Still Have Concerns

Those look like either air bubbles or eggs.
 
That ammonia calc is good for fw, This one allows you to enter salinity, and to choose if your test kit measure total ions or just the nitrogen ions. Most hobby kits measure total ions. Normally, those that measure only nitrogen ions will put -N or -Nitrogen after the description. Example are Ammonia-N or Ammonia- Nitrogen. Here is the ammonia calc I use: http/www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/FreeAmmonia.php
 
.02 ppm of NH3 should not be harmful to any aquatic life. However, that is not the end of it. One can have .026 ppm as the result of .5 ppm of total ammonia in a tank at pH 8.0 and a temp. of 76F. You can also have .021 ppm in a tank as the result of 2 ppm of total ammonia in a tank with a pH of 7.2 and temp of 80F. The first condition is OK for a lot longer than the second. Although NH3 is the killer, NH4 is not harmless. Time is really the main concern at .02 ppm of NH3 and that is determined by total ammonia. What one is really looking at here is how long it should take to correct the cause. Normally, the correction involves bacteria reproducing or being added or the addition of a decent amount of live plants (or a combination of these).
 
As for flared operculum (gill cover) and red gills, its hard to say without a pic. It could be nothing or any one of a dozen things.

I was hoping all the videos I shot would be enough for the gills, it's hard with that video camera to get a good single shot of the Minnows - they keep moving all over the place. I don't think they have flared operculum, I have looked quite closely.
 
I've also used my TDS meter - 206-226ppm. The first time I got 206, but I didn't use the hold function. Next time round it was 226, then 223.
 
I also give up with the Nutrafin ammonia test. Barring ammonia in my tap water, either it's the way the test colours the water (because under daylight both tank and tap look identical), or it's something to do with the dropper bottle or the test tubes.

I have many more pics, not sure where to stop with posting them. I could go on forever...

And perhaps a few more...
 
EDIT: No idea how I was able to attach over the limit for this post, I did have a separate post for the final pics, totalling 3 posts...it seemed to merge with this one.

It's been a long time since I've had this species, and I can't remember if gills are more or less red than here.  I did do a quick image search and found lots of variation...though of course one has no way of knowing how healthy the fish in the online photos may be.  But given the videos earlier, I still don't think there is anything wrong.
 
To the "plants by the filter," I assume you are referring to the bubbles?  I don't see anything else.  And they are from CO2 in the tap water.  Some weeks I have none, other weeks you can hardly see the plant leaves for bubbles.  [The level of CO2 in tap water can vary,. which is why you need to out-gas it before testing tap water pH.]  And when this happens, I invariably see oxygen pearling, which is undoubtedly driven by the additional CO2, at least Tom Barr said this.
 
I am not aware of the bubbles causing problems.  I will see them on the fish fins sometimes, and I have been told that this may be an issue, but as I've no control over the bubbles I've ignored this.  If anyone can enlighten me/us, please do.
 
Byron.

One last one for the sake of completionism...I know it's a lot of pics, but anything that helps entirely eliminate my concerns (which probably isn't possible, and probably isn't wise either as I'm seeking reassurance...).
 

Byron said:

It's been a long time since I've had this species, and I can't remember if gills are more or less red than here.  I did do a quick image search and found lots of variation...though of course one has no way of knowing how healthy the fish in the online photos may be.  But given the videos earlier, I still don't think there is anything wrong.
 
To the "plants by the filter," I assume you are referring to the bubbles?  I don't see anything else.  And they are from CO2 in the tap water.  Some weeks I have none, other weeks you can hardly see the plant leaves for bubbles.  [The level of CO2 in tap water can vary,. which is why you need to out-gas it before testing tap water pH.]  And when this happens, I invariably see oxygen pearling, which is undoubtedly driven by the additional CO2, at least Tom Barr said this.
 
I am not aware of the bubbles causing problems.  I will see them on the fish fins sometimes, and I have been told that this may be an issue, but as I've no control over the bubbles I've ignored this.  If anyone can enlighten me/us, please do.
 
Byron.

