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Looking great.

  Man, that never happens to me, my other half always think I am the one who's wrong apparently :x   And yet, even when I'm right on the odd occassion she realises this, I'm still wrong somehow................ Get used to it. "Yes, dear." "I'm sorry." "You're right." "No, you look great."

  :lol:  Yup.   It's about time more people came to recognize this.  I keep trying to get my wife to realize it, but... :no:  it just doesn't happen.  Maybe someday.  

Very close.  It should clear by tomorrow, and then redose again and check in 24 hours.  It should be fully cleared the next day.

Yup.  Looks very hopeful.

I am far from an expert on goldfish disease. I haven't kept goldfish in years and years... But, a good "salt bath" would definitely be something that you can do until you can get the right meds (and even in addition to once you start the meds. Goldfish are very salt tolerant which means they...

Very nice.  Once those plants grow in a bit more it will be truly lovely!     (BTW... folks around here are absolutely gaga for pictures.  :lol:  Always nice to see them included in threads.)  

I was under the impression that this was a shrimp only tank.  

Gotcha.  There's a big difference.  Not everyone is aware of that.

It is best not to feed 'shrimp pellets' to shrimp.  Shrimp pellets means that the pellets are made of shrimp.   Breeding red cherries is pretty easy.  Just add water... feed, etc.

A larger amount will merely last longer before needing to be replaced/recharged.

The white cotton substance is likely an infection.   I assume this is a saltwater tank.  If it is, I'm not sure of the next step... like a 'freshwater' bath.   But, I am a wrong and this is a freshwater tank, then you can follow these steps to aid the fish in healing.  ...

  There's a time limit.   I changed it for you.

Yup, a BN - likely a female.

Unless one is a male and the other a female, you are still in store for some drama in the tank.

Does your water supply company use chloramines?

Ceramics aren't 'necessary', but I find that they are very helpful.   First, they last, literally forever and as such provide a very economical option.  They never, ever need to be replaced, while all sponges eventually (though they last a long time) need to be replaced.  The ceramics also...

That's true, but crushed coral is better for Africans, while an inert sand is best for South Americans.

It is an interesting question.   One thing to keep in mind regarding the extra space for bio-media.... bio-media is generally much more open and allows for better flow than mechanical filtration.  Mechanical filtration will slow the flow much more.  The idea of 'over-filtration' is to get more...

It depends on the cichlids.  Are you talking about the South American cichlids or Africans?

Seems like a really bad idea, honestly.  If you are looking for 'branchy' type wood for your tank that is aquarium safe, try manzanita.  It is easily sourced in the US.  

  A lot of what you said had merit, but these 3 points are all incorrect.   3 - Undergravel filters are only good if they are properly maintained.  Unless the gravel is properly vacuumed the gunk builds up and fast leading to a clogged undergravel filter.  This would also require a fair amount...

Personally, I wouldn't expand the tank, I'd just buy a bigger one.   :D       Welcome!

There's a lot here, so I'll try to take it a piece at a time.     Glad to hear you aren't changing out everything in your filter each water change and that you are using aquarium water.  This relieves my biggest concern that you were causing the tank to cycle and recycle constantly.  The bio...

In the summer, that could be room temp.  

If you have 4 goldfish, it should be 50 gallons - that would be a 4 foot tank x 12 x 20.     Goldfish are extremely dirty fish (lovely though).  They can build up waste quickly.       Please give more details into the exact 'washing' of the filter media.  This seems to be the issue.       Your...

First, 4x1x1 is a strange dimension for a tank. Are you sure those values are accurate? Next, if they are accurate, you don't have enough space for that many goldfish. Goldfish should be kept in 20 gallons for the first and an additional 10 for each extra. If the water smells of ammonia...

Just a mix of RO and the tap would work... Roughly 50/50 would work. Going the RO route is a bit more complicated than many newbie are interested in doing at first.

That's a lot of fish in that small tank.

  Yes.  Those would be 'juveniles' not fry.  Fry would still be protected by their father in or near his cave.  They are now free swimming and capable of living on their own.  

You don't have fry plecos if you bought them from the LFS, you have juvies.  Fry are basically nothing more than a head and tail.  True 'fry' plecos need access to their parents' detritus to get the necessary microfauna into their digestive systems.  Fry in this condition would not be for sale...

Seems to me you have too many fish in that little tank.  That would be fine for the betta alone, but the neons need more space than that.   Your nitrate is likely very high, causing a pH crash and the betta isn't suited for low pH like that.       I'd suggest water changes... lots of them and...

You had better hope that one is male and one female, or both female.  If they are both male, you will be dealing with some aggression (to the point of death, potentially) when they reach sexual maturity.

  How did you dilute it?  2:1, 5:1, etc.?     It matters and determines the need or non-need for a water change. If you did an 80% water change and its still at 5.0ppm.... then it was at least 25ppm before the change, which is why the cycle stalled.

Well, then yours is a bit more territorial against a slightly wider scope.  I've never kept clown loaches with a BN pleco.  

Weekly.  25-50%.

Never heard of anyone being born halfway up a wall.  That must be some feat for the mother to do.  

To be clear, male BN plecos are not 'aggressive', but they are 'territorial' towards conspecific fish.  They will happy cohabitate with other fish and are therefore fine for community tanks.  It is the introduction of another BN that will cause trouble.  Adding a female that the male can spawn...

I think you are being a little overprotective.  But, you could get ANY bottle.  A small 'tupperware' type, reusable bottle, whatever.  Lots of options, but if you keep the water sealed from the tank water, it doesn't matter what type of water you are using.   You could use something like this: 

Nice.  :good: