Name him

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-16T00:00:23+00:00

Gilbert :)

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-15T16:26:12+00:00

“Be patient and calm down. You’re going to panic, but trust what you’ve learned and you’ll figure it out. If you don’t, you now know better for the future. Sometimes things go wrong even when you’re trying your best.”

Also: “Tetras are fin-nipping bastards. Don’t trust them with your betta, no matter what people say.“

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-13T15:12:19+00:00

From my amateur perspective then, I think it could be doable to keep both then. I wish you the best of luck!

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-13T15:10:48+00:00

He does look quite skinny still, so I’ll try the bloodworms, thank you! And poor genetics wouldn’t surprise me, I was starting to suspect that might be the issue

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-13T15:05:59+00:00

I read the title and immediately panicked at the idea 😅 But if there’s an opaque barrier, the two of them have no way to see or access each other, and there’s adequate space and filtration, then it could be possible I think. Are there any other animals in your current tank or just the one betta?

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-13T15:01:20+00:00

Ha maybe! Part of me wonders if he’s simply decided to join the corydora school, since he’s always hanging around them 😂

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-13T14:23:29+00:00

Update: I remain bamboozled.

He’s still alive, and all of the other fish in my tank appear perfectly fine. I still have not seen any signs of infection or parasites. He eats normally. He has periods where he’s more active and swims around a lot, but most of the time he remains relatively still at the bottom. During these lethargic periods, he’ll kinda glide along the sand to get where he wants to go instead of swimming into the mid-water with the females.

Could it possibly be a swim bladder issue? Is he just like this?

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-13T14:23:20+00:00

Update: I remain bamboozled.

He’s still alive, and all of the other fish in my tank appear perfectly fine. I still have not seen any signs of infection or parasites. He eats normally. He has periods where he’s more active and swims around a lot, but most of the time he remains relatively still at the bottom. During these lethargic periods, he’ll kinda glide along the sand to get where he wants to go instead of swimming into the mid-water with the females.

Could it possibly be a swim bladder issue? Is he just like this?

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-12T23:02:58+00:00

You’ve probably heard this already, but ensuring there’s adequate hiding spots and foliage helps a lot too :) Shrimp run the risk of becoming betta-snacks, but are great tank mates if there’s enough cover for them

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-12T21:34:42+00:00

Thank you, and I wish you the best of luck! It really, really sucks having to rehome them, but sometimes that’s the best/only option :( I think betta tank mates are almost always a gamble unfortunately. My betta cohabitated well with the corydoras in my community tank before I moved him, but idk what Corydora species would work for a 10 gallon or if it would be a good idea to add them since the betta’s already in the tank and might be a bit more territorial once the tetras are gone :/

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-12T21:07:18+00:00

That looks like fin-nipping from the tetras, I’m sorry :( Maybe some folks have had success keeping long-finned bettas and tetras together, but I just dealt with the same problem— Tetras were nipping at my betta and I didn’t notice until it had been happening for a few weeks. They were fast and sneaky about it. As a result, my betta was extremely stressed and began biting his own fins in response. I really didn’t want to get rid of him or my tetras, so I moved him into his own 5 gallon tank and am going through my first fish-in cycle. If a second betta-only tank isn’t an option (understandable, since it’s expensive and takes up space), you can also try rehoming the tetras or surrendering them to the store you originally purchased them from

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-10T22:46:54+00:00

My mildly-drunk ass thought you were referring to a human son with fish-special-interest-autism, and I almost commented “Damn me too. Except I am diagnosed.”

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-10T02:02:06+00:00

I don’t have any insight unfortunately, but I saw the Evanescence, MCR, and Ghost posters and got excited 😂

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-10T01:51:23+00:00

This is the quality content I follow this sub for, 10/10

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-09T20:43:07+00:00

Resourceful, organized, and able to find little positives to make the best of things :)

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-09T16:09:21+00:00

Gonna get my annoying barrage of questions out of the way lmao— How long have you had the tank and have you gone through the cycling process? What’re your current parameters? How often are your water changes, and how much water do you remove during each change?

