Fish Lovers 3.0 [new poll]

[Alpen]

I'm getting into breeding so I don't really have room for 50 10 gal tanks, it's just not doable for me. ): I've heard a lot of success stories with divided tanks. Heck, even a lot of betta breeders keep them in small mason jars beside each other, which I refuse to do. As for them getting sick, if that happens then I'll just have to treat both, not a huge deal. All of them are going to be quarantined individually in a separate tank I have set aside, I just didn't do that now since...they're by themselves atm P:
This is a slow process and I'm not rushing anything, so their wellbeing is kept in mind at all times.

[Checkinder]

I'm getting into breeding so I don't really have room for 50 10 gal tanks, it's just not doable for me. ): I've heard a lot of success stories with divided tanks. Heck, even a lot of betta breeders keep them in small mason jars beside each other, which I refuse to do. As for them getting sick, if that happens then I'll just have to treat both, not a huge deal. All of them are going to be quarantined individually in a separate tank I have set aside, I just didn't do that now since...they're by themselves atm P:
This is a slow process and I'm not rushing anything, so their wellbeing is kept in mind at all times.

Just be careful with them. ^^ If they start showing signs of stress or anything, definitely separate them.

On a side note, you're getting into breeding? Any specific types you'll be pairing or any pairs you have set up already? ^^

[Alpen]

Yeah I am! I have plans to breed the female I showed (halfmoon plakat) with a halfmoon male from Thailand, he has similar colors except his reds are darker and less blue/white scales. But I may wait until I find a halfmoon female since I've never bred before.
I want to focus on the marble/"koi" morph but I also like the coppers, so I hope to get into those eventually. I want to get some giants too but most of the time they're about $80+ each, almost twice the amount of regulars.

[Siddy]

Hi! I just came here to ask some questions as its been a rough week and I'm having a hard time understanding things. I recently set up a 20 gallon hexagon tank. This is the first one I've ever had to cycle on my own, and I'm struggling to understand the bacteria thing, and I'm also struggling with ammonia levels/nitrates.
I unfortunately was too ignorant at the time to cycle the tank completely before putting fish in, and the fish are showing signs of ammonia poisoning (just slightly red gills). I use Aquavitro seed for the bacteria, and have a whisper filter for a 30 gallon set up.
What can I do to help lower the ammonia levels until I can go buy the powder? I've already done multiple water changes, and I'm not feeding them tonight either. I'm willing to do anything to keep these guys safe. My cousin passed away Friday morning and I can't handle anything else dying any time soon. These fish mean a lot to me.
I made a few mistakes and I'm looking for some advice on what to do as I've looked everywhere.
Currently I have 2 small clown loaches, 4 betta, and an algae eater in the tank. The loaches are chilling in here for now as they're too small for my moms 30 gallon. Am I overstocked?
I also heard that decomposing plant matter could cause ammonia to spike? Could there be a problem relating to the duck weed?
Can you add too much bacteria?
Any advice is appreciated! Please be kind about responses though.
I made some rookie mistakes and I want to fix them before they become a problem. I'm willing to do anything I can for these little guys.

[Lonin]

Hi! I just came here to ask some questions as its been a rough week and I'm having a hard time understanding things. I recently set up a 20 gallon hexagon tank. This is the first one I've ever had to cycle on my own, and I'm struggling to understand the bacteria thing, and I'm also struggling with ammonia levels/nitrates.
I unfortunately was too ignorant at the time to cycle the tank completely before putting fish in, and the fish are showing signs of ammonia poisoning (just slightly red gills). I use Aquavitro seed for the bacteria, and have a whisper filter for a 30 gallon set up.
What can I do to help lower the ammonia levels until I can go buy the powder? I've already done multiple water changes, and I'm not feeding them tonight either. I'm willing to do anything to keep these guys safe. My cousin passed away Friday morning and I can't handle anything else dying any time soon. These fish mean a lot to me.
I made a few mistakes and I'm looking for some advice on what to do as I've looked everywhere.
Currently I have 2 small clown loaches, 4 betta, and an algae eater in the tank. The loaches are chilling in here for now as they're too small for my moms 30 gallon. Am I overstocked?
I also heard that decomposing plant matter could cause ammonia to spike? Could there be a problem relating to the duck weed?
Can you add too much bacteria?
Any advice is appreciated! Please be kind about responses though.
I made some rookie mistakes and I want to fix them before they become a problem. I'm willing to do anything I can for these little guys.

c: Recognising and being willing to fix mistakes makes you an awesome fishkeeper. Everyone messes up sometimes, don't worry about it. You'll have a beautiful, healthy tank soon.

