laritheloud

RE: Cichlid vs Gouramis, there are plenty of more peaceful dwarf cichlids that would be a match for your tank, but it depends on the look you want. Gouramis fill out the top of the tank. Cichlids stay around the bottom exclusively. I have a pair of Anomalachromis Thomasi that are really lovely and underrated in my 55 gallon along with my EBA, and they are very peaceful -- even alongside my gouramis. Gourami males will chase female gouramis a little as part of their courtship and asserting dominance, but it shouldn't be any significant damage. I did recently acquire a pair of nanochromis splendens. They are absolutely gorgeous tiny cichlids but they will eat your shrimp for SURE. Probably bristlenose wigglers, too. This is them: I have placed a thicklip in my shrimp tank before and didn't see a significant dent in neocaridina population. My honey gourami lives with tetras, cories, neocaridina (bloody mary), and amano shrimp, and i still see all the species I placed into the tank coming out. If you decide on a small cichlid, get some caves or a coconut hut.

I would say most gouramis exhibit very similar behaviors (aside from varying shyness) and aside from the paradise fish you could choose whatever appeals to you 🙂 ENJOY!

Honey gouramis would be fine but I've had mixed luck with them! You can fit 4 to 6 in your tank. 3 out of my 4 honey gouramis passed away of mysterious cause, very close to one another. My remaining honey, a beautiful male sunset variant, is doing great! I've had him for about a year, going strong. Thicklip Gouramis would be a good fit, too. They are straight orange unless you can find the wild type color morph, which I've never seen in the states. Thicklips are much more interactive and have louder personalities than honey gouramis. I find them to be more delightful to keep because they like to come up and feeler/peck at my hands for food. Wonderful fish, I have had no thicklip losses so far and have kept them for more than a year and a half. I'd keep a group of 4 max in your 29 gallon tank. If you can find them, Croaking Gouramis (Trichopsis VITTATA), not sparkling gouramis, are unusual, gorgeous, and they'd make a statement. You should be able to keep a group in the tank. They're a bucket list gourami for me! If you're willing to swing slightly more aggressive look at black paradise fish. I've heard they are less aggressive than traditional paradise fish but just as stunning. They grow a bit larger than the gouramis I listed above. You could technically do a pearl gourami in that tank, but I'd feel more comfortable getting them a group in a 40 breeder minimum. TL;DR honeys are the popular, peaceful, shy choice but they are not my personal top suggestion if you favor personality over popping colors. It's also getting tougher to find healthy stock of honeys, so as long as you go in with that attitude and enjoy them while you have them, they're wonderful. Good luck! I'd love to see what you end up getting!

Sad news. My bristlenose girl was on the floor this morning. We have a lid on the tank and I have no idea what happened. 😞 I hate when accidents like this happen... there was nothing wrong with my sweet girl and she was normally a tank-bottom lurker. I don't have a free quarantine tank right now so I probably will wait awhile before looking for another pleco....

I think it's about time I updated this journal. My EBA is growing like a weed! He's the undisputed tank boss, now named Henry courtesy of my 4 year old daughter. I think he's a he. If @Fish Folk knows anything about sexing EBAs that I don't, feel free to take a look at my fella and see what you think. He's currently about... 3 to 4 inches? We grew him from about 1.5 inches. Also, if anyone has any tips for keeping catfish pellets from ending up in Henry's mouth, I'd love to hear them. 🤣 Feeding the synodontis lucipinnis is always an adventure with him scouting out whatever's fallen to the bottom. My Bristlenose Pleco ('Lava,' thank you, 7 year old son! 😉 ) is definitely a female. She grew a nice plump belly and I can see where she stores her eggs when she's against the glass. Adorable little girl who's claimed a specific knot of wood as her 'area.' My thicklip gouramis are doing great! I even catch Henry resting / chilling out with them at night. The barbs are magnificent. Peaceful, goofy, and active, I highly recommend Black Ruby Barbs for anyone looking for a peaceful barb that isn't nippy. All the fun of barbs, none of the annoying pack of high school jocks behavior. Also: they look BEAUTIFUL with the stark contrast of black-and-red males against the females. My pair of african butterfly cichlids are really sweet. I don't know if they're a male/female pair; I haven't seen any breeding activity so I suspect not. But they sure are pretty and like to hang out together. This has really become my favorite tank to enjoy. Peaceful, active, *interactive*, and a joy to keep.