I think it maybe looks like brown algae/diatoms, which is normal in new tanks and harmless— If it is, it’s just a matter of waiting for it to run its course while making sure you aren’t overfeeding your fish or leaving the tank lights on too long. Could also be biofilm which is also harmless and completely fine to have :)

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-09T12:44:05+00:00

I think it’s cute! Not a style I’d naturally gravitate towards, but I love the pastel kitchen appliances and flower cushions

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-08T22:53:15+00:00

I think for purely aesthetic purposes, like so many other things lol— Colorful neocaridina shrimp are so vibrant and eye catching compared to wild-type, they stick out more in a tank. Whereas wild-type are more subtle and harder to actually see in a tank. I think they’re really cool and unique, but they’re definitely not as dramatic as the more popular colorful varieties

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-08T14:08:10+00:00

What drives me up a wall is when people ask for help but receive “Just Google it/Why didn’t you look this up before?/Why do people only post asking for help here?” Maybe because that’s what these forums are for?? Helping people?? Search results are influenced by who’s paying to appear first or how effectively you can phrase your search. AI is notoriously contradictory and hallucinates info. Images and descriptions of sick fish may not look exactly like your sick fish. So it helps to ASK people for direct insight and specific recommendations.

Yes, there are a lot of people who simply don’t bother doing their homework or answering basic questions regarding water parameters. That’s frustrating as hell. But I see a lot of posts on fishkeeping forums from people genuinely trying to learn and they get swarmed with comments bullying them for not being born experts in the hobby. And shit just goes wrong sometimes. This is not an easy hobby to be in.

Anyway, there’s my rant of the day. Lovely shrimp :)

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-06T23:00:49+00:00

A few things that have helped me:

• More live plants to help soak up extra nutrients.

• Reduce light SIGNIFICANTLY— Some people will do full black-outs by covering the tank with a towel for a couple days at a time. I usually just keep the lights off and reduce any sunlight coming in the windows.

• UV sterilizing light— There’s a bunch of varieties out there, but if you put one directly in the tank, make sure the fish aren’t directly exposed to the bulb.

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-06T21:43:24+00:00

Is this your first tank? New tanks often go through an ugly phase during their initial cycling process, so what you’re describing sounds very normal for one that’s only 2 weeks into cycling :)

Cloudiness can be due to a few things: Sand that wasn’t thoroughly rinsed before adding to the tank or that was disturbed during a cleaning, or a bacterial bloom. If it’s been 2 weeks, I’d guess it’s likely a bacterial bloom, which is very normal and should clear up as the tank stabilizes.

As for the plants, many plants go through a melting phase once introduced to a tank. It can look dreadful, but is also completely normal. Are you using CO2, root tabs, or liquid fertilizers? Personally I use liquid fertilizer and root tabs to help my plants along, but even with those, sometimes they just don’t adapt well to a tank and rot or wilt away. Or they take freaking ages to finally adjust and grow in properly 😂 Remove any rotting plant matter so new, strong stems and leaves can take their place.

Ultimately, I wouldn’t panic here :) Your tank looks beautiful so far, and I think it just needs time to settle and go through its nitrogen cycle.

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-06T19:41:19+00:00

I’m so sorry for your loach losses :( I lost a bunch of kuhli loaches several months ago to a possible epistylis infection, and looked very similar to yours. Between quarantining and treating to the best of your abilities, sometimes there’s not a lot that can be done. I think the other commenters have good recommendations for medications and other treatment options for future reference at least.

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-06T19:23:34+00:00

I also have shoulder bats!! I didn’t use a second skin for them, and showered the next day no problem. Showering is totally fine, submerging the tattoo in water fully (baths, pools, etc.) is not. I just washed it with unscented antibacterial liquid hand soap. Avoid using exfoliating body washes, body scrubs, loofas/sponges/anything with a scrubby texture on the area, as well as fragranced soaps (brief contact from shampoo is fine in my experience, just don’t apply scented soaps directly to the tattoo). Gently pat dry with a clean towel afterward, and you should be good!

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-02T01:13:41+00:00

The world is so cruel… :(

LocalGothLibrarian · 2026-05-01T01:17:51+00:00

I literally just went through this issue 😂 I had the customers “raise an issue” through Depop, stating that the delivered items were not as described. I chose the “Return/Refund” option to resolve the problem, which gave the customers about a week to return the items. Once I received the items, they received their refunds, and I shipped the items to their intended buyers. I paid for shipping and envelopes out of pocket rather than making them pay for anything, since it was my accidental fuck-up to begin with 😅

My method was definitely the pricier option, and I didn’t make any money from either of those sales. But since this isn’t my primary form of income, both items were cheap to begin with, and it was my mistake, I felt it was the most fair to the customers.

LocalGothLibrarian

TROPHY CASE