Finbert

I wish I could have stayed longer and looked more when I was over picking up your 55gal - you have some really beautiful animals.

Welcome aboard! I went the same way: got my first Betta in high school, and was instantly hooked. Have fun!

I love my Otos - I actually have to put extra food in for them, they eat the algae so fast. Being cute, staying small, and being totally gentle and passive are other traits I find really endearing in them. I hope yours work out as well for you as mine have for me. ps they're also really good at eating the brown algae.

I've lost a few fish due to forgetfulness, but I haven't been in the hobby long enough to have that many, that big, or that old, to lose. I'm very sorry for your loss.

I'd rather buy something used from someone I trust than brand-new. If the previous owner can say, I've had it x years and it's never leaked and it was still full this morning, I just drained it for you now, you know you're safe as long as you don't damage it getting it home. On the other hand, with a brand-new one, chances of manufacturer's defects are slim, but nobody will have had the chance to find out about it before you.

For sure. It ends up cheaper buying live stuff from them even if it is a little pricier up front because it seems to survive better and you don't have to go buy new ones/shell out for meds/replace the ones that caught what the new ones had even though you thought you quarantined them enough. Plus their plants tend not to bring plagues of snails. And on top of that, I find that often they /aren't/ pricier than the chains. My explanation (though I haven't verified it) is that better fish care means fewer fish deaths means lower overhead.

Maybe if I store the Prime with the Python that will work and help me remember. Too soon to tell (no fish yet). I think I should write the Python people, because I had the best idea ever last night: what if it had some kind of integrated water conditioner adding system, that you could screw into the hose kindof like you do when you give weed n feed to your lawn. Me, lazy?

zomg teh want!!!

I'm hideously absent-minded. I've lost three bettas to non-dechlorinated water. I've developed a ritual where the Prime is stored next to the clean-water bucket and the bucket doesn't go to the sink until the Prime is in, but for my new big tank at home I've gotten a Python so I'll have to come up with something else.

zomg you're not kidding about multiple tank syndrome! I started a couple years ago with a betta in a coffee pot. Then this fall I started up a 10gal at work, and that was going to be it. Just that and my betta cubicle-mate. A couple weeks ago I picked up a used 30gal, now I have a line on a 55, thinking I might like to have another smaller one... Yes I know what i want to put in them... My partner is incredibly forgiving, although he would probably like me to assemble the desk I bought him in August before I set up another fishtank.

I imagine you've written about it before, but what kind of camera/lenses are you using? (I'm hoping to get myself a new camera sometime fairly soon)

It's not like I /need/ any more bettas, but are you going to be selling these guys?

Kewl, another Pangio spp! How do they compare with Pangio kuhlii?

Wow! The world of fish has so many species in it I had never heard of. Now I have to go research killies. I do have that new tank to stock eventually after all.

There's nothing like waking up in a tent a cold fall morning just around dawn with the frost on everything and the sun just starting to light it up, and then campfire-cooked breakfast with gritty cowboy coffee. Dammit you're making me all nostalgic and envious. (fishing ain't bad either!)

w00t! Thank you very much! (Motivation to get my home office re-organized increasing)

Holy !@#$ ! I'm glad everybody is OK. And giving some serious thought to what to put my new tank on - maybe not one of those skinny tubular metal jobbies. Not when I have a cat who must. investigate. everything.

Well, I euthanized the two that were clearly unwell- I had to pretty much tear down the tank to be able to catch them, darn those plants. At least it was a chance to re-do the parts of the decor I didn't like :-/ Now I guess it's just a matter of watch and wait. And no new fish for quite a while.

Biotope, anybody?

Ah, the possibilities... this is going to be fun :-) Now I just have to do the other things I promised myself I'd do before I put time/$ into a new aquarium.

That's great - thanks for the offer! There are a number of things I need to do before I can justify spending time on a new aquarium, so it could be a couple months, so I'll ask you then if you still have extras.

Thanks for the resources! Aquahobby.com was one I've somehow managed to miss despite extensive googling. I'm particularly attracted to the Colisa spp - they're just the right size and come in such gorgeous colours. But then the pearls are so elegant... Choices, choices... Another advantage of going Asian is that then I can have Kuhlis, which have got to be some of the craziest little psychos out there. I think I'm sold. (My problem when it comes to trying to go vaguely-geographic is that I particularly like anabantoids, loaches, tetras, and otos. d'oh!) And thanks for mentioning that gouramis come from /low-movement/ streams! I've been reading streams, streams, streams, but somehow missed that part.

In the short time I've been here, I've sure learned a lot! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have/am.

ITA they're gorgeous fish. The aggression does concern me, which is why they're option 2. Is it just a matter of making sure they have enough space? If not, can you recommend resources on what I would need to do to keep them happily co-existing?

I'm 99% certain at least a couple of my neons have NTD. My co-workers named the school Ocean's 8, and then, because one of them stood out a bit from the others, we decided it was George Clooney. It stood out because it has kindof a whitish bump inside its red stripe at the tip of its tail. I assumed it was just a random quirk, since Mr. Clooney was always out and about and a good eater. But lately only 4 of the 8 have been out much; the other 4 I can see hiding in various places and this morning a couple of them didn't even come out at breakfast time. So this evening in a fit of paranoia (that I suspect is actually justified) I looked up NTD and now I feel really bad that I didn't take Mr. Clooney out right away, because who knows who else he's infected. I've gotten conflicting information on whether fish other than neons get NTD, so I don't know if my otos, kuhlis, and shrimp are at risk, but clearly all the other neons are in danger, assuming they're not already infected. And I have conflicting information about how it's transmitted - that the fish has to ingest the flesh of an infected fish to get infected, or that the infected fish excretes it into the water. So I guess my question is what now. I'm thinking I should euthanize any fish that are showing symptoms, but if I'm going to euthanize them I'll have to catch them first, and that's going to be hella difficult, since there are all sorts of thick plants and logs and hiding places, and the ones I want to get are the ones that are hiding. Am I going to have to tear everything down to get at them, or are there clever ways to get them to come out and get caught? And on top of that, once I've got the sick fish out, what will I need to do to make the place safe for everybody else who lives there, and any future residents?