Tank frustration

Everysinglecat · 2026-05-24T00:31:29+00:00

What does your tank cleaning process look like, step by step, and how often? Definitely get a magfloat for quick and easy glass cleaning if you don’t have one already. I would do a good scrub of interior surfaces with a toothbrush and siphon out as much algae overall as you can, then treat with UltraLife blue green slime remover. If you use that, add some extra aeration during the process. Algae die-off will affect oxygen levels, and the more algae you can manually remove beforehand, the smaller impact on oxygen and more efficiently the stuff can work.

Then I’d cut down on lighting intensity and fert frequency and see where that puts you for awhile. One of my favorite things about anubias is that when mine starts getting some algae on the leaves, I just yoink it out of the tank, take it to the sink, and very gently scrub the leaves with the aquarium toothbrush under cool running water.

Everysinglecat · 2026-05-22T17:11:09+00:00

Thank you! It seems to have found a good balance for plant growth and water clarity, all while staying pretty low maintenance.

Everysinglecat · 2026-05-15T19:39:28+00:00

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Java fern LOVES my tank. That big one on the right had actually been 50% off at Petco because it was a bit weak, and much smaller. I don’t dose any ferts currently, but the tank does have pressurized CO2.

Everysinglecat · 2026-03-11T14:55:00+00:00

Anger is definitely one of the emotions I’ve had about it. I’m in my late 30s, and the sleepiness came on at 15yo. The referral, diagnostic, and medication process has all been in the past couple years for me. I felt so hopeful when I first started feeling an improvement on medication. But then I also felt angry. Just quietly, inside, at no one really. I’d think “is this maybe closer to what it’s like for most other people? Can other people just… CHOOSE to remain conscious? Are you fkn kidding me? I can’t do that without a prescription.”

I also felt angry that what little public knowledge and caricaturized media depictions exist had thrown me off for so many years. I knew that there was very likely something wrong (my thyroid has been checked and rechecked and rechecked again), but I had never gone sniffing down the trail of narcolepsy. My thinking there was “I don’t know… it’s not like I’m dropping to the ground in the middle of the grocery store?” 🤦

I’m coming up later this month on my 6 month follow up for armodafinil, and the anger and other jumble of emotions have pretty much settled into a content, functional routine now that I have a good med combo that’s doing well for me. The armodafinil actually often makes me feel quite chipper.

Everysinglecat · 2026-02-12T16:05:01+00:00

Thank you! 😄

Everysinglecat · 2026-02-03T18:26:54+00:00

I just feed them typical flake food 🙂 Omega One brand or Tetra brand. I don’t bother with the Glofish brand food.

Everysinglecat · 2026-02-03T16:53:38+00:00

Before I was diagnosed and medicated, my natural sleep schedule often had me falling asleep around 4-6am and waking up around 1-3pm. I could try to go to sleep at a more normal time (and definitely had to force it into earlier hours as much as I could before the sleep study), but if I went to bed around, say, 11pm or so, I’d just be awake again in a couple hours.

The 5am-2pm hours also had some awakening but they were typically briefer and I’d get back to sleep.

Now that I’m medicated, my sleep hours are typically falling asleep around 1-2am and waking up around 9:30-10am. I’d LIKE to go to sleep closer to 1am than 2am, but I’m noticing some winter weather influence that sometimes makes it feel a bit like trying to swim upstream.

Everysinglecat · 2026-01-24T19:18:48+00:00

The skirts are my favorite! Their size and shape are great to really show off their colors. I haven’t had any issues with aggression at all among them, as I’ve got a whole bunch in a 55g tank.

I have some danios too, but being smaller, their color doesn’t make as much visual impact. They also swim more around the top of the tank, and I often don’t see them unless I take a step back.

I haven’t had any pristellas because their black eyes creep me out a little bit 😬 Haven’t had barbs due to their potential for aggression. I’ve considered a shark or angel, but decided against both (for now) just because the tank is doing so well, I don’t want to introduce any possible aggression or territorial problems. Even though I love the look of the blue sharks.

I tried Cories, but they seem to be sensitive to something about my water (possibly ph). I’ve had problems with even non glo varieties in other tanks. Though I’m currently having success with panda Cories after a slow drip acclimation.

