EmmaK

@Biotope Biologist I just took a video. These are screenshots because I can’t figure out how to upload the video. Pardon my melting hair grass! Very appreciative of the suggestion! I can handle looking at it so long as I tell myself it’s like an earthworm or underground kuhli loach.

Hi all! I recently found a 2-3 inch asian leech in my 20g tank. I moved all of my shrimp into a different tank as soon as I saw it. Remaining inhabitants of the tank are 6 (tho I can only find 4) otos, 10 pygmy corys, and 3 honey gourami. They all seem very healthy/happy, with the gouramis breeding. I've done a LOT of googling and it sounds like asian leeches don't hurt fish? Wondering if anyone has experience to validate/invalidate this? If I keep the tank set up, do I need to have tools that I just use on that tank? AND, if I get too repulsed (I have a leech phobia) and tear down the tank, will there be eggs on the tank surface or do they just lay in substrate/roots? I would rather save for a new tank than risk bleach not fully annihilating any potential eggs. I am sooooo appreciative of any advice/help y'all can provide!!

I’ve always heard that tanks with planeria outbreaks tend to lose their bottom dwellers, because the planeria can attach to them with greater ease than schooling/swimming fish. If that’s true, I wouldn’t get more bottom dwellers. I assume someone here knows if that’s the case or not!

Thanks @laritheloud! I love my honeys so much! Because of your advice, I was able to go to my lfs and pick out 2 females from a large school of uncolored/stressed fish. I’m so appreciative!

Would you say this is a female honey? They have orange on the top of their dorsal fin and are larger than the male I already have. I’m thinking female, but wanted another opinion before I get a second male. I have two others in the tank and they’re already paired up.

A red lizard whiptail catfish or two would be cool. A hillstream loach would be neat. If its a 29 long, you could try sparkling gouramis, but that could go sideways.

@SeaDevl get 6 otos, if your tank allows it. They’re totally different fish when they’re in groups. It makes me feel bad to think about the times I only had 1-3 at a time because I didn’t know any better. They don’t add much to the bioload.

Can’t answer any of your questions, but that’s so cool! Post pics when it blooms!

This is the BEST honey gourami convo I have ever read. It’s better than everything else I’ve seen on the internet about them! Thanks so much!

I’ve had corys on sand, aquasoil, and several kinds of gravel. They’ve done well on all of them and haven’t uprooted any of my plants in sand or aquasoil. They bred constantly while on the gravel substrate. I think they’d particularly love the large rocks in your scape. Plus, they’ll look so cool hanging out on them!

My pygmys and my otos school together. It’s adorable. I also have a betta in there, but if I could do it again I’d get a honey gourami or a school of tetras/danios.