# The (Mis)Adventures of ShadeSlayer



## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Hey, guys! I'm back after a break. I've decided to start a general journal to just rant about my fishes. (Warning, sarcasm and irony is going to come up at some point in this thread. Be warned.) :grin2:

Some things to come in this summer are:
1: The possibility of potentially breeding my new half-moon, Luc, who I talk more about later on. 
2: the addition of a female betta (First ever, if that happens)
3: A guppy breeding program
4: The moving deal my family might be having.
Lots going on. 
I like pets. They’ve always been apart of my life. I currently have three beloved orange tabby cats (all male) Three bunnies (Again, all male) a dwarf grey and white hamster called Dipper (Male again) I ride a breeding-stock paint mare, a seal-brown QH 25 year old gelding, and I love on the pack of dogs that run around our neighborhood. And, of course, my fish. 
I have two tanks. One, a ten gallon community, is stocked with my male betta, a blue/green veiltail I rescued from Petsmart called Samwise. (Yeah, like the hobbit, because I'm a fan, too) Sam came to me as a Christmas present I got a gift card for fifty bucks and ended up dropped a hundred on a 3.5 gallon tank and the works. About six months ago Sam got seriously ill and without the help of you guys on here he would've passed away. I was doing all sorts of dumb things like changing ALL the water and completely scrubbing the gravel every month or so. Not smart. Sam is slightly special needs, as he has a odd crook in his back that was a result of the illness. His fins are pretty meh looking due to two bouts of finrot, but ever since I got my ten gallon he has been in good health. 
Sam lives with two guppies and five mini corydoras. The guppies are males called Hydra and Nicholas. 
The story behind the guppies is complicated. When originally had the ten I bought five gupps, two male, three female. I got really attached to them and all was well. After a brief quarantine I introduced them to Sam, who behaved well enough. I then bought four corys for an official and great LFS. (All of which are alive today) I had them for about two months before the females died off, (because I’m real great with fish, right) which was sad. I ended up with just Twitchy, a spazzy female, and Phoenix, one of my all-time favorite guppies. Twitchy passed away of wasting disease, which was hard on Poe. They were bonded. Poe was alone on that aspect for a month before I brought home Hydra, Nicholas and Peaches form the LFS. Peaches was victim of a bad accident with a faulty gravel vac. (Still sad about that). Poe died shortly afterwards of bloating from overeating. So after all those I have only two of my rainbow snakeskins from the LFS, hence Hydra and Nicholas. I'm on the fence about getting a new batch of females to try again.
As for Corydoras, I bought four pygmies to start. They're doing well. I can't tell them apart. A while ago I added three more salt and pepper mini corys. One died of an injury from my gravel, the other simply passed on of unknown causes. After the first one died I changed my gravel to sand and added live plants.
I have two assassin snails by the names of Capone and Spiral. They do a decent job of eating the many bladder snails that road in with my plants. 
I have collected over the months Java moss, guppy grass, a moss ball, duckweed (Which Sam eats voraciously) and three other types of plants which names escape me. That about covers tank One.

Tank Two is located in my brothers room. About a month ago I got my second betta, a pearl-white ad black marble half-moon male called Luc, which means pure and radiant or whatever. The java moss relocated to his tank, alone with a small amount of duckweed. He lives alone with marbles for sub and a few fake plants in addition to a bridge hide. I hope my brother will one day upgrade to a ten gallon, since he is really friendly. I've floated my guppies in a bag in with him to test him, and he's such a sweetheart that he doesn't do a thing. For now I'm settling for giving him a snail as soon as I can get back to the LFS.

Soon I hope to get a few more guppies for the boys and see what other fish I end up with. I never seem to be able to go to the LFS and end up buying what I came in for. Who knows? I could end up with a whole new tank tomorrow. 

I apologize for any typos. Stupid key broad and operator error.:wink3:

~ShadeSlayer, Sam, and Luc. 

Pics of Sam in a photo bowl- not his home. More pics to come. xx


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Found a gorgeous steel HM female on aquabid. Not sure about her colors or form with Luc, but she is very pretty. AquaBid.com - Item # fwbettashmp1464168002 - Silver Dragon HM FEmale##2 - Ends: Wed May 25 2016 - 04:20:02 AM CDT


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I'm not sure what would happen if you cross veil tail with half moon. I can usually find some cute red veil tail females at our Petsmart. They're really young, though, and need lots of time to fatten (and grow) up before they'd be ready to breed.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

I’m not sure what wold happen, either, but it seems to me that if a veiltail had broad, wide enough fins and good rays it might work with Luc. He had almost rose tail-type fins, though, and I think I’d like to keep that. I wonder what colors I’d get if I did a red female, though. They’re a lot easier to find rather than pure white or the pearl color I like. Have you ever tried breeding? I think what I’m looking for most in a female is a halfmoon with silver color with a nice base, maybe a marble jean and good form. I’m definitely keeping an eye out for good females. The ones at the petsmart are really young, but I don’t mind waiting for a while.


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

You'll end up with mostly DeTs if you cross a HM with a VT. There will probably be a few with more VT-shaped tails, but with more than 2 rays. 

I am very curious though. Do you have a picture of Luc? (The mobile version of this site is weird on my phone and doesn't show the attachments sometimes, so sorry if you did pist one).


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Oh, I missed the part that Luc was the breeder and not Sam. I'll keep an eye out for girls in our store, but so far I don't see any that match those colors. I've seen black coppers (which might work), but they've all been crown tail females. For females halfmoons, I've seen yellow ones and whitish ones (which could just be pale/stressed). I'll check next week and see if anything nice comes in.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Fenghuang said:


> You'll end up with mostly DeTs if you cross a HM with a VT. There will probably be a few with more VT-shaped tails, but with more than 2 rays.
> 
> I am very curious though. Do you have a picture of Luc? (The mobile version of this site is weird on my phone and doesn't show the attachments sometimes, so sorry if you did pist one).


I do have pictures of Luc, and I’ll try to get them up soon. My camera’s being worked on atm. I’ll find some similar ones in a sec, though, but he’s very unique. I’ve never sen anyone like him. :wink3:


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sadist said:


> Oh, I missed the part that Luc was the breeder and not Sam. I'll keep an eye out for girls in our store, but so far I don't see any that match those colors. I've seen black coppers (which might work), but they've all been crown tail females. For females halfmoons, I've seen yellow ones and whitish ones (which could just be pale/stressed). I'll check next week and see if anything nice comes in.


Thanks for thinking of me!!! I hope I can figure out something soon. I have been prepping/saving cash, but my parents are a bit reluctant about the whole deal. Like I said, we have a lot of pets. I think it will be fine, thoguh, as long as I don’t end up with a whole bookshelf full fo thanks. Though, one day....


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update:

Been looking online for any cheap big tanks to go in the living room. Like 50 agllons + just to see. That would be amazing for me to stock. Good for keeping young females if I do end up breeding Luc.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Woke up today and one of Luc’s beautiful vents is shorter than the other. I don’t know when that happened, but I'm not pleased, to say the least. 
Ten gallon tank is fine. I need a restock on duckweed. I’ll porably be headed tot he LFS sooner than later. Maybe they’ll have a good female for me. They keep their girls in community tanks, tho.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Luc photos. All recent. He’s in great condition right now. I think he may have marble genes. One thing about the photos is they don’t show his pearl incandescence that is really striking in person. It gives off a well, peraly, shimmery tint to his body. I’ve never sen anything like it.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sam the first day I got him (Over a year ago) (pics plus my cats, Chip Dale and Teddy (The poster above is a my Thor: The Dark World official movie theater thing. I’m quite proud.), and my guppies + small pic of half the ten gallon. What’s with the thumb nails tho? Annoying.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

On Luc
I’d really like critiquing on his form. I know he has a slight spoon-head and such, but I haven’t found anything I didn’t like other than one vent is smaller than the other for some reason. When he flares he has a full 180 halfmoon fins and a slight almost rosetail edge which I LOVE. His dorsal and anal seem okay to me, but I’m really a novice. Is the dorsal a little too far back?
I’d really like the female I get to have straighter lines, but Luc’s fins are superb as far as I can see. Do they even have rose-tail HM females? I’ve never seen one. It would be a miracle to get a marble or a light steel RTHF female with the form I want. 
I was thinking about maybe a light blue/silver marble female for Luc, since he’s a black/steel grey marble. Interesting colors. I want to avoid yellow/orange/red as much as possible, however. 
I spoke with my parents and they are warming up to the idea as long as I pay for it and manage it myself. I think I’ll spawn/raise fry in a tub to make things easier and not have a big tank on my dresser along with Sam’s ten. Still hoping to find a cheap 20-50 gallon tank for the living room.


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

Luc looks like a black copper marble. There are rosetail females, but it isn't actually recommended to breed RT to RT. If you have a heavily branched rosetail male, you'd want to breed to a female HM with less rays. Extreme rosetails are linked to genetics issues, like x-factor, and are way more likely to have problems swimming and fin biting (and their fins are so delicate anyway that overtime, their fins can end up looking like a mess). 

A lot of rosetails with excessive caudal branching also have shorter tails that make them look unbalanced.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Fenghuang said:


> A lot of rosetails with excessive caudal branching also have shorter tails that make them look unbalanced.


I've seen that at the pet stores myself. They look like my boy did when his fin biting got super bad.

Luc is pretty! After thinking about the females I've seen at the pet stores, I think most of them have weak peduncles. I'm not sure if it's because they're so young, but they all have skinny peduncle areas. I do believe I've seen pearly white females with fleshy scale areas, and I'll keep an eye out for that color pattern and a good head. You might have to find your girl at an actual breeder, though. Some of the breeders on here can critique your boy and suggest what body form you want to find in a girl (like Fenghuang letting you know about the RT gene).


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Fenghuang said:


> Luc looks like a black copper marble. There are rosetail females, but it isn't actually recommended to breed RT to RT. If you have a heavily branched rosetail male, you'd want to breed to a female HM with less rays. Extreme rosetails are linked to genetics issues, like x-factor, and are way more likely to have problems swimming and fin biting (and their fins are so delicate anyway that overtime, their fins can end up looking like a mess).
> 
> A lot of rosetails with excessive caudal branching also have shorter tails that make them look unbalanced.


ah, good to know. I deffinitly don’t want to overdo the rosetail effect, but I wold like to strengthen it since Luc’s trait is pretty mild. I’ll be on the lookout for a HM female as you described, however. Thank you for your input.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sadist said:


> I've seen that at the pet stores myself. They look like my boy did when his fin biting got super bad.
> 
> Luc is pretty! After thinking about the females I've seen at the pet stores, I think most of them have weak peduncles. I'm not sure if it's because they're so young, but they all have skinny peduncle areas. I do believe I've seen pearly white females with fleshy scale areas, and I'll keep an eye out for that color pattern and a good head. You might have to find your girl at an actual breeder, though. Some of the breeders on here can critique your boy and suggest what body form you want to find in a girl (like Fenghuang letting you know about the RT gene).


Yeah, I have noticed that in the pet store females. Thank you for looking for me again! I did put up a critique thread for Luc.


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

ShadeSlayer said:


> ah, good to know. I deffinitly don’t want to overdo the rosetail effect, but I wold like to strengthen it since Luc’s trait is pretty mild. I’ll be on the lookout for a HM female as you described, however. Thank you for your input.


Oh, yeah, I was going to add that Luc's branching isn't actually that excessive, from what I can see in the pictures. HMs can have that scalloping on the edges without being way too high up there in rays. 


Edit: I was looking through folders of my betta pictures and thinking how much this female would have matched up with Luc. It is a shame I never got a chance to breed her before she passed.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Oh, she was Gorgeous! She would’ve been a great match. I love her eyes, too. Very pretty. She has neat almost pinkish accent, too, right? I love her coloring.


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

ShadeSlayer said:


> Oh, she was Gorgeous! She would’ve been a great match. I love her eyes, too. Very pretty. She has neat almost pinkish accent, too, right? I love her coloring.


I think the pinkish accent you're referring to is the copper in her.  I always consider it to be more purple myself.



You can kind of see it too on this EE. He was a copper marble as well (got more copper later on in life).


