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Hard to say for sure without a clearer photo, but they kinda look like mosquito larvae.

What about pencilfish (Nannostomus sp.)? There are many species, some of which can be quite showy, e.g. Nannostomus mortenthaleri.

I'm sorry, but part of this is simply not correct. Even if you don't respond, people reading this ought to have this clarified. Using the map you showed... 11 of 25 red states (Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Arkansas, Kentucky, and West Virginia) show...

When Cuomo said that there actually wasn't enough PPE to even order. Essentially every country in the world trying to get it's hands on as much PPE as possible. The US was caught flat-footed in terms of preparedness and the federal government did an abominable job recovering.

Sounds good. I talked to my LFS and it sounds like they'll take them while they're still pretty small. I bet if I can raise them until they're sexable I would be able to get a better price though.

You've precisely hit on why Cov-Sars-2 is so dangerous, but totally missed the point somehow. Normally, viruses don't want to kill their host. This is why the common cold and the seasonal flu are so mild for so many people. However, when a virus jumps species unpredictable things can happen...

Nope! I have the 20 long and a 10 gallon. The 10 gallon has 7 Pristella tetras in it which used to be in the 20 gallon. I moved them when I decided I wanted to really try getting the Apistos to breed. If I can get my hands on a 20 gallon long. I could convert the 10 gallon to a 20 long. The...

I don't guarantee that the cichlids will be adjusted to hard water. It's possible the farms use RO water. I would ask your local fish store. You could look into African dwarf cichlids. Some lesser known examples are Dwarf Egyptian Mouthbrooder, Pelvicachromis species, and Nanochromis species.

It's a 20 gallon long. Thanks for the info on the selling size. I'm mostly worried about the parents becoming aggressive with the fry once they are larger. The tank seems like it would be too small for ~15 Apistos even if most of them are juveniles.

I came home from a 3 week trip to find ~15 Apistrogramma bitaeniata fry in my 20 gallon long. Apparently the key to breeding these guys is to not change the water for three weeks. I've never raised fry before. The fry seem to be doing fine. I've begun feeding baby brine shrimp. The tank is...

Where do you get your fish? I believe there are some notable fish farms in Israel. Here is a little video about it. If your local store stocks fish from these farms they may be suitable for your tap water even if the wild fish wouldn't be able to survive in hard water. I know that at least one...

Your stock will become too large for your tank. Perhaps you know this and plan on upgrading to a much larger tank later (100 gal probably would be good, or larger even). The Black Ghost will reach 20 inches, the pleco will reach about 16 inches (assuming it's a common pleco), the CAE will reach...

The new scientist is not a peer-reviewed scientific journal. They're in the business of bridging the gap between science journals and the public, essentially pop sci. That's not a problem and they fill a necessary niche, but their articles don't need to stand up to the same level of rigor as a...

I have this as well, and I really like it too.

I'm describing everyone. It's simply human nature, and it's folly to think anyone is immune to it. The only reasonable thing to do is to try and keep yourself open to other ideas. Of course you can only be so open, and you need some kind of a way to test other ideas. I come a science background...

And that's how mis-information spreads. If people won't put in the necessary effort to do the background research on the things they hear, the same incorrect ideas get parroted over and over. Once people have internalized their position they're unlikely to change it even if it becomes obvious...

You didn't even read the abstracts of those papers that the article mentioned did you... The 2016, 2019, and 2020 papers don't even test the effectiveness of masks. They just compared N95 respirators to surgical masks. They found no difference, that is, both masks were equally effective at...

I don't think either of you read what I said fully. Proper masks aren't 50/50, they absolutely work. I've never heard any indication from the scientific community that they don't work. If you have legitimate scientific sources suggesting that masks don't work, please share them. As far as the...

The science is not 50/50. The masks can't and aren't designed to stop individual viruses, they're designed to stop water droplets. Viruses are tiny and easily small enough to pass through most materials, even standard medical masks. However, you don't breathe out individual (dry) viruses, you...

If you go with a shallow you should plant with some dwarf lily! Something like this would be awesome. Nymphoides aquatica, Nymphaea zenkeri, and Nymphaea stellata could all work (roughly ordered by leaf size smallest to largest). I feel like a betta would love the lily pads for cover and...