Do you have a test kit? Knowing your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels will help massively while doing a fish in cycle, and just in general. Until you can test your water it might be best to do daily water changes. We don't know what the instructions for your aquavitro say but if you've run out then water changes shouldn't hurt. The instructions should tell you if you can add too much.
Prime claims to detoxify ammonia for 24-48 hours so if you have some and can't do a water change right away that might be an option.
Can you borrow some filter media from your mum's tank to speed things along? Just stick it in your filter and it should cycle a lot faster.

Unfortunately you are very overstocked. Clown loaches get way too big for a 20 or even a 30 gallon. They need to live in groups of at least 5 and can get 12 inches long. They need around 100 gallons minimum and can live 20 years so unless they're only going in the 30 temporarily you might want to return them. They'll be fine temporarily as they grow quite slowly but they can't stay forever.
Are your bettas female? While sororities can work they aren't easy and can fall apart at any time. If you don't want the stress it might be a good idea to return all of them or maybe keep your favourite. If they're males they definitely shouldn't be kept together unless the tank is divided.
What sort of algae eater do you have?

Yup yup dead plants will add ammonia, but live plants are great at getting rid of it. Duckweed grows really fast and sucks up ammonia like crazy so unless it's mostly dead it'll be helping more than hurting c:

[Siddy]

Hi! I just came here to ask some questions as its been a rough week and I'm having a hard time understanding things. I recently set up a 20 gallon hexagon tank. This is the first one I've ever had to cycle on my own, and I'm struggling to understand the bacteria thing, and I'm also struggling with ammonia levels/nitrates.
I unfortunately was too ignorant at the time to cycle the tank completely before putting fish in, and the fish are showing signs of ammonia poisoning (just slightly red gills). I use Aquavitro seed for the bacteria, and have a whisper filter for a 30 gallon set up.
What can I do to help lower the ammonia levels until I can go buy the powder? I've already done multiple water changes, and I'm not feeding them tonight either. I'm willing to do anything to keep these guys safe. My cousin passed away Friday morning and I can't handle anything else dying any time soon. These fish mean a lot to me.
I made a few mistakes and I'm looking for some advice on what to do as I've looked everywhere.
Currently I have 2 small clown loaches, 4 betta, and an algae eater in the tank. The loaches are chilling in here for now as they're too small for my moms 30 gallon. Am I overstocked?
I also heard that decomposing plant matter could cause ammonia to spike? Could there be a problem relating to the duck weed?
Can you add too much bacteria?
Any advice is appreciated! Please be kind about responses though.
I made some rookie mistakes and I want to fix them before they become a problem. I'm willing to do anything I can for these little guys.

c: Recognising and being willing to fix mistakes makes you an awesome fishkeeper. Everyone messes up sometimes, don't worry about it. You'll have a beautiful, healthy tank soon.

Do you have a test kit? Knowing your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels will help massively while doing a fish in cycle, and just in general. Until you can test your water it might be best to do daily water changes. We don't know what the instructions for your aquavitro say but if you've run out then water changes shouldn't hurt. The instructions should tell you if you can add too much.
Prime claims to detoxify ammonia for 24-48 hours so if you have some and can't do a water change right away that might be an option.
Can you borrow some filter media from your mum's tank to speed things along? Just stick it in your filter and it should cycle a lot faster.

Unfortunately you are very overstocked. Clown loaches get way too big for a 20 or even a 30 gallon. They need to live in groups of at least 5 and can get 12 inches long. They need around 100 gallons minimum and can live 20 years so unless they're only going in the 30 temporarily you might want to return them. They'll be fine temporarily as they grow quite slowly but they can't stay forever.
Are your bettas female? While sororities can work they aren't easy and can fall apart at any time. If you don't want the stress it might be a good idea to return all of them or maybe keep your favourite. If they're males they definitely shouldn't be kept together unless the tank is divided.
What sort of algae eater do you have?