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

It’s almost a lilac color, isn’t it? My God, that EE is marvelous! His tones remind me of Luc, so I wonder if he’ll lose the more pearlescent color and go for a deeper copper.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update:

Ten gallon:
Nothing new but for Sam. His dorsal fin has been getting pin holes and tears. Not sure what is causing it this time. One of my poor corys got trapped between some deco and the glass for a few seconds. Sat still and let me help him out, though. Rearranged and rescaped after that incident. 
Cleaned Luc’s tank and redid it, too. Removed a plastic plant that he didn’t like and realigned the java moss. Both tanks need new filter pads. Yaaayyyy....
On a side note, Luc was being adorable today and begging like a puppy. He tried to blow a bubble nest and got agitated when the filter popped his measly start. Poor dude.
My computer, on the other hand, is not, and is taking FOREVER to upload pics.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Well, they didn't have very many halfmoon females today. There was one cello girl, but there was something really odd going on with her fins. Either they're deformed, or they just cured some fin rot and are in the process of growing back out. The only full-180 spread was a yellow girl. There was a dark girl, but I couldn't tell if she was royal blue or copper because she was all faded in the cold, stressful environment. Of course, there was a gorgeous purple and pink veil tail that my daughter would love if we had a tank free.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sadist said:


> Well, they didn't have very many half-moon females today. There was one cello girl, but there was something really odd going on with her fins. Either they're deformed, or they just cured some fin rot and are in the process of growing back out. The only full-180 spread was a yellow girl. There was a dark girl, but I couldn't tell if she was royal blue or copper because she was all faded in the cold, stressful environment. Of course, there was a gorgeous purple and pink veil tail that my daughter would love if we had a tank free.


Aww, I love the purple/pink girls. I saw a nice 180 girl with a pastel purple tint and faint marbling yesterday but I still don’t have my tanks ready for whatever female I end up with. I haven’t even gotten it yet. Things move slow over here with the moving deal.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I understand that. I'd have to adopt out most of my pets before even looking for another.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

lol yeah. I’m super busy and stuff so I really want to wait for summer until I get a female, but it’s fun to look and plan now. I’ve been wanting to breed all year, but I figured I’d wait until school was out so I’d have the time to really do it right. 
On a different note, I was talking to my friend, who said she’d totally get a betta form me on the advent i had some fry/ or I rescued one. She’s had fish before and keeps a tank of goldfish right now. 
I honestly don't understand why the young go to school. Why don’t we go to school at sixty when we’re older and have the time and actually want to learn things like trigonometry? Then we’d appreciate it more. ??
Today I found a strawberry in our carton that was the size of of my palm. Is it just me, or are strawberries getting bigger and my hands smaller?
I was looking at Sam today and thanking God that he has really nice, big pectoral fins. Ever since his illness and back thing he’s never really been able to swim right, and uses his pecs to scoot around. Smart little bugger. I’m so glad I found him. The day bought him he was the first one I looked at. He did the happy little dance thing and was waving his pecs at me. I had no idea what pecs were called back then, anyway. :0) we spent a $100 on him and my mom wanted to name him Benny, but at that point I had already picked out the name Samwise for him. I was ging to nae Dipper (My hamster) Frodo, but I’m saving it for my next betta.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Went to the petco and saw a near perfect female halfmoon form wise. Cellophane with pearly rays and a smooth, even topline. No marble, but she was great looking. I wish I had my tank ready... X.X


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Oh, you should pull a lilnaugrim and throw her in a breeder box (with a lid) in your 10 gallon. It would keep her water cleaner than the cup, and then she won't get sick and die in the pet store or someone's bowl.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

That's a great idea! She looked pretty mature for a petsmart female. Definitely a neat little girl. I'll talk to my parents about her and next time we go to town, if she's there, I'll snag her. I wish I would've got pictures. She had a nice cream colored body and cellophane fins with great form and all right fins. She had a light copper spot on one fin, making em question if she was a marble... 
One thing I'm concerned abut is getting poor Sam's fins all up and in a tizzy about a girl in his tank. He'd probably be okay though. I do have a critter keeper that we used for bringing home Dipper. Not the smallest one but not big either. I have a plant or two I could give her and such, and long-term it wouldn't be bad for a few months. She wouldn't need a filter. My one concern would be for heating... I don't have an extra heater but they're not too expensive. That female was only $7.99, but it's not good timing since I need a new I-pod desperately. I've had my old one for years. It was my dad's, then mine, and I dropped it in Epsom salt and all other sorts of things. It's held out for a long time but is finally going psycho, and I can't live without Fall Out Boy. I don't think $15 bucks or so will break me, tho. It's a good investment... :0) 
Long story short I'll talk to my parents and fi they okay it and if she's still there next time about I'll snag her.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

She looked pretty close to these two girls.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

That's similar to one I saw here! But the one here had something wonky going on with her fins.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Yeah the one I saw has some funky looking lines on her dorsal, but it was a minor offense compared to her form. Swoon... http://aqadvisor.com/AquStockImage....200909300017:,7:200909300175:,3:200912031321: If I get three more pygmys and two mroe s+p corys... Perfect stocking level for me. I don’t go over 110% stocked on AA.


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

Looks similar to the girl I have in the spawn tank right now.  Good luck on convincing the parents!

Don't worry about Sam's fins. He might be overexcited at first, but they usually get over it. Flaring is good exercise.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Yeah, I hope the old guy will like her. He’s a chill dude, tho, and I think he’d calm down and expect her presence after a while. He’s never been overly-excitable for anything but food.

Checked on the capacity of the critter keeper I have and found it holds a little over a gallon. Not too terrible for the female, at least better than the tiny cup she's in. She seemed pretty mellow and sweet when I was looking at her. She was placid, but who knows? She could perk up and be unhappy in the little tank. It wouldn't be permeant, though. I hope to get a big tank for Christmas or something. 

I was talking to my mom about why I like bettas so much, and the topic came up about my lots of pets. She asked why I feel so compelled to breed and rescue bettas, and I told her that it’s because I know a lot of bettas end up in tiny bowls and die fast ad it hurts my heart to know what special little fish they are and how they go to waste. I tried to explain why I want to devote a chunk of my summer to a spawn and maybe rescuing a few, and I think she’s warming up. She used to be really upset about my ten gallon and stuff, out I think she’s getting it that it helps me be sane in our crazy life. There’s a lot of problems in my family right now, and fish are a good escape. 

On a side note, I've been keeping up my search for a potential big tank and all. Nothing too exciting has come up and I don't exactly have the money to go out and buy one when (Really, when do I ever?) with my I-pod being broke and such, but it's fun to look.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Fenghuang said:


> Looks similar to the girl I have in the spawn tank right now.  Good luck on convincing the parents!
> 
> Don't worry about Sam's fins. He might be overexcited at first, but they usually get over it. Flaring is good exercise.


do you have any pictures of her?


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

ShadeSlayer said:


> do you have any pictures of her?


Sure! Here you go, I just took it earlier.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

The one I saw has slightly darker eyes but other than that she is identical!


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update:
Sam has mild finrot on his dorsal so as of now he's in a little bowl getting a salt bath. Cleaned water and hoping that this doesn't happen again. After he's done I'm going to put in Hydra. Going to start giving him salt baths occasionally for his shredded fins.
Today has been an awful day and now my fish are having problems.
Won-der-ful.

Anyways, when it was Hydra’s turn Nicholas went crazy and was frantically looking for him. It took him a while to find him after he was back and when eh did he wouldn’t leave him alone... Silly fish.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Silly boy! "My neighbor isn't there! What's going to move into his territory! Oh, no! Oh, here he is! You better stay over there, Mr.!"

I'm sorry some of your boys are having problems.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Yeah, they seem better today, tho, which is good.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update:
Went to the LFS and came back with a good amount of tall and healthy moneywort+ duckweed restock. I also bought three more young pygmy corys. They seem really happy in with the other four pygmys and one salt and pepper mini. Hydra is still going. Sam is being really sweet and letting him sleep in the castle with him. Of all the bettas I’ve known, Sam is the only one who ever has seem o be almost protective of his friends. He’s warmed up to them so much that he allows them to sleep with hi and shares food really well. I did notice something about his fins, however. The mild finrot isn’t spreading, which is good, but his tail fin and the bottom one on his underside (The terminology escapes me) seem to have grown together. That might be what’s causing his odd swimming. NOt sure what to d about that...
Nicholas and Hydra are fine, the corys are actually schooling for once (Super cute) and Sam is okay. As far as Luc goes, he seems to be fine. I bought my brother some sand sub for him and will be adding it in this evening. He also inherited some duckweed. Pics soon when I have the chance of the new corys and plants. 
I checked out the females at the store and none caught my eye. I did pick out a name idea for the fmale once I get her and set out the critter keeper with a few plants in it on my bookshelf. Thinking of naming her Vega, Lupin, or Aries. I can’t decide on one.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update:
Went to the pet store and found the little cellophane half-moon girl again. Look a closer look and found her rays weren't what they should be. The store was taking good care of their betas for once so I didn't feel totally inclined to get her.
Went to my real LFS and looked at their half-moon girls. They had one really nice solid blue and white female, but she wasn't what i was looking for, either.
The search continues...
All fish otherwise doing fine.
The pic I enclosed if super close to the blue halfmoon at the LFS I saw. Tempting...


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

I Vices checked weather and it’s going to be over 100 this weekend. Inconceivable! (Sorry just finished reading the Princess Bride) Last time it was that hot I had to unplug all my heaters to keep my water from boiling and we practically fried our cooler. I’m not looking forward to melting mascara. It’s stupid when your eyelashes-are-sticking-together-hot. But I’m listening to Panic! At the Disco (Vices and Virtues) and who cares? Swimming weather, I guess.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Don't need mascara for swimming!

I love that little blue girl. She has white edging, so I think she's got butterfly/marble genes. Either that, or it's regrowth from some bad finrot/biting.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sadist said:


> Don't need mascara for swimming!
> 
> I love that little blue girl. She has white edging, so I think she's got butterfly/marble genes. Either that, or it's regrowth from some bad finrot/biting.


lol thank God.
Yeah the girl I saw had really pretty ruffles on the edges of her fins and a thicker white band. I really wanted her, but wasn’t sure how she’d do with Luc.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update time!

I have some pics coming up but my desktop is being evil right now. Later, i suppose. 
Yeah....
Anyways, on to the actual update. Heat wave hit the NW and it’s been high nineties. Heaters are off and the house with AC is on a steady 70. Good for a lower temp considering I am trying to get my corys to spawn. Doing all the works, lower lights, (Keeping my window open for once, rare thing) feeding brine shrimp and cooling the water a bit. So far so good. I know for sure I have three females and one male, waiting yo see what the new guys are. They’re juvenile right now, but they’ve already doubled their size.
Sam and Luc are good, Sam’s fin rot recovering well. Hydra’s fins are still a mess and such, nothing new there. Luc’s dorsal has been getting messed up lately, and I can’t tell how....
Still dreaming about breeding Luc. Right now the stumbling block is the fact that we’re supposed to be moving soon... Just not sure when the right place will come up. We need acreage for a few horses for my mom and I, but finding it at a reasonable price where we’re at is hard, I guess. I haven’t seen THE female yet, but I have the temporary critter keeper in waiting. Just going to occupy myself now with my corys.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Hey Guys! Sorry I haven’t updated in forever. A lot has changed and we’ve been very busy at the start of summer, especially around the Fourth. How was everyone 4th of July, anyways? Our neighborhood always does a huge firework show with morders and the works. In addition to that my parents put in an offer on a house so the moving thing is in motion again... I also have math tutoring during the summer to catch up (Evil subject) and I write novels constantly so, yeah, busy. 
Anyways, onto the fish...
Ten Gallon:
I just rearranged and thoroughly cleaned my whole ten, replanting and arranging everything. On top my guppy grass has exploded and almost covers the entire surface. I have bunch of pictures I need to upload I took this morning. I took out all but five of my plastic plants so my corys have more schooling room. They’ve been hiding in the back a lot, but seem to like the new arrangements. My moneywart is doing well now. When I first bought it it lost almost all it’s leaves and melted at the ends, but now it’s rooting and looks happier. All other plants are alright.
My two guppy boys aren’t well, unfortunately. Hydra spends most of his time at the bottom hanging around with the corydoras, who don’t mind too much, and Nicholas, although he is in better shape, often does the same for company. I attempted to introduce them to the 3.5 on a temporary basis so they could have the AQ salt that I keep in Luc’s tank for his delicate fins, but he freaked out when they were in the breeder trap and would not settle down, so I doubt he’d do well with them, as young and feisty as he is. He’ll beach himself on the floating plants to attack his food, crazy guy. Reminds me of @Sadist girl... 
Sam is fine, his normal pokey self. He’s almost two years old!! I’m going to do a through the years sort of thing in a few days with a collection of pictures form the month I got him to now.
In other news, my family is finally getting a new desktop, which means I’ll be able to upload pics without it taking half the day. *Sings Hallelujah by P!ATD*
After we upgrade Dipper (Hamster) to his new 20 long I’ll start collecting things for it. I have about ten plastic.silk plants for it now and some small pebbles. I’ve settled on stocking it with guppies and using a coral substrate to harden the water with a good mix of M:F. The thing I’m most excited about it hopefully getting a small group of female rescue bettas that I’ll adopt out. None of this is for sure, and I don’t think I’ll get the ten set up until the moving deal calms down, but at least I can start collecting. 
The best news is I plan on getting a baby betta in my critter keeper (Not forever home, just until I get the ten working) I just need a heater for it. I feel so bad for the little guys at my Petco. They’re so sad looking..
Pictures this afternoon or so, as long as I can get 'em to upload.
No comments on my female search. I’ve found nothing.