Very nice, a native British Isles saltwater tank would be stunning. I live in Colorado so a little more west than the lower midwest. The fish I mentioned occur in the east of the state. I've caught Colorado River Cutthroat before. They're a really beautiful fish. I hadn't heard of red...

Fish tend to change their colors based on their surroundings. In a white, brightly light tank, the fish will appear whiter and more washed out. If you put a black background on the tank and swapped the gravel for something dark the fish colors would be more likely to darken up. Swapping the...

I've recently become really interested in native fish in aquariums (USA for me), especially the more unusual or colorful fish. Some of the more beautiful fish found in my state are Fundulus zebrinus, Etheostoma spectabile, and Etheostoma cragini. In the US in general, there are some real...

Aquarium salt and marine salt are different. Also, I don't think that's enough salt to really be called brackish (it's not marine salt so it's definitely not brackish). I would be surprised if the eggs hatched. Even if they did hatch, you wouldn't have a snail problem. The salt you're adding is...

What are the dimensions of the tank? This matters more than volume, especially the footprint. I would look at Tanganyikan cichlids as I think they are typically better suited for that gallon range. Off the top of my head, I think you can keep shelldwellers and small rock dwellers like...

Oh! A trio or pair of small killifish could work, such as Clown Killifish.

Trichopsis pumila might work. Similar requirements to a betta but half the size. Some people might disagree with this though. Dario sp. might work, they're super retiring and really don't need a lot of space. They're also terrible competitors and really would do best in a species tank like...

I don't think I need to heat the tank. M. kubotai come from exactly the same river basins as A. vespa. According to Seriously Fish, kubotai are fine in 20-27 C and A. vespa are fine in 16-23 C. Considering these two fish are from identical habitats in the same river basins, I would take both of...

The lid thing is an issue. The problem is that the whole point of buying this UNS tank, and doing this scape is so I can view it clearly from above. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and I was originally inspired to get into fishkeeping by local water features. This whole tank is a homage to...

I just found out that Microdevario kubotai and Akysis vespa come from the same areas along the Myanmar and Thailand border, for example the Ataran and Suriya River basins. The kubotai are tiny, 0.75in, and the vespa are pretty diminutive too, <1.5in, I think I could fit small colonies of both in...

I thought Hillstream Loaches were a no-no in a tank this small. Water params are, GH: ~70 ppm KH: ~50 ppm pH: 7.6-7.8 I just realized the Oil cats are out if I keep the tank unheated. It seems these come from relatively warm waters, 24 deg C and up. I actually have a mini heater, and I might...

I have a UNS 45S (17.7 x 11 x 7.1 in) which I've 'scaped as a stream with sand, rounded stones, and twigs. I plan on planting the tank with crypts in the Ultum soil (black soil in the photos). It will be unheated and filtered with a Eheim Classic 150 canister filter. The inflow and outflow of...

I've found a few sources saying that GH can be reduced by plants, peat, and driftwood [1] [2]. There are others, you can just search for them. Plants uptake Ca and Mg as they grow, but it seems like they typically uptake a small amount (from source 1). However, source 1 continued to feed the...

I have an idea! GH is a measurement of divalent metal ions (e.g. Ca2+ and Mg2+) in the water. If something in the tank were taking these ions out of solution by binding to them then the GH would go down.

The OP mentioned that the tank measurement and the tap measurement were different in their original post. See below quote, I don't really understand why these would be different either? Could some kind of off-gassing be reducing the hardness?

I've got to say that I really really agree with Wills here. I feel that a lot of water parameter ranges stated on websites are highly inaccurate. They're almost always too restrictive, anecdotal, and unscientific. For example, I have never ever seen water parameters with citations (e.g. actual...

Marine biologists specifically study saltwater systems and the discipline is very broad with some not studying fish at all. You're thinking something more like ichthyologists which specifically study fish, both fresh and salt. I doubt you'll find a lot of biology discourse on this website...

Was the pH 8.2 after the water change? What kind of sand or rock do you have in the tank? Minerals can leach from these things into the water causing an increase in pH and hardness above tap water. IMO the absolute value of pH isn't that important. I have wild caught Apistogramma sp. that have...