number of fish to the club too. ??? That still doesn't really tell me what's involved and requirements- is there a nationwide standard or is this just a club by club thing? etc and so forth.

Thanks @modified lung yeah sounds like there's not a whole lot there for me. I have plenty of good people/info on this forum. I don't really want anymore fish but would be nice to contact people who might want my homegrown Otos when I get them so I was just thinking ahead for that. Not sure I'd ever want to do a BAP thing just wasn't sure what it was really about.

Yeah @ange I'm in the same city as my local club but since I work all the weekend stuff, auctions/swaps and in person talks I'd miss because of working. I'm hoping there might be classifieds but I can't tell without being a member. I do see there is a forum, but again members only not sure how active it is. It's not like it would be expensive though it's only 20 a year so no skin off my back to try. I just drag my feet over it.

My Guppies and Endlers do this too, they just fearlessly follow my hand around when I'm in there, always want to play in the new water streams doing changes, and come to inspect the turkey baster when I'm spot cleaning.

I didn't see a general discussion, I just see people mentioning their "BAP" awards. I've been on the fence about joining my local club (seems like all the true benefits to being in one is to be able to go to meetings, which are on weekends, which I work 😑). Anyway, I know one of the features of a lot of clubs are BAP and HAP awards. My area club's site looks like something I used to see in the 90s (and I don't have social media so I can't follow them there). Limited information. Can someone explain the steps and benefits of something like this? Or if you want to comment on the benefits of being in an Aquarium Club (especially if you can't attend meetings like me) that would be nice too....

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The Accidental Oto Tank Morning roll call aka daily Where's Waldo: Still only one little one in the tank so far, seems to be coloring up some. Plenty of biofilm and a litlte detrius at the bottom of the tank to keep them going. I'm going to leave them loose in the tank for the time being.

I was doing that on my own for some time (because I wasn't sure if 1 sponge was enough for my tanks)- I've since learned it's very good practice to jumpstart tanks and/or quarantines so I've done it ever since. I keep a couple of extra sponge filters on hand for this purpose- it's saved me many times.

Sounds like a good plan. Mine never dissolved. In one case it was in the tank a month or more. There was still the same amount of liquid in it when I pulled it out and tossed it- was funny to me because the inside of the package had condensation from what I presume was leaking.

Yeah I'm really not sure what is supposed to happen with those- I ended up throwing all mine away because I went a different direction anyway- but you might be able to poke a hole in it and squeeze the contents out.

That looks to me to be Java Windelov...which is a Rhizone plant so don't bury the rhizone, glue it to a rock or wood and it will grow and eventually produce baby plants

Plant melt is not unusual when putting in new plants- they are adjusting to your tanks. Cut/remove dead or dying leaves so the plant no longer puts energy into them and into newer growth. Ferts are up to you. It often depends on the kinds of plants you are trying. Also if you are new at plants you may want to try all in one like Easy Green from Aquarium Co-op. If you are using planting substrate (like Eco Complete) you don't really need anything for a while (IMO). I am low tech and don't use any fertilizers but I only grow plants that can tolerate these conditions- easy grow plants like Anubias, Java Fern and some others. 🙃

Any small change can send a tank sideways so this isn't unusual. Any time I move tanks I look at it as a fish in cycle until the tank proves me otherwise. The sad part is Bettas are very sensitive fish so I understand your concern entirely. Watch that Aqueon ball.....I used them and none of the times did the ball actually burst or dissolve...

Looks like a whole lotta joy to me!

Hi @Anjum. I agree with @CalmedByFish maybe once the temp is stabilized (8-82) and ammonia/nitrite is staying 0, and nitrates start testing in a reasonable range, I wouldn't do anything further (the IAL is fine). Poor guy has gone through a lot of changes in a short period of time- very stressful. Ph of 7.6 is fine. Overall to stabilize the ph you could put some crushed coral in your tanks- it's slower acting when first put in but better than chemical additives that you have to constantly add/keep up with. Less fluctuation and stress for your fishy folk.

You also have natural predators that have probably come to visit already (i.e. bird). Shadows don't help them either- in my TANKS indoors if I walk between certain lights and the tanks they scatter. All the things you mentioned is a lot for them to take in at one time so honestly I'm not surprised with their stress- it may just take time before they settle in.

My understanding is that shrimp are the most vunerable after they molt so I don't think death is uncommon around that time- if there's anything off with the water it probably caused it. I don't even mean ammonia. I've put shrimp in a tank "new" to them and lost them after they molted though water testing showed there were no parameter issues- whatever it was that was off was something the shrimp required that I didn't test for- or the suspect in my case may have been more copper in my water than I know about. So sadly I don't try to keep shrimp anymore.

