Torrey

So, various fish words, and the color of the tile works like mastermind to tell you how you are doing?

Welcome to the nerms!!!

Everytime I look at your tank, I am a little less homesick

I have seen all of these, at one point or another. I documented the hydrogen sulfide in my "Walstad Inspired...' journal. I've also had aquariums for almost 5 decades, so I have had plenty of opportunities to learn by screwing up first. Temperature affects decomposition, so it's an important variable to know. An 82 to 86 F Discus tank with a deep substrate might have hydrogen sulfate bubbles being released (deep substrate) but it would also have a faster rate of decom--> methane off-gassing would be fairly likely, especially with a shallow substrate. High tannic ==> lower pH metabolizes decom faster (peat bogs are a great example) and don't have the off-gassing at lower temps, but can at higher temps. GH and KH also affect various chemical interactions in the tank, including plant uptake of various nutrients, which can further influence bubble production (bubbles are gas, and some type of gas is a byproduct of most chemical reactions).

On the nitrate test, that takes 2 different reagents. It is very easy to not shake the #2 reagent hard enough, before adding it to the test tube, and even easier to not shake the test tube well enough after adding the second reagent. If the [intended] directions are not fully understood (and honestly, they don't tell you exactly how "vigorously" the reagent bottle needs to be shaken, nor how "vigorously" the test tube needs to be shaken... they just say "shake reagent #2 vigorously for 30 seconds" and then "shake test tube vigorously for 1 minute"). I realized on another thread that if I had not taken chem and O-chem, *I* wouldn't know to actually shake *all* the reagent bottles before inverting and measuring drops, and that the #2 reagent for nitrates can be shaken longer to make up for my lack of muscle control to offset my insufficiently vigorous action. So, that might be getting you a lower nitrate reading than what you actually have. Decomposing plants, as Guppysnail said, will cause a spike in ammonia, then nitrites, and finally nitrates. Plants require light, in addition to appropriate nutrients in the water to grow... most plants melt back the first few weeks in a tank, so I have begun starting mine in sterilite tubs with Easy Green and a shop light on a 4 hour on/4 hour off/4 hour on timer, before I move them into my tanks. Makes my life easier. Some bettas are delicate enough that even the silk can damage delicate, full finniage. I noticed that sufficient IAL reduced the likelihood of that happening.

We have two club members here breeding pandas in 68 F room temp water. Depending on the water they come from, you may need to tke 6 months to acclimate them... if you are already in possession start acclimating them now (you can drop a degree every 4 to 7 days and monitor health. Look for healthy poo to make sure their metabolism doesn't slow down to quickly to digest food).

Our tap water is too hard for shrimp to have a healthy molt, so I mix it with ZeroWater until TDS are between 150 - 200, KH is around 80, and GH is ~ the same (I'm doing most of my testing with the ACO test strips, because SO MUCH EASIER). Back when I had my carbon rili colony, I had to buy distilled water to mix with my filtered water (Pur filter works to keep the chloramine out according to the water test) because we hadn't even heard of a ZeroWater filter back then, and RO is environmentally irresponsible when one lives in the desert. I just started back up with Blue Dream (still a Neocaridina davidi color variant) and did the same. My scape for the tank was started back in February, and I didn't add the shrimp until I had a healthy biofilm growing as well as saw evidence of copepods in the tank. I think your well water will probably be fine, do you get your well water tested annually so you know the full composition of your water? That gives you a solid base, and lets you know if your water has TDS that are in good parameters but might still have a deficiency (like magnesium, for example).

How old is the tank, temp, pH GH, KH, nitrites, nitrates, ammonia? How deep is the gravel? Is there anything under the gravel? (UGF, active substrate, etc?) Because it can be many things, and without more information there's no way to know for sure. Newly set up tanks can release oxygen bubbles, and an overly oxygentated water supply can repeat the process after a tank cleaning/refill. Old tanks with lots of mulm, tanks with fine gravel/sand/soil (especially if they are deep substrate) can develop hydrogen sulfide spots in deeper gravel. The bubbles from that will smell like sulfur when they hit the surface. Sometimes a UGF filter will have a surge or have the airstone improperly placed, and oxygen bubbles will periodically leak out the gravel. Decomposing plant matter, or a decomposing snail in the substrate can offgas methane due to the decom.

Tissue plants are packaged in a sterile gel, to provide all the nutrients they need and to keep the inside of the package moist enough for the plants. Best solution I have found, is to allow them to soak overnight, sometimes it takes up to 2 days to get all the gel off. It's literally a nutrient gelatin. It will eventually dissolve in water, with a little bit of repeat rinsing, and repeat *gentle* massaging of the roots. I open the bags and put the tissue culture plants straight into a sterilite bin of ZeroWater and a squirt of EasyGreen. Typically, all the gel is dissolved off by the time I am ready to plant in the next couple of days.

@Guppysnail I've been removing the fresh, lightly steamed (as in I pour boiling water over them and let them sit in the bowl to cool off before adding to the tank) green bean hulls after 2 hours from my snail and shrimp only tanks (they don't exactly last more than 3 hours in the community breeding tanks) to prevent fouling the water. Can I actually leave them in overnight? Guppysnail taught me to take better care of my snails, so most of my tanks now get fresh carrot (thinly sliced) or lightly steamed green bean hulls almost every day. Spring through summer we get organic at the farmers market, fall and winter I grab fresh in bulk at the grocery store. I didn't knw about the snubnose condition, that does add an extra layer of complication. That also explains why he goes after the softer plant leaves. What does he think of kale, spinach, turnip, mustard and radish greens? Lightly steamed, they are hits with my fish and shrimp. Would definitely be more nutrient dense than your aquarium plants, and it is *super* easy to grow microgreens to ensure no pesticides on the leaves.

Most of the white crusty stuff is calcium deposits. As Guppysnail said, remove the lid from the tank and white vinegar will remove it. With the red staining, I would not replace the lightbulb it came with, I would look at underhood LED aquarium lights and submersible lights, and see what you can buy that will fit under the hood of the tank. That's how I revamped my tank for scapes from scraps: I was already using an Aqueon double submersible LED light in between my 2 pico tanks (side lighting is a cool trick for increasing red leaf growth in low tech tanks). I notched a hole in the side of the lid for the LED cord to fit through, and attached the submersible LED light inside the hood/lid of my pico tank. Looking under the hood, this is one of two connected (by a cord) LED submersible lights. Submersible means I don't need to worry about condensation, or even submerging the light in the top of the tank. View when the lights are off and tank is full. You can see the light is in contact with the water. View with the lights on. My plants are thriving.

Evaporation in the last tank pic? Or intentional lowering of water level?

@Guppysnail when I get the rest of the shrimp, I'll ask for rubberbands if plants are not an option! Here's what I did on the 26th:

rice fish will be fine outside year round in Wilmington, as long as y'all don't get another randome cold snap, lol!

On your iPhone (according to my sister) there's an editing option when you click on your pictures.

My sand side of spouse's river tank has anaerobic bacteria action going on, 2" down below the "till line" of the MTS. I am trying to be okay with it, there are roots down in there to plants that are positively thriving so I must be doing something right, lol. Interestingly enough, as the roots expand *up from the bottom* the dark line is receding. Maybe MTS are turning from the top, and roots are turning from the bottom?

Are you using the tank as a nightlight? All my tanks are on timers, and since I don't run CO2 the lights are only on for 4 hours at a time. Some tanks have 2 photoperiods each day (4 hours on, 4 hours off, 4 hours on) to maximize plant growth, and other tanks have 3 photoperiods (4 hours on, 4 hours off, 4 hours on, 3 hours off, 3 hours on) depending on plant needs. Bloodworms are a nice treat, but can cause bloating/constipation issues (and nutritional deficiencies) if fed every day. Most bettas seem to stay healthier when fed pellets over flake foods, and as insectivores a high quality betta food needs to be high in protein (I like Bug Bites pellets soldier fly protein and the Extreme Aquatic Nano with 52% protein is a betta dream come true). Daphnia (live or frozen) and baby brine shrimp are excellent foods for boosting health. Oops, forgot to answer your question about roots: Yes, I always had pothos roots in the water, and frogbit has great *gentle* roots for bettas to swim into and rest near the surface. It's important to keep a closed lid and about half an inch (or more) of warm (82 F+), humid (90% humidity) air space to keep a healthy labyrinth organ. A fine mist airstone helps keep the water oxygneated and also helps keep the air pocket at the top of the tank very humid. One of my bettas would not spawn without a good chunk of plant roots to help anchor the bubble nest, and also act as a hammock during parental duties.

Since I had zero luck at red aquarium plants until last year, my reds were always terrestrial potted and then rooted cuttings in tanks. Of course, this was before the internet was around to tell me I couldn't do what I was doing😂 Caladium, fittonia, various croton, red dracaena, purple passion plant, and purple jasmine were some of the ones I had the most success with.

Something old (snail), something new, something borrowed, something blue... I got 3 new inhabitants for the Scapes from Scraps tank! With no fish in the Scape tank, my ramshorns have the longest antennae tentacles I have ever seen on any of my snails!!!

@Seattle_Aquarist I can only imagine. I just realized my chem and o-chem labs are probably responsible for my liquid test success skills....

Awesome!!! ORD 😍

@Cbass it has happened to many people, you are not alone. My turtle pond can spike nitrate through the roof if Karma goes on a plant/salad binge and eats all the plants... generally happens a few times every summer, and if we get a warm day in the winter. If I keep sufficient plants, nitrates stay below 40 ppm and none of the creatures mind. If Karma goes on a binge, and I don't have more plants ready and waiting to go in, nitrates from an exceptionally well functioning filter system (UGF plus modified Tetra Reptifilter) will jump up over 300 ppm in under 48 hours😢. Box turtles aren't supposed to like to swim, but Karma didn't get that memo... and she prefers to poop in the pond.👀 So after eating all the nitrate reduction, the laxative action of high fiber returns all the nitrates she just ate in the plants. Since Ornate ornatas are very sensitive to the salts used in dechlorinators, just doing a bunch of water changes isn't an option... which is why I now have 12 other tanks growing plants!

ORD🤣 Our household is a huge Fibonacci fan!

ORD thank you for the video link, I was looking for it and then scrolled down and sawyou already dropped it!

I suspect you lucked out with a sensitive betta. Stress is the leading cause of disease in all creatures, and can slowly erode the system with very few signs until suddenly there's an issue. 1. You said upthread you are using Indian Almond leaves (IAL). Typically it takes a minimum of 3 large leaves per 10 gallons, and lower quality leaves can need up to 8 leaves/gallon to reach a therapeutic level. 2. What is the light level? Bettas prefer to have floating plants to swim under (filtered light) and broad leaves to rest on (or they will rest on the bottom). 3. Is there anything in the tank that is rough enough for your betta to be tearing the fins on? because open wounds in an aquarium are access points for opportunistic bacteria to gain entry, and then the fish gets an infection. Fin nipping from stress can also lead to this. 4. Some bettas never do optimally at temps below 82 F. Colu & Fish Folk already addressed everything else.