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## MissBlueHen (Jun 2, 2016)

Sam is so cute, he looks just like my Cobalt (also a petsmart rescue) if mine wasn't so fin-nippy. Good luck with your adventures, I know that moving seems daunting, I'm preparing to make my first move to college with a fish. Be sure to share any ideas you have that would make it less stressful, and I will do the same.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Yes, Sky beaches herself on her plants to attack the food. Even if the food is on its way down to the water, she does that. Funny that your guy does that, too!

Sorry about the gups :-( When one goes, the other may follow. They stress so easily.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

MissBlueHen said:


> Sam is so cute, he looks just like my Cobalt (also a petsmart rescue) if mine wasn't so fin-nippy. Good luck with your adventures, I know that moving seems daunting, I'm preparing to make my first move to college with a fish. Be sure to share any ideas you have that would make it less stressful, and I will do the same.


Certainly on the moving deal. I’ve researched it a lot and came up with some ideas such as putting current water in a few five gallon buckets so the fish aren’t shocked by the new water. Each betta will get a critter keeper, and the corys will have their own along with the guppies.
Your boys sounds cute, love the name!! Do you have any pictures?


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sadist said:


> Yes, Sky beaches herself on her plants to attack the food. Even if the food is on its way down to the water, she does that. Funny that your guy does that, too!
> 
> Sorry about the gups :-( When one goes, the other may follow. They stress so easily.


Yeah, I know. I was amazed when Phoenix lasted through the deaths of his tankmates. I still miss him. Hydra and Nicholas are really bonded, and so far Hydra isn’t ill, just very chill and placid with his fin issues. i’m going to start dosing with Stresscoat and see if it’ll help. When I get the new ten going I’ll get boys with smaller fins to avoid the too-heavy issue.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update:
Lately there’s been some mysterious algae stuff on the glass of the ten. Nothing too much, almost like smudges, but it’s hard to scrub off. I have to go out and buy a tank scrubber in addition to some stress coat, probably tomorrow when I get my eyes checked again. I have glasses, but I’m hoping to get contacts. We live in a part of the US where it rains all the time, so glasses are super annoying. My mom used to joke that glasses should come with wipers like a car. 
Cleaning Luc’s tank today. I’ll look at the female bettas tomorrow at the pet store and maybe take some pictures if I see any girls I like...
The corys seem to really be enjoying the new tank layout with it’s more natural scheme. My one remaining mini salt and pepper is a bit lonely now, so next time I go to the big LFS I’ll get him two more friends of his own species, and hopefully they’ll survive. @Sadist you said something about your ottos getting stuck in places in your journal a while back Have you ever tried corys? I think they’d mix okay with the remaining ottos, but they’e easier to keep (They tale normal food, scavenge well, generally hardy, etc.) I really love my little guys. They’re super fun to watch and Sam enjoys them in his tank since they’re not too overly active. Blackiechat is a mellow betta, right?


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Finally Got the Pics Up \../


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I have two types of otos, but I don't think they shoal together with corys. I was contemplating dwarf cories for some of my smaller tanks, but right now those tanks have pond snails that are keeping things more or less clean. My otto tank also has gravel, which may or may not bother cories. The betta in there is super placid (eats together with the guppies). I have the CPO in there, too, and by herself probably takes care of any cleaning that needs done.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

@Sadist Ah, gottcha. BTW I love the new profile pic. 

Going to the local Petsmart/co for Stresscoat, a tank scrubber and I need filter media for Luc’s tank. He looks a little sad today, so I did a cleaning real fast and added some salt. Hope he perks up.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Thanks! I hope Luc perks up for you.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Petco tank picture dump! I took all sorts of pictures from my local petco for ya’ll... Catfish, tetras, livebarers, bettas. Each of the bettas I took pictures of I would’ve brought home If I’d had a tank set up. Especially the yellow girl and the DS male. 0 
I also enclosed a picture of Luc from today. He looks bad, doesn’t he? He’s a little more energetic today and my brother got him to flare, but I can’t figure out what he’s so meh. My brother is going to save up and get him a five or ten gallon tank. I don’t think the one he’s in now with he rounded edges is good for bettas n general. Sam got deathly sick in it (Why I got my ten in the first place) and now Luc is not well. I’m going to retire it into a guppy tank, since they don’t mind the edges. I think betta spend to much attention patrolling and the distorted maybe affects them. Luc glass surfs a lot. 

*Way more pics to come!*


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Second half of pics~


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Luc is doing better thankfully. I need to clean tanks today but I just got braces on and they hurt sooo bad. I have glasses too but luckily I got contacts so when i go out I don’t blind people with the dorkiness. lol not that I care that much.
Anyway the twenty one pilots concert is tonight and I can’t go so I’m bummed. Oh well, win some you loose some. I’ll survive. |-/


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update:

This wednesday we’re getting Luc a ten gallon tank kit from petco. (Comes with filter/heater/media/hood/tank/lights) for $50. Really excited. he’s not thriving in the 3.5 so we’re going to move him up. I know it’ll perk him up. I’m going to use the 3.5 for Hydra and Nicholas (guppies). I’ll get some coral sub for them and maybe three female girlfriends. ;0) I’m super excited. My brother has been wondering what friends Luc could get, but I’m not sure since he’s really aggressive to guppies. Any ideas? I could do some large corydoras...


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Maybe he'd do well alone. Or with the other guys in the tank first.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sadist said:


> Maybe he'd do well alone. Or with the other guys in the tank first.


Good idea. I think my brother wants panda corys which are bigger, too.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Going to get the tank today. Hopefully I’ll be able to come back with some coral sub and start on the 3.5 for my guppies, too.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Yesterday we came home with the LED ten gallon aqueous kit, ten pounds of sand, an ammonia test, water wisteria and a surprise- two pairs of endlers. They were on sale for $3 a pair and I couldn’t resist. They’re in the 3.5 right now while I cycle the ten. Unfortunate I had to put Luc in the ten last night a few hours after setting it up, So I’m watching it closely. The biggest thing I got was two small bags of crushed coral to add to my filter media in the tanks. Adding 1/4 teaspoon a day for now. I’ll upload more pics soon.
Both girl endlers are smaller (way smaller) than my big huge male guppies. They’re cellophane with a bit of silver coloring on their fins. The males are different, one is orange/pink/red with white and cellophane spots on his fins, the other is bright neon yellow with cobra markings.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Aww, how sweet! The endlers in our lfs are wee bitty, too.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Very cute little guys. I’m really happy with them so far.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update:
Whelp, woke up today and checked my ten. Noticed the one male endler (orange) had... ich. Bad. I immediately took out the two pairs and they're back in the 3.5 while I does with AQ salt. 
Looked at my corys, checked out other fish. One cory has a swollen side. Bloated and red spot. 
Sigh. 
Luc, because I have to share my siphon in all three tanks, may have the starts of ich. Looks okay, seemed to feel fine... but he has small tiny white/brown specks on fins. Very few in number, but still.
Double sigh.
Did 3 water changes, sterilized all my equipment by soaking in steaming hot water for a while, and went and cried. I'm so upset. I feel liker an idiot, it was my fault. I saw the endlers on sale and bought before I thought about it. 
Tomorrow I'm heading out to get Paraguard, Prime and the Alert Combo pack so I can ditch test strips once and for all. My parents are being very understanding about it but I feel so bad. i just got a ten gallon kit for my brother which was $$$ and I hate asking them for so much. 
On the bright side, I figured out how to make a stable QT tank. I'll keep the 3.5 up, take off the hood and just have plants in it with a StringRay strip of lights above. I'll only put fish in it for QT and they'll have a dense plant space to be. That way I can have my own plants and have a trio of assassin snails to kill the baddies while they get big enough for me to clip off a few springs to plant in the tens. I'll QT for a month after this incident. @Sadist, any plant suggestions? You’re tanks always look so good. I have the dreaded soft water, however...
I hope I don't lose Sam. I love my boy so much. 
Paraguard is said to be a miracle cure so I'm holding to that.

When it rains, it pours. My uncle over seas has been diagnosed with a bad disease (Not life threatening, thankfully,) The people selling the house we want to buy want an absurd amount of money (Crazy) and it's dang hot overt here. 96 today.
Shoulda done an outdoor breeding project, but Luc got sick. 
Still looking at female, though. Forever optimist. 
From now on I'm sticking to corys and bettas. I don’t have the luck that @AccaliaJay does. *Jealous*

Sorry for ranting.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

My favorite plants (that work in my aquariums) are anubias, cryptocoryne, java fern, and water wisteria. I like the wisteria the best of those -- you can wedge the stem in some rocks, and it will grow tall and drape over the surface making shade, or you can float it across the surface. Mine does well in low light.

I do have some water sprite that's doing well with the right light. Apparently, it really takes over a tank if you get the lighting perfect. Mine put its branches up out of the water and made a bunch of roots, but now some of the leaves are getting brown from being in the lamp. (I just have a clip on lamp with a plant lightbulb). The salvinia minima is out of control, too. It also needs a good light. The bad snails are eating the roots, so mine has spread from the light but not sucking up nitrates like it used to. I have another type of plant that was mislabeled. It was labeled as bacopa, but it's doing really well with low light. I'm not sure what it is, but each plant is a single stem with little leaves from the base to the top.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

I recently bought some water wisteria, and it seems as if it’s doing well. I’ll go for more of that for sure. Probably some java fern and anubias, too. 
Thanks!!


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

You're welcome, and good luck!


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Thanks, I needed it.
We went to three petstores before finding Paraguard at my favorite LFS. We got the last two bottles. 
yaaaayyyy...
Anyway, I also got a bunch of water wisteria, guppy grass, and salvinia for all three tanks. 

Jagger (orange endler) passed away this evening. I buried him on the banks of our creek in a leaf bed. S.I.P. little guy.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

ShadeSlayer said:


> Update:
> Whelp, woke up today and checked my ten. Noticed the one male endler (orange) had... ich. Bad. I immediately took out the two pairs and they're back in the 3.5 while I does with AQ salt.
> Looked at my corys, checked out other fish. One cory has a swollen side. Bloated and red spot.
> Sigh.
> ...


Sorry I just seen this. And I'm sorry your having trouble keeping guppies and endlers alive. If I could I would totally ship you a ton of guppies XD I think I'm done buying guppies. My luck is a curse with them. And now that I'm down a tank I can't really have fun doing it anymore now its panicking every day. Although my dad just told me to message his boss cause they apparently had two tanks and ask if they still have them. But I'm to shy and I don't want to get my hopes up. I might ask my dad to ask. But then again I don't have money to buy them off them either.... I hope you start having better luck with your problems Shadeslayer.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

@AccaliaJay Thanks! I need all the luck I can get. The three remaining seem to be doing better today. I vacuumed out the tank pretty well. They’re messy little guys. 
If I could, I’d totally but some of your guppies. Today. How much do you think you’d want for a trio (One male, two females, probably juvenile), just out of curiosity? You could maybe put them on something like Craigslist and meet the buyer with one of your parents at a Walmart or something to be safe about it. 

Update:
On Luc, I think he may be a fin nipper. That might explain why his fins are so unexplainably messy right now. He’s had these little fuzzy things poking out of his anal for a day or tow which is very worrisome. I don’t know what to do about it, though it doesn’t seem to bother him much. Still dosing with Paraguard on all three tanks. Maybe when he gets tank mates he’ll stop nipping.

The cory with the swollen side/ red spot is still active, normal-ish. Not sure what’s going on there. NO signs of ich in my ten for now. I arranged my big sprigs of water wisteria to look like trees around the tank. Love the look!

In the 3.5 things are calming down and the ich is slowly dissipating. Crossing my fingers.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

My moms to lazy to drive anywhere just to give people fish. I posted the fry for free on our local pet posting site but no one asked about them yet


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Lol I’d been on it in three seconds.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

XD I would think people would. But apparently not. All I asked pick up and bring their own transporting containers and they get them for free but nada


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Weird. 
Anyway, I found a tiny baby trumpet snail just now in my tank. Must’ve come with the plants. Keep or no? I don’t mind him.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I would keep. XD As long as hes not doing any damage then should be fine right?


