Gabs19

Thanks! I really appreciate your help. We have had the tank a year, but we still have no idea what we’re doing. At least the fish seem happy! I agree that we must have some nutrient deficiency because the plants look terrible lately. My husband takes care of the plants. He uses API Leaf Zone to fertilize the water. To be honest, I’m not sure there’s a rhyme or reason to how often he fertilizes. He adds some after every water change which I do every 2 weeks. We also just added more Flourish tabs from Seachem because it had been several months since we last added some.

Sorry for the late response. We have 4 glowlight and 4 Cardinal tetras. The pleco is about 2.5 inches. We have had the tank for over a year and lights are on from about 7:30am to 11:30pm.

We have a 10 gallon with 8 tetras, 1 platy, 2 mystery snails, a clown pleco, amano shrimp and khuli loach. Is that too much?

Is this hydra or some type of algae? And how do I get rid of it? It’s completely taken over.

Nitrate- 10 nitrite- 0 hardness- 300 buffer- 40 ph- 6.8 ammonia- 0 temperature is 80 Unfortunately I don’t have a test kit, only strips. I have tried so hard to raise the ph naturally but it’s always been low. I’ve checked around the tank and don’t see any jumpers. I’ve attached a photo of the tank.

So we had 3 Pygmy corys in our tank for about 10 months and few weeks ago we realized we couldn’t find 2 of them anymore. We have a 10 gallon tank and we examined every nook and cranny and they’re just gone. We figured maybe they got old and died. We bought a few more 2 weeks ago and the same thing happened! Only one is left. Water parameters are fine and everybody else in the tank is doing fine and behaving normally. Any theories? Is it possible they’re getting eaten? We have 8 tetras (glow light and cardinal), a clown pleco, a kuhli loach, and several mystery snails.

Oooh yes. That looks like it’s right. Thank you so much!

Sorry for the horrible photo. Does anyone know what kind of snail this is? We think he hitched a ride on one of the plants we bought. We thought it might be a mystery snail but now that it’s grown a bit it doesn’t appear to be one.

@Brian no I’m not adjusting my ph. I have had a hard time raising the level. I added about half a bag of crushed coral over a month ago and still no change. I haven’t gotten around to it yet but I was thinking of filling a mesh bag and adding some to the filter. I also heard you can add baking soda to the tank Oops and you asked about tank mates. Yes four glow light tetras, a khuli loach, 1 clown pleco and 3 Pygmy Cory’s. She is peaceful with everyone else except the snails.

@Hannah Parker thank you Hannah. I was wondering if maybe something was needed so there weren’t so many open areas in the tank. I will try the spider wood and see if that helps. Our mystery snails are pretty big so that’s probably why she targets them. I’m hoping the extra hardscape will help because I think my husband would sooner get rid of Daisy then part with his snails 😅. They’re adapting by keeping their antennas tucked, but they’re definitely way less active because as soon as they come out of their shells, Daisy is on them.

@nabokovfan87 The temp is 78 right now. Flow issue meaning the filter flow? I’m new to the hobby so just making sure that’s what that means. I have a canister filter and it seems pretty slow to me but I can look into that more. Actually as I’m typing this I’m watching Daisy and this is the most peaceful I’ve ever seen her. She’s just slowly swimming around and exploring. I wish she was always like this. I have the shades down so maybe the low light is helping 🤷🏽‍♀️ Thank you for the information and the video.

Hi there! I’m back with another question 😅. We got our first female powder blue dwarf gourami about two weeks ago. She’s super cute but she is harshing the mellow of the tank. The only time she’s ever just peacefully swimming in a chill manner is first thing in the morning when we turn the lights on. For the rest of the day she swims back and forth at a pretty good clip. I’ve never had a dwarf Gourami before so I don’t know if they’re active swimmers and this is normal or she’s stressed. She’s also harassing our mystery snails. She nips at them and now they hardly come out of their shells. I don’t have the means or space to buy another tank and separate them, and I really don’t want to have to give anyone away. Is there something I can do to calm her down? I’m including a shot of the tank and maybe someone can advise if more plants/decor are needed, as well as water parameters. The only parameters that are not in normal range are KH, GH, and ph. GH- 300 KH- 40 ph- 6.4 Thank you to anyone who is able to help!

We bought a powder blue female gourami. She is so cute ☺️ We’ve had her less than a day but she is glass surfing and swimming back and forth quickly. Should I be worried? She’s in a 10 gallon with glow light tetras, a pleco, a loach, 3 Pygmy corys, and two snails.

Thank you both so much! I’m kind of excited about the idea of a gourami now! Also thanks for acknowledging that bettas are sickly. I felt so guilty while my little guy was declining. I’m sure my inexperience contributed in some way, but it’s a little comforting to know that others have struggled with them as well. Maybe I’ll think of getting another down the road, but for now I’m looking forward to trying something new!

