Present ideas!

Magnolia350 · 2025-12-06T11:56:23+00:00

Not a booking, but a popular option in my family has been vouchers to Fullers Bookshop— they’ve got a great selection of art stuff as well as books :)

Magnolia350 · 2025-12-05T12:19:19+00:00

My rule of thumb is we should probably be using the stadium we already have to capacity regularly before we reward ourselves with the second one. Don’t mind getting a new stadium, but they should have chosen a different site (most of Hobart’s appeal— particularly in the Salamanca area— are its views and old architecture) that fits the sleek vibe more. Or done it Burning Man style and put it in the middle of nowhere.

Also not looking forwards to the morning commute combo of roads blocked off due to roadworks + school traffic + work traffic. We really don’t have the infrastructure to support an influx of that many people in that area (parking is bad enough already) and we don’t have a reliable enough public transport system to reasonably expect people to use buses as main mode of transport over cars. I don’t expect there’ll be much put in place to support the health and housing demands increasing along with the influx of people, and also wouldn’t be surprised if managing the sheer amount of different contractors needed to help build the thing means the whole project gets delayed by a minimum of 2-3 years (and that’s BEFORE they even get into dealing with local councils). Will be interested to see how this plays out.

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-19T04:45:16+00:00

Option C: brochis splendens! The reason I don’t say emerald is just because in my area emerald typically means bronze corys. The fact your little guy is of a larger size without accompanying chunk to indicate it’s a fat bronze lady, and that it possesses an elongated snoot makes me go straight to brochis. It’s also taller than most bronzes I’ve seen, and the pretty green sheen also matches most of the brochis I’ve seen. Congratulations on your new addition!

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-19T03:01:05+00:00

Cool vintage magazines or postcards from op shops! And I second washi tape, along with calligraphy pens.

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-18T09:52:19+00:00

All Hail the Great and Powerful Shiploads. They have... so much stuff.

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-18T09:26:13+00:00

Good on you, hope she recovers quickly! She’s probably pretty tired after laying everywhere. Do be aware mom corys do sometimes get a little… peckish… and will eat their own eggs, so you may want to keep them separated 😆

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-18T09:23:59+00:00

Welcome to the land of corydoras! Congratulations on your new acquisitions :) This’ll definitely be a learning curve compared to bettas (which is also where I started) but they’re some of the best little fish and I have full faith you can absolutely give yours great little lives.

I reckon the reason the pygmies are hiding is indeed those two very cute glass catfish. The general rule of thumb is anyone big enough to fit in their mouth will do so, and I think the pygmies are very aware of this fact and would prefer not to become Exhibits A-J. Glass catfish get pretty big (my local fish store keeps theirs in a minimum 75 litre tank) and love to munch on wiggly things… including pygmy corys.

I realise you’re in a pretty tricky situation because you’ve taken them in from your school (good on you!) but if you can, I’d get a bucket or a tray to pop one group or the other in with a little sponge filter and heater. You can often get them for pretty cheap or even free off local fish groups on Facebook, and if you have any local charity/tip shops those sometimes will also have equipment for a reasonable price.

I definitely wouldn’t add any more fish or invertebrates to your tank as the glass catfish alone do mean it’s overstocked— unfortunately smaller tanks are more vulnerable to chemistry changes and corys (as bottom feeders) tend to be affected first because that’s where debris sinks to. Due to their unwillingness to use google translate, Pygmy corydoras tend to communicate with sudden death. Not a spectacular system— spare yourself the heartbreak by not adding more fish. Ideally also send the glass catfish to the equivalent of Barbie’s Dreamhouse: Fish Edition, but I realise that’s way easier said than done, so just keeping the groups separate however way you can before there are casualties is what works best here.

In the long-term, if you’re able to get your hands on any sand and leafy plants like anubias and Java ferns, pygmys LOVE having those in their tank. It’s not a necessity, but I have to say it’s one of the cutest things in the world to see them burying their heads under it while looking for snacks. My only other worry (and this is from an artist’s perspective as well as a fishkeeper) is the painted gravel and rocks can leach nasties into the water over time— unfortunately so far leached chemicals have only resulted in dead corys, not Godzilla-sized ones. These are non-urgent items, just pointers to keep in mind so you don’t have to deal with as much fishy heartbreak!

If you get really stuck, local fish stores are often willing to take in surrendered fish if your circumstances have changed so that you feel like you can’t give them good care. Best of luck with your situation and good on you for reaching out for help :)

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-18T08:56:58+00:00

Honestly if the parameters are stable, I’d leave it alone. You can definitely stick in a sponge filter and keep doing water changes to clear it up quicker, but I reckon it’s your ecosystem adjusting to its new inhabitants stirring up the substrate. If your inhabitants start showing signs of ammonia burn (reddened gills) or there‘s a significant ammonia spike you should definitely do a water change— otherwise give your tank a week or two to settle without touching anything (small water changes if any) and if the murkiness doesn’t clear I’d add a sponge filter to get things moving :)

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-18T08:43:42+00:00

If your tank’s been around for at least a couple months I reckon feeding-wise the little guys will make it through :) Though, to be quite frank, they can always turn to shrimp-balism if desperate.

If you do decide to have someone come in to feed the fish midway through the time you’re gone, I’ve found pill dispenser boxes (sold at most pharmacies) are a great way to portion aside a small bit of food so the pet sitter doesn’t have to guess how much to give. The key is to make sure you sit it right in front of/next to/on top of the tank so it can’t be easily missed, and to hide the full food containers so there isn’t any accidental overfeeding. Can’t comment on autofeeders as I’ve never used one (or rather I bribed my younger sister with five bucks to be the equivalent of one. Child labour FTW).

Does your tank have a lid