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Right. I was going to get a pic of him but he already disappeared into the substrate. Did you ever which yours out?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

You mean switch out the gravel? I havn't got to it today I slept till almost 2 today. I really want to get it done but bleh...


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

I got up at eight AM after my mom woke me up about some yardsale. She got a bunch of school supplies for $7 bucks and was proud. XD Changing substrate is a pain but the pride you feel after accomplishing it is immense. What colors did you get? It’s pink or blue rn, right?


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Pic dump ;0)


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

The new gravel is like a whitish but it had changes of color like some of its browner and some is kind pinkish. But it looks decent I'll post a pic when I'm not lazy XD


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

More pics


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

This is what the 10 gallon looked set up with the newer gravel.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

By the way what are those things? The alert things


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

@AccaliaJay oohhh I like it! It’s a nice contrast to all the colors in your plants. As for the Alert tests things they’re called Alert by Seachem. The PH one lasts for 3-6 months of continuous monitoring and the Ammonia one last for a year. They were fifteen bucks for a package of one of each type. (Ph and ammonia) So far they work great! Way better than the test strips. Have you been using any thing of the sort?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Nope still need to get some. They look cool.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

They’re very nice, indeed. ;0)


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

XD I spent all my money on the gravel and plants.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I love the plants! Your boys are gorgeous, too.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Fenghuang said:


> Luc looks like a black copper marble. There are rosetail females, but it isn't actually recommended to breed RT to RT. If you have a heavily branched rosetail male, you'd want to breed to a female HM with less rays. Extreme rosetails are linked to genetics issues, like x-factor, and are way more likely to have problems swimming and fin biting (and their fins are so delicate anyway that overtime, their fins can end up looking like a mess).
> 
> A lot of rosetails with excessive caudal branching also have shorter tails that make them look unbalanced.


Was reading over my thread when this popped up. Man, was @Fenghuang right. Luc’s rosetail fins did end up a mess from his fin biting and time. I miss how pretty and delicate they used to be. My luck... Oh well...
I still want to breed him. I still look for females all the time. Found a stunning koi girl I love. The fry would be so odd though with the color combo. I’m almost curious... 
AquaBid.com - Item # fwbettashm1470195703 - hm females fancy - Ends: Tue Aug 2 2016 - 10:41:43 PM CDT


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

I’d get this girl if I had the tank today. Maybe not so much her form but those colors.... AquaBid.com - Item # fwbettashm1470735055 - Halfmoon Female Age 4 month.......no2 - Ends: Tue Aug 9 2016 - 04:30:55 AM CDT
And that white girl’s ears.... O.O
AquaBid.com - Item # fwbettashm1470238532 - Halfmoon White Big Ear Female - Ends: Wed Aug 3 2016 - 10:35:32 AM CDT


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sadist said:


> I love the plants! Your boys are gorgeous, too.


Sam has changed so much when I look at my avatar to the pics I recently posted. Such a cutie. How many bettas are you at, @Sadist? two girls and two boys?


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Yes! The two girls are both blue crowntails, too. One's royal blue, and the other's turquoise-based blue.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Ah, yes. Your crowntails and their antics. Makes me want to get one every time I see them. My petco usually has rainbow colored crowns.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I keep wanting to get one of the black copper crowntail girls at petco. There seems to be a new one there every time I look.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

So I finished my guppy tank finally. Its still cloudy and needs more water but I'm to tired for tonight.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sadist said:


> I keep wanting to get one of the black copper crowntail girls at petco. There seems to be a new one there every time I look.


I love the black coppers. Especially crown tails... I have a default crowntail right now with all of Luc’s fin nipping. I was looking at him yesterday and his fins are growing back nicely with the pretty rosepetal ends. If he’ll leave them alone....
You should totally get another crowntail girl. Totally. I’m being a bad enabler, but just a thought... could you start a sorority?



AccaliaJay said:


> So I finished my guppy tank finally. Its still cloudy and needs more water but I'm to tired for tonight.


So drooling over all the beautiful colors you guppy girls have. Mine endlers are so plain and boring blonde....
What’s that big leafy plant you have in the first pic? looks nice. I really like the white gravel. Does it show a lost of debris?


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I don't really have space for another tank right now. One of my boys is in the hospital tank because it was open when I found him >.> Maybe far in the future, we could get a tank big enough for a sorority. My 10 gallon is too crowded for one right now, and it needs more plants before I could do that.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

The plant is an anubis nana from petsmart . The gravel I believe is a top fin 24 pound bag and honestly its not pure white. It has like spots of brownish and pinks. XD but it sure does look white. And while I'm trying to type my cat is licking my arm x.x Anyways I havn't had the gravel in a tank with fish for long however I think after a certain point of non gravel vacuuming I think it will start showing how much stuff is down there. But right now you cant tell. I actually find it a bit hard to find the shrimp pellets when they fall.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sadist said:


> I don't really have space for another tank right now. One of my boys is in the hospital tank because it was open when I found him >.> Maybe far in the future, we could get a tank big enough for a sorority. My 10 gallon is too crowded for one right now, and it needs more plants before I could do that.


Ahh, gotcha. Which boy was it? What was open?



AccaliaJay said:


> The plant is an anubis nana from petsmart . The gravel I believe is a top fin 24 pound bag and honestly its not pure white. It has like spots of brownish and pinks. XD but it sure does look white. And while I'm trying to type my cat is licking my arm x.x Anyways I havn't had the gravel in a tank with fish for long however I think after a certain point of non gravel vacuuming I think it will start showing how much stuff is down there. But right now you cant tell. I actually find it a bit hard to find the shrimp pellets when they fall.


I like the nana plant a lot. Was it very much $$? Aww, cute kitties. One of my tabbies used to sit on the keyboard when I was trying to write. X.X


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

It was like 7 or 8 dollars.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Tequila's in the hospital tank because it was there when I found him. So now if someone gets sick, they get to go in a garlic jar. Ugg.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

So my mom wakes me up and tells me to watch my sister while she goes to smoke. When she gets back she tells me to check my phone becuz my dad messaged me. My dad says if I stop giving and attitude (I'm hot and sick what do they expect) and do some dishes my dad found someone with a 30 gallon tank with lights, filter and everything for $25 he would get it for me. What happens if it doesn't fit though. My moms tank is a 36 gallon. How wouldsomething that size be able to be held up by my entertainment stand even if it did fit 0.0 my dad said I wouldn't know unless I try.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Ugg.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

But that tank is a good deal is it not? He even said there's meds, food and cleaner brushes with it whatever those are XD


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

That's a great deal! Drawback is making sure you get it cleaned, disinfected, and checked for leaks and/or fixing silicon places. And of course the stand to put it on. The water weight itself will be in the 240+ pounds, so it has to be a really sturdy piece of furniture.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

My entertainment stand can hold me standing where I want to put it I weight around 180the top above is less sturdier though my brother should weight over 200 but he's never tried to stand on the spot. So... I don't know. I don't know where my dad would be getting the tank but he knows I need it for fish so he would probably ask if it holds water. Anyways I'm getting up to work on dishes even if he doesn't get it there should be no reason for them to complain if I fell asleep again. Only getting 3 hours isn't good enough


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sadist said:


> Tequila's in the hospital tank because it was there when I found him. So now if someone gets sick, they get to go in a garlic jar. Ugg.


Ohh, okay. I thought tequila was sick because you said hospital tank lol.



AccaliaJay said:


> So my mom wakes me up and tells me to watch my sister while she goes to smoke. When she gets back she tells me to check my phone becuz my dad messaged me. My dad says if I stop giving and attitude (I'm hot and sick what do they expect) and do some dishes my dad found someone with a 30 gallon tank with lights, filter and everything for $25 he would get it for me. What happens if it doesn't fit though. My moms tank is a 36 gallon. How wouldsomething that size be able to be held up by my entertainment stand even if it did fit 0.0 my dad said I wouldn't know unless I try.


GET ITTTT You never know if you don’t ever try. (hehe, Panic! reference)



AccaliaJay said:


> My entertainment stand can hold me standing where I want to put it I weight around 180the top above is less sturdier though my brother should weight over 200 but he's never tried to stand on the spot. So... I don't know. I don't know where my dad would be getting the tank but he knows I need it for fish so he would probably ask if it holds water. Anyways I'm getting up to work on dishes even if he doesn't get it there should be no reason for them to complain if I fell asleep again. Only getting 3 hours isn't good enough


three hours of sleep sucks. Lately I’ve been waking up at 3 Am every day with these weird waking reality dreams. My imagination gets to vidid for sleep I guess... 
I would guess the stand should hold it fine. My dresser hold my ten and has been doing fine, so if all else fails maybe a table top/counter/ dresser would work? It would be a great tank for your guppies!!! And maybe you could put a betta in the ten with some other fish or make it a grow out tank for fry. Whatever you want to do. You only have one betta right now, right? You could always get annotherrr!!!


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

AccaliaJay said:


> But that tank is a good deal is it not? He even said there's meds, food and cleaner brushes with it whatever those are XD


HECK YEAH! All those things alone could cost hundreds. I bought all of my first ten gallon's things seperate and just the hood cost me $25 without lights. :shock:


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

XD my mom has actually been trying to convince me to use the 10 gallon for a terrarium. If I get the thirty I can use that for guppies for sure. And yeah I kinda want another betta XD


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update:
So far in all three tanks all signs of ich is gone. I’m continuing with the full treatment of paraguard anyway. 
Luc is rapidly improving now and he’s letting his fins grow out again. Sam’s doing wonderful, feisty as ever. My corydoras with the red bump seems to have been getting better and his side been returning to normal. 
In the Endler tank things are okay. I have one male and two female left, but the biggest female and male have been bullying the smaller female terribly to the point where she won’t eat, just hides. Her fins are clamped and she looks side. I named her Star. OS I moved her into my breeding trap and stuffed it full of plants. She like it. oping she’ll pull through. They didn't bully when they were in my ten. I think the small space is too confining. I have noticed since I had to remove the filter cartridge a LOT of waste in the endler tank. It’s bad in there but I ‘e been cleaning it once to every other day and suing Prime to stall the ammonia. 
Fish and fish problems....
I guess it’s all worth it in the end.
My mom was really considerate yesterday when she was in town and called me twice to make sure she was getting good quality fish food. We ended up with Omega One tropical flakes and National Geographic betta bits. The Nat Geo bits are okay, but they’re smaller than what the bettas are used to and sink. Sam’s not so good at diving to find food, but Luc’s takes up the challenge and rockets after them. It’s really cute. My mom wants to go back to the Wet Spot to get some better quality food in a few days, which is super nice since it’s a long drive. We have to buy 40$ a bag cat food for our three kitties since one of them has special needs (Five year old rescue we’ve had since kitten) so we’re kind of used to our animals eating like kings.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

That's great that their doing better. And your moms starting to help choose what's good. Liberty eats the national geographic betta flakes. I got rid of like 20-30 guppies yesturday yet it still seems like there's 20-30 left they seem to like my setup swimming through the mesh tunnel and under it or the Anubis nana I might keep it like this for a betta


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

i bet a betta would love the tunnel if he’d fit. If you got a new one, what tail type woudl you go for?


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

AccaliaJay said:


> XD my mom has actually been trying to convince me to use the 10 gallon for a terrarium. If I get the thirty I can use that for guppies for sure. And yeah I kinda want another betta XD


Terrarium? For a lizard or snake? I love bearded dragons. They’re the sweetest lizards. Girls can be grumpy, though. Be warned. :grin2:


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

No animals just plants XD I got yelled at for asking what could go in there like hermit crabs on yahoo answers. And holy crap my dad got me the tank already XD its actually wider than my moms and not as tall. He got it from his boss and his wife I have a feeling its the tank that their huge gold fish were in. Now I have to move everything on the shelf (5 gallon, water jugs, food, cupping bowls. Cause I think its give very little room on the sides. My mom got an attitude and was like "why do you keep buying her this stuff when shes never gonna do what you ask her to" I was like "i will keep on doing dishes just not very fast" And like always my dad started saying "We could kick her out and make her live in a tent. it could be her little apartment". The only thing the tank didn't come with is decorations. Sure I still have over half the 24 pounder but lack of plants... It would be pretty bare. Or I could give liberty the current 5 gallon guppy tank (don't know if hes the type to like tunnels. And just put his tank to the side. Atleast hed get a filter then instead of a bubbler. which may go in the guppy tank. Its to strong for a 5 gallon. I was hesitant to put it in my 10 because it seems so strong. Anyways his wife said it needs cleaned. Will just putting water in there and wiping it out with paper towel work that's what I did with the 10 gallon. It was a lot worse like built up dried algae and stuff bad. But this tank seems pretty clean compared to the 10 (And as I wrote that part my dog came in soaking wet and jumped right up on my feet x.x I felt bad kicking him off my bed but I do not enjoy having a wet dog on my bed) Anyways off to do another load of dishes before I move tanks around to get that off the kitchen floor and onto my stand. And this lid to isn't fully closed it had a feeding hole and I think a hole for the filter *was to focused on smashing my elbow against the door frame when carrying it in (yes did it myself) what a workout XD*


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Great that you got it!! Pics??