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I mean the plants themselves in relation to the filter 'grill' through which the water goes into the filter. One grassy plant stalk is resting against the grill, and the other plant is closer than I put it last time. I do worry about it affecting what goes into the filter/flow/filtration. The return flow seems as strong as before.

I conducted more tests last night and tonight. I'd guess 30-40ppm on the nitrates from the Nutrafin tests shook up quite a bit, but that might also cause them  to give higher readings than they should - I don't know if there's a limit on how much certain tests should be shook. It didn't seem to match the 50ppm colour, but then that might just be my interpretation...it was somewhere between 20-50ppm, closer to the 50ppm (perhaps even 50ppm depending on whether I was looking at it right...I didn't spend that long doing that, I whizzed through that part of the test as I'd done quite a few of the others, and still had a few to finish up on).
 
I can also say that I'm definitely getting faint colour development even on tap water tests with the Nutrafin ammonia - barring my tap water containing ammonia (or readable levels thereof), either it's the way the test works and what it looks like under the wrong lighting, the dropper or the test tube (if the test tubes haven't been cleaned enough). It's still a little fainter than any test on tank water, but in this case a little isn't very much at all! Not sure about the nitrite test and how it colours the water, I'd say virtually no colour development on tap or tank tests. API ammonia eludes me in various lighting conditions, although I'd say certainly not 0.25ppm (perhaps halfway, or even less depending on my interpretation and the colour chart printing...perhaps even 0ppm).
 
I also bumped some of the Minnows in the mouth/head tonight with a pipette because I was trying to remove a bit of plant with a pipette. I had just fed them and they always come for the pipettes thinking it's food. I don't think I've actually injured any of them, but now I'm worrying about that. I'd film them, but I don't think this is an instance where it'd help much as I can't see anything on them at the moment. I am thinking I can on the one male, but then I might not be either.
 
As for the temperature, it appears stable at 21-22C. It drops to 21C when the light is off, the light appears to warm it to about 22C (perhaps a little more). I also dosed Seachem Flourish today, just over 1ml actually because I was having some difficulty getting the pipette to suck the right amounts out of the bottle. I hope this doesn't negatively affect the fish. And on Sunday's water change, I did have some difficulty temperature matching again...the first 10-11 litres were warmer than the tank water, but the second 10-11 litres were cooler, as were the final 1-2 or so litres (but I did perhaps use more Prime than I should have on the last little bit; as mentioned earlier, my TDS measured at 206-226ppm on Sunday about 3 1/2 to 4 hours after the water change).

I've noticed something on the glass in the corners of the tank, and also behind the filter. Not algae, but some brown stuff. Not quite sure what it is or if it's a serious problem (or a problem at all - I can easily deal with it during my weekly water change). I might also drop to 30% (15 litres) with the water changes...

Kaidonni said:

I've noticed something on the glass in the corners of the tank, and also behind the filter. Not algae, but some brown stuff. Not quite sure what it is or if it's a serious problem (or a problem at all - I can easily deal with it during my weekly water change). I might also drop to 30% (15 litres) with the water changes...

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This likely is algae, which comes in colours ranging from greens to reds to browns to black.  Does it come off easily with your finger?  IF yes, it is likely diatoms.  If not, likely a form of brush algae; this latter often occurs around filter tubes.

I believe it does come off easily when brushed with my finger or kitchen towel. The day I rehomed the Clown Loach I tried dealing with some behind the filter and it easily fell to the gravel, making it hard to remove...hard for me then, since I might have needed to remove water while vaccuuming that area of gravel, and I wasn't used to using water soon after dosing with Prime (read that as not as confident...I could still be more confident).

I wasn't well over the weekend, hence why my postings here ceased altogether. It's given me a little perspective since I wasn't bothered much with my fish for three days, and I think going forward I need to be far more relaxed. Family member performed a 30% (15 litre) water change yesterday, cleaned filter and replaced filter floss (only one week of use this time, I need to get a roll off Amazon and perhaps change it weekly to get maximum use out of it without it causing any issues remaining in the tank too long).
 
I spent an hour today just pruning some of the plants, which was excessive. I also got various colours of algae, from green to brown to some black (black algae - I hope it was that - that's been up the bottom back of the tank for a very long time), when I scrubbed the glass with some kitchen towel; unfortunately, some of the algae from time to time seeped back into the water from the kitchen towel.
 
