NanoNano

Fellow Dad here- This is the way.

In way late on this...The listings for Xyris have caught my eye as well. The pictures of "Xyris" that I've seen in the posts/auctions and conditions required both look extremely similar to Eriocaulon Quinquangulare- I wonder if they're not one in the same (or some closely related subspecies). I tried a sprig of Eriocaulon Quinquangulare in one of my aquariums- the low ph, soft water, high light, and high C02 requirements are pretty absolute. If you can meet the requirements (and still have the rest of the tank inhabitants do OK), you're good...If you fall short on any one requirement, the plant melts *quickly* down to the roots (which seem to survive for months, but the leaves never grow back). Definitely requires a good amount of experience with high tech tanks to successfully keep and propagate.

This is interesting...I had bought "pre bagged" Purgien from a retail big box store about 9 months ago and dropped it into filter is a quick wash with no problems. I then bought the same thing from Amazon about 3 months ago and I also encountered "a blizzard" of little particles after the same "quick wash" procedure.

I have the same bad luck with Cherries...I think *a lot* of the resiliency (or lack there of) of any strain of Neo shrimp has to do with the stock that they've been bred from, so going with seller with a good reputation and who has raised their stock in water parameters as close to yours as possible is worth any extra $ it may run you. Edit- One thing in addition to chlorine, PH, TDS, etc. to keep an eye on is the temperature of your new water when you do a water change with your shrimp. It can be difficult to keep temperatures consistent out of the tap. I've had shrimp heed to call to shrimp heaven when they decided to meander in to a stream of new water that was probably only 4-5 degrees cooler that the existing the tank water.

Q- Why should you always test your water around Minneapolis? A- To avoid Shakopee.

if they're raccoons, they tend to poop as the whim hits them and they can carry a variety of parasites and pathogens. You definitely want to observe strong hygiene precautions and practices (e.g. mask and gloves) in dealing with water, foods, etc. that they may have been in contact with.

I'll add my voice to the chorus of "Raccoons". They're vicious little gangsters- easily initially scared or perplexed by something, but they're quick studies and determine real threats from decoys in minutes. The two things that I've had success with are 1) Motion triggered sprinklers. Not sure if you can get one close enough to cover the approach to or the area of your pool (be careful about treated water ending up in your pool) . They're not bothered by the actual water- the noise and movement seems to be enough distraction that it creates worry in them about getting snuck up on by other predators. 2) Cayenne pepper powder- hard to deploy if it's damp at night and you probably don't want it ending up in your pool as well, but if you can dust the route that they're using to get to the pool, the smell and contact can be an effective deterrent.

The Dad in me is screaming that you don't want to make any decisions before you actually get set up in your dorm with all of the critical stuff you need for school/daily life. Some general high level thoughts: * You want to confirm that having pets/animals is allowed. You also want to make sure that any potential roommates/people that share your space are OK with having pets as well. Allergies, religious beliefs (contact with shellfish is taboo in some religions), smells, lights, moisture, sound can all be insurmountable issues with other people. * You want to make sure that you have a space where an aquarium will fit where you can enjoy it and where it's convenient to do water changes/etc. * You want to understand your dorm environment. Most of the shared buildings I've lived in have had a lot more airborne dust/dirt due to more foot traffic, more people, and usually some sort of always going on renovation or repair projects...and most have some sort of periodic pest control/spraying process. You want to be super thoughtful about a "no lid aquarium" in this type of environment (don't forget the potential roommate or neighbor that douses themselves in hair or body spray as well). * It's tough to keep just 5 shrimp. You'll likely end up with 0 or 20+...Have a plan for what you're going to do if it's 20+.

Burnsville...it's always Burnsville.

