Flumpweesel

Well my little house was built around 1910 so electricity was definitely an after thought. Now add everything you need for two people to work from home (thanks COVID) and space and power outlets are at a premium.

White vinegar on a micro fibre cloth or heavy duty paper towel. Both kept me with the water change kit to remind me

Well sounds fascinating, I'm sure I could justify a temp nano tank if I can find a spare power outlet. Now to get crazy scaping

I have some growing on a piece of wood from a long since destroyed ball it doesn't grow very fast and I would expect you could gravel vac it of your substrate. My SAE's don't seem interested in it aside from hiding the remaining balls from me. I stuck them in there as prep for the shrimp tank I'm seasoning and now faced with buy more or rip apart the tank to find them

This is a link to the advice I got when I asked a similar question . Lots of info on how to make a hatchery in there. I bought a smaller hatchery off eBay in the end (no coop for me either) and it's not much effort if you have a good space to leave it set up. I probably feed it once a week I strain the shrimp so it's only about a teaspoon of salt water in a 230l tank so not a concern for me. Your lfs might sell a brine shrimp kit to make up for the lack of live food sales

Super cute especially pic 2. I had a goldfish get a large algae wafer stuck once he figured out how to get rid of it eventually . A bit of puzzle solving is good enrichment

I'm guessing you are after a big tank full of colourful little fish so you want some breeding just not an population explosion.

Very similar size to mine, so here are my thoughts. Otto's and pygmy corys are great but I rarely see them on the substrate they seem to favour plants and wood (otto's obviously the glass) so the aren't great at that substrate shuffling I'm guessing you are looking for. I do have about 8 corys paleatus and aeneus and aside from the ladies being on the larger side I I would expect any to do great for you. Or maybe have a look at kuli loaches or something. I can't advise on fry control I have avoided livebearers because of the need for it. But I think you have more options than female betta's I recently gave a feisty lady betta a go in the big tank and she was most unimpressed stayed at at the top in some floating leaves and just did the occasional circuit of the tank she pretty much sulked until I put her back in the small tank I don't think she appreciated the chaos of communal living or she just wasn't used to having so much space. She might have adjusted after a bit but I hated seeing her mope. Might be worth asking about if other people have had a better experience of them in a community tank. Oh and yes ottos don't even flinch at feeding time I had one that would check out some crushed food if it landed on a good surface but they are a lot easier if you have something for them to graze on already established.

I have seen another forum discussing these and the coating seemed to come off with boiling but they couldn't establish what it was and decided not to risk in the tank. I think I would side on caution with these and say no don't risk them.

The hob is probably sufficient on its own depending on what you decide to stock the tank with. There are bonuses to having two lots of filtration but unless you have high stock levels or particularly high waste fish one is enough. I would say run with what you have and add something later if needed. Generally speaking extra filtration is a good thing but the bacteria grows depending on its food source it needs good flow and surface area to thrive but it will either be mainly in your hob or spilt between the two (as well as being on every other surface in the tank). Having two filters does allow you to alternate cleaning which can be useful in newer tanks where the bacteria load is still developing. Also having a filter you can use to help cycle a quarantine tank can be handy. I had a secondary filter in my tank that I added because I wanted to take the canister off line to service (10years old so time to really check it over) I left it in for about 6 months some to season it before taking the other off and then to support the tank while the canister re-established. When I finally removed the second filter nothing changed as far as how much or how often I needed to water change. However when I kept goldfish I had at least two filters all the time and needed them.

Goldfish will always want more so stay strong if they are growing you are feeding plenty. I'd give them less frozen food but I'm frugal and see it as treat food unless you're conditioning them to breed. It also makes more cleaning. Maybe drop that to a couple of times a week. I found mine didn't care what I fed them as long as they got something twice a day. They mainly got flake and wafers . I didn't do fasting days though they would trash the tank if I missed a feed.

If you can do a water change do one especially in the stronger result, maybe throw prime in the other so you can change that tomorrow and conserve some energy. Do what you can you might have to do a few changes over the next few days now ammonia has appeared so do anything you can to make that a bit easier on yourself even if it's just leaving everything out. I use prime if something happens and I can't change the water right then (dead fish as I'm leaving for work pull the fish throw in some prime) but it is only a temp fix but it buys time to schedule the water change.

It's there a heater in there ? I'm wondering if stray current could be to blame. Hard to detect but sometimes you can feel a faint tingle when you put your hand/arm in the water.

Shrimp is the only plan I'm allowing for 2022. Started seasoning a tank over the Christmas break so it should be nice and mulmy by the spring. None of the lfs stock shrimp with any regularity so might have to consider mail order.

As there is no existing tank population to protect the first fish you can add straight to the tank without quarantining however if you plan on doing a medicated quarantine it might be worth considering as medicating a 55 will use a lot more product than a 5 or 10. I don't medicate new fish but many people do so I thought I'd add this point to consider. I keep a plastic tote under my fish tank to help sort out plants and damp items when I'm maintaining it so it becomes hospital,quarantine or time out tank when needed I just throw in a cheap filter or air line depending on how long it's going to be in use.

Just a note before you start because it's not a fun job swapping substrate check the compatibility of pea puffers with the other fish I don't believe they are the best community tank fish. And they might eat shrimp they destroy snails so I can only imagine them thinking shrimp are also crunchy snacks.

Looks like he's healing really well unfortunately fins take much longer to heal and grow back than they do to waste off. Good food and clean water (which look to be exactly what you are doing) and he'll get back to his old self. Great to see his colour come back. Personally I wouldn't risk any meds or treatments that could stress him again when he's clearly improving. Fins are very delicate when they are regrowing so it can be a slow process

Marking one up for med routines could be useful.

Sadly sometimes the fish we want just aren't a good fit for us. For now I agree the pea puffer is not a good fit. One day though I'm sure the chance will reappear.

Maybe cut them so they slot together kinda like a ring of dove tail joints

Well tea was easier to source for now so I'll start there while I source IAL. This sounds great (I like having a dosage guide) I'll certainly keep my eyes peeled for that.

A1) Routine water changes are not strictly necessary as people have said but you must monitor your water and maintain conditions and change water if the balance slides. Tanks are always changing you can't say I never do this or that because it's about keeping an eye on things and doing what is needed when it's needed. A2) I would not be happy with that level of ammonia I would treat with prime and preform a water change as soon as possible to bring that down.

I'm puzzled as to why you want to do this, it seems like it could get messy and I can't see the gain. But for stands I have found this and I believe if you hunt there are instructions for a walk bracket somewhere

I got some wrong sized pellets a bit ago so I was crushing them with glass onto waxed paper to feed the tank. I did this per feed as I only had the one tank to feed and grinding it all in advance would have reduced it's self life.

So I have my first bettas and from reading around in here it seems that tannins make a big difference to their well-being so what is the best source and does it really make a difference. Rooibos tea is certainly a lot cheaper than IAL and native leaves (oak) cheaper still but I've probably missed them till autumn now. Also if using tea bags so I need to be careful about how strong the tank tea gets?