The last thing I did before I became ill was test the tap and tank nitrates with Nutrafin, shaking the living daylights out of the testing reagents and the samples. Tap I'd say somewhere between 10-30ppm, perhaps closer to the 20ppm mark. Tank I still think 30-50ppm, closer to the 40ppm or 50ppm mark. The ammonia tests I give up on as I mentioned before, I still see some colour development with the Nutrafin tests on the tank, even when comparing to tested tap water (which I seem to think also shows some colour development); the API test I assume is giving me 0-0.125ppm, not sure which it is closer to (without having other API tests and colour charts for redundancy purposes, I don't have much to compare against). I'm not testing now for a while...I'm completely off testing after falling ill (it might have something to do with being wound up about testing as I was starting to feel ill, and not realising what was coming, and making the situation worse by trying to get various tests done - it might be what stops my obsessive testing!).
 
Apart from that...had to rely on family members to feed the fish on the weekend, they got quite a number of larger chunks, some of which did go to the gravel (two-three large pieces at least). Later on when I checked, at least one of these chunks was being eaten by one of the Minnows, and I did notice them swimming close to the gravel pecking about, so they might have found at least some of the other chunks that fell to the gravel. Maybe when I feed them the smaller bits, I feed them too much...it doesn't usually look like much is the problem, and I feed every other day.
 
Fed a little last night (practically normally, as much as I normally give), and I've I also fed them some pea this lunch time, hope that isn't over-doing it. The only thing about the pea is I still don't blanch it, and I was getting a fair bit of powdery pea coming off it and dispersing into the water, something I'd rather avoid (what with having performed the water change yesterday, I'm thinking it's going to pollute the tank and cause an ammonia spike and/or something). They eat the 'larger' bits of pea fine, and many of the smallest bits, it's just the powdery bits...I was in a bit of a rush, and maybe I could have waited until the weekend (unfortunately, I couldn't feed them pea the weekend just gone because I was in no position to be messing with the tank).
 
The lighting has been a bit chaotic given the circumstances, and I wasn't that bothered over the weekend. Turning it on and off later than the 2-10pm range I established, and today when I fed the pea I decided to turn it on as the Minnows are more active in the light (making it around 1.30pm today, after it came on at around 5-5.15pm yesterday). It went off around 10.20-10.30pm yesterday, so today...not entirely sure when. Perhaps 10pm, and then 9.30pm after a number of days. I'm going to edge it to 1pm-9pm for the summer evenings so that I don't need to rely on lights being on in the room when the tank light goes off.
 
Almost forgot - TDS measured at ~230ppm on Sunday evening, and at ~223ppm just after the clean yesterday. I plan to test them again 24 hours after the clean this afternoon. I only need to dip the meter into the water for long enough until the readings stabilise, so it's hassle free for me. Yesterday I did use some more Prime on the buckets of water than I probably should have, I did manage to measure 0.25ml each time just about right, but I added 2-3 more drops just in case...

Can't edit my post now...
 

Kaidonni said:

The last thing I did before I became ill was test the tap and tank nitrates with Nutrafin, shaking the living daylights out of the testing reagents and the samples. Tap I'd say somewhere between 10-30ppm, perhaps closer to the 20ppm mark. Tank I still think 30-50ppm, closer to the 40ppm or 50ppm mark. The ammonia tests I give up on as I mentioned before, I still see some colour development with the Nutrafin tests on the tank, even when comparing to tested tap water (which I seem to think also shows some colour development); the API test I assume is giving me 0-0.125ppm, not sure which it is closer to (without having other API tests and colour charts for redundancy purposes, I don't have much to compare against). I'm not testing now for a while...I'm completely off testing after falling ill (it might have something to do with being wound up about testing as I was starting to feel ill, and not realising what was coming, and making the situation worse by trying to get various tests done - it might be what stops my obsessive testing!).