So a couple more thoughts for you: * I don't think you've talked about hardscape (wood, stone, etc.). Not sure what you've considered here, but probably good to think about that well as different material/ textures/ help create depth and height variations that really make plants visually pop and are part of making an effective tank biome. * There's a design principle called The Rule of Thirds (often referred to in photography, but the rule traces back to the 1700's). The rectangular shape of a tank follows the same constraint as a painting or photo, so following the rule works really well with aquarium design too. Rules are made to be broken however so it's not an absolute 🙂 . * Your current selection of plants is pretty uniformly green. Plant supply is still pretty constrained, so there's a degree of "take what you can get", but things like Crypts and Val do come in several different shades (bronze, green, red, pink, etc.). You may want to think about getting a "feature" plant in a bold color to break things up. Take a close look at other tanks here as using color needs to be done a little deliberately. You usually need to either get a single plant of a single color as a "pop" or dedicate an area of your tank to multiple plants of the same color as a focus area. Spreading too many plants of color and too many different colors around can make things look like a bowl of Froot Loops. * Trimming requires some skill and experience- good trimming tools are worth their cost. * The goal of aeration is to break the surface tension of the water so that gas can exchange with it. If you have a filter that already does this, an airstone may not be necessary. In a 40 gallon, there's enough room for a Betta to stay away from the bubbles and current if it bothers them, so adding one if you don't have something already breaking the surface would work well. * Veiltail Bettas were one of the original strain bred to be "Fighting Fish" and my experience is that *in general* they tend to have aggressive personalities. Not impossible to keep with shrimp, but you definitely should weigh (chill) personality as heavy as looks when picking one out. Good luck!

You have mainly root feeding plants in your cart, so I would second getting root tabs as well. You have *a lot* of plants in your initial order. I would suggest that you split that order in half if not thirds as: 1) The Co-op is fairly picky and the plants they send out - you should be confident that you'll get strong hearty plants with an excellent chance to thrive. 2) You've got multiples of plants that can get *huge* in there like swords and can send out runners and spawn "satellites" like Crypts. You'll likely end up with some additional plants from whatever you purchase. 3) As you note, you *might* have some species that don't dig your hard water, so better to discover that by losing just a single if you have something that just doesn't thrive. I'd highly recommend looking at Reddit's r/PlantedTank forum- they have frequent posts of "how it started / how it's going" where people show the grow out results of their tanks. The amount of growth can be *astounding* even in a matter of just a few weeks. You want to be careful to not overplant. Two of the things you want to be thoughtful of in your scenario are 1) Open access to the water surface for your Betta to surface breathe. Sword and Octopus leaves can block a lot fo surface area when they get long. Floaters can complicate access. 2) Dissolved oxygen levels- When there's light, plants photosynthesize and produce oxygen, BUT when it's dark, plants will absorb oxygen from the water column creating the potential for both low dissolved O2 levels and PH changes. Shrimp are sensitive to both (low O2 and PH swings), so you want to be thoughtful about not super duper over planting- especially if you're looking to have them breed.

The Mandalorian...This is the way.

Quick thoughts: * I'm fairly certain that the higher Ph won't be an issue for Betta's or Shrimp themselves- the issue would be the increased "free ammonia" in the tank water that comes with higher Ph. That could lead to things like fin rot in the Betta and weakness/death in the shrimp if not regularly monitored and reduced as necessary. I would think that you would want to do daily water checks until you establish a baseline for ammonia both in your newly treated tap water as well as build up over time in your tank water. I'm getting the impression that your thinking is likely similar. * When I get a new betta I usually pick up a couple of "feeder ghost shrimp" (usually less than $.50 a piece at my local chain store) and introduce them to the betta to determine if they're going to be treated as neighbors or dinner. * My thoughts on plants would be to start with a relatively small number and see how you fare....not because of potential failure, but because of potential success (I've found myself over planted 6-9 months after starting a tank more often than not). Be especially thoughtful about plant heights in your initial selection as tall fast growers can shade smaller slower growers and give them trouble as they're trying to root and get established in a new tank. Good luck!

Ok, I'll play...Obviously my thoughts are equally as personal and biased: 1) "Guy says he doesn't believe ph adjusters"...Ehhhh. That probably works for the selection of fish that he chooses to carry in his store which are likely carefully selected species and largely or if not entirely commercially/captive bred. I would not want to try his theory on wild caught species like Sulawesi Shrimp that come from a single lake with a natural PH of 8.0-8.5. 2) Any thermometer can be accurate or inaccurate due to variance of design and should be checked for accuracy. I have a $.99er old school " analog"with "Made in China" across the front that measures dead accurate against a known good digital - I use MIC in my hospital tank as I trust it as accurate. 3) Probably good to talk about species here as out of the thousands of plants out there, Severum's likely find one or more delicious or find it gives some sort of benefit or "happy feeling" when ingested. 4) Throwing stones when literally surrounded by glass houses 🧐...Very few fish store employees are going to make the cover of GQ or Vogue by comparison as well. 5) I'd point back to my preoccupation with wild caught species with the example of Sulawesi Shrimp here. 6) Tumors & cancer are real things for fish too unfortunately. Important to remember that most fish in the hobby are "feeder fish" - low on the food chain. Nature's plan (when not interfered with) is usually for these fish to mature as quickly as possible, breed as quickly as possible, and then become a food source for something on the next link in the food chain. Dying peacefully of old age is a deep deep corner case in Nature's grand plan. 7) I think this is a "bare tank/single species" store type mindset. In a planted tank with a complex biome and potentially multiple species (including inverts), you definitely want to isolate the sick fish and observe/treat them as a unique "patient" apart from the general tank- especially if the potential treatment contains salt or copper that is well documented to harm/kill some species. 8 Genetics pretty much dictate size and growth, so I initially agree here, but I need to hop off at the "must die only because of bad water conditions". In most species the larger an individual grows, the more likely it will be prone to have a shorter life due to stress on joints, effort required by the heart to pump blood over a larger area, increased physical exertion, etc.

Looks like the first post for @Djsa. Welcome- probably good to start the conversation with a little more info about your tank like filtration/gravel/plants etc. Would you please provide?

Lots of different potential reasons...you've identified a bunch of good suspects. One of the additional ones I would consider is a genetic issue(s) of some sort. Mother nature always leaves a little room for slight changes in replication/reproduction - abnormalities or an undesirable mutation can have pretty dramatic effects when carried forward in a small captive population.

I wasn't explicit in my previous post and feel I probably should be as I read through comments. The genesis of this thread is a sick Betta. Dissolved oxygen is necessary for the natural oxidization processes of waste, byproducts, and other elements produced within the entire biome of a tank- if the biome is out of balance it can lead to illness or poisoning. Good general conversation, but with a sick fish, focusing on oxygen from the standpoint of just "the respiration of a Betta" is probably a little too limited in what's needed to help the person/fish in need.

My thinking is that municipal water chemical treatments generally focuses on things that will cause unpleasant or serious human illness, cancerous chemical contaminants, and things that can make water look or taste "unpalatable". Things that don't fit those criteria directly aren't really a focus and if efforts to control the previous issues don't render things dead, out the tap and into your tank they go.

Long finned fish so: Plus: * Promotes gas exchange of things in addition to oxygen like ammonia (which can contribute to fin rot) and other things than can get smelly or work for evil if they accumulate in quantity. * Promotes gas exchange and water movement that encourages beneficial waste/uneaten food breakdown and nitrifying bacteria growth. * Promotes water movement that helps keep water temperature evenly distributed. Minus: * Can cause too much water movement which some Bettas find stressful. * Can cause too much water movement which can make swimming difficult for some long finned Bettas * Needs access to a AC power outlet * Vibration and noise can be disruptive to fish and people. I have a bunch of Bettas and my current thinking is that heavy natural plantings with a lot of light seem to give the same benefits as airstones for my Bettas. I *do* have two small Nano pumps that I move from tank to tank and run for 2-3 hours a day when I get a tank that has a snail/shrimp population explosion, but I'm not sure that's really necessary.

Acrylic tank unfortunately, but thanks for the suggestion and info- appreciated and many others will find it useful.

Do.not.like.leeches. I have assassin snails and have read that ramshorn snails have blood that contains hemoglobin and *that* is why the assassins seem to favor them. Maybe something similar going on here.

Fresh water nano tank. I have a tank with some *dark* green/brown algae on the glass that I've been hoping my Nerites would deal with, but I finally called the game on their efforts today. I went to tackle the algae this evening and this stuff is *tough*. I've deployed the scrubby on a stick, the magnet cleaner, the credit card, and a enough bad language that I'm going to have to take out a loan to pay the swear jar-all to no avail. Without me using enough pressure to make me nervous about breaking a seal on the tank, this stuff isn't budging. Any advice on what this is and critters or treatments that might soften this stuff up so I can remove it?

They're probably more appropriately named "Yakuza" as in groups they can be absolutely gangsters over food.

I'm seeing and want to call out that @xXInkedPhoenixX is using a feeding ring for their Glofish - pro move on multiple levels. I've seen multiple posts on different Internet forums where caretakers have expressed that their Glofish Betta's have vision issues (especially in bright "white" light) and surmised that it's related to the pigment manipulation. This is with *some* Glofish, not all. Said owners have said that their fish are leading happy lives BUT need help locating food with something like a feeding ring, so I would strongly consider picking one up along with a Glofish Betta if you choose to get one.