Hannah Parker
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Posts posted by Hannah Parker
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I think you have really good, lush plants for her. I think you could add more hardscape to help her feel more secure. Spider wood is a favorite of mine for hardscape, it has lots of branches that create things to swim through and even natural little caves. It would also give your snails a place to hide from her.
Unfortunately, in my experience when a fish doesn't like a mystery snail that's how it stays, I find they don't like how big they are and will pick at them a ton. You will just have to keep tabs and see how dire it gets, hopefully not but you might have to think about rehoming the snails and trying smaller ones such as pest snails or nerites.
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I also usually only feed 3 times a week, but may increase it to once a day, at least for the meantime so my loach isn't as hungry. That may help with the aggression
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On 5/24/2022 at 10:32 AM, Guppysnail said:
This is just me and what I would do but I would definitely try and get her a friend. They are social. I take sulking and hiding more as their way communicating something is making them unhappy. If the only change was her life mate/BFF no longer there it’s a good indication that’s the issue especially if it upset the harmony in the tank.
That's what my gut is telling me. I was going to wait to save up and possibly order some dwarf chain loaches from AquaHuna, but my local Petco has some Golden Zebra Loaches in stock (which is what she was sold to me as). I'm gonna go look at them after work and see if they look like mine did as juveniles. I might only be able to fit 1 or 2 more loaches in this tank, but if I can get the same species I think it might be worth it since she is starting to injure her tankmates. I just want the tank back to normal again
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On 5/24/2022 at 10:23 AM, Guppysnail said:
I don’t keep loaches but I had to move my OG blue guppy to a CPD tank for a bit by himself. He sulked and glass surfed and tried to interact and do his mating display for the girl CPDs and tried mating. His size turned it into 1of my little girls getting hurt. I witnessed it so I know it was not outright aggression. I put 2 girls in with him and he then ignored my CPD as if they were not there. I’m not sure fish feel lonely the way humans feel emotion (I like to think they feel emotion I’m sappy) but at least the instinct to mate and socialize may be what occurred for me.
Poor guy, I'm glad he's got his ladies again. My pair of loaches lived together for over 4 years and I'm pretty sure the deceased one was male and my remaining one female. They chased each other, swam together and were always together for almost their whole lives. I'm almost positive this change is what is causing this. I only wish I knew for certain that getting more loaches would help, and if other species of loaches would suffice. Wish they could talk to us and tell us, you know?
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Submergible lights are in!
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On 5/22/2022 at 6:51 PM, castiel said:
I have both in my 5 gallon and they serve very different purposes from what I've seen! The MTS spend 90% of their time in the substrate or on lower decorations, while the Ramshorn go up on the plants, floating plants, and glass, more then along the substrate.
This is a great description of their behavior. In my experience, my MTS are much more prolific than my ramshorns, and there are a lot of little babies lol
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Hi everyone, I've got a sad and frustrating problem on my hands.
The short story is I had a pair of yoyo loaches in my tropical community tanks for over 4 years, and this tank has been running in perfect balance and harmony for over a year. I have a giant male plakat betta, various platies and guppies, synodontis petricola catfish and a few mismatched species that were combined from old community tanks and their schools not replaced (I'm trying to let them die out naturally) such as chili rasboras, hasbrosas pygmy corydoras, and a salt and pepper cory, and of course now only 1 yoyo loach. You can check out the thread here for context on how I got the 2 yoyos and lost the 1, and you can check out my thread here for context on my dilemma with my remaining yoyo loach.
Moving on to last night, during feeding I noticed my betta's face seemed swollen, and upon further investigation I discovered that the left side of his face had been injured, with a couple of red open wounds and the scales on that side of his face pineconing. I was shocked and so scared, because this tank has been in perfect harmony and everyone has always gotten along. I treated the tank with Melafix, Fritz Indian Almond Leaf extract, and aquarium salt. I then put my betta in a net near the surface of the water in the tank and that was held in place by the lid overnight. I had treated a bad case of dropsy like this before and forcing the betta to rest in the net worked wonders. I fed him fluval bug bites and he ate normally. He was also acting normally so I am hoping he pulls through. I also wanted to put him in the net to protect him possibly from the culprit. Here are the videos I took of the injuries:
I'm 99% sure that it was my remaining yoyo loach that did it, I can't think of any other fish in there that would. I have barely seen my loach since his counterpart died (he's hiding a lot), and his behavior is now very different. I believe that he is upset at being the only loach now, and has either turned semi-aggressive or was trying to interact with my betta because he is now lonely, and got too enthusiastic and ended up hurting him. I am really worried about my community tank, and have committed myself to this loach and really don't want to get rid of him. The only thing that has changed in this tank is that my other yoyo died and now there is only 1.
I will be moving my betta to a spare 5 gallon if he takes a turn for the worse or is injured further.
Does anyone agree with my hunch that he is upset at being the only loach? Do you think adding more loaches would restore balance? I was really leaning towards dwarf chain loaches because I can get more for the size of my tank, but am also open to 2 more yoyos or 2 zebra loaches. Thank you all for any input.
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On 5/23/2022 at 10:48 AM, anewbie said:
Hard for me to tell because the colours don't seem accurate in the picture; definitely not a gold zebra; i lean towards yoyo but there are some other loaches with similar pattern. Also not a kubotai. Btw another loach that you could consider as tank mates for him are zebra loaches. These are around 4 inches as adults and are extremely passive - again at least a min of a group of 5. dwarf loaches are much smaller and extremely active; they will swim everywhere - zebra loaches are going to be a bit more shy and tend to stay on the bottom of the tank (think shy cory).
I will definitely consider zebra loaches! I love they way they look. However, what attracted me to the dwarf chains was their size, as the community tank in question is a well-stocked 4ft long 33 gallon. You can check out my thread here for more context, but I was misinformed when I was sold these loaches years ago, and was planning on them living out their days in this tank as a pair. However, since I am now down to one and don't have the room to upgrade and also don't want him to be alone, I'm leaning towards more smaller loaches to accompany him than 1-2 zebra loaches, for example, as I'm limited from the size of the tank. I'm not sure why he's stayed so small, but from his behavior I think he is probably a yoyo as well. When he had his counterpart, they were also zooming the length of the tank together during the day and at night. Now that his friend is gone I barely see him, he hides all day 💔
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On 5/23/2022 at 3:06 AM, anewbie said:
At 4 years he would be an adult but it is odd he is only 3 inches long - as yoyo can get as large as 6 or 7 inches.
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By the way a lot of websites erroneously list the size of yoyo as 2.5-3 inches; if you want more information on yoyo read this site:
https://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-almorhae
Also there are several loaches that look similar to yoyo (esp as youngsters). Chain stores such as petco will frequently mix gold zebra and yoyo together and sell them under the tag yoyo even though they are very different species that look similar when younger (as adults they are quite distsinctly different). Another loach that is sometime lump in with them at chain stores are kubotai though that seems less common. Aquahuna is a good places to get dwarf chain loaches. Note that dwarf chain loaches are an endangered species and harvesting them in the wild is illegal; for the aquarium trade they are all tank raised.
Thank you so much for all the information! He was actually sold to me as a golden zebra loach, but many people on this forum thought he was a yoyo after seeing pictures of him. Honestly I'm not sure what he is at this point 😂 and I was looking at AquaHuna for the dwarf chain loaches, so thank you for the endorsement! Here is the boy in question, he was never as colored up as his counterpart:
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On 5/21/2022 at 12:09 AM, Fish Folk said:
I was just watching this very social Yoyo Loach online here. If yours is this social, my guess is it wouldn't necessarily lonely with other species.
On 5/21/2022 at 2:38 AM, anewbie said:I currently do not have dwarf chain loaches; but I do have clown and zebra and my yoyos will school/group with them. However given that a yoyo can be 10 times larger than dwarf chain I'd be a bit concern mixing one with them.
Holy crap that is a big loach! And he was very social with his partner, but I’ve barely seen him since he’s become the only one. Definitely need to get him some friends. And he is over 4 years old and only 3 inches, so I’m sure praying that he doesn’t get any bigger!!! He hasn’t grown in a while.
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How daunting and exciting. I'm sure you will be busy, but I'm sure the forum would love to continue to be updated on this progress!
I worked at my LFS for quite a while, and my best advice can be on the betta fish set-up. I would really recommend keeping a low number of stock for bettas. It can be easy to get overwhelmed and slack on their care if you have too many. The best and healthiest set-up I've seen is this Betta/Invert system. I know it's a pretty penny, but I think you would save a lot in the long-run by losing far less bettas because they have filtered water. You also wouldn't have to commit a staff member to daily water changes for your betta cups. I love what my local Petco does by keeping a small sorority of female bettas in a community tank (usually with tetras or cories), but this might also have unintended consequences by advertising betta sororites to beginner/inexperienced fishkeepers. Just food for thought. Good luck on this endeavor!
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On 5/20/2022 at 1:16 PM, Dancing Matt said:
Electronics usually don't like water, the light will want to stay dry. You can check out using "Polycarbonate Clear Multiwall Roof Panel" for tops. I have done this to keep fish from jumping, water in, and other things out. You should be able to find it at a box chain hardware store.
Thank you! I will most likely try and suspend it from the ceiling since I just bought and modified my mesh top. Or if the current light is fried I will just buy a waterproof one.
Edit: decided to buy a waterproof light anyways because after mulling it over, hanging the light from the ceiling would be too hard. Got 2 18.5 in lights coming in this Sunday!
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Concerning update this morning, the light didn't want to turn on for me this morning. The right side was quite wet from the powerhead and air stone bubbles that accumulate and splash on the right side. The light flashed and then turned right off when I flipped the switch this morning. I took the light off the top of the tank to hopefully dry off while I'm at work today, and am going to try it again when I get home. Does the light need to stay dry? Is it getting wet causing this issue? Super nervous as it's a great light and I'm not sure I have the funds for a replacement 😞
If it's not ruined, I'm thinking I might hang it from the ceiling from fishing line. I think if it's not already I think it will eventually short circuit from getting wet.
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@Guppysnail has an excellent point with that, you could always hide either of the filters behind a bonsai tree if you really wanted to get one!
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A lot of places won't buy fish and will only take them off your hands, especially something common like platies. I would call and ask though! They might give you store credit.
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On 5/20/2022 at 11:16 AM, twodaend said:
@Hannah Parker Thanks. I was going to go with a lawn look using dwarf hair grass, but that would have been more maintenance then I probably wanted to do. I love the idea of a moss bonsai tree. It'll add a focal point, plus some height. Thanks for the suggestion.
I think height will add so much to this tank! Your shrimpies will also love hanging out on that bonsai. The driftwood will give them something nice to graze on too. When in doubt, always add more plants or driftwood! That's just me though, I love having a densely planted and decorated tank.
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I've kept every betta I've owned in community tanks, I think they can do great under the right conditions. Some were more tolerant than other. My less-tolerant ones would only have nano chili rasboras and pygmy corydoras as tankmates, because they were very small and could stay out of the way. My super friendly ones could be with honey gouramis, male guppies, brightly colored platies and so on. Females are definitely mellower, but even if they are feisty, a lot of times if you get a male with long fins he isn't fast enough to catch most of his tank mates. Your shrimp could be up for grabs a bit though. However, please don't add 2 females. If you get any gender of betta, please stick to just one. Even females in the same tank will eventually kill each other. Female bettas can only live together in sororities, which have to be 5 bettas or more, and only have a success rate of about 50%. Research sororities if you're interested, but know that they're not easy and can vary a lot and be quite risky. Can't wait to see what you end up with, I hope you'll keep us updated on your possible new friend!
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LOVE this tank already. Super cute and vibrant nerites all around. I see where you're coming from with wanting to move the sponge filter, it would balance out the sides. However, I think it might be cool to add decor on the left side instead to balance it out. Maybe something like a moss bonsai tree
Luckily that internal filter blends in with the background super nice. You could add some more plants on that right side if you wanted to keep the sponge filter there but conceal it more. Excited to see what you do with it!
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Welcome to the forum! You got some great advice on how to dilute the methylene blue, I would definitely follow it, and hopefully it helps!!
