mommygourami

I think when people give advice, they are very cautious and tend to lean on the "safer" route for varied potential audiences. A new fish keeper may not know to wait until the cycle is complete to rinse their filter - I noted Jason said he waits about 4 weeks before rinsing his sponges in tap water. He also noted you would get more die off the longer you let the sponge stay in tap water. Some folks may not think about the potential risk for soaps, bleach, etc. in the sink area. Also, everyone's water is different. I heard somewhere recently that sometimes municipal water can have significant spikes in chlorine due to some sort of "flush" to the system. It's funny how many people interviewed on the aquarist podcast have memories of scrubbing down their entire tank, decorations, substrate, etc. with tap water because no one knew any better "back then". I like Jason and watched his videos a lot when I got into fishkeeping. How smart of him to take his knowledge of science and bring his videos up a notch on the fish nerd scale. I think even seasoned aquarists would enjoy learning about the advanced science to this hobby. Thanks for posting @Scott P.

Party on the green bean!

Whenever I go to the fish store, I am always taken aback by how small the baby fish are when I have the same species at home that I didn't realize had turned into monsters in comparison. Here's my old guppy that looks like a beast compared to one of my new guppies. The small one follows the big one around all day...

he's sort of a purple eggplant color, so I call him Eggo.

I agree with what everyone is saying. I would also suggest you feed very sparingly. When I was starting out with my first new fish, my lfs actually suggested waiting almost a week to feed them. I couldn't go quite that far, but skipping a day to a few days would help keep ammonia levels down while you are waiting for the beneficial bacteria to grow. I always try to tell myself that it's better for the fish to be a bit hungry than dealing with the stress (or death) of added ammonia during the cycling process. Good luck! Your tank looks great so far! 🙂

I've kept honey gouramis, amano shrimp, pygmy cories, and otocinclus with my guppies. Theres lots of options since guppies get along with so many fish. Welcome and have fun on your journey!

Wow. Looks like it's going to be an interesting fishroom. Welcome!

Welcome! You are going to have a blast filling that tank!

I think you are going to have a lot of visitors from the other residents at the retirement community 😉 I think Cory frequently recommends rasboras for the middle of the tank. I think mollies like hard water too.

Aww, so sorry about losing the fish and the frog. I hope it doesn't deter you from trying them again. I only have 2 in a 10 gallon. I don't think they get aggressive like some fish, so 2 seems to be fine. I figure, they have someone to cuddle if they want to or they have plenty of room to get away from each other. Plus I hand feed them so 2 mouths is plenty for me to feed. I have only anubias and small floating plants because the light I have is pretty small. Defintely a few places to hide is preferable. They nap a lot.. I hope you get a chance to enjoy some adfs when you are ready. 🐸

Lol. I got my first snails for free with my plants. 😉

These 2 have been playing in the bubble wall for hours. It's like a synchronized swimming routine.

From the research I have done, they are "filter feeders" so they eat food that is in the water column. There needs to be some fllow in the tank so they can grab it with their little paws. Mine in the picture is standing beneath the output of my hang on back filter, catching food as it gets pushed out by the water flow. I presume when we feed our fish, lots of debris already gets into the water column, so I doubt you will have to feed differently. I have lots of leftover fry food though, so I will probably be squirting that in the tank from time to time for him since it is a really fine powder that will definitely get into the water column. I have a couple amano shrimp as well and no problems so far. These bamboo shrimp are super docile and leave everything alone.

Thank you for the info! Yes, I would never want to have to return a fish like this.