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One of the major factors is how "cleanly" the formula feeds. Stuff like cloudy water, detritus leftover, etc. are factors for this. Generally speaking live foods feed the cleanest and flake foods are the messiest, though not all foods of the same formulation will have the same impact on water quality. Sometimes the form matters because certain fish like to feed at a certain point in the water column (many fish will only eat at mid-water so sinking pellets will go to waste and foul the water). Generally speaking, flakes are "dirty" feeders because there tend to be a lot of leftover particles or bits that sink to the bottom and end up uneaten, pellets and granules are more neutral, and then frozen/live foods are much "cleaner." I have fish food collectoritis (my last inventory totaled about $160 in fish and shrimp food, oops) so if you're only feeding guppies, the Hikari Fancy Guppy coupled with another small-sized pellet/granule (Fluval Bug Bites and Xtreme Nano come to mind) should be plenty. Flake is optional and you'd likely need to crush the flakes into a smaller size to get the guppies to eat them without spitting out the larger pieces. If you want to try one because you're like me and have to try EVERYTHING the only flake I'm really a fan of (liked enough to keep without passing on to another hobbyist) is Xtreme Krill Flakes. If you want to dabble in live/frozen foods, I'd suggest smaller sized proteins like brine shrimp, daphnia, and mosquito larvae. They ultimately feed cleaner in my experience, though that may not be an issue if you have fish like corydoras who will eat the extra goodies on the bottom. Hikari is considered the gold standard for frozen foods by most, though I also have a weakness for San Francisco Bay's Emerald Entrée and Freshwater Frenzy (note that these do feed a lot more "dirty" than most frozen foods but I've found EE especially good at clearing out bloated individuals while still feeding the rest of the tank). This is all my experience so just take it with a grain of salt. I just really like fish food.

Most aquatic plants don't spread through seeds so you may run into some trouble down the line. A lot of people I've seen use them will have temporary success (especially when doing a dry start) followed by the plants melting in the longer term because they aren't meant to grow submerged. Common genuses sold for aquariums are Dracaena, Hemigraphis, Cordyline, Selaginella, Ophiopogon, and Acrorus. Many of the "carpeting" or "grass" seeds are either semi-aquatic stem plants or terrestrial plants.

I'd assumed that none of the eggs were fertilized, honestly I've been tempted to set up a Wyze/Nest cam on my tanks so that I can watch but I know I'm a bit obsessive so it'd probably be bad for me but in your case it would probably be good to see who the dad is. My two ended up laying while I was working a double today, a few dozen eggs were left by the time I came home. Oddly enough, the female's papilla is still VERY evident (it has been for the last few days, I'm just surprised it stayed after spawning).

Is it possible that she never paired with a male? My original angels back in 2014 were both female and would spawn and then beat on each other, I ended up having to remove one because I didn't have a suitable tank for separation.

I've heard a lot of people claim chytrid in dwarf frogs and very few actual cases. A lot of people seem to gravitate toward diagnosing it because it's a fungus that affects amphibians and has a lot of visibility compared to the more generic fuzzy white fungus that most aquarists are familiar with. Did you look at the frogs after they died? Any signs of bloating/constipation (impaction is a common killer) or red limbs (a sign of infection). Most people on this forum recommend treating all new arrivals with the quarantine trio (maracyn, paracleanse, and ich-x) to prevent disease from entering your tank and observing the animals for 4-6 weeks before adding them to your display tanks. An alternative is adding 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 3 gallons of water, though this isn't safe for most live plants or invertebrates so is best done in a quarantine tank. I'd suggest running the quarantine trio on your current endlers and observing for a few weeks after completing treatment to make sure the condition is stable before adding any new livestock, and then quarantining any new animals before introducing them to the endlers.

Some angels have bent fins, though it sounds more like yours just has a blunt fin. It's pretty common and usually not something to worry about. Sometimes they'll grow to be more pointed with time and sometimes they stay that way forever, angels change a lot as they grow.

In most cases I think they'd be fine with angels but otos don't really scavenge that much. They mainly eat diatom algae in my experience and I've struggled with keeping their bellies full. I've only had success feeding them long-term by painting Repashy onto a slate or other piece of decor. Depending on the setup, algae wafers could also work but I had other fish in the same tank that consumed the algae wafers before the otos even had a chance.

Some fish do better with drip acclimation. There's no harm in it that I'm aware of unless you have reason to believe that there's an unsafe level of ammonia in the original water (ex: fish that were in shipping).

Looks like diatom algae. It tends to clear up on its own as the tank grows more seasoned. Otocinclus catfish will eat it if your tank is large enough to support a school.

I use a 61L tub that I purchased at Home Depot. It fits nicely under my bathroom counter.

Probably the best option now if you want to maximize hatch rate is the Ziss Egg Tumbler or methylene blue. Note that I don't have experience with the egg tumbler, but it's VERY well-reviewed by many forum members. Another option that I forgot to mention is that some people will use a pipette to remove eggs that aren't viable (similar to how shrimp can eat them). All of these choices are likely to work but some will have better results than others.

If you don't want snails at all, I'd suggest using a medication like fenbendazole (commonly used to kill planaria). It tends to "taint" the substrate long-term and can make it hard for snails to live in, but is safe for shrimp. Personally I'd suggest giving snails a shot. I have snails in all of my tanks but have never had problems with infestation, they help a lot to eat decaying plant matter (like when my new plants melt back) as well as green spot algae. Infestation is usually a result of over-feeding the tank or another imbalance.

Dang that's impressive. These two haven't spawned yet and I'm assuming it's related to food/water quality (they're not very active eaters and I've never heard of anyone spawning them in a salted quarantine tank). There's also (of course) the chance that I have two males and they're just trying to set territory, though they haven't squared off any and the quarantine is right next to my desk so I'm able to watch them constantly.

I ran into some problems with the 6 double black velvet angels that I bought on AquaBid recently and was luckily able to rehome them to a breeder near me, and she also had an adult that she thought may better suit me. Her one condition for me taking him was that he had to live with 1-3 other angels. I currently have a baby silver angel who's a little too small so I bought him a friend closer to his size and this happened. They're in a 29g quarantine setup with 1TBS salt per 3 gallons and the male that I took home from the breeder is already clearing the glass (among other parts of the tank) for spawning and has known his new friend for less than 24 hours.

Corys are great tankmates for angels. I've also kept Bolivian rams with them, and have just started that combo again in my new tank. Mollies are also a decent pick, some breeders use them as a dither fish and they tend to peck at everything in the tank.

Methylene blue is an old-school way to prevent fungus on eggs. I have no experience with acriflavine so don't have any comments on it. Some people also use neocaridina shrimp in the same tank as the eggs and they'll eat eggs that aren't viable.

Thanks, I've edited my thread title since I feel it's misleading given the information that I have now. Hopefully anyone else who is confused like I was is able to find this.

Thank you so much. This definitely makes sense.

I haven't gotten to the end of it since I haven't had too many opportunities to properly sit down and watch in the last few days, was anything said about this?

I haven't received anything, only a shipping notification. Time will tell.

Two hours ago I received a confirmation email from Aquarium Co-Op that my order has shipped. The thing is... I haven't ordered anything (this month). The shipped items list shows this decal sticker. Is this a promotional thing? My friend received the same email and the only difference is that this sticker is the shipped item. The order doesn't display in my Aquarium Co-Op account so I am pleasantly surprised but confused haha.

Feeding often is a really common way to increase spawning. Some people have also noted that making sure that fry-appropriate food in the presence of parents can encourage spawning since it means the young will have something to eat (I haven't personally noticed this, but enough other people have that I think it's worth mentioning). Note that feeding more = more water changes in most cases. With guppies, some of the young may survive better if you have better cover plants like water sprite, water wisteria, guppy grass, or various aquarium mosses (not an exhaustive list but all of those plants are relatively common and cheap). Hope this helps.

I haven't seen them take over at any point, though I think a large part of that is due to my two Amanos devouring everything and leaving very little behind for the snails. The only ones that I've noticed reproducing are my ramshorns.

Personally I LOVE snails, though it took me a long time to accept the pond/bladder snails. I think the turning point for me was when I realized how low the bio-load from my shrimp is, I nearly crashed my cycle when starting a new colony because they didn't produce enough ammonia. Snails ended up keeping my cycle going through the early stages of the colony.

I've been compiling a reading list, preferably for planted aquariums though anything is welcome. Please comment anything that you have read and enjoyed or have on your own freshwater aquarium reading list! Currently I have: The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium by Diana Walstad Sunken Gardens: A Step-by-Step Guide for Planting Freshwater Aquariums by Karen Randall