Finally tearing down ugly 57g, building new 36g to replace it!

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I got NOTHING useful done today.
Not sure what's wrong with me, felt fine at 10pm last night, but started to feel weird as the night went on, incredibly short of breath, and was panting/gasping for air by 3-4am, I almost called an ambulance, I was so freaked out. Scared that it might be covid, scared that I accidentally inhaled too many superglue fumes when working on the plant earlier - wasn't sure what it was, but I was coughing, nose blocked, really struggling to draw anything other than quick shallow unsatisfying breaths. I *think* that some cold or something is affecting me, but that I went into a full blown panic attacking, making it much worse. I didn't end up calling an ambulance, and it slowed down a bit by 4:30, and I was able to fall asleep.

Still feel weird. Something is affecting my breathing, and feels sorta flu like. Hot and cold, nose keeps blocking so yuk in my throat, making me gag and throw up when I wake up... urgh. Nasty headache. Haven't wanted to eat yet today, only had a coffee. Just trying to sleep it off.
Called my brother to come take care of my folks/pets, bless him. Pixie, my pup, has been worried and staying by my side, trying to make me feel better. Feel useless today, but hopefully it'll pass soon... I hate getting nothing done all day, and I have plenty to be getting on with!

 

[Slaphppy7]

I got NOTHING useful done today.
Not sure what's wrong with me, felt fine at 10pm last night, but started to feel weird as the night went on, incredibly short of breath, and was panting/gasping for air by 3-4am, I almost called an ambulance, I was so freaked out. Scared that it might be covid, scared that I accidentally inhaled too many superglue fumes when working on the plant earlier - wasn't sure what it was, but I was coughing, nose blocked, really struggling to draw anything other than quick shallow unsatisfying breaths. I *think* that some cold or something is affecting me, but that I went into a full blown panic attacking, making it much worse. I didn't end up calling an ambulance, and it slowed down a bit by 4:30, and I was able to fall asleep.

Still feel weird. Something is affecting my breathing, and feels sorta flu like. Hot and cold, nose keeps blocking so yuk in my throat, making me gag and throw up when I wake up... urgh. Nasty headache. Haven't wanted to eat yet today, only had a coffee. Just trying to sleep it off.
Called my brother to come take care of my folks/pets, bless him. Pixie, my pup, has been worried and staying by my side, trying to make me feel better. Feel useless today, but hopefully it'll pass soon... I hate getting nothing done all day, and I have plenty to be getting on with!

Oh wow, sorry to hear this...get some rest, take care...being sick sucks, I hate it

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Oh wow, sorry to hear this...get some rest, take care...being sick sucks, I hate it

Thank you, Mr. Slap! Yeah, I'm not good at being a patient either, my role is usually caretaker. Fingers crossed that I can sleep it off and feel more human tomorrow! Seeing that your critter mystery had been solved cheered me up, so thanks

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Didn't get too much sleep, and ribs hurting now from coughing, so doubt I'll be moving fish today either... I'll feed them, but that's about it! Want to just sleep until I feel human again

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I haven't touched the tank in a few days now, just did a water test and ammonia and nitrite at zero, nitrates at 5-10ppm, so happy with that. I got a small Nicrew internal filter to use in addition to the canister filter to add some flow. The temp is just below 80 degrees F, and my other tanks run at about 76-78, so have knocked the heater down a tad.
Photos taken this morning, plants looking okay so far:

The Myriophyllum matogrossense has perked up a lot which is nice to see. Sorry photo below is blurry, probably easier to see in the pic above:

So I might need to trim that back soon to try to encourage bushy growth. Will give it a few more days at least to get settled in though. Liking the look of the buce next to it as well!

 

[Slaphppy7]

Looking great, I really like this 'scaping...

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Hey, I see an Ent in there! Hroom, hom!

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Looking great, I really like this 'scaping...

Thank you! It's not perfect, like a stunning aquascape, but my priority is always the fish, so having the sand space and that wood piece for the plecs was more important to me, you know?

I moved some of the fish over this evening, including the two plecos, and I'm really happy I kept that large cave like wood piece because I grabbed it with the plecos in mind, thinking they'd love it, and one has immediately hidden at the top curve underneath! Love it.
Also moved in the five elderly/disabled guppies, three male platies, and the odd tetra that I inherited from dad's tank. The last elderly survivors of their schools, I'm not planning to keep tetra myself so not increasing school numbers, just letting the last ones live out their days here. Moved two of the three glowlights (the third kept evading the net, will get him tomorrow), single cardinal, single black neon.

Haven't tried to catch the cories yet - need to pull the large amazon sword first since it makes it so hard to move the net, and it's gonna make a mess so gonna clean around it and do a water change first. Caught one of the plecs almost accidentally, so wanted to catch the other so they go into the new tank at the same time, and don't fight over territory. Nice to finally have some fish in there!

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Well, one of the blue platies (my favourite one) isn't looking good after transferring to new tank yesterday evening. Has a sort of side to side wobble, looking a little fin clamped and stressed, hanging near internal filter. Not sure why... water is testing perfect, temp is the same between old tank and new, and I acclimated them in containers before release into new tank anyway, because I'm overly cautious like that. The other fish look absolutely fine, even the elderly tetra and guppies, while the platies are relatively young at a year or so of age. Thinking perhaps he knocked himself against the glass or something while I was catching them up yesterday, but that's only a guess.

There are a few dead plant leaves on the bottom (the alternanthera is struggling a bit, which I kinda expected - never had luck with alternantheras) so will be doing a water change later, will only be a small one though since water is okay and I don't want to stress them more than needed.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Tested the water again and it's still perfect, so I got to cory catching. Hoping I'm not overstocked...

Moving six Sterbai cories (which is great, because I thought I was down to five)
10 aeneus cories. Two of those albino, the rest bronze. Surprised that they've spawned so well to be honest, since it's a female heavy group. Only three male aeneus out of all of them.

Still a few baby bronze that escaped attention and raised themselves in that tank to catch, but they're going in another tank until old enough/able to find good homes for them, and I also have to catch and transfer about a billion shrimp. Maybe more.

Does 16 cories, 2 small plecos and a few odd tetra/livebearers sound overstocked for a 34g? I know that I'll keep on top of it, but still.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Well, one of the blue platies (my favourite one) isn't looking good after transferring to new tank yesterday evening. Has a sort of side to side wobble, looking a little fin clamped and stressed, hanging near internal filter. Not sure why... water is testing perfect, temp is the same between old tank and new, and I acclimated them in containers before release into new tank anyway, because I'm overly cautious like that. The other fish look absolutely fine, even the elderly tetra and guppies, while the platies are relatively young at a year or so of age. Thinking perhaps he knocked himself against the glass or something while I was catching them up yesterday, but that's only a guess.

Poor blue platy still looks wonky... hard to describe what's wrong, wonky just seems to sum it up. A bit fin clamped, but it's the way he's balancing/moving that's really off, as if he can't quite get his balance. Can't handle flow, and seems weak. But he is eating, so fingers crossed he recovers in the next few days.

The cories seem to have handled the transfer well, they're all nomming on their favourite cory pellet right now. The shrimp seem to have taken the move in stride as well. Hopefully the plecs will come out for some food soon!

 

[Wills]

Wow I've missed so much sorry!

Tank is looking really good - the wire mesh is a great idea to get the carpet going!

Your Platy is likely stressed from the move but so long as the water is clean should be ok - might not be a bad idea to leave the lights off for a day or so?

Wills

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Wow I've missed so much sorry!

Tank is looking really good - the wire mesh is a great idea to get the carpet going!

Your Platy is likely stressed from the move but so long as the water is clean should be ok - might not be a bad idea to leave the lights off for a day or so?

Wills

Thanks man! No need to be sorry, I'm just rambling away here


Platy possibly is just way more stressed than any of the other fish... I've checked the water several times, and all the other fish are handling it well - even the ancient tetra and guppies, you know? While this one platy - I dunno, I do think there's something physical there too, not stress alone. I'll have to see if I can capture a short video of him. Looks like something is off with his swim bladder, or his brain But, he's eating which is always a good sign, so we'll see.

Ziggy the pleco just came out of hiding too, so must have an appetite! I'm sure Stardust won't be far behind. Of course now that I've found out that they're actually L181 Peppermints and not L183 Starlights, their names don't quite make sense anymore! Oh well

 

[Slaphppy7]

Thank you! It's not perfect, like a stunning aquascape, but my priority is always the fish, so having the sand space and that wood piece for the plecs was more important to me, you know?