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Ill get pics when I set it up. I just finished more dishes and now to move stuff. And when I get bettas I go for look and feel. Whatever my gut tells me XD cue the lack of control when it comes to fish.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/...F-3E55-4318-93F5-1996FDD9121D_zpsni62daav.jpg

I know I said I would wait but I couldn't help it XD Its actually a bit more dirty than expected when the lights on but paper towels and water should fix that right up.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Awesome! Some vinegar helps if any of the gunk is water stain build up. One paper towel with vinegar on it can really get the mineral stains off a tank really well (and lots of rinsing after that of course). I use it on my glass lids.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Question do either of you know if I can use the filter without the strainer part or would it be to strong and suck up my fry 0.0 I cant find the strainer part that goes on the end I figured since they used it for the goldfish they didn't need it because they were huge. But...

And its hard to rinse a 30 gallon. I will just have to do my best without vinegar XD My mom asked if I'm going to use my white gravel. Technically its all I have but will what I have be enough...


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

It needs the strainer with a sponge strapped on to be safe for fry. You could probably make due with some aquarium sponge stuffed in as long as it isn't in danger of being sucked up into moving parts or making the water intake too slow.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I don't have any aquarium sponge.. Does it need the sponge or could I temporarily make a mesh strainer block with the stuff I made the 5 gallon tube out of until I can find a way to get something?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I noticed theres gonna be one thing I won't like about this 30 gallon if it works. I cant sit down when gravel vacuuming. The walls are to high XD


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I think the mesh would keep the adults safe, but I'm sure fry could slip in between them. Any sponge with no cleansers on it could work, but it's hard to find them outside of a pet store. Something like https://www.amazon.com/Luckii-Fish-...0406309&sr=1-23&keywords=aquarium+safe+sponge but I've seen smaller versions of it cheaper at the pet store. Or even an algae scrub pad or something. You could do the mesh thing for now and find something spongy to put inside/on it later.

I also see https://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Quiet...470406834&sr=1-8&keywords=aqueon+filter+parts this is the part missing? You might be able to get a replacement part directly from the company, and then the prefilter sponge from the store for a couple dollars. https://www.amazon.com/Pre-Filter-S...d=1470406918&sr=1-3&keywords=prefilter+sponge (well, this is a pack of 3, but you see how cheap one could be at the store). 

Sorry for the long help spam. I think the mesh thing would work for adult guppies, but something with smaller holes would be needed for fry. Even if you just had a piece of non aquarium sponge or scrubber pad with nothing on it, you could cut it into a circle and plug the opening, then use mesh around it or something.

(all the links are for information only, so you can see pictures to my horrible descriptions and understand what I mean; they also give you a bit of a price range for some things).


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I was actually thinking of using a few layers of mesh. If I do it right the holes will be smaller. It would atleast be a temporary fix until I can find where to get a replacement part and no that's not the part that's missing. Its supposed to be something like this. 
https://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Shr...d=1470427627&sr=1-75&keywords=filter+strainer


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

AccaliaJay said:


> Ill get pics when I set it up. I just finished more dishes and now to move stuff. And when I get bettas I go for look and feel. Whatever my gut tells me XD cue the lack of control when it comes to fish.


I know what you mean. With both Luc and Sam they were the first ones I looked at. I saw Luc half way across the LFS fluttering around and went ‘mine.'



AccaliaJay said:


> http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/...F-3E55-4318-93F5-1996FDD9121D_zpsni62daav.jpg
> 
> I know I said I would wait but I couldn't help it XD Its actually a bit more dirty than expected when the lights on but paper towels and water should fix that right up.


Something tells me the tanks going to clean up nice!!



Sadist said:


> I think the mesh would keep the adults safe, but I'm sure fry could slip in between them. Any sponge with no cleansers on it could work, but it's hard to find them outside of a pet store. Something like https://www.amazon.com/Luckii-Fish-...0406309&sr=1-23&keywords=aquarium+safe+sponge but I've seen smaller versions of it cheaper at the pet store. Or even an algae scrub pad or something. You could do the mesh thing for now and find something spongy to put inside/on it later.
> 
> I also see https://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Quiet...470406834&sr=1-8&keywords=aqueon+filter+parts this is the part missing? You might be able to get a replacement part directly from the company, and then the prefilter sponge from the store for a couple dollars. https://www.amazon.com/Pre-Filter-S...d=1470406918&sr=1-3&keywords=prefilter+sponge (well, this is a pack of 3, but you see how cheap one could be at the store).
> 
> ...


Lol good links to have! I’ve always wondered what to use for the intakes. @AccaliaJay does your filter have no intake tube at all?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Heres a picture so far you can slightly see the filter tube in the back.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

And I actually came up with a possible permanent fix idea. Switch filters with my mom. Hers actually isn't that strong I don't thing. And it has the guard I need. Her fish are huge so they wont have a problem with this. And her big boy pleco wont be able to knock the tube part off that easy. Hers he knocks it out and we always have to fix it like once a week. Guppies aren't strong enough to knock the tube off. This should decrease my work load for her tank to XD Cause whenever the big boy swims he stirs up his poo and the filter she has isn't strong enough to drag it all to the filter and suck it up. So were gonna switch and a run a trial for a few days to see if it will work. And my 30 gallon is actually a lot clearer today than that picture. I still need to decorate it. However I'm not sure how I will cause its go gosh darn big. I wish I had a big decoration like realistic rock cave or driftwood or something


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

That seems like a good fix! I hope it works.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Temporary decoration set up. Atleast until I put all the guppies and ghost shrimp into the 30 and move Liberty and his snail to the temp guppy 5 gallon. So I can steal his rocks and plants for the 30. I think he might like the 5 gallon. Hopefully


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Looks nice!!


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

The smallest female endler passed away a few days ago, leaving me with one pair, the largest female and the yellow snakeskin endler. They seems alright. No signs of ich in any tank so far since I’m using Paraguard. Seachem is a life saver.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Poor girl. I've had more deaths with female guppies than anything. I've concluded that it's hard to be a female.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

yeah, with begin bred all the times and males never leaving them alone I can imagine. If I had more space I
d get three boys and twelve females. Then maybe they’d have a chance to be left alone so times. The female I have left is holding her own because she’s very strong and a bit of a bully. I think she’ll be fine. The male seems a bit intimidated by her.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

A guppy is one thing Id rather not be XD They have it hard lol


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

I know right!!
Going on a trip to visit family/friends for eight days. My dad’s going to take care of my fish and he’s really nice about making sure they have the right food/ etc. He’s going to keep dosing with Paraguard, too. he was the one who maintained my fishes when I was gone for six weeks. 
I may not be active for a few days, though. |-/ im out for now. I’ll be back with more fish stuff as soon as I get home though. ;0)


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Yay more fish stuff!!


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Hey guys!!!!!
Just got back form my trip and was pleased to find that Luc has made a FULL recovery. With the aid of the Paraguard with helps fin issues, his fins look AMAZING! No rips/nips or anything! They’re even gets the petal-like ends back.
In my ten gallon Sam is his usually self, but I lost one of my guppies. Hydra, the one with fin issues disappeared. My dad cleaned the tank and used the pump with a net over it to make sure no fish got sucked up (So lucky i have a awesome dad) so i know he didn’t get sucked up. I cleaned the tank and looked everywhere but he’s just... gone. He probably passed on because of his issues and older age. S.I.P.
The remaining female died while i was gone and my dad buried her, so just the yellow male was left. he looked great when I came back and went through the whole treatment of paraguard so I put him in with the others. think that’ll be okay? @Sadist I’d like your opinion on it because I’m nervous. Why did the female die? Maybe because of fry? The male looks great, but I don't want anything to happen to Sam...
Pics soon! I have GREAT pics of a lake we went to that had awesome looking fish in the reedy area. Not sure what type, probably along the lines of trout or something.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I would guess that the female died from stress from the older male disappearing or babies or a combination of the two. I've had a rough time keeping females alive. Some seem to have overeaten during pregnancy and died of bloat. They're super social, so hopefully your remaining boy doesn't get too stressed out. Maybe Sam will keep him company.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

lol yeah Sam’s such a sweetie. So far the guppy and the endler seem to be getting along fine. Sam literally took one glance at the tiny endler when I put him in before not caring. Love that boy.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Sorry for you loss Shadeslayer. I recently gave all but my two older females and 1 cute juvenile male. A women has a 75 and she took all 63 of my guppies plus 3 ghost shrimp XD shes like so excited and she even ordered 13 more pairs of guppies online all different colors. She said if I want some shed happily give me some for free since I gave her all mine for free. I really don't want anymore guppies though XD I'm just waiting for the day that these females give birth and the curse of good breeding overclouds me again. I really want a different type of fish but I don't know what to look for. I though about the possibility of a female sorority betta tank but I decided against it because I don't have the extra tanks incase they decide to go crazy. My mom said she should be going to meijers next week and if I keep helping around the house shell take me with to see what they have. But I would really love to do research before hand to know what I can and cannot have. Or if they need anything else that I don't have.. I'll probably get some plants for sure.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Thanks, @AccaliaJay <3 LOL good breeding is never a curse. Got any pics of the cute juvvie? Maybe you could get corydoras or tetras of some sort. platies are GREAT! Really curious and friendly. I’d look at those. What plants are you going for?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

It is a curse with me XD Last night I had a nightmare that fry were popping up constantly in my tank. Unfortunately my phone is broke so I cant get a picture unless I find my camera and batteries. I'll try later today is my sisters 2nd birthday so kinda busy today with my brother and his kids being over here. 

Was is Corys or Otos that don't do well with aquarium salt? Or was it both? Just curious. I like the look of Platies. Any others I can have in a 30 gallon? I'm worried about the breeding curse transferring to the platies though. I would prefer something a bit harder to breed but not impossible lol. And I got brown algae growing on the gravel of my tank. Its a bit annoying I might have to put another nerite in and hope they make a difference in the amount of algae.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Both don't do well with AQ salt because they have different scale, I think. Platies would do great for you, I think. Platies are not such super breeders, I think. Like they do, but not as much as guppies. 
Maybe finally getting a phone or I-pod touch today. Which means I’d be getting more pics up here more often. 
Hopefully.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

My brothers family finally left. I let the two oldest feed my fish before they left. My brother did a lot of messing with my laptop. Hopefully he fixed its screen glitch, mmd crash and sims 3 crashing problems. I've never had a ipod but if their anything like iphones I wouldn't wanna touch them with a 10 ft pole XD. If my dad can trade in my phone for a new one without getting a contract he will get me a new one. I'll make sure its not another iPhone. I might ask him to "Try" getting me one with a slide keyboard. Their my favorite XD. Might be a few weeks though. And we still don't know if they will let us without giving a new contract. My dad said he'd make sure Id have the same number. I am kind of bummed about that though. I cant retrieve two numbers off my phone. The were friends from my xat site. Hopefully one day after I get a phone they'll text me. If not that's depressing. I might have to start writing phone numbers down in a book or something since I have bad luck with electronics. Oh well. 

Anyways. I still havnt answered your what plant question. I honestly don't know. I can't say the banana plant is doing great its actually a really bright green with yellow tints to it and even after moving ghost shrimp and guppies out of the tank the leaves are getting holes and stuff. The Anubis nana is doing pretty good besides a few brown edges. But its staying a dark green so I guess that's good? I was thinking water wisteria. Pet smart didn't have any. I'm still not sure how meijers works with their plants I don't see any tubes around there. I know they have some in their tanks. I might have to ask. I'm thinking of telling my mom she can have that 10 gallon to make a terrarium. It can't hold water but I heard they can still be used for terrariums that aren't rainforest like. Anyways I will definitely look at Platies. They look cool. As for my 5 gallon I had switched liberty over but he keeps trying to go behind the filter x.x Its a bit annoying I'm worried its gonna rip his fins. 

