Irene

I think my largest female is about 2" as well, but my males range from 1.25-1.5". And so far, they have always bred true for me. The babies start off anywhere from pale peach to orange, but the juveniles all end up coloring up into bold red-orange. I seriously love them so much. I know I should try other livebearers, but I think I'll just have to set up another tank for that because dwarf red platies are so beautiful and fun to watch. 😍

Yeah, I think they're Southern platies (Xiphophorus maculatus), at least according to some of the online fish retailers I've seen online.

I googled it, and the top website results are reporting that YouTube's audience is about 56% male and 44% female. On my channel, my audience is about 75% male and 25% female. According to some of the other FishTubers that I've talked to, their male viewership is even higher. Anecdotally, I think men and women both enjoy the art and nature aspects of the hobby, but maybe the science and technical parts of the hobby are what attract even more males. As a little girl, I preferred mammals and birds as pets because they are cute, fuzzy, and can be handled. As an adult woman, I shifted over to liking nano fish because (a) they're tiny and beautiful living creatures, (b) I love having a slice of nature in my home, and (c) I don't need to touch them because I've got cute kids and a fuzzy husband to hug.

Lol, whoops! Now I have to try to find the thread I was trying to post on...

[Correction] When I got a betta fish for my son, I started doing some online research, and YouTube lead me to Aquarium Co-Op, King of DIY, Rachel O'Leary, etc. Cory's "voice of reason" and approach to the hobby really resonated with me, which is why I kept watching his channel. During one of his live streams a few years ago, someone asked if they could collaborate with him, and Cory said, "Since you just started your channel, I don't really know what kind of fish keeper you are. If you're really serious about YouTube, try making 1 video a week for 6 months to build up a portfolio, and then let's talk." I too had just started my own channel and was inspired to take on this challenge for myself. Now I get to collaborate with Cory every week on blog posts, videos, etc. 😉

Thanks for sharing your journey! We've all been there with the steep learning curve in this hobby, but you really stuck with it and it's so cool seeing how you've progressed over the years! 👏👏

I had lots of success using levamisole to treat roundworms. I just treated the water (not the food) using the instructions from Greg Sage and saved the rest of my endler's livebearer population. Amazing medication, especially if your fish are acting lethargic and aren't eating well.

Haha, unfortunately I have no idea! I filmed that tank from Aquarium Design Group's aquascaping gallery.

Awww, thank you so much for making this thread! It really seems unbelievable. I need to make good on my promise and do a live stream to celebrate, but I'm still waiting for my new shirt design to be completed. 👀 You're a long-time follower, for sure! It was so hard changing my channel name, but I'm glad I finally went through it. Now it's only the OG fans that remember the reference. 😉 Yup! You can see my PO box in the About section of my YouTube channel.

Gah, I triple check these things and stuff still slips through. Sorry about that. Link is here: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/frozen-fish-food

Awww, thank you so much for the beautiful guitar serenade and showing off all your fish! That was really sweet to watch and listen to.

Hehe, how timely for this forum post!

@StreetwiseThank you for all your hard work and time put into answering members' questions and moderating the forum! This place wouldn't be as special without the help of people like you. @Alesha Love the video you made of your green tiger barbs! So glad to have you on the forum; you've been such a positive, cheerful contributor whenever I see your comments.

Yup! Just a plastic black folder from the school supplies section. I cut it into a rectangle shape so it fit neatly in the corner of my tank, and then I cut an X shape (using an Xacto knife) near the middle of the rectangle so that I could pull the airline tubing for the sponge filter through it. The X-shaped hole allows me to easily move the rectangle higher or lower so that it's not visible from the front of the tank. I have a short video about it coming out this Saturday, so I'll try to link it if I remember. Update: here's the video link as promised.

I had the same issue with BBA only growing on my sponge filter, which was right under my light and had no shade. The rest of the plants in the aquarium are algae-free and appreciate the amount of light I use, so I didn't want to decrease my lighting for the whole tank. First, I tried spot treating the BBA with liquid carbon, which helped a little. Eventually I ended up attaching a piece of black plastic folder as an "umbrella" on top of the sponge filter, and the shade caused the rest of the BBA to disappear.