Rita

So my two cents: I agree that betta sororities in general are a bad idea... people may claim to have back up plans but splitting up 30 bettas seems like a tall order to even the most prepared aquarist. I also agree completely that even a community tank with a betta is risky... but I feel like an acceptable back up plan is more practical in that scenario. I have 7 tanks and 6 bettas, and in my community tanks I've had to shuffle fish around to try and achieve harmony. For a friendly betta my favorite community combo are one betta with corydoras, shrimp and snails. I recently impulse bought a cute little female crown tail betta that I'm going to attempt to put in my tetra community tank after I rehab her in a quarantine tank first... BUT I also have an extra 5 gallon just sitting around so if that doesn't work out at least I have a back up plan.

The simple person in me first thought of Indian almond leaves. I have a lot of bettas and a lot of shrimp... but I think more bang for my buck would be root tabs!

Hey guys! Just wanted to share some changes and thank Cory for some great advice: I noticed my ember tetras were fin nipping my half moon betta in my 20 gal long. This was on the heels of adding 5 new embers to the tank 🤦‍♀️. I thought everyone was getting along but a couple tetras were going to town on his tail. (The picture circled red). I also have a 14 gal cube that has 6 green fire tetras and 7 habrosus corydoras… Shortly after I added the green fire tetras I realized they deserved to be in a larger tank. (They’re basically like green rummy nose tetras in size and activity). I considered rehoming them but hadn’t pulled the trigger yet. Welp, I decided I was going to swap my green fire tetras and my betta. 20 gal long offered them more lateral swim area and the corydoras in the 14 gal cube will leave my bettas fins alone. I’m also thanking @Cory because I was dreading catching out my green fires. They’re so quick and active I was imagining the worst in a planted tank… but I used his trick of using one net to “heard” them into another net… making it a 15 minute long process 🙌👏🙌👏. I was stoked it worked so well! I think this new arrangement will work out! Thanks for reading!

So this happened to my other long fin curly tip betta a couple days ago… I guess this is more common than I gave it credit for! The bubble was gone later that day… so weird!

So the building where my office is was built earlier this year. It has built in energy savers for all the office spaces. When the motion detectors are idle for a while it cuts power to the entire office… makes fish keeping at work tough 😂

The wheels roll beautifully on hard wood, I would imagine it would do ok on short carpet but with the weight of the water it may feel a little sticky

Just sayin… if you’re not using the python system this bucket caddy thing is awesome so you don’t break your back walking with 5 gallons of water. Got it on Amazon.

Ok hopefully I fixed it!

Ok here’s my first try at posting a video on here, let me know if it works! https://youtu.be/wnRulP2A3dQ

My boyfriend and I always go to my parents house on thanksgiving with the family, but today we had our mini thanksgiving for two. Cornish game hen, home made stuffing with squash and zucchini. Does anyone else have two Thanksgivings?

I fast twice a week… but I’m also a chronic over feeder. I’ve admitted I have a problem and I’m seeking help 🤣. So I think it helps all my fish digest and maybe scrounge for any scraps not eaten the day before.

So I had ordered some plants from Aquarium Co op and I received/planted them the day before Cory put out the video about how he plants his crypts... leaving them in the pots as to not destroy the roots and also to help prevent melting... whelp, I did exactly when he warned against... I received a pink flamingo and took it out of the pot, picked the rock wool off and proceeded to plunge it into my eco complete breaking off much of its robust root system as I went. I literally watched his video the next day cursing myself and expecting my plant to melt away completely. Welp, it did melt back... but now... it's starting to grow new leaves even after my abuse! I just threw a couple root tabs under it in hopes it will keep growing.

So I'm not convinced this is black beard algae. I have similar problems as I'm maturing a tank, this part usually came after diatom but before hair algae... black beard is usually last. Also when black beard forms on the leaves of my plants it's very patchy and looks fuzzy fairly immediately, most notably around the edges of the leaves. Andrew, if you try to wipe off this algae from your leaves is it almost slimy? I had a hell of a time trying to wipe to off my plant leaves and eventually gave up. Nerite snails do a wonderful job getting a lot of it off since it tends to stick to the leaves pretty well. Shrimp help but can't seem to penetrate it as well as the snails do. So my advice other than trying to wipe them manually is snails!

I get that too on some of my Java ferns. I have them in every one of my tanks and only a couple tanks get this. I'm not sure why either. I always just kinda assumed it was nutrient deficiency but I haven't been able to definitively pin point what's different between the tanks that have that and the tanks that don't. The only observation I can make is the ferns that don't get that appear to be immature plants, thinner and more plentiful leaves... while the ones that get the clear tips are more mature plants with broader leaves. That's all I got lol 🤷‍♀️

Thanks for this! I have since found this Dave gentleman on YouTube and proceeded to binge watch about half his videos before I had to move on... how fancinating his content is!! I immediately subscribed.

Hey guys! Recently I have been thinking about the possibility of combining my two community tanks (20 long and 14 cube) into one tank. Something like a 30 or 40 gallon. My question is would that actually save time in maintenance? Or would I spend just as long as the two tanks since it’s a larger tank; more water volume to change, larger filters, more surface area to gravel vac etc. This is mostly a hypothetical question since I’m not sure I would want any tank larger than 20 gallons on the second floor of my rented townhome 😬😂 Thanks in advance for your opinions!

They're doing the deed! I made the mistake once of having only one male and one female in a tank and after a couple months the poor girl's shell was WRECKED. The males are relentless. My new rule of thumb is just one mystery snail per tank or many to play the odds and at least give the girls some breaks!

Thanks! I must admit I'm not quite sure the best/easiest way to upload videos to this forum... but here's some pictures in the meantime!

Thanks! But I'm not sure what else I can do... short of using RODI water and veeeerrryyy slowly water changing out to my tap I have no clue how to lessen my losses. No offense to my fish whom I care for dearly, but I do not have the time or patience for RO water... so the best I can do right now is drip acclimate and hope for the best.

My pandas and habrosus get fluval bug bites pleco formula 5 days out of the week. they also get supplemental blood worms, brine shrimp and daphnia every week. My pandas show breeding behavior all the time... especially after water changes and in the afternoon/ evening. I haven't seen any eggs yet so I'm somewhat convinced I have 4 males. My habrosus haven't been doing a lot but their tank is in turmoil right now and I'm just trying to keep them comfortable as they ride out high nitrites and daily 50% water changes so they probably aren't the best barometer.

I'm totally aware this is a non answer so I'll apologize in advance... but I'm a big proponent for lids! My good friend who also keeps fish has lost 2 bettas recently from her 55 gal tank and her water is dropped 4 inches! It's just not worth in my opinion. I'd rather have a lid and give them the maximum amount of space possible by filling that tank up to the tippy top. Not to mention better heat retention and less evaporation. 😬

I am no expert here... but my luck with corydoras is unfortunately about 50% loss, even after quarantine and transferring to the display tank I end up loosing one or two. I suspect yours have died and have been eaten by the pleco and/or mystery snail. I love Cory's and I've resorted to over buying with anticipation of losing about half.

Oh wow what a compliment! But I’m afraid I could never reach Dean level aquarist! 😂

I have similar issues with my aquascaping kit I bought online. It certainly doesn't seem like cheap material, but not great for planting and inserting root tabs. I've all but given up and just resorted to using my fingers. I'm interested if anyone has found something magical to use! 😃

Not really a journal but I did some tidying up today… here’s some before and after pics!