I just realized how all over this response is XD I also want to ask about how the trim and replant thing works? Specially for Anubis nana. Since its doing so well. Also one of my females look huge. Like instead of a curve she's like squarish.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Yup the iPod is like a iPhone, but I’m such a music addict I HAVE To have one. I also gotta fix my Marley headphones because they’re dodgy. Got them for Christmas last year and they’ve been broken for months. 
Water wisteria is AMAZING in every way. I think trimming and replanting working to spread it. If you’re guppies squared off she’ll probably have fry really soon. Hehe, the curse continues. I want to look at platies for my brothers tank. I like the micky mouse types and my LFS has some silver/blue ones that are super pretty. I like how personable they are. They’ll follow you around the tank, begging.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Lol sounds nice. So I have batteries on charge for my camera. If my camera doesn't do well with taking pictures my mom said I could use her phone. So within a few days ill take pictures of the three I still have. The boy is now getting a orange rim around his tail so its yellow, orange and black spots. Also the brown algae is starting to turn green on my gravel. It kind of bothers me because of it being white gravel.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Orange and black, like a koi? Oh and I know about algae, I have bits on my sand. 
One of my corydoras (One of the original four pygmies, actually) has raised scales on one side and is breathing really hard. Idk what’s wrong. i feel bad for the little guy but I’m just going to see if he’ll make it out all right. Nothing I can do like salt baths since she’s a cory. 
Bettas are good, remaining guppy/and endler great, buddied up. Still haven’t found Hydra. :0(
I have a BUCKET LOAD of pics for you all, but I don't think i’ll get them up until the weekend bc of school. 
I might not be on much this week becuase fo business, too. So sorry if I dont get to replies super fast. ;0)


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

We understand!


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I tried my best to get pictures with my moms phone before she and my dad leave till Thursday. Its the best I could do. Normally their not as fast but when you sit down infront of the tank they go nuts so it was hard x.x In the full tank pic you can kinda see algae growing but its kinda hard. The second pic where you can mostly see the males tail shows the algae more. Its annoying. And its growing on that blue and white cave. I'm not sure if my nerite is even trying to eat off the gravel. Its probably only sticking to the walls. I know hes speeding more than he use to though hopefully that's a good thing. I'll be putting another nerite in there later so 1 is in the 5 gallon with liberty and two are in the 30 gallon. Or should I just put all 3 in the 30 gallon? I don't see much algae in the 5. And Liberty is worrying me. He wont stop hanging out between the filter and the heater. I don't want him to get stuck or his fins being shredded by the filter x.x


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Gorgeous little guppies!


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Thanks. I found a dead ghost shrimp today. And I think Liberty is sick. I'm extremely worried about him. My parents come home tomorrow so I'll be borrowing my moms phone to post on the disease forum. Hes like round and yet iv only been feeding him once a day for the past week. His swimming is off and hes been hiding behind the filter and heater a lot.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

:-(


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Liberty is still surviving. Not hiding as much after turning the filter off. But of course the freaking guppy breeding curse had to show up x.x


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Well speaking of sickness and crap our internet stopped working until we got Firefox and then bam! I got hit with a awful cold, was just getting over it, then respiratory flu. My fish have been okay, one of my female corys from the original four passed on to some mysterious raised scales and clear white tag attached to her body. No other fish have shown any signs of stress. Sam seems to be slowing down. This Christmas he'll be about three years old. Man. Time flies and I've learned So. Much. About fish. Luc is doing very well, his tank has some weird hair-algae on the plants but I'm not too worried. I'm hoping to get some corys for his tank soon. The endler in my ten is okay, he seems super vibrant and active but just doesn't eat much. Not sure why. Nicholas the last guppy is fine. I started using Seachem Nuetral Regulator to get my PH to 7.0 and it's working really well. I think a lot of my problems are due to low PH. @AccaliaJay I'm forever and ALWAYS going to drool over your GORGEOUS guppies. I just... gah! I wish I lived by you or something because I'd take twenty of them. Soooo prettty. Have you given any more thought to platies> I'm super tempted to try them but holding back. I think if/when I do I want to get a twenty gall kit just for them. 
Pics soon, I promise. So many things have been in the way for so long, but I think I'll try to at least get a few up today. The drag and drop option seems cool. Is it any faster?


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I haven't gotten it to work for me, but maybe it works on phones?


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Maybe. I'll try it out.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

I just imported a ton of pics off my camera- 139! Almost all fish stuff. Just going to pick the best for you all. Luc is looking so good these days. I'm so happy he's back to his former glory. Man, I take a lot of fish pictures. Starting out with the lake day, here's everything I saw fish-wise at the lake. gorgeous wild fishes, not really sure what kind, but they had rainbow tints if the sun hit them just right. We got to the lake super early so they were out and about a lot for me to watch before the fishermen arrived. Then they hid. Smart fishes. 
Anyway, I'll upload these lake photos and see about doing some Luc ones next.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Lol, a super random one of my two boys got thrown there. Oooppss... 
here's some more for you. I really like how sometimes I can see velvet and purple tints in Luc's fins these days. Such a marble. Almost all white when i bought him, now look. He loves to pose for the camera, too, and flutters around every time some one walks into the room. He loves the ten gallon. My brother and I hold up random toys from his legos and stuff and Luc'll flare at them. I'll get a bunch of pics of my plants and my ten gallon community fish up tomorrow.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I'm still thinking about it. My mom went to meijers without me today though. My brother asked me again to consider babysitting for him. He said $40-$60 a week. It would mostly be the youngest since the others have school 6am-5pm and the timing would be all random. I don't know I have a lot of concerns but if I don't do it his wife has to quit her job because my brother has trust issues. I dunno...


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

40 to $60 b8ucks a week heck yeah I'd do it. No matter what the terror. It's up to you, though. Go with you're best feeling.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I still have my tanks and dog to think about. He said I'd be over there more than here. He said I could have the upstairs bedroom. But those steps worry me I wouldn't want to carry 30 jugs of water up those stairs when they sink under my weight. Plus he has two male dogs of his own. I don't want my old boy fighting. I told my dad about him asking again and he was like "he might not even be getting his job back for another month or at all we don't know yet" so I still have to write a list of concerns. I'd practically be living there after all. Of course it would be great cause I could get them to order stuff for me online like Akibento or more tank creatures from aquatic arts. I'd probably have more chance to go to the petstore and such to but yeah.. lots to think about


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I'd like to point out that I made $40-60 a night working part-time at a small, family-owned restaurant 20 years ago. I only managed to work there because we were favored customers/friends of the owner while I was growing up.

So I'd weigh in the money as part of the pros and cons. Pros, not have to leave the building to do job, free food & board, etc, cons could make better money getting a college kid's job but would need vehicle, have to buy own food and housing, etc.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Pro's- Less time with my mom so less stress, money, more chances to get what I want, plus my brother can have more time to mess with my laptop to try and figure out sims crashing and screen glitching

Cons- His children are demons, have to climb the stairs a few hundred times to do a water change, stairs seriously feel like they'll collapse, unknown future for my dog. 

Xander grew up at the house my brother lives in now. Actually he didn't start having scratching problems till we moved here. So his mostly bald butt might resolve itself going there. But then again what if he gets depressed. I believe the only reason hes such a great dog is because he was raised with my parents old dog Sassy who was like the best dog ever. To the point you could consider her a sibling not just a pet. She died there though and he got depressed after that. Ughhh so many unknowns.... I just really don't want to live there without him. Who knows how much more time he has. Although his climbing those stupid steps might do him some good. Plus theres still the lots of land he use to run when he was younger. I dunno in my mind con outweigh pro's but then again it would do me and Xander some good. Plus I'd be helping my brothers wife so she doesn't have to quit the job at the vets office. Its such a big decision. 

I seriously do not know.. Well I have a month or two to figure it out I guess. I swear tho I might throw something at him if he mentions it when they come over for a cookout today. I don't like talking face to face about stuff. Awkardness is not my thing. Hopefully I can find an idea for making an MMD model and focus on that while the beasts are here. Ahh I'm justa mess today XD opps sorry to much rambling.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Lol "His children are demons" Sorry about that.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

I get it totally about your dog problem. I always say that my cat and I are a package deal and if I'm going to be gone for more than a week he comes, too. Climbing up those stairs seems terrible, too. I guess you just got to decide if you really want the cash.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Pretty much.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Man, things have been super busy with school starting back up, a horse show, piano and all sorts of other things popping up. I just now found some time between homework and all that to update.
This last Saturday I went to the Wet Spot to get a algae eating snail and some corydoras for my brother's tank. I got a multi-colored snail that's pretty neat looking and five Salt and Pepper corys after talking to the guy who helped me. I got home and introduced the corys to Luc by floating the bag. he went nuts and started flaring non-stop, so I put him in my breeding trap and let the corys settle in for an hour. When they got comfortable, I released Luc and he patrolled his tank for a half-hour until he finally noticed the intruders again. He swam up to about an inch away and began flaring/gilling at them for five solid minutes, then gave up and hasn't looking at them since.
success. He was so cute, like a little puppy who just found out he has to share his favorite toy. His reaction was basically "WHAT ARE THESE TINY STRIPED INVADERS?" Then "Meh, I got better things to do."
Bettas are so strange. @AccaliaJay Any word on what you're going to do with your baby-sitting deal?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I asked my dad and he said he doesn't know if or when my brother will start again. And I'm still trying to decide. Although I think having the choice of deciding is driving me crazy because I don't feel like myself lately. Its strange and I don't like it. I never used to think about more than animals, reading, writing, watching anime and making MMD videos. However now I keep wondering if owning a pet store is really my dream now x.x I don't like second guessing that. 

I'm now down to about 20 guppies, 1 or 2 ghost shrimp, three nerites and 1 betta. I'm trying to hold off until I know if I'm moving in with my brother. Specially cause I want another betta. My brother Ryan has been paying me to watch his dog and giving his dog a bath. So now I'm up to $48.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

I know, indecision awful. I TOTALLY get it. Second guessing is rough. I do it all the time. i guess one just has to trust their gut and go with what you think is best. What type of betta do you think you'll get next?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I dont know. Depends on what feels right XD


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Well, long time no update! Sorry for falling off the bridge of you guys. School... happened. 
Fish tanks: On Luc's tank- all five corys are alright. I forgot about paraguard when the new guys came in and they've developed very mild ich, so I'm treating diligently with paraguard right now. Luc is okay, back to fin biting for some reason. he makes awesome bubble-nests. The plant growth in both tanks in EXPLOSIVE all the sudden. I'm giving away plants to my friends because I've filled up three tanks. One of the salt and peppper's in Luc's tank has a gimpy tail fin for some odd reason. His color is a lot darker than the others, too. 
Sam's tank is okay. I have seven corys, the remaining endler and the remaining guppy still along with Sam. Sam is okay, in all his messy-fins and happy betta dance glory. I love my little guy. This Christmas he'll be either three or two years old. I've lost track. One of my corys has oddly clamped fins. I'm not sure why, and he's been very lethargic. He's slowly getting better with frequent water changes. I rinsed out my decorations, rearranged my plants and replaced my filter cartridge as the old one was falling apart. Same on Luc's tank. @AccaliaJay How are you? I feel bad for disappearing. Any new fish?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Glad yours is going okay. I'm pretty much the same as always besides my sleeping schedule. Now I sleep at around noon to 7pm. Its making my parents mad. But Oh well it oddly has helped my racing thoughts. My parents went down to ohio and left me and my brother with only left over foods so I ended up pitching in 20-30 dollars for sandwich stuff. So I'm back to poor. Down to two adult guppies, unknown amount of fry which is probably somewhere around 30 fry? And the rest is pretty much the same. I haven't got to go anywhere to even get more fish. I do however have 7 blue spotted salamanders. XD. Their so cute. I've only fed them twice so far and only two have eaten each time. The 3 little ones run from me. I don't know if its two same ones eating or not they all look pretty much the same.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

!!! Where’d you get the salamanders?! I love those little guys!! Do you have any pitcures?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

We live in a swampy wooded area so its not exactly uncommon to find some. These were under our wood pile while my dad was stacking.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

@AccaliaJay You're keeping them? What do you feed them? On a side note, what ever happened with your mom's fish tank?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Yeah I'm keeping they. I have to use scissors to cut up worms and feed them with a tooth pick. The littlest ones wont eat they run away from me. I do leave he extra in there. And my moms tank is fine.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

@AccaliaJay Cool! Has she gotten any other fish?