I moved some of the fish over this evening, including the two plecos, and I'm really happy I kept that large cave like wood piece because I grabbed it with the plecos in mind, thinking they'd love it, and one has immediately hidden at the top curve underneath! Love it.
Also moved in the five elderly/disabled guppies, three male platies, and the odd tetra that I inherited from dad's tank. The last elderly survivors of their schools, I'm not planning to keep tetra myself so not increasing school numbers, just letting the last ones live out their days here. Moved two of the three glowlights (the third kept evading the net, will get him tomorrow), single cardinal, single black neon.

Haven't tried to catch the cories yet - need to pull the large amazon sword first since it makes it so hard to move the net, and it's gonna make a mess so gonna clean around it and do a water change first. Caught one of the plecs almost accidentally, so wanted to catch the other so they go into the new tank at the same time, and don't fight over territory. Nice to finally have some fish in there!

Hello!

Sounds like for the majority of the move, things went relatively well...glad to hear it....netting fish is NOT fun, I sincerely believe it stresses yours truly more than the fish!

Sorry to hear about the platy, though...how old is he?...sorry if you already mentioned his age...your params are spot-on, the other fish are doing fine, so just may be "his time"...I suppose we'll see

I have to ask, since tetras are my favorite fish to keep (and easiest, with soft source water)...why have you no plans for them in the future?

Glad you are feeling better, and hope you are enjoying your weekend...never can keep up with the time zone differences, like a dummy....but it's 5 PM here, enjoying my HOT Saturday eve....reached 96F here today, 68% humidity...glad I live through mowing the yard, lol...now, time for a few

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Hello!

Sounds like for the majority of the move, things went relatively well...glad to hear it....netting fish is NOT fun, I sincerely believe it stresses yours truly more than the fish!

Thank you! Yep, and actually catching them wasn't as bad as I anticipated either, sometimes I think the dread is worse than the reality! Like visiting the dentist.

Sorry to hear about the platy, though...how old is he?...sorry if you already mentioned his age...your params are spot-on, the other fish are doing fine, so just may be "his time"...I suppose we'll see

The blue platies are only a year or two old, bred here, so still relatively young. Will keep an eye on him and keep updated! The other two blue platy males can be bullies so I'm keeping a close eye, so far they've left him alone, but I can isolate him in a breeder box or new HOB breeder if needed.

I have to ask, since tetras are my favorite fish to keep (and easiest, with soft source water)...why have you no plans for them in the future?

These tetra are the remaining ones from my dad's tank, I inherited them
I mainly don't plan to keep tetra because I'm in a hardwater area with a GH of 253! So these guys are the last survivors of schools of 6 or so that he had. One cardinal, one black neon, three glowlights. They've lived in this water their whole lives so seems too late and too stressful to try to rehome them, think it would be hard on them to adjust to that stress along with trying to join schools of younger fish, you know? Especially since they're years old. Seems kinder to let them live out their lives here where at least they're fed well and water quality is good. But wouldn't make sense for me to buy more, either.

Then I also have the five elderly male guppies that are also living out their retirement here. I'm not sure what kind of fish I want to keep next once these ones pass! I mix some rainwater into my tank to lower the GH so it's in more of a middling range, and got more bronzes plus the sterbai since they can handle harder water than most cory species (plus inherited tank already had two bronzes) and for my soft water pygmies and otos in nano tank. But for the larger tank long term, would make sense to get more hardwater type fish later on like psuedomuglis perhaps. Really open to suggestions!


Not against tetra as fish though! I'd really like some embers perhaps for my 15g at some point, or perhaps celestial pearls or chili rasbora. Have a yen for kubatoi as well. I've also got to admit that even the single cardinal has some stunning colour that makes him really stand out in the new set up. Can imagine it with a big school of them.

Glad you are feeling better, and hope you are enjoying your weekend...never can keep up with the time zone differences, like a dummy....but it's 5 PM here, enjoying my HOT Saturday eve....reached 96F here today, 68% humidity...glad I live through mowing the yard, lol...now, time for a few

Ah yes, timezones always catch me out too. Gone 11pm here, enjoy your well deserved beer! Hope the tiger beetle larvae were all okay after the mowing, and you can see them better now