The pugs of aquariums is a great analogy 😂 Thanks for your input @ange it’s nice to know gouramis have personality too. We’re definitely leaning toward one at this point 😊

Hello! I’m new to the hobby and four months ago I got my first betta and sadly he passed away recently. I’d like to eventually get another single fish for my 10 gallon community tank. My husband really fell in love with the female powder blue dwarf gouramis at the store. But I’m a little worried I won’t find them enjoyable/interesting. My betta had an adorable personality. At the same time, I fussed over my betta so much, especially over the last month when he really started to decline. I feel like I might be a little betta-traumatized lol. I did hear that plakat bettas tend to be healthier since their fins are much shorter and they are not as susceptible to fin rot. Can anyone can confirm this? If anything has thoughts about plakat bettas or gouramis, let me know. Taking a few days to think about it.

Thank you so much @xXInkedPhoenixX. That’s very kind of you.

Thank you so much @Colu for your continued help. Kujo didn’t make it 😞. I stepped out and when I came home he was gone. I feel terribly, but I’m grateful for all the help I got here on the forum.

Update on my betta: not sure if anyone will see this. I feel confident that Kujo has dropsy now. He looks bloated and his scales are definitely pine-coning. He refuses to eat anything I try to give him. Metroplex should come today and I will dose the tank. I also added 1tbsp of aquarium salt to the tank. I am so heartbroken. Is there anything else I can or should be doing? I am desperate to help him. I have stress guard from Seachem. Should I add that daily to see if it helps?

Hello everyone! I am a total newbie to taking care of fish. I got my first tank about four months ago from a friend. She needed to find a new home for a tank and she hooked me up with a cycled 10-gallon planted tank and one betta. Since then we’ve added 4 glowlight tetras, 3 pygmy Corys, 1 clown pleco, 1 khuli loach, and 2 mystery snails. Is that too much bio-load and if so, would a different filter help? We have the Tetra Whisper 5-10i. I love how quiet it is. We have two black sponge pads inside. I know people often talk about filter media and I’m really uneducated about it. Any tips would be appreciated 😊

Thank you. I purchased the metroplex and it should be here tomorrow. I also tried the bloodworms with Kanaplex and Kujo seemed more responsive to that. Hopefully it works. Thank you for your help. Will post updates.

I have an update on Kujo. I have added more catapa leaves to the tank and added aquarium salt as suggested above. I could not find the Seachem Focus at my local stores to bind the Kanaplex to the food. I it ordered from Amazon but the package was lost. I FINALLY got my replacement yesterday and made the recipe @Colu suggested above, but Kujo won’t eat😔. I put him in a jar so I could try and hand feed him and noticed some of his scales look like they are sticking out a bit. Is this dropsy? I can also see some discoloration around his face and he is breathing heavily. I feel like this might be the end 😞. Any thoughts?

Wow this is so helpful! Thank you @Colu and @Fish Folk for your responses. I seriously appreciate it. At the level you recommended will the salt harm my loach or pleco? I definitely want to give it a try. Also I just want to add that this forum is amazing. I posted to Reddit to see if I could get help and my post never even got seen. This platform is so easy to use and I really appreciate the response from kind and experienced people. Thank you!!!!

Thank you for replying! I’ve been doing 25% water changes every 1-2 weeks. The temperature is about 78 degrees. I feed Kujo ( my betta) and the tetras Hikari Vibra bites and the other guys algae wafers. I was feeding twice daily but had a low ammonia level reading a few weeks ago so I reduced to feeding once a day. Everyone else seems to be just fine in the tank. Only Kujo seems to be “off”. Heavy sigh. I was thinking about trying salt baths once a day this week and see if that helps. I’m hesitant to to medicate since I don’t really know what’s wrong.

Hello there. I am new to taking care of fish and I am worried about my betta. I’ve had him since January and he has always been such a social, curious little guy. Active swimmer. I noticed some fin rot about a month after we got him. I treated him with Kanaplex and added some almond leaves to the tank for tannins. No change. Even though his fins looked shredded Kujo was still very active and had a good appetite. Last week I noticed a change in his behavior. He is very lethargic. He spends most of the day hiding or at the bottom of the tank in a kind of curled position leaning over to one side. I really have to coax him to come to the surface for food now. The water parameters seem ok, although I only have test strips. I can see no visible signs of disease, like ich or velvet. But I’m inexperienced, so any help is appreciated. Is this just advanced fin rot or is something else amiss? Any recommendations? I gave him a salt bath for the first time today with API aquarium salt. Water Parameters: GH: 150; Nitrires: 0; Nitrates: 0; Ammonia: 0; KH- 40, pH- 6.4 He’s in a 10 gallon planted tank with 4 glow light tetras, 3 Pygmy Cory’s, 2 mystery snails, 1 khuli loach and 1 pleco. Here are some photos with and without flash.