Update:
Went to the LFS the other weekend for the 17th annual anniversary sale. Everything was 20% off. I purchased three bronze corys, 3 black diamond corys (very active and fun, love swimming with each other) and two crypt parva (cryptocoryne parva) for my tank with some more salvinia for my tank. I separated the crypts and planted them in the front before Sam’s castle. He loves swimming through them. A few leaves have yellowed but so far no melting. The corys are good, getting along great. I had one of my pygmies pass on of a internal infection again. Possibly columnaris. I’m keeping a close eye on everyone else and treating with paraguard for the new guys. They all seem t be happy.
I looked at getting a few more endler pairs but they didn’t look so great. I’m sticking to just the endler (Steve) and my remaining gup Nicholas for Sam’s tank. They seem okay for each other. 
I did see in the LFS that they’re selling PNADA GUPPIES for ten bucks a pair. Too expensive for me at the time, so I passed but will be coming back. I want to get a five gallon since the pandas are small and get three pairs. I LOVE them. Seriously obsessed with them right now. They’re SO CUTE. I can’t even stand it. Love them. 
I’m debating on saving for the five gallon kit petco has but I don’t think it’s very uniform whereas if the lights go or something I might be screwed getting new ones. LED five gallon kit or something like that. Buying individual stuff may be more costly but in the long run I don’t want to end up with another tank like my 3.5 that’s junk. 
My birthdays on the 20th and I’m getting and I-pod touch finally. I’m thinking wait for Christmas or save my own cash for the five gal. Apparently my mom likes the Pandas enough to consent to me replacing my 3.5 with a five gal. As long as it’s just guppies and possibly shrimp/snails. She doesn’t want another big community tank. 
I wish I could get a small 2.5 tank for my nightstand and have just a betta and a snail. Maybe someday after the five. That’d be three tanks in my room and four tanks total but the 2.5 won’t be much for maintenance. And I’d have my ten gall and my brother’s (luc’s tank) for grow- out for the guppies. 
Luc is doing well enough. He nips his fins and such which is frustrating. I think he’s so social and needy he gets bored when we’re not home. He loves it when my brother watches him. he dances and begs ofr treats.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

That blue one omg so pretty! And no she can't get anything else for her tank. The gouramis will kill everything. I believe she's overstocked anyways with that big pleco. My dad's been saying the gouramis have been chasing easy other and nipping tails but I can't tell if that's aggression or just play since there doesn't seem to be tail damage. 

The women who I gave alot of guppy and ghost shrimp to said she's got up to 13 ghost shrimp now and lots of guppies plus she keeps buying more. She also said she went to our meijers and bought a rose tail Betta. She said they have a few of them. Iv always wanted one but I'm just so unlucky that no one wants to give me a ride.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Massive update:
Hello, friends! It has been long since I posted here, kicking this old thread back up.
So, for tank 1 (Sam's).
Many changes, mostly good. My current stocking list is as follows:
~One Betta
~One guppy
~Ten Exclamation point rasboras
~3 black diamond corydoras, 5 pygmy corys, and 3 dwarf salt and pepper (hasborous)
I've added water wisteria, which is growing well, water velvet, some ludwigia, I think, and best of all, two full pots of monte carlo, which I ADORE. If you don't know what that plant is, go check it out. It's a great alternative so more sensitive baby tears. I still have duckweed and guppy grass going crazy, and a few other plants I can't name. Pics soon.

Tank 2 (Luc's)
With the fine sand sub, the water wisteria in it is going absolutely nuts in crazy twisty patterns. I LOVE it. He has 5 salt and pepper corydoras and two bronze, and one endler which should be getting friends soon.

Tank 3 (New tank!!)
For Christmas I got a new 5.5 gallon, and rescued a betta that had been at petsmart fr three months+. Meet Caspar. His names means treasure. He's a pink DS VT with a super awesome personality.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Wonderful news! I'm glad you rescued the little treasure, too.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

He certainly earned it after waiting so long. 
After moving the sole surviving endler to Luc's tank, I'm thinking about getting 4 girl gups to keep him company...


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Luc has seemed to have adjusted to the presence of the endler (now renamed Valentine by my brother, XD) well. At first he flared major and gilled him before chasing the poor little guy, but after Valentine hid he lost interest. He seems okay, so I'm wondering now what to do. Do I go and try a batch of four guppy girls? I don't think they'd be too pressured with the one endler... is there even a difference between guppy girls and endlers? I could get another endler pair and two girl gups, but the tank already has seven good sized corydoras and Luc, and I don't want him to get irritated with all the fish... I have to get at least two other fish tho for Valentine because he's scared. 
There's a super neat fish store I'd love to go see, but it's a good five hour drive from where I'm at and buying from the site is super expensive... plus we have a good foot of snow now and it's still dumping down (yay) so shipping would most likely go badly. @AccaliaJay, wishing for your guppies, haha. How many do you have now? A lot?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Roughly 20 or so. Since getting the female bettas I haven't seen any new fry kind of happy about that.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Oh you got female bettas? Awesome ' have any pics? How many did you get? I think you said you have a twenty gal, right? I'm jealous.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Best pics I have of them two. If they have some at PetSmart when I go I will probably get another to make the numbers odd. Also I have a 30 gallon lol


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Cuteeee I wish I could get girls. My boy Sam in my ten is getting older. Have you considered java fern for your thirty gal?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Im more focused on planting my 5 gallon right now. It has two Anubis Nana, 1 Marimo moss ball and 1 Java fern. I put some Java moss that's attached to one of those coconut husks in my 30 gallon tho I figured better for my ghost shrimp and fry than just my single betta and also got pictures of the unknown snail.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Maybe it's a pond snail? Cute cory by the way.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Yeah it is cute. XD


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

@Accaliajay do you still have your salamanders?


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Plenty of pics! Five gallon with Caspar and ten gal community.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

No they died.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

It looks like one of the pond snails to me, too. Cute snail, and cute cory!


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

So will it repopulate even being just one?


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Oh yeah, pond snails will overrun your tank and pretty soon they're evil and they have eggs on everything and I _detest_ them, haha.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I don't mind that one being in there.. but it hasn't laid any eggs so far which is why I'm asking if it will hatch eggs being just that only one in there and having been so tiny when it came in.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

So I kept lights off yesterday and skipped a feeding... Bad luck.. my two oldest guppies are dead. And the female bettas are doing some freaky jump into the corner thing and getting stuck against the glass... I'm a little freaked out why are they doing that?


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Maybe they need a water change? I saw a betta do that at the store. The dead bodies may have spiked ammonia or something.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Well I'll be doing that today. Cause one of the dead guppies actually was moving and is still moving. He's on his side at the top. But also the tetra died. I was really hoping to hold off on doing a big water change so I could go to PetSmart get some more neon tetras and some other stuff however due to this crappy weather my dad has only been home two nights this week and he's supposed to do his up north wells again today so I doubt well be going to traverse within the next few days.. It's a bit depressing.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Aw sorry about the fish. The smallest changes can set them off


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update: Going to the LFS. Will be picking up some endlers, either tiger or Scarlett, three neritre snails (1 for each tank), looking into a larger filter for my tank and some low-light plants for Caspar's tank. I'll update with the haul late this evening or tomorrow.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

So...
We ended up not being able to go to the LFS because an ice storm was on the way and we had to stock up on food. The next day a WICKED ice storm hit and took out all sorts of trees, coating two inches of ice over nearly three feet of snow. The power went out after an ice storm for two days taking the internet with it for a while too, but now everything it back to calm.
I think we'll be going to the LFS today, and here is what I'm thinking.
I'll move the endler (Valentine) from Luc's ten gallon to Caspar's five and get him two or three male friends. Then I'll get five or six ottos if they look good to take care of the massive amount of diatoms I can't fight back. For Sam's tank all that it needs is one or two nerite snails as the diatoms aren't so big there.

The (very tentative) stocking list for each tank would look like:

Sam's Ten gallon:
Eleven assorted dwarf corydoras
Ten Exclamation Point Rasboras
One Betta
One guppy

Luc's Ten Gallon
One betta
Seven bronze/salt&pepper corydoras
six ottos

Caspar's Five Gallon
One betta
Three male endlers
One nerite snail

None of this is set in stone. I always go to the LFS and come back with a totally different version of what I said I'd get, lol. I'm on the fence about what to do with Nicholas, the sole guppy. He's bored and lonely. I wouldn't might getting him some mates but I'm just not sure because my ten gallon is overstocked stocked as it is. I have the 3.5 gallon cruddy setup, but it'd need a filter and a heater and my parents do not want anymore tanks...

Anyway, I did water changes/ cleaned the tanks today. I added a bit of crushed coral to the edges of all three tanks and have been trying to aquascape, but it's harder than it looks, haha. I want to get some small, flat stones like what is in riverbeds from the LFS if they have any. 
@AccaliaJay did you ever go and get more fish yourself? @Sadist haven't you had otos before? Were they good or bad?


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Still haven't got to go. My dad's been up north for the past few days. It sucks. Trying to create a thank you mmd video for two friends who've been helping me with mmd alot and I'm constantly worried my laptop will crash and I'll lose my place x.x


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I still have otos. I have to warn you that in a 10 gallon, the only ones who survive are the ones who learn to eat supplemental veggies on the side. Once the initial coating of algae is gone, there doesn't seem to be enough to feed them all without adding veggies. I'm sure the cories will eat on the veggies, too.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Okay thanks Sadist for the info. I ended up not getting them for stocking reasons even though they looked really healthy at the LFS. 
Bummer on the laptop problems AccaliaJay. It takes me over an hour to upload pics on here. 

Anyway back onto the fish~
I got four nerite snails from the LFS, one to my tank, one to Cas', two for Luc's. I also got to derpy and cute endlers that seem to be very happy and healthy. Valentine is ecstatic to have friends, haha. 
here's some pics. Flaring session with Caspar went well, he's super hyper and loves swimming everywhere. I'm thinking once his tank is all the way cycled I'll get him a trio of endler boys. He's very fascinated with his new snail friend so far. The endlers I got are very sweet too. One of them is nice and has neat fins, but the other has rather muddled coloring and dapples where he shouldn't. The super sweet guy who helped me pick them out let me choose each one and got me the best plants he had, too. I got a bit more broad-leaf ludwigia because that plant is EPIC! I seriously love it. I also got a bit fo java moss and java fern for Cas' tank and aquascaped it better. 
Sam is doing well. He's slowed down much over the past month or two but eats like a wild animal and is very peaceful to his tankmates. His back bothers him a lot. I got him a new internal filter and it has a nice low setting for him. 
Luc is... okay. His fins have been bothering him so he's mowed them horribly and it looks like he weed-whacked his tail and dorsal. I'm thinking of trimming them because they're heavy and awful but I'm scared to. I'm certainly not taking him out of the water to do so, haha.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Welp just looked back and realized I uploaded half the wrong pics. XD. 
Anyways...
Last night I cleaned out all three tanks thoroughly. I took out Sam's castle and got rid of a bunch of pest snails before replacing it. The nerite snail in his tank seems to be doing fine, as well as the one in Caspar's, but the two in Luc's tank say mostly out of the water. It's frustrating, because that's the tank that needs it the most. 
I've been doing water changes daily or every other day for nearly a months now on Caspar's tank and I'm hoping it's getting close to cycled. I'm thinking about adding two pairs of panda guppies in with him. I put Nicholas (big fancy guppy) in the betta cup form Petsmart and floated it in his tank. He did nothing. At. All. He's very into flaring at his reflection when he can see it, but does not care a bit about other fish/his snail so far.
Cas is so active. It really surprises me every day how much he speeds around. I guess spending three months in a cup stores up a lot of energy, haha. 
This morning I decided I couldn't take the clutter and cleaned off my writing/computer desk, bedroom and homework desk. There's a huge pile of Christmas decorations in my homework/writing room that still needs to be cleared out.
Any winter weather affecting you guys. @Sadist @AccaliaJay ? After getting three feet of snow, and ice storm and a power outage we seem to be in the clear for now.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

It's fine here. I'd say we only have a few inches where I live but we've been getting alot of rain and snow mixed so roads are sometimes slippery. Two days ago one of my sister's therapists who was on her way did a doughnut and slid into a ditch. So she had to cancel.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

We're supposed to get snow flurries here, but it's still in the high 30's and not really cool enough for it. I'm hoping it'll flurry over night and give the kiddo a few minutes of powder to play with in the morning.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Sadist said:


> We're supposed to get snow flurries here, but it's still in the high 30's and not really cool enough for it. I'm hoping it'll flurry over night and give the kiddo a few minutes of powder to play with in the morning.


