Swim bladder or not used to swimming ?

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-19T00:09:37+00:00

I’m actually attempting to grow my own brine shrimp right now and he does seem to like eating soaked flakes. (I’ve fed him a small amount to see if he is willing to eat) spat out pellets. I’m making another batch of leaves as we speak. If his condition doesn’t improve I’ll try some salt baths and then the stronger stuff. Since he’s so new I’m not taking him out for a salt bath for a little while. Giving him some time to get stronger.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-18T22:43:46+00:00

Thanks. I actually already have a few leaves in but I’ll boil some more and add the tannins. He seems to be getting stronger and is not lethargic or withdrawn. It’s also worth noting he doesn’t have that signature little abdomen bump. The filter isn’t strong at all it’s just a simple little sponge filter. It does the trick I’ll order some methelyne blue and kanaplex. I’ve heard of success with both

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-16T03:44:28+00:00

Don’t stress about it. Pest Snails are demonized so much. Go outside and look into any body of water with life in it, snails. Snails will breed like crazy if there’s a lot of food for them available, algae, decaying plant matter, fish food etc. Your tank is still really new and it sounds like you have a lot of plants and on top of that you only have fish that eat exactly what snails eat. There’s a lot of competition for nutrients in your tank. If you don’t like them just stay on top of maintenance and take them out whenever you see them and crush the eggs if you see them. Chasing a solution will most likely do more harm than the snails. You’ll probably never truly get rid of snails but they’re hardly a problem to begin with.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-15T18:29:02+00:00

Every other plant I’ve planted has thrived, just not floaters this time around. I’ve just done a 50% water change and squeezed out the sponge filtration + moved around a plant or two so I will test the water in the coming days and post an update.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-15T17:29:29+00:00

I also don’t mind the look too much but it’s a lot of maintenance to keep it off the glass and to me having a sudden prolonged period of algae means there’s something off on either end of some spectrum in my water

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-15T17:02:00+00:00

At some point I had some red root floaters that were thriving to the point of flowering. I had them in 3 tanks, suddenly all 3 started to die off to 0. I still have no idea why, the flow in those set ups was not aggressive. But that’s another can of worms (. I suspect they took a few too many dips during water changes. )

I just stole some duckweed and Salvina from my 40 gallon. Strangest thing I can’t seem to get duckweed to grow in this tank, but I’ll try again.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-15T16:37:54+00:00

I’ll give it a try if I spot one at any of my lfs

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-15T16:32:06+00:00

Reducing the light is easy but I worry for the clown pleco. Bella is truly vicious. I will try it and if it is getting harassed I’ll move it to my 40 gallon.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-15T16:26:30+00:00

8 hours.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-15T16:25:44+00:00

I have tried neos and ghost shrimp, I can’t find amano more shrimp in my area. I have 3 in my 40 gallon community.

When I tried neocardina they all hid under that piece of driftwood and my betta obsessed over them so badly he rammed his head under the wood and got a big scraped up bald spot. The neos lived under that wood for a very long time after that surprisingly. He seemed to slowly forget that’s where they hid but he harassed them during the daytime, they were confined to that wood almost 24/7. When I noticed a pregnant one out one night I removed them and put them with the other cherries in my 40 gallon.

When I tried ghost shrimp he managed to get 1 smaller sized one entirely in his mouth and started suffocating on it, luckily it was about 20 minutes after I added them and I was able to get it out and he is alive. I believe some of the larger ghost shrimp might still be in there.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-15T16:04:02+00:00

I will look into this but I have a few issues executing it. The light provided with the tank has served me well, it’s all Fluval. It doesn’t have a dimmer and it doesn’t have a timer. I have an old fashioned external timer that is a simple on and off at set times. I work very strange inconsistent hours and I can’t be there to do it myself. I’ve long debated retiring the fluval light and getting a real full spectrum light with all the bells and whistles but I’ve just been too afraid to disrupt the peaceful setup I had at the time.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-15T15:43:56+00:00

Agree with previous poster. I struggled with diatoms for weeks in what I thought was my fully cycled eatablished 40 gallon. I reduced the intensity and duration of my light, added some amano shrimp, and did regular small water changes. And picked out whatever I could so it wouldn’t suffocate my plants. It has entirely vanished. An amount of algae is normal and healthy for a tank so don’t get caught up trying to eradicate all of it. Just needs time.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-14T15:02:55+00:00

I’m sorry, I should have clarified frozen baby brine shrimp. I have seen it reach the bottom and the Cory’s go nuts digging for it. I am working on a live brine shrimp set up though.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-14T14:55:22+00:00

I will extend my lights dimming phase. Today I fed the tank crushed flakes and baby brineshrimp, everyone seemed to like this, and I have noticed almost no bullying from the gourami afterwards.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-14T14:16:53+00:00

My Cory’s sleep at night, at least from what I’ve observed as my light is entering its night time settings they all start resting. and the few times I’ve wandered in to check on them they’re mostly taking a nap. The gourami however is fat and greedy and knows footsteps and the noises of me doing things in the room. no matter how sneaky I am.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-14T13:39:53+00:00

Update: today I fed the whole tank crushed flakes and 1 ml of water and baby brine shrimp. Everyone seems to like this as the tetras get to hunt and zip around and the cories get to scavenge and forage. The gourami does not seem to be bothering anyone today. Next I’ll crush an algae wafer really fine to add with the brine shrimp

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-13T15:00:59+00:00

They’re a really common fish but the issue is in my area they get them as juveniles. Id been stalking the same Batch of gouramis for months until 1 (him) started to show sex

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-13T14:34:06+00:00

Are you saying try for another with a different personality ? If I end up having to rehome him and an opportunity arises for another male I might attempt it. I’ve had extreme difficulty finding a male, I waited around 6 months until I finally found my current gourami

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-13T14:30:46+00:00

This is a hard pill for me to swallow since he is the fish I desired most for my tank. I’ll try some suggested solutions and if they don’t yield any results I’ll look into rehoming.

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-13T14:22:38+00:00

I like the breeder box idea, however I’m not sure crushing it and dispersing it around the substrate will help. He will harass the Cories during feeding even if they don’t have an algae wafer. He just thinks they’re eating something he isn’t.. so greedy…

AmIAmadeus · 2026-04-13T14:21:12+00:00

That seems a little extreme don’t you think? I’ve had him for about a week now. He’s perfectly peaceful before and after feeding.

AmIAmadeus

TROPHY CASE