My Otos do this too. Look like little trophies. They also "stand up" the same way, barely touching a support with a fin.

Haha nearly the same words a friend of mine uses, but about black cars/trucks 😄

Some apps can also read the colors- I've never used it so I cannot speak to accuracy but Aquarium Note has this feature.

THE ACCIDENTAL NURSERY/COCAMA HOTEL: A New Life This will be the last time I mention this tank here, but I thought I'd bring up what has happened to the 5.5 gallon that was once the tank above. It is now my Mum's upgraded African Dwarf Frog tank. I built my Mum a 3 gallon Glofish brand cube tank last year around this time for Mother's Day. She really wanted to have frogs again (had them many years ago). The plan at the time was only to get one but she felt it would be unfair to the frog to only have one. So we got 2 tiny frogs with the plan to upgrade at some point to a larger tank- especially if there were parameter issues. Well coming up on a year the tank has done REALLY well- very rare water changes, mostly just top offs. The plants (just 2 Anubias, some Duckweed and Guppy Grass) were getting bigger and the Guppy Grass was pretty and healthy but despite taking out some from time to time still made it a bit harder for the ADF- which are 3x the size they were when we got them- to move around. The pump also took a dump on us a month or so ago and the replacement we ordered didn't work quite as well as we'd hoped but it was hobbling along. This was a good place to put the 5.5 and give it a new life. So after sanitizing the tank, getting more substrate and pulling some plants from the Accidental Oto Tank and grabbing some Parent Tank stem plants, wood, one of my spare air pumps and sponge filter. I drove to Mum's and went about setting up the new tank. Mum likes the blue glass streams I typically do and was a part of her old tank so this was done again in a little bit bigger way. The ADF, "Angry White Frog" and "Best Friend" with their buddy Nerite "Nerd" got put into my trusty ACO Catch Cup with some wayward Duckweed while I worked on the new tank and my Mum broke down the old one, pulling some rocks, and the blue glass that was in there to be used in the new tank. New tank was set up, frogs were temp acclimated (failed to tell Mum while she was filling bottles to try and match the temp of the old tank water (there was a 6 degree difference so it took some time to acclimate from 77 degree original tank to 71 degree new one). Thankfully the temperature came up by the time I left later in the evening. The frogs are seemingly MUCH happier with their new digs- AWF (Angry White Frog) was moving around from one side to the other many times. BFF (Best Friend) found their spot by the heater between the tank wall and the Hygger sponge (blends in perfectly too, the little one eluded me for a while with that). She wanted to add fish but I've talked her out of that by telling her we were already pushing the bio load and size limit with 2 frogs in a 3 gallon and still kinda doing it in the 5. She understood. I told her when the tank gets established she could add ONE Nerite. I had to give her some hope for another creature, haha. Anyway, she loves it- more importantly the ADF are better off too!

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS: The Accidental Oto Tank I cleaned the tank today, put new (read: cut more precisely) sponges in the HOB, sucked up the last of the detrius. Went to do a water test on it later and.....

OTOCINCLUS VITTATUS AND COCAMA: From the Accidental to the Parent Tank THE FINAL EPISODE Today was the day to move whoever the last of the Vittatus were from the Accidental Oto Tank to the Parent Tank. I knew there were at least 15 or more but decided I'd catch all and release them to their new home today. Took my trusty ACO Catch Cup and went about removing things from the Accidental tank. Ultimately there were 25 Otos! Bringing the total roll call of Otos moving from the Accidental to the Parent tank to 55 Otos (5 of which were the Tigers so 50 Vitattus). As the last 2 batches they were acclimated in the Catch Cup with a new cup of water every 15 minutes for about an hour and a half. I counted them several times to make sure I counted correctly can you spot them all? 🙂 So they were dispersed in to the Parent Tank, extra food and cucumber placed for the new batch. A close eye will be kept on the tank for the next few days but all should be well- I'm not expecting any issues. Prior to the release: Short Google video of the release:https://photos.app.goo.gl/AwWFKRrtPjEoR9zR6 Can you believe the Parent tank has 71 Otos!? Give or take a couple- exact number in the Parent tank has never been verified just approximated. In the next few weeks I'll decide how the future of the Accidental Oto Tank looks. I've moved some of the plants including an Amazon Compacta to the Parent tank and a few of the plants attached to rock and wood. There are a few left in the Accidental tank that I plan to use in my Mum's upgraded ADF tank- I'll be recommissioning the sanitized 5.5 that was formerly known as the Accidental Nursery to give her ADF a bigger tank with more reliable filtration. That is being built tomorrow. I'm thinking of creating a bare bottom "bonsai" style tank with the Accidental and will likely add a couple of Nerites to keep the tank going. I may even move it from it's current spot but haven't decided yet. Time will tell!