sudofish

Yea I was assuming he added water conditioner during changes. Also it seems like the ammonia that is in the tap water should still be converted to nitrites then to nitrates like any other source. But I guess that would be the only source assuming no crazy overfeeding going on.

Do you have a substrate like fluval stratum that could be leeching some ammonia? Do you have 0 nitrites with some nitrates? Also is it a planted tank?

I'm guessing a snakeskin gourami that hasn't colored up fully. I'm not that confident though.

I have the 40 breeder with that exact stand as well. What I did was instead of using the supplied pads I got some foam insulation tape used for windows off of amazon. I ran it across all 4 sides. I was concerned because of little gaps where the sides attach to the stand. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L9Z71QG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

What kind of lighting do you have access to? Are we talking LED bulbs? What socket? Or the LED strips? And what dimensions are your 35 gallon tank as I haven't seen that one. Also what kind of plants do you want to grow? If it's going to be low light plants then obviously that makes it a lot easier. Here's a good video @Cory did on lighting:

Welcome back! I returned this year as well. Man when I was a kid ~1986ish there wasn't much advice to be found. Mom took me to the fish store and the only advice we got was to fill up jugs of water and let them sit out overnight because any chlorine will dissipate by then and then I could add fish and be good to go. No advice at all regarding the nitrogen cycle. So that week we got a betta and some kind of guppies, but they weren't the pretty kind you see nowadays I think they were feeder guppies. Well the betta killed them all and then proceeded to die in the next few days due to the water conditions. Mom got mad and took everything back to the store and I never kept fish again till this year lol.

I just added a pearl gourami. It's in a tank with dwarf neon rainbowfish & an electric blue acara. The gourami is definitely the most graceful/peaceful fish in the tank. It looks like it just kind of glides effortlessly instead of the frantic swimming the acaras & rainbowfish do. I would definitely reccomend the pearl gourami.

Wow how cool is that. If I ever get a tank big enough I'll keep them.

This video looked helpful when I was looking in to that sort of system. They main takeaway is you need to be QUICK screwing the top thingie on after filling it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdmjwjksC4A

I would try to treat him if it was possible. I'm not a dropsy expert and honestly don't even know what pine-coning is but if it's treatable I would try to. If you had to euthanize I'd use clove oil. The link is for Oscars but should work for any fish I'd think. http://www.oscarfishlover.com/euthanise-your-oscar/

Peacock Gudgeon? My best guess dunno.

I would go with the 20". The 16" might fit but I can't find any info as to how long the legs extend on that model. If you have a glass lid then you could just take the legs off of the 12" and set it on top of the glass.

I second that. I'm biased towards rainbowfish though. They aren't picky at all when it comes to what they eat but they are usually re-enacting west side story flaring at and chasing each other dall day.

Very nice. I don't think the decorations take anything away at all. Plus it's your tank and people should always do what they like as long as they aren't hurting anybody.

I think I've been doing the test wrong. I'll try it again later. I came up with 2KH for myself but I think it's more than that. My PH never changes, it's always right about 7.0.

Never had Oto's I just always hear how fragile they are and am almost scared to try them lol. Ammonia looks to be .25-.50ish? If that's the case I wouldn't be too worried. Unless Oto's are especially sensitive to it, that I don't know. I won't judge artificial decorations lol. I have a planted tank but I have to confess I do like the sunken ship look. I wouldn't mind setting up a dark tank with Denison barbs & a sunken ship, maybe even a skull. In my mind it would look like sharks swimming around a shipwreck.

It is kinda confusing I almost posted the same question as OP a couple days ago because our situation is basically identical. I do 1 drop it turns blue a second drop turns clear and it never really goes what I would call "yellow" its's kinda a clearish slightly yellowish.

I might keep them but I would trim the bad leaves and hope for new growth. I would probably just get a new plant tbh and hope the other one recovers as well. Chalk it up to a learning experience basically. When I first set up my tank I killed water sprite somehow.

Yea I'm not calling you out for ranting just clarifying so I understood lol. It's fine to rant imo, healthy even really. Hopefully you all can work things out regarding this.

Today it is my electric blue acara. I added a pearl gourami to the mix today thinking they would be ok since both of them are supposed to be on the peaceful side of their species. Well the EBA nipped at the gourami as soon as he was in the water. I moved some driftwood around to break up the established territories. Hopefully they will adjust and get along. But for now the EBA is on my naughty list.

I guess this is just a rant at the other half? I mean physically moving aquariums is something you have to think about. If it really is just you and him that are available to lift it then you will of course be limited by how much you can physically lift. Maybe a compromise? A 55 gallon is probably manageable between the 2 of you not knowing your physical conditions etc. Offer some friends/neighbors some beer or something to help and you could probably get a bigger aquarium moved. I guess it would be frustrating if your partner didn't appreciate your hobby like you do. That said don't knock the smaller tanks either. A 20 gallon is a perfectly good aquarium. Not for Oscars but still a good size especially the 20 long one of my favorite dimensions to work with.

The bigger the school the less shyness you should see. I'm probably biased as they are one of my favorites of the smaller fish. They look like tiny trout to me. Others have listed good choices as well imo.

I'd do celestial pearl danios.

I put vaseline on the edge of the glass and it slid on pretty easily.

Good question. You always hear about sterilizing the QT and decorations in it but they never specifically say sponge filter as well. It makes sense though.