Sarina

Not sure what substrate you have, but a school of corydoras is always a fun addition to any tank. In a 40b you'd probably have room for a good group of 6 and they're a very active little fish! As long as they get fed well, they are very hardy in general and come in tons of colors and sizes. Here's a link to a summary of some different types.

Good luck with that one 😂

It might be worse 😂 I have my tiger lotus in a pot to keep the roots contained because the last time I had to move it, I discovered it had wrapped its way around half the plants in my tank. I probably would have been impressed had it not been so messy.

Tiger lotus has a kind of crazy root system, if you try to pull one up, it may take half your substrate with it, and probably other nearby plants.

Apparently it's been decided that the name of this driftwood is Clifford 😂 I feel like I need to get him his own tank now.

Yeah hopefully it's just eggs, but better safe than sorry, ya know? I hope it works out for the best.

I actually went to school for CAD design and 3D modeling for printing, but realized I couldn't stand the idea of being stuck behind a desk for work 😅 I dropped out of college and went freelance fabricator so I have lots of experience with building and making stuff, but my formal education is quite literally in additive manufacturing design.

Makes for great fish breeding environment, though!

Oooo materials science is one of my favorite subjects. Okay! Basically any plastic used in food packaging products is safe. Acrylic, polycarbonate, petg, pvc, hdpe, polypropylene, delrin (acetal), acetate, vinyl, etc. Honestly most plastics in general are safe because they take so long to degrade, which is why reusing plastic items is fantastic 😊 Hot glue is safe, however it does not hold up very well under water for long periods of time. Stick with plain old clear silicone, 2 part epoxy, or cyanoacrylate (super glue). I recommend BSI super glue because it's the best and doesn't have harmful accelerants in it like gorilla glue does. As far as 3D printer material, PLA is NOT safe because it is designed to be biodegradable and will cause an algae bloom like you wouldn't believe. Ask me how I know lol. ABS is safe, as is petg. Petg is much easier to work with than ABS and not nearly as toxic when melting, so maybe stick with that for 3D printed stuff. I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions.

@Guppysnail I can't wait to see how much more furry he gets in the next few months!

I'm looking forward to seeing your journey 😊

@Colu it does, doesn't it? 😜 I picked up the wood at petco just to have something to stick the moss to, I didn't even notice the shape until I got it home. Not a bad hunk of mopani for $5 though! Petco sales are the best lol.

Under gravel filters are great because they function on very minimal flow, so an air stone would be fine. The downside is that due to the low flow nature of under gravel filters, they can take longer to fully establish. If your bioload is going to be low or gradual, then an air pump is fine. A powerhead will be quieter, but your betta probably won't appreciate the higher directional flow output as much as it will the gentle bubbles. I know people who have been running the same UGF for over a decade just on air, so that's a testament to how effective they are.

Gouramis are prone to constipation and egg binding, so unless you have mixed male and female (I can't tell from these photos what the sexes are) then I recommend keeping an eye on the bloated one. Epsom salt baths may help but definitely fast them for a few days and make sure your water parameters are spot on just in case you've spotted the beginning signs of dropsy. I don't mean to scare you, but gouramis are egg layers and won't get super big like that unless there's a problem. Notice how the bloating looks larger on one side in the front shot? That indicates swelling, rather than just an eggy female. Foods that can help move things along include mysis shrimp, daphnia, krill, seed shrimp, etc. You can also attempt to feed some seaweed, though your gourami will likely not eat it. Do not feed your gourami a deshelled pea, it's not recommend for carnivorous fish to consume terrestrial plant matter, it may make things worse. Carnivorous fish get their roughage through the stomachs and bones of the fish and crustaceans they consume, so the raw fiber in the form of a pea would not do their digestive tract any favors. Blood worms are the usual cause of constipation in carnivorous fish. They have undigestible exoskeletons and fibrous hairs that can clog a fish's digestive system. I actually never feed blood worms because of this, favoring black worms and grindal worms, instead (which you can culture yourself fairly easily). Source

This is 1 month of growth and I've trimmed it twice to make spawning mops. On a less related note, this piece of driftwood looks like a dog's face and I can't unsee that. Maybe when it's completely covered in moss I'll give it googly eyes and name it Clifford 😂

I am quite literally a plant hoarder 😂 I have them in jars on windowsills everywhere, both terrestrial and aquatic.

You want to put the coral anywhere there is flow, so if you have your sponge filter in the corner, just fill a filter bag with coral and stick it behind your sponge or at least near it. If you don't mind the black and white speckled look, having it in the substrate will be good for your snails - they need the calcium and will munch on the coral pieces.

Rebuilding a tank isn't that difficult, especially tanks with frames, though you'll probably have to replace the plastic framing because removing it usually breaks it. Watch some YouTube videos about how to properly remove old silicone, clean the glass, and put it back together and see if you want to take on the project. If not, I'm sure you could pass it on to someone who will rebuild it.

Yes, it will make the water "harder," but GH isn't really important unless you have no mineral content whatsoever. What's important is your buffer to prevent pH crashes. Crushed coral will raise your GH as well, but without it you risk crashing your pH, especially at night when pH tends to drop anyway. I prefer crushed coral over all other methods of buffering because it's by far the most stable. It only dissolves at a rate in which the acidity of the water dissolves the calcium carbonate of the coral. Your water most likely has high levels of magnesium in it, which is what's reading on your GH test. Calcium carbonate is the mineral you really want, which is what coral is made of, but the magnesium and the other mineral content of your water won't hurt anything.

This is pretty much what my water looks like here in Texas. I use crushed corals in my filters and substrate to prevent pH crashes and my pH usually stays around 7.4, which is fine for most species.

It might be a sneaker male. They're quite common in guppies and enders. Does it have a gonopodium?

@CalmedByFish I know, right? This is the first time I've had a mystery fry show up, but I think that's because I usually order plants online and they're usually emersed grown.

Looks like mold. Is there any reason you don’t have it fully submerged?

I have no idea what this fry could possibly be. It’s definitely not any species I already have, so I’m guessing an egg or two rolled in on some moss I picked up at the LFS. I have no idea how it survived, I barely touch this jar unless I’m fertilizing it. For some reason the image is upside down in the preview. I apologize if it shows up like that in the real post. I can’t get it to turn right side up? For reference, this jar is 2.3 gallons, so pretty small.

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