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When I mentioned that I seem to think the Nutrafin ammonia tests on tap water show some colour development, it is still fainter than on the tank water, if it is there. I don't think I am just seeing things, but I might be misinterpreting something. The only thing I'd add is that when I compare either tank water that has been tested against tested or untested tap water, side by side, the greatest colour difference seems to be when the tank sample is on the left and the tap sample on the right, and under flourescent lighting (these are the clear tests). At least some of the time, it looks like the tank sample is identical to the tap sample (or vice versa) if I hold the tank sample on the right.
 
As for the temperature, I'm seeing the thermometer inside the tank fluctuate between 21C-23C, and the heater is still unplugged (it is also turned right the way down, somewhere between 18C/19C from what I can tell from the dial, wondering if it'd even do anything if I plugged it back in).

There is no point in plugging in the heater.  Hopefully it would not come on, but as it is not needed, no point.
 
As for the tests, fluorescent lighting is probably the worst lighting to use for tests, as every fluorescent tube has phosphors producing light wavelengths and these are colour.  Natural daylight out of direct sunlight is best.

Byron said:

I wouldn't fuss over flake food getting to the bottom, with just a flake or two.  The fish may find it later, or it will get broken down.  This is where snails are such a benefit; the small ones, like Malaysian Livebearing Snails (probably the best), or pond or bladder snails.  None of these three will eat plants, but they will eat every tid-bit of organics (fish waste, uneaten food, dead plant leaves) and algae, breaking all this down faster for the various bacteria to handle.
 
I would only feed once daily (not sure if I understood this correctly), just drop in a small amount of flake and let the fish chase it down as it floats/sinks.
 
Byron.

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Just wondering - wih Malaysian Livebearing Snails or the pond snails or bladder snails, do I need to observe any issues such as parasites? I'd only purchase any snails via fish shops, not just take them from outside, but even then I suspect it's the same as with introducing new fish to a tank? I don't have a quarantine tank, and although these aren't fish, I assume I also can't just dump the snails in just any water and treat if that is necessary? Thanks.
 
I noticed one plant I missed during my pruning (it's one I saw earlier and planned to deal with, too), and I keep telling myself I need to stop fretting and just leave the rotting part of the one leaf be. It's small compared to the rest of that leaf, although it almost cuts it from the rest of the plant and there is chlorosis (or what I believe is chlorosis) spotted about on the rest of the leaf.

Just wondering - wih Malaysian Livebearing Snails or the pond snails or bladder snails, do I need to observe any issues such as parasites? I'd only purchase any snails via fish shops, not just take them from outside, but even then I suspect it's the same as with introducing new fish to a tank? I don't have a quarantine tank, and although these aren't fish, I assume I also can't just dump the snails in just any water and treat if that is necessary? Thanks.
 

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This is a good question.  I have never fussed over snails, but then I have had mine for many years.  The pond snails I have arrived on plants, but I deliberately purchased five Malaysian Livebearing Snails and they came from a fish tank in a reputable store (not one of the chain stores).  The MLS are not easy to get here, unless you know an aquarist who has them.
 
Snails can be carriers or secondary hosts of some disease of fishes.  I've no experience in this field, though I would say this is probably pretty rare, and more likely to occur with wild snails.  Perhaps other members can offer some comment.  I would assume (subject to correction by others) that quarantining newly acquired snails may not have much benefit, as how would one know they have or don't have this or that?  There is no generic treatment to cover all possibles when it comes to disease.  And animals that are secondary carriers may not benefit from treatment anyway.
 
Byron.

Quick question - if that brown stuff I've observed is diatoms, is this a serious issue? A quick Google search and some of the excerpts are a little concerning, referring to cycling tanks...
 
It wasn't hard to remove when I did try removing some, I also had some behind the filter the day I rehomed the Clown Loach and it just dispersed and fell to the gravel quite easily after I went over the glass with some kitchen towel (it would have helped if I'd done that when the water level was lower than the muck I was trying to remove, but I only did it once I'd topped up the water). The second time the other week, again the water level was above what I was trying to remove, and it came off quite easily.
 
I do have some green algae that kitchen towel is not removing very well at all...and I am getting serious algae growth now on the glass, I will certainly have to keep an eye on it unless I get any snails, and even then I still might have to deal with some of it to an extent.