@AnimalNerd98 I have Java Fern in my tank and they actually haven't eaten mine. Your Mileage May Vary.

If they're small they are probably clithon corona or clithon diadema for the last snail. I have a few thorned nerites that are an inch big. Others have stayed quite small, 1/4 to 1/2 an inch, but they're industrious workers. These species are also very long-lived. EDIT: The others are larger freshwater limpets. Marbled limpets?

I have tried all kinds of snails! Different species of nerites, rabbit snails, cappuccino spike snails, mystery snails, ramshorn snails, bladder snails, pond snails, malaysian trumpet snails, Columbian Giant Ramshorn Snail.... Of all of them, my favorites are Rabbit Snails and Columbian Giant Ramshorn Snails. They have lived the longest by far (other than my nerites who are good ol' reliable snails that keep on trucking, expecially the spiked ones). I started with a group of 3 adult rabbit snails and they actually bred in my tank. I don't have the original 3 anymore, but their 3 babies have been with me for a full year and are only one inch long (!). They're active and they have adorable snoots, I definitely recommend them. As far as plant-eating goes, it's a mixed bag. If they are very hungry they will munch on more delicate fronds; the adults did, anyway. DEFINITELY do not try any banana plants. The adult rabbits ate the banana plant, bananas and all. That said, my babies haven't made a dent in my plants. IMO, the younger the snail the better luck you'll have. Keep them fed and they really shouldn't cause much damage, but be prepared in case they do eat a few plants. Columbian Giant Ramshorns are a different story. My singular Columbian Giant Ramshorn annihilates plants. Lilies, crypts, anubias, vallisneria, nothing is safe. The only plants I can keep in her tank (I named her Paola and know she's a she because she laid eggs) are anacharis and water lettuce/duckweed. She can't eat them fast enough to eradicate them, lol!

Anchor worms are external and won't be pooped out. White stringy poops is shed intestinal lining. That doesn't necessarily mean your fish has a disease; it could mean he hasn't eaten for a few hours, he's stressed, or his diet has changed in some way. My gouramis all occasionally have white poop, they're healthy and have been healthy for the year and a half I've had them. If you're seeing white COTTONY discharge instead of poop, that's mucus and inflammation and generally means internal infection. I saw that come out of my pacific blue-eyed rainbowfish as they aged and died off. It's more important to pay attention to the overall behavior of your fish, their appetite, and their water quality before throwing treatments at them. It's really tough to swallow sometimes, I get it; you want to take action as soon as possible to halt what COULD be a problem. But sometimes trying to treat and treat and treat without any certainty can do more harm than good, and after going through my own cycle of fretting over fish health, I have learned that patience and clean water is often a very good medicine for fish. Bigger worm infestations -- especially roundworms or camallanus worms -- are typically visible to the naked eye when they are expelled. If you haven't seen worms come out of your goldfish, I don't think he has worms, and I would trust @Odd Duck when they ask you to focus on water changes and a baseline before doing any more treatments.

They both look somewhat male to me, but B looks more female and A looks more male. Females color up to bright yellow and black for breeding colors, and I see more black in B. If you bought a sexed pair, B is definitely the female of the two. This is a female in breeding colors: Pair, Breeding Colors: I wouldn't say it's out of the question that you have two males instead of a pair, though.

I understand. I have an anxiety disorder and when I was new to fishkeeping I was fretting over everything… it was hard to enjoy my tanks. You’re providing the best for your fishy and doing what you can to help them. It shows how much you care! If you don’t have airstones running in the tank I would try adding more airstones to increase dissolved oxygen. Wormers tend to affect dissolved oxygen especially at warmer temps. Oxygen willI help with healing through treatment and beyond — I saw some interesting research posted on these forums about it.

