nabokovfan87

1. Prime every 48 hours (not excessively) 2. 50% water changes morning and night 3. No feeding for 1 week 4. Add salt immediately (salt would be in the tank for 48 hours). Add an airstone to each tank. 5. Add BB from a bottle for the next week 6. We need to know filtration, what media is being used, what size HoB, etc. ----> In my ACs I generally always ran 2 HoB's and/or two media bags in each one. 7. Last resort, if she can, remove all fish to the 20G as a QT tank and keep the parrots in the big tank. I understand the filtration might not be there, but you're MUCH better off having the small fish in the smaller tank to give every fish the change to survive. 8. After 4-6 weeks, THEN you add in fish slowly. Have patience. Offer help. Beyond this, there isn't anything you can do. The goal is to make sure when you have a major tank crash like this you don't lose the hobbyist completely. If you can, bring her some cycled media. As mentioned above, test everything you can with the test kit, report back.

Where have you been getting your bettas from? I would recommend aquahuna as opposed to something like Petsmart or Petco. I know you mentioned silk plants. Have you thought about doing an easy planted tank (I do see plants in the photos)? It would give the betta the same sort of atmosphere, give you a more stable tank, but would also give you something to focus on besides just the fish. Something to do well at besides just the fish. You'll get there and as every chef knows "good food takes time". Just give it time and have patience apart from your frustrations. I am sorry for your difficulties and hope that things get easier for you. Step 1 I think is you need to test your water parameters and know what the fish themselves need. Then we can offer advice on how to fix any issues 🙂

This was what I saw. It reminded me of detritus worms or something. What is the filtration on this tank?

Totally makes sense. I still say 45 degrees might be the balance of both. Placement near the flow of the HoB is absolutely critical.

it's actually an interesting dilemma because of the fluid dynamics of the tank. First I will say, read the manual and know it does have requirements for positioning. Especially the higher end ones. The one above is likely talking about substrate, not the rotation. It doesn't give a minimum dimension, probably should. Most HoBs will cycle the water from the top to the bottom of the tank in that direction, that is why horiz makes the most sense. I run mine at a 45 degree angle.

Just give it time submerged to let whatever need be leech out. Change the water every 1-2 days. You can also run carbon for 1-2 weeks.

You can add repashy to the exterior of anything. So maybe if you buy a Betta leaf or make the jerky, that will float. Something you can suction cup to the glass. Better choice is the sera onip/spirulina tabs

Yep! They sink. They thaw pretty quickly. Fish definitely prefer fresh but frozen is decent. I float them in a cup for a few minutes on the tank lid, then feed the tanks. Check this out 🙂 https://youtu.be/Z107s34aqws

Lava rock is probably the best bet. Depending on how high of a slope you want. Lizzie just dropped a video today actually with a really big slope on a tank. Used rocks so you can see the separation and then the substrate was sloped as well. Might be worth checking out to get some inspiration. @Lizzie Block

That's the specific use case for sure. Depending how big the shrimp are. It has the calcium and food they need and will last a little bit. There is also a bigger block that would last longer time in the tank for vacation purposes.

Yep they would work. Might deteriorate over time though compared to a 100% nylon bag

Because sometimes one is already present in the water. Hard water, just like everything comes in all varieties. The blog article also speaks about KH, GH, and how you can modify one to stop PH from crashing and killing fish.

You want something that will allow you to build some verticalitity front to back, but you want something that won't be too stiff? What is your stocking like, undetermined or do you have specific care needs? I would think if you want something "more natural" in terms of visuals, the seachem substrates are pretty good. They have fine or larger particle sizes in a variety of colors. I don't think something like the caribsea natural sands works for what you're asking. The chunky colorful gravel and small pebbles might not be the best choice either because they will tend to be too stiff and not so subtle over time. Sometimes if you have a specific feature you're trying to add into the tank you can add a retaining wall under the substrate as well to try to keep it into position.

one side of the tank has more flow because of the intake of the hang on breeder box. That is one variable. Second to that, as mentioned above, I would think that there is a window or lightbulb that is causing more light energy on that wall of the tank. Paint it black with acrylic paint or use some of the privacy film / window tint that does not allow light through. (the fish will thank you for it as well)

I imagine some of the larger pieces of manzanita would add a lot of texture and life to the scape. Something like....Houston manzanita sells "ghostwood" that is about what I was envisioning.

best case is to run it plants only for a few weeks. run a QT treatment on the tank itself (med trio) and then add in your new biomedia, carbon, and let the tank run for 1 additional week. Then you start the cycle over again. I assume there are other fish in there currently?

Everything is spelled out in the blog post I also bolded the sentence in the quote above. GH: Calcium and Magnesium (Epsom salt or Equilibrium by Seachem if you want to avoid sodium ions) KH: Carbonates (crushed coral)

right there with you. This tank is screaming for some wood.

I run a tetra pond style a150 pump on a gang valve. Depending on tank size, it might be too much pressure. I don't recommend getting a pump with dual outlets. Get a metal gang valve, it's far superior. I've gone through 3-4 "dual outlet" pumps and had a lot of issues with their durability and flow over life. Even with good diaphragms they just didn't work and you have a lot less flexibility because you're stuck always needing 2-4 outputs. When they are released, the USB-C version of the aquarium co-op pump might be the one to get.

Very sorry for your struggles and loss. I really wish we had an answer for what caused the redness and how to handle it.

100% agreed. I love to have a slight.... haze that shows up and you can see the separation on the coloration of the water. I usually relied on tons of wood for mine, I am planning to get some alder cones to add to mine now. I have to be careful with what I do simply because my PH starts at 6.4 or so. I ran a bunch of stem plants, jungle val, and anubias. I didn't have success with ferns but I definitely think those would work well.

from the blog post: So your options are Seachem equilibrium or wondershells based on the article recommendations.

Looks like Malaysian driftwood? It seems to be a parasite or some sort of a fungus or something. Not sure how else to describe it.

Good stuff! I am surprised you didn't have a specimen container instead of the pyrex! 😂 I hope everything goes well and I am very jealous of the setup you have, nice work.