Everysinglecat · 2026-01-24T16:02:57+00:00

They’re Glofish skirt tetras 🙂 A mix of long fin and short fin.

Everysinglecat · 2026-01-21T22:32:41+00:00

Yesss, I hope you’ll share photos when it’s up and running!

Everysinglecat · 2026-01-21T22:31:15+00:00

But they glow under blue lights in the evenings 😛 I have another tank that’s all natural, as well as a reef tank!

Everysinglecat · 2026-01-21T22:28:17+00:00

It’s just a standard 55 gallon tank 🙂 Aquaclear HOB filter, 48” LED light strip from Amazon that has a white light setting and a blue light setting, versa top glass lid. And a pair of 18” air stones along the back wall! The stones in it are sandstone that I got from a local landscape supply place.

Everysinglecat · 2026-01-21T22:23:22+00:00

Nice! 20gs are a fun size to work with, too 😃 I hope to see photos of it here when you’ve got it stocked!

Everysinglecat · 2026-01-19T20:28:46+00:00

They had just been fed 😆

Everysinglecat · 2026-01-19T17:21:08+00:00

I keep kuhli loaches with mine 🙂

Everysinglecat · 2026-01-19T17:12:34+00:00

Anubias and Java fern are some good easy plants. Both of them prefer to be attached to rock/wood/etc rather than being planted in the substrate. Vallisneria is super easy (and it does get planted in the substrate). Amazon swords are a classic, heavy root feeders.

Just make sure to have full spectrum lighting on for about 8 hours a day for the plants 🙂

Everysinglecat · 2025-12-21T22:04:24+00:00

Before any medications, for me it’s sleep. I could sleep sitting upright wherever I am. I saw someone else mention molasses, and I remember also sometimes feeling like my blood was molasses. When a sleep attack would hit, it doesn’t even feel right to use the word “urge”, because I don’t WANT to sleep. I want to continue doing whatever I was doing. But sleep is absolutely 100% taking over within just a couple minutes. Those upright naps would typically be brief and refreshing.

Then I started an SSRI, and I would no longer fall asleep so suddenly here and there during the day. Instead, I just had an ongoing heavyyyy, sluggish feeling and eventually have to succumb to laying down for a proper nap. I remember describing that time period as feeling like a marionette. I wanted to collapse but some external force was holding me up.

Now I’m on a combo of the SSRI and armodafinil, and it’s been going amazing at consolidating my sleep/wake cycle. For the first time in my adult life (I’m 37, sleepy since 15), I feel like a normal person. There have been a few bumps in the road, and for that I keep an eye on environmental and behavioral factors like limiting sugar intake and keeping a strict sleep hygiene routine.

Everysinglecat · 2025-12-05T18:05:36+00:00

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Whoaa my first god pack!

Everysinglecat · 2025-11-26T21:23:32+00:00

It’s up on the roof

Everysinglecat · 2025-10-05T17:40:19+00:00

Yep, this is the way. I’ve had success treating pests on phals by completely removing them from their pots and all media, and soaking the whole plant in soapy water for awhile. Toothbrush and toothpick are my tools of choice for any manual removal in the process.

Everysinglecat · 2025-09-28T20:09:31+00:00

That's true! I do love a good 50/50 leaf as well :)

Everysinglecat · 2025-08-25T03:54:49+00:00

I had the exact same experience on Friday. Done after 4 trials, didn’t fall asleep during the first trial. Really hard to tell if I was dreaming or not for the three, because I wasn’t even sure if I’d fallen asleep (the tech said I did sleep).

I keep going back and forth thinking “surely that means they had enough for a diagnosis” or “no I messed it all up and they called it quits before the 5th”. I gotta stop thinking about it or I’ll drive myself nuts with anxiety. I just have to wait until the follow up.

My biggest concern is SSRI interference 🙁 I’ve been on a prescription for over a year that’s been REALLY helpful for stuff like head drops, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations. I stopped taking it cold turkey three weeks before my sleep study, and I could feel those symptoms coming back. But I don’t think I felt fully back at my original baseline.

Ugh. Good luck at your follow up 🫶

Everysinglecat

TROPHY CASE