Yup yup dead plants will add ammonia, but live plants are great at getting rid of it. Duckweed grows really fast and sucks up ammonia like crazy so unless it's mostly dead it'll be helping more than hurting c:

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate the advice <3 I'm going to pick up an ammonia test kit later today hopefully! I do have a nitrate tester and I got a 2.0 on it which concerned me quite a bit, and led me to do the water change along with just a general concern.

And yeah! All the betta are female, I did a lot of research on them and I actually managed to get all siblings, or so they said, from the lfs! I've had lots of betta in the past but this is my first time trying a sorority. These guys were actually raised in tanks full of other fish and betta as well, I didn't want to go with bettas used to being solitary. I also have lots of plants and places for them to hide as well. But if any issues occurred I was definitely planning on returning them!
The clown loach will definitely only be here temporarily! About when should I remove them? They're probably only about an 1 1/2 at the moment.
The algae eater was called a Chinese algae eater! I chose it as I didn't want something that'd get huge like a standard pleco.

[Gone-]

Username: Roseycat
How many fish tanks do you have:One currently, but hoping to get more!
Types of fish that you have:One betta
Your fishes' names:Her name is Rosalie (Named her for her pink colour. Rose is French for pink)
How long have you had fish: I once had a betta when I was seven, but he died, and just this year, I got a new betta.

[Lonin]

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate the advice <3 I'm going to pick up an ammonia test kit later today hopefully! I do have a nitrate tester and I got a 2.0 on it which concerned me quite a bit, and led me to do the water change along with just a general concern.

And yeah! All the betta are female, I did a lot of research on them and I actually managed to get all siblings, or so they said, from the lfs! I've had lots of betta in the past but this is my first time trying a sorority. These guys were actually raised in tanks full of other fish and betta as well, I didn't want to go with bettas used to being solitary. I also have lots of plants and places for them to hide as well. But if any issues occurred I was definitely planning on returning them!
The clown loach will definitely only be here temporarily! About when should I remove them? They're probably only about an 1 1/2 at the moment.
The algae eater was called a Chinese algae eater! I chose it as I didn't want something that'd get huge like a standard pleco.

Not sure how high 2.0 is since ours is in ppm but having nitrates is a good sign for your cycle. Unless you mean nitrite, which yup yup would be too high. 2ppm nitrate is nothing, anything under 40 is fine.

And that sounds like an awesome set up for them. Sounds like they have the best chances of success, hopefully it all goes well c:

We don't know much else about clown loaches. Move them when they're big enough to not be bullied/eaten? :D They grow slowly so they should be ok for a while.

Chinese algae eaters get too big for a 20 gallon at 11 inches and don't make great community fish since adults are aggressive and can try to eat the slime coat of other fish instead of algae :c Unless it's a siamese algae eater?

[Dumezil]

Heya! I'm looking for any people who own or are experienced with African Lungfish. I've had mine for over a year now and have stabilized his care especially with as few caresheets as there are available online (I've probably read them all), and a lot of care with him has been trail and error. So I'm looking to see if anyone else has experience or wants to trade/share knowledge on them.

[Polly44]

Apologies for the large pictures!





I bought the Bonsai from where i work this week as i just fell in love with it. I am attempting to make the tank more natural, so i'm debating changing the gravel, but i don't have anything else to put the fish in while i do it, so i'm not sure yet. I want another tank, but not sure if i can get one yet. xD
I've got the two Otos i bought last week, as i lost my old ones a while back now. And the Siamese Fighter called Nebula you can see in one of the pictures.

I might get some shrimp or Galaxy Rasboras as well. I haven't decided yet. It's 28 litres so i can't have much in there, but shrimp would be fine as they don't add much/if anything to the bioload if memory serves. And the Rasboras don't get big, so i might be able to have a few in there. But i can't decide. I love the Fighter/Oto combination, heh.

(Oh and yeah i know about the slime stuff on the heater suckers. For some reason i've never had it before, then my old heater died and i got that one and now it keeps appearing on those, but only those ones. I checked with my colleagues at work and they said it just means i have excellent levels of good bacteria(?) i think they said in my tank. Though i do keep meaning to check the water PH/Ammonia/etc.)