Gee do you want some of mine? It's free, U-haul, lol. We have a pile against the computer room window that covers it from when my dad shoveled off the roof. it used to be great but now there's an inch of icce over it. Walking on it you go three steps then POOF you sink and spends the next eight steps clambering back ontop and you walk four or five steps that POOF -repeat-.
Bottom line you want it? I'll give it.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

No thanks! I'm in the South, and people here just don't know how to deal with it. We don't even own an ice scraper for the wind shield or a snow shovel. People drive like maniacs when it snows, too. They try to cut you off if you're driving slowly and carefully, then they slide around and hit anything that's there. I probably do drive too slowly, but I'm just trying to be careful.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Lol that reminda me of this picture XD I saw it on Facebook it's stuck with me ever since.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

XD well then I'll have to survive with it.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Luc says hi lol


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

He's so pretty. Reminds me of my Mr. Fish, except Mr. Fish was turquoise (mostly looked green).


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

haha he's a sweetie. I wish his fins were a bit lighter for him. They frustrate him I think.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

My phone must be failing to notify me XD and he looks great Shadeslayer


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

AccaliaJay said:


> My phone must be failing to notify me XD and he looks great Shadeslayer


Thanks!


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update:
We've got three feet of snow still and another ice storm on the way with expected power outages. . So that'll be fun.
In Sam's tank everyone is good but for one of my pygmys. This little guy has severely clamped fins and lays about all days. I've had several others pass from whatever is going on. I noticed a week ago he had a red worm thing sticking out from his belly, freaked because parasites make me sick and researched it. I believe it was roundworm. I tried General Cure on him, and while the red worm went away, he's still got clamped fins and when startled flips about. The pygmys I have seem to be very sensitive compared to the dwarf spotted and black diamond. (I butchered the spelling there, sigh)
Sam is well. Lately he's been wandering out of his log and inspecting his tank. The top plants have gotten so out of control recently. Clogging up both filters and making it hard for him to reach the surface. I've been moving duckweed and salvinia over to Caspar's tank and hoping it'll do fine there. 
I moved the batik Nerite from Cas' tank over to Sam's since Caspar's 5.5 has zero algae. He's doing well. His fins are starting the slightest bit to have these minuscule curls for whatever reason, and he's developed the smallest silver streak on his anal fin. He's such a cutie. Now that his tank is cycled I'm debating on moving the three dwarf spotted corydoras to his tank and getting two more or buying two pairs of panda guppies. Both ideas seem ideal for the tank. I just can't decide. 
Luc's tank is marvelous. The salt and pepper corydoras are by far the most active and fun corys I've ever gotten. My brother really likes them. So far all three endlers are well. He's named them Valentine, Berlin and Hobbes to this date. They stay together, showing off to each other and playing. I really enjoy them and so does he. His nerite snails keep escaping the tank and going on top of the filter. It drives him nuts, haha. I always see one but the other's disappeared. I hope it's not gone... Luc himself is okay. Fins are raggedy, just the way he like's em. He doesn't flare like he used to, I don't know if it's the fact he's a but over a year now or he's nipped his fins so much they're too heavy. Sometimes the ends get a little red so I wonder if putting some tetracycline in there would help him. I want to get a half-mat of java fern for his tank to add a dense hiding spot for him. The wisterias all on the top, just connected to the sand by the stalks. And his broad-leaf ludwigia isn't enjoying staying planted. 
@*AccaliaJay* how're the fish? have you gotten anymore females? @*Sadist* Do you still have your harem of female gups? Any surprise fry?


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I still have all 6 of my female guppies. 0 deaths with the large numbers and no males. So far, I haven't seen any pregnancies or fry. I guess I lucked out; the store breeder must raise the genders separately. They look super fat, but their gravid spots aren't super dark. The betta in there is still tolerating them. Neighbor kid said she likes how they all have different tail colors, so even kids can enjoy the female guppies if they don't know how pretty the males are!


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I havn't gotten any new fish. My dad hasn't taken me to traverse yet... And now for around two weeks I've been having issues. I'm thinking sinuses but they keep draining to the back of my throat creating gunk and its preventing me from eating for days at a time. And no matter how much I lay on my stomach they still drain into my throat and its freaking annoying... Some days are better than others. Like today I managed to eat a piece of pizza. But still normally I eat 1-2 meals and for dinner I always eat a full plate or even seconds depending what it is. I mean there have been days when we have my favorite meals like tacos and even a day where my mom male hot salad which is a fav and I didn't want to eat x.x and I can't force myself. It sucks. I've been drinking a lot of powerade though and once in a while a bottle of water. My dad got me a hot chocolate today and I drank half but I fell asleep and when I woke up it was cold. Anyways...

My brothers girlfriends tank is doing super well. The mystery snail I got her is huge! I'll try taking a picture later when I'm not so lazy to get up. When you look at the tank from an angle you can see some algea on the glass but it looks a lot better and the waters clear now that my brother bought her an extension cord thing so now she can run her lights, filter and heater at the same time. I'll give you her fish/snail count later with the picture. 

As for my tanks their okay. Could be better. My male betta his dorsal fin is really slow at regrowing. Its still really short. Also a few lady bugs found their way into his tank to drown. I had one on my arm one night freaked me out cause it was almost under my sleeve. For my 30 gallon the female bettas are doing pretty good one has a small chunk out of her tail but its not really bad its rare I see a chunk missing. They still havnt done the corner jumping thing so that might be good news. Still two nerites. Havnt seen the pond snail lately though. My guppy count is down to 9 I think. I counted twice and got nine lol Those female bettas must have guppy fry as a favorite snack


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Here are the pics of my brothers girlfriends tank. Her tank is a 5 gallon. It has 1 snail, 1 glofish ad about 5-6 guppys. I think she only has two females though. Shes surprised they havnt had babies. And she was even more surprised when I told her my guppy count is down to 9 XD. Anyways her snail is huge! Its the one I got her. I swear it grew so fast. My mom keeps asking me if we can put a snail in her tank but her tank already has the pleco. And not much algea.. And plus I'm not sure if the gouramis will kill a snail.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Ooh yeah I be the female bettas are loving the fry lol. The tank is looking nice!! That's awesome about the mystery. I don't think gourarmis would kill a snail. Too bad her fish are so huge. You could do a ot with the tank if you didn't have the big ones. Aren't glofish like tetras? It might need a friend or two.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Oh and sorry you're sick. Illnesses come so often in the winter. Try drinking tea and a ton of water.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I really think its just sinuses although its ridiculous lasting almost two weeks. I'm hoping itll start getting better soon I don't even want to think about the weight I'm losing from not eating much. I hate tea. And yeah there is a lot of things I could do with my moms tank if there wasn't that big of fish. I still wish my mom would get that 50 gallon from her uncles place. If that thing held water imagine the stuff I could do with that XD Heck if we had that her fish could go in there and I could use her 36 for a community tank. Make it all pretty. And I dunno my moms fish old owner said they killed an angel fish before. 

As for the glofish in my brothers girlfriends tank I agree and she keeps saying she wants a few more but they don't get to go to meijers often. If they did I would have my filter back that shes using cause she could get cartridges for hers. She doesn't understand when I say she can use them till they start falling apart.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

Update:
We went to this neat, small-ish fish store four hours away and it was so nice and clean inside. The guy had the most beautiful girl guppies I'd ever seen. Next time we go I'm going to try to bring stuff like a heat back and a critter keep and get a trio of just girls. 
While I was there I looked at everything. They had pea puffers (SQUEEEE!) and Mbu puffers like my local FS does. They had a huge one with an amazing tank of display guppies called Murphy. He looked so intelligent. But the Mbu they had for sale was $224 sooo yeah. As cool as they are, that's a dream for the future. 
At this LFS they kept only plakats for bettas and had every single one of them in community tanks at LEAST ten gallons bit or the plant tanks. There wasn't a single fish bowl in there or anything smaller than a 2.5. It was so great. I ended up buying italian val and a thing of water sprite to split in-between the tanks, floaters and a coconut cave for the brother's tank. 
I could tell the manager who helped me get the stuff really cared about his fish. He was so helpful. They had ADFs there that were great as well as the lady showing me that fish apparently love chasing laser pointers. 

Anyways, onto the tanks.
I have sort of a special update for one of my corys. he's been ill with what I thought was dropsy or internal parasites for two weeks, and he got so bad he was upside-down. I threw together my hospital tank and gave him a ton of IAL, and he PULLED THROUGH! I cannot believe he made it, it's blowing my mind. He was on the brink of death and came back. As of right now I'm acclimating him back to the maintank because he's going crazy missing his friends. So moral of the story is DONT GIVE UP ON SICK FISH and IAL in Strong does save fish lives. Something abut the natural tannins and antibiotics in the leaves just saved him. 

As far as Sam goes, he's good for now. Last sunday I walked into my room and he was on his side on the floor, gasping. He could not move and I seriously thought he was going to die. INoticed tiny peck of brown o n him so I immediately started dosing with paraguard and a half hour later he made it to the surface and was chilling. I think he has/had flukes or something, since he was yawning a lot and swimming with his mouth open. I just missed the sign. Thank God for paraguard or I'd have lost my little guy.

I'm dosing Luc's tank with general cure because one of the endlers has slowed down and has slightly raised scales. ??? So I'm just going to dose it to be safe. I fed brine shrimp to everyone yesterday, and Luc sat n the pile and hogged it. Piggy. 

Caspar is amazing. I'm phasing out all the live plants in his tanks and they're looking wonderful. I'll try to get a pic up because I love how it's turning out. Caspar himself is so sweet and inquisitive. After three months in a cup every little thing in the most exciting adventure. Feeding time? I get jazzy fins and dances and jumps and excited surfing. He's so cute, he plant surfs, going from palnt to plant and wiggling through them like a maniac. 
@AccaliaJay lol I had the hardest time trying to understand the whole 'use your filter pads until they're literally falling apart thing' It's like... but... they're dirty and gross... LET ME CLEAN EVERYTHING!


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Just ordered 8 Pygmies. Any tips on feeding/care? LFS had what I thought were adult pygmies (they were actually younger Bronzes) and so I started blabbering about how I really wished my mom would get me some. (LOL) The owner was like "No... Those are not pygmies. Do you want pygmies?

Have no clue where I was going with that. Oh well.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

ThatFishThough said:


> Just ordered 8 Pygmies. Any tips on feeding/care? LFS had what I thought were adult pygmies (they were actually younger Bronzes) and so I started blabbering about how I really wished my mom would get me some. (LOL) The owner was like "No... Those are not pygmies. Do you want pygmies?
> 
> Have no clue where I was going with that. Oh well.


Certainly! Pygmies really go through phases in activity. Sometimes they're SUPER active and swimming everywhere, other days they just sit and hang out. As long and they're dorsal fins are upright, there really is nothing to worry about, but if they're clamping it and not just resting it halfway down then there's a problem ime. As far as feeding, I feed Wardley advanced tropical flakes once a day for my all my corys, big and small and the other fish. I never clean up the uneaten food the endlers/guppies/rasboras don't eat and leave it for the corydoras. I usually don't see the pygmies eat hut as soon as the lights go off on the tank they start moving about and that's when I think they eat. When I first got my juvenile pygmies they ate constantly but once they grew up they got more picky abut when they eat. I've found that if a fish isn't taking to flakes, mixing the flakes with brine shrimp 50%50% gets them to start trying it, and through the week I lower the shrimp percentage until they're taking the flakes. Really, pygmies and very undemanding. 
So this month I miraculously saved one of my pygmies from terribly internal issues. I does General cure twice on the maintank, and when that didn't work for her, I put her in my still cycling 3.5 hospital, did daily water changes, ad put two huge IAL in there. Somehow, she pulled through with flying colors and is back in the main tank. They really are hardy, fighter fish. 

Haha, I get the whole rambling to the fish store employee. Last week I went to a LFS and my brian went dead when I was trying to remember the other 'water plant' besides water sprite. I was thinking of Wisteria, but then ended up getting the sprite anyway.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

My moms decided enough was enough so now every month my brother and I are being billed. Of course since I don't have a job my moms only charging dog food, phone and internet for me. I have to do chores to pay it off. Apparently they are $127. To be honest I actually find this quite entertaining. Of course I hate it and think its ridiculous that my brother lived 21 years rent free and yet here I am 19 years old and I have to pay almost half of what he has to pay. But its entertaining because I think finally my parents are starting to realize how much I actually do. I mean now my brothers been getting yelled at more than me. And my moms not really complaining when I sleep during the day. The only time she complains is if she has no one to watch my sister so she can do what she needs. But its a lot less than what used to be. I also made it very clear to my mom that I will not do any chores that involve touching chemicals. She thinks its ridiculous but I can't help it. I'd much rather stand there and scrub with soap and water than cleaning chemicals. And also this way I get to choose the stuff I do besides dishes. Nobody is getting paid for doing the dishes which sucks but oh well getting paid for almost everything else.


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