I know this wasn't your original question, but may I ask if you bought the 2 female bettas to go in the same tank together? Or do you have dividers, or an existing sorority you're adding them to? If not, you could have a bigger problem in store. I hope you don't take offense to this question, but I would love to be able to save you and your kids possible heartbreak if something were to go wrong with this pair of bettas ❤️
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I think you and your kids would get so much enjoyment out of adding corydoras. They are so cute and have super cute schooling behavior. My personal favorite are the hasbrosas pygmies. Also, if you are looking at some personal experience with some of these species, I'll tell you that I kept a pair of honey gouramis and they did great. We had chasing every once in a while, and I'm pretty sure that's because they were both male. They had a 4ft long tank though so there was plenty of room to get away. If you can successfully sex them and make sure to get a male and female they should be very happy. Rams are also incredibly peaceful, beautiful and interesting. Unfortunately, I could never keep any of the rams I tried alive, even in their ideal conditions and in a mature, balanced tank. They are extremely sensitive and sometimes don't even last the transition from store tank to your tank. I probably wouldn't recommend them for you this time around, it could lead to wasted money and heartbreak 💔 I have no experience with apistos, but many fishkeepers love them and I do know that they stay at the bottom of the tank while your honeys would stay at the top, so that makes for a nice balance. I also second chili rasboras even though they can be hard to find. Their colors are stunning and they are a very cool nano fish to observe. You could also cut down on your projected bioload by going with them instead of the tetras, because they are so tiny. You could easily have up to 20 chilis in that tank, depending on your stocking of everything else. Good luck and I can't wait to see this tank come together! I hope you'll keep us updated 🙂
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I will no longer try and "save" a betta from somewhere like Petco. They were very sickly and just didn't make it, it was very disheartening. My current and maybe last betta for a while is my giant male plakat I bought online from keepfishkeeping.com, and he is super healthy and is doing great. They work directly with a betta breeder and hand-pick all the ones they sell, so I'm confident in the quality of their bettas. I would definitely recommend ordering from them. They also have a video of the actual betta you'd be looking at to buy, so it's nice to be able to see that.
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On 5/19/2022 at 12:08 PM, Tihshho said:
Any reason you went with a screen lid over a glass lid?
I'm honestly not sure why I did and regret it a little because of what a pain in the behind it was the cut and thread everything through. I just remember how hard it was to find glass lids that fit correctly for my 33gal, and I was nervous trying to find lids for this tank that would fit since I bought it used and was unsure of what brand it was. Cost was also a factor, because this screen lid was only $35, which is probably half the cost of what 2 glass lids for each side would be. All of my other tanks have been low-flow with sponge filters because they were betta community tanks, so I have also been looking forward to hearing all the bubbles and mini-waves in this one. I also wanted to put duckweed in this tank, which I could never keep alive in my others because the water pushed right up against the glass lid and the duckweed couldn't get any air. Same goes for any floating plants I've ever tried to keep, so I'm hoping I can successfully keep some in this tank! As I type this out, I'm realizing there are actually many reasons!! 😂
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Hi everyone! Hoping someone that has owned dwarf chain loaches can chime in and help me out. Recently I lost one of my yoyo loaches and only have 1 left in my community tank, and am wanting to figure out a solution to his social needs now that his companion is gone. You can check out my thread here for more context. Basically, I have a tank that is pretty stocked and smaller than I would feel comfortable to have 3-4 yoyo loaches in it. But I don't want my remaining yoyo to be alone for the remainder of his life. I was wondering if he would school with and interact with dwarf chain loaches? I would be much more comfortable having a higher number of these in the tank with him, instead of just 1 or 2 more yoyos. Any input would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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Almost a week of progress! Some sad news, only one little kuhli loach left out of the trio I bought. In hindsight, it was pretty arrogant of me to try to add these guys right away to a not-all-the-way cycled tank. If the last one survives, I'm not sure if I will return him to the LFS and buy a bunch more nerites, or try and get of school of them going. I'm also considering returning him and switching to Hillstream Loaches in the future. My metal mesh lid for the tank came in yesterday, and I spent a couple hours last night cutting the mesh and feeding the air tubing and wires through it. It was way harder than I thought but is worth it so nobody else jumps out of the tank!
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How can I help my dwarf Gourami relax?
in General Discussion
Posted
I hope it helps and she calms down. I would give her a month to adjust maybe, and just keep keeping an eye on them. Good luck!