Hi @Tabeth! I went back to read your journey with your fish, and I really feel for you. I'm sorry you're going through so much anxiety with this. I think your best course of action is to follow @Colu and @Odd Duck's advice and proceed with one more treatment. My inkling is that if you have treated your fish multiple times over with many different medications and you're not seeing an alleviation of 'symptoms' you're seeing--I am almost certain it means this is a) misdiagnosed and/or b) overmedicating. What I would recommend is to stop after whatever course you're on now and focus on good, clean water and simply observing your fish. Try not to microanalyze small scrapes and put the microscope away. I nearly bought a microscope myself to help diagnose issues with my pets, but I realized before I sunk in the money that I don't know how to assess whether I'm correct about what I'm seeing, and whether any parasite activity is at a level that should be treated. Sometimes the best treatment is clean water and good husbandry, and I'm saying this as someone with a fully stocked fish meds cabinet that has learned a lot in her rookie year as a new fishkeeper in 2020. Good luck, and I really hope you are pleasantly surprised by improvement in your sweet goldfish!

I don't know the proper procedure but I would love to learn. I'm so sorry for your platy ❤️

@Hobbit this is a much more recent development! My chickens were a bit skittish until recently. I heard they often sweeten to getting handled as they approach point of lay/maturity and I’m so happy my ladies trust me enough to pet them. My eggers are still skittish and prefer not to be touched, but they are just fine chilling out next to me so I never force it.

If popeye is only on one side it might be an old injury. I have a diamond tetra who has had popeye/a blinded eye on one side, likely from hurting herself long ago. I've had her for a year and a half and she's been trucking along with only one useable eye this whole time. If he's not acting poorly and the fish is unresponsive to treatment he'll probably be fine with just one eye. Good luck! ❤️

It was the first time I heard the egg song from any of my ladies, so it was super exciting for us. This video is a week old and she looks even plumper and closer to lay now. I keep saying "any time" but of course I'm sure she'll wait until the heat has gone down. She'll be 18 weeks on Wednesday and it's supposed to cool significantly around then. We'll see!

Hi there @anitstuk. It’s tumors. Note his face when he turns. his fins have always had ragged edges for months and it is not rot.

No eggs yet but my Daughter, Betsy Ann, is closest. She has beautiful red wattles and a beautiful red comb, squats for me when I pet her, and she practiced her egg song. I figure when the oppressive heat simmers down a little she might start laying. I'm hopeful!

Hi everyone! This is a long story, but I think it'll be helpful for anyone with betta fish. I haven't been around these parts in awhile, but I thought I'd update with a mildly bleak view of betta fish. I have heard that bettas can be challenging to keep healthy and often ends up being the luck-of-the-genetic-draw if you find a betta with longevity. We decided to try anyway; my son really liked a specific marbled betta, and I agreed he was beautiful. It doesn't hurt to give him a good home with clean water, weekly changes, a good 79 to 80 degree tank, and let him live his lovely betta life. He arrived at our home as an adult fish in early January. My seven year old called him Moonler, probably because his blues and yellows reminded him of nighttime. Moonler has always had an interesting personality. A little bit spazzy with the way he swum around and lunged for his food, but not at all aggressive. He never flared at his reflection, never flared at snails, never flared at his kuhli loach tank mates who are intent to accidentally harrass him when he's chilling out on the bottom. I just figured he was quirky and we ended up with a super calm fish. Then I started to suspect maybe he couldn't see well, because he wasn't the best eater. He wanted to eat, yes -- but he had a hard time accurately scooping betta pellets into his mouth. I would end up turning off all filters and water flow, distracting the kuhli loaches with a bottom tablet or repashy, and feeding him one pellet at a time until his feeding was finished. The process would take about 10 to 15 minutes to feed him at a time. I just went with it and accommodated. Then the tumors started to grow. I knew beyond a doubt it was tumors, because I'd heard that koi and marbled bettas are particularly predisposed to tumors. First they showed up on his face -- left side cheek, not quite on the gill plate. It didn't seem to affect him much at first and I knew there wasn't anything we could do with a firm, lumpy mass on his face, so I just told myself we'd care for him as long as he was with us. It's not contagious. The kuhlis are fine, the tank is healthy. Nitrates never exceed 10 in a given week, and it's a planted tank. Now the face tumor has grown, and there's a unilateral suspicious lump around his belly area. His swimming is jerky and uncoordinated and he's having more trouble than ever getting his food. He tires quickly; on some days he's more vigorous about slurping up the food, and on others he'll give up after one or two attempts. I have an inkling that the tumors are interfering with his ability to coordinate his movements, and that's why his eyes are often scraped and he can't quite lunge in the right direction to get his pellets. Right now, Moonler is still with us, but it's a waiting game. He's still showing interest in food, and behaviors are uneven, so I am letting him live his little fishy life. I'd just like everyone to be aware that breeding practices for the betta splendens has really highlighted genetic problems and weakened their bloodlines in favor of beauty. If I were to get another betta, I would pick one up at the LFS and forego the pricier breeders. Research the common problems associated with genetic traits before you buy; they're still great, beautiful fish, and I honestly feel much more relaxed about caring for my little guy because I know his situation is beyond my control. I hope this helps any other betta parents; it's not always your fault if your betta is declining sooner than you expected. In the morning I'll see if I can get some pictures of him. He tends to like resting a lot in the plants or along the bottom, so it's difficult to do it. Cheers, and I hope summer has been treating my fishkeeper friends well! *EDIT TO ADD A SUMMARY*: Give your betta pristine water of 5+ gallons (less is ok if you're experienced with breeding and frequent water changes), make sure (s)he's eating, stick in a heater (+thermostat if you'd like), keep that filter flow low and you'll be giving your betta as good a life as they can enjoy, regardless of genes ❤️

Is the lump bilateral or unilateral? If it's only on one side I'd suspect something other than bloating.

I wouldn't return any until we can take a look. Sometimes even normal behavior doesn't look peaceful! If you're new to gouramis, it can feel worrisome. Separating the fish won't help very much in my experience (as you've noticed). They're working out a pecking order and who is the most dominant amongst them. If the previously sick one is now chasing, that's actually a good sign and it means they're healthy 🙂

Hey there! I went back to look at your photos and you definitely have thicklipped gouramis. The clear tails are a tell. If you have any current pictures or videos, it'd be great if you could post them so I could see what you're talking about and help you better gauge the sex of your fish. That said, I find the more space you can give thicklips, the better. 15 gallons is supposedly the minimum for thicklips, but I prefer to go bigger than 15 gallons so I could have more than a singleton in my tank. You could technically fit 4 thicklips in a 29 gallon, but they'll do better as a group in a 40 gallon or bigger. Chasing is normal behavior especially if you have mixed sexes in the tank; male gouramis love to relentlessly chase the ladies. Make sure there is enough cover for the chased gouramis to get away when they want to. Though my males in my mixed group sometimes chase, it's never more than a short spurt, and they are otherwise very peaceful. I want to emphasize that gouramis are by and large very peaceful and chill fish, but there will always be a little bit of chasing between members of the same species. I have never experienced a thicklip gourami going after fish of a different species UNLESS it is a very similar fish to a thicklip gourami; once my original thicklip hit maturity she couldn't stand my male honey gourami, so I moved her to a 55 gallon and got her a group of 4 friends. No problems ever since, and they're swimming happily away as we speak.

The eye probably won't fall out. I have had a female diamond tetra that's had unilateral popeye from the day I took her home. She is just fine -- likely blind in that eye but it never got any worse. I've had her for close to a year and a half with the rest of her school.

Your lavender pullet is gorgeous @Sal! Beautiful birds, beautiful coop! 😍 Glad the heater kept them nice and cozy in the cold! They look perfectly pleased on their roosting bar. Ours don't perch on our heads or shoulders, but they're very gentle and will come to me for treats when I give them a nice, loud, "HI LADIES!" I can pet them all right, but none of them have any interest in being held, and that's okay. We spent all weekend building a 6 x 9 foot rectangular extension to their existing run, digging it out, laying out hardware wire, filling it in with a mixture of sand and hemp. They're SO happy with their expansion. We let them out for a couple of hours every evening but they don't seem to care too much about wandering around while they get used to their chicken palace. Also, might I recommend a pair of waterproof shoes kind of like Bogs for stepping into the run area? We have designated chicken shoes we keep outside on the back porch and wear for yard work and doing chicken maintenance!