jwcarlson

Another whirl tomorrow. I should be home most of the day.

Nope, and not a single tiny spike in ammonia either, which I tested immediately. There's a lot of shrimp and I guess they made quick work. The other theory I had was it jumped out and the cat ate it. But that's two fairly unlikely events in my opinion.

I had a betta disappear without a trace as well. It happens. I'm sure it died and was consumed. It was only about a 24-36 hour span between seeing and realizing he was gone.

I was doing about 50% in my 36 or 37 or whatever it is every week. I've gone to every other or every third. I struggle mightily with keeping the dosing up because it's not near any of the other tanks (back in my daughter's room). So I have to make a conscious effort to go back and observe. The other tanks I kind of get a feel more/less by looking at them as to if they need some fertilizer or not. And their plants are better for it. I've thought about moving the tank from her room for that particular reason, actually.

It's like most wild animals. If you need 10 to survive, make 10,000.

A couple updated pictures. Can see some growth.

I have, as of... Basically right now... Nearly convinced myself that the female from this pair is a sleeper male. Bottom one in the pic. I think that would explain a lot. On the right here. Of particular note are the flushing red scales near the back of "her" belly. I haven't noticed those displayed yet. Seems a little weird that the male still... Dances and displays for "her", but I don't have a frame of reference to know if that's what dominant males do... That said, I think I remember the dark cheek slash being a female characteristic.

I don't think I'd be worried about it from a beneficial bacteria standpoint. You'll still have a BB colony in the existing filters, and all of the other decor/sides/etc. I'd be more worried about them rooting around in all that waste and stirring it up. To be honest, though, you're kind of asking to stop a fish from doing what it does... I'm not sure how to make that happen. If you've got substrate they can fit in their mouth, they're going to move it. Could you maybe put some bigger gravel on the bottom that they wouldn't be able to move so easily? Or some sort of mesh barrier that would still allow waste and water to settle through it, but not allow the fish to dig in it? Just spitballing. That might create even more issues.

I agree, those temps don't seem outrageous for them to live through. Though it could have been a contributing factor if something else was already stressing them... could have pushed them over the edge.

I don't think it's hair algae, unless marimo is a type of hair algae. I actually like this type, it has good structure and is not anywhere near as invastive as hair algae. I will say that some of it has kind of overtaken my java moss. But that's because I struggle mightily with plants in the tank to begin with. I like the way it looks on your wood there, very natural, IMO!

I had one that was nipping its own tail and the mirror seemed to help with that when used once-in-awhile. Usually my daughter asked to do it so she'd let him flare at it for a couple minutes (if that, usually he wouldn't go after it for longer than... 30 seconds, maybe?) and then take it back out. Maybe... a couple times a week? Unfortunately, he didn't last too long. I don't think that had anything to do with the mirror, though!

They look quite well fed indeed! 🙂

Depends. I've got tanks in the upper 70s in my basement which is in the low 60s this time of year. And a discus tank at 85 on the main floor and we only keep the house at 64. So, yes, a heater out for a few days can really have a detrimental outcome for fish. The extent depends on what the tank normal temperature is vs what ambient is... as well as the type and overall health of the fish to begin with.

Weird, but I kind of have a 37 in the same situation. It's like it's cursed. 😄 But it's also a very deep tank, which has kind of been what I have leaned on as a possible cause. Truthfully, I hate everything about the tank's footprint and am perplexed what stocking would make sense in it. Dumb move to have bought it, but... it is what it is at this point! 😄 I've given up on getting the dang things to thrive, I still can't keep nitrates in the tank though.

How hard is your water, @Tanked? I've got a goodly number of plants that just plain don't seem to want to grow and I'm increasingly convincing myself that my super hard water is playing a bigger role than I would expect it to play. Just curious. I just try a bunch of stuff and hope some of it works. 😄

Looks a lot like this stuff. I rolled it into a ball. Some sort of algae (marimo maybe?), I really like it though. It's got good structure and as you say, the shrimp do seem to love it.

They're still so small! I didn't have my phone with me last night or I would have taken a picture. They've got the semblance of little tails, which I've been able to see for awhile. They're certainly getting around better than they were. Mine never got up on the sides of their enclosure until just before free swimming. It's amazing to me how vulnerable they are and for how long.

I'll take a video and you can try counting them. 😄 I'm guessing around 20? Edit to add: so I think I harvested about 35 eggs, at some point I had about 25 fry after a few got fungus-y looking (and could have been infertile). There's been at least two that I lost since free swimming age, but they were never really free swimmers. I'm not sure how many to expect to lose, but that attrition seems... reasonable... I think? This second batch with tons of eggs is more perplexing. The only thing I can think of is that I "handled" them too much when I was separating them from the plants I had in the breeder box and might have been too rough on them at that time? Otherwise like I said before, it was a different male. The female is looking quite plump again as of this morning, so I might move to spawn them again here tonight or tomorrow. Seems like 36-48 hours in the breeder box does the trick. I think this time I'll do very limited plants and focus on trying not to handle the eggs at all.

Well then they're just live and not live bearers then, aren't they? 😄

I think too many people think live bearers are good beginner fish. They might be "easy" to keep, but they're not easy to manage... if that makes any sense.

I struggle when reading reports about anything with fish. When I first got my apistos I could have written a post that said I successfully spawned A. hongloi in a 55 gallon with three pairs in it. While true, it's not necessarily... honest. Not saying that the post you're referencing isn't honest. But perhaps it's a one off?

It's this... 100%. At least IMO.

I listened to The Fireman and I thought it was... OK. I wouldn't have liked to read it, I don't think. Joe Hill isn't quite as enjoyable of a writer as his father, in my opinion. But it's got that just good enough to not make me completely give up on it curse. I've listened to a few of his books. The only other one that stick in my mind was NOS4A2 which I had similar feelings about. I finished David Peace's Nineteen Seventy-Four last night and started Nicholas Eames' Kings of the Wyld. I'm not too far into it yet, but it's an interesting premise.

I couldn't guess as to why they're more expensive, honestly. Difficulty in breeding, perhaps? But that's just another way of saying they're rare. Your friend thought the apistos weren't colorful?! Is she still your friend? 😄 😄

That's a pretty good selection, IMO. I've never even seen a live apistogramma outside of my house (or a dead one, for that matter). The Borellii look pretty nice to me. Since I think that's the best fit for your tank, I think I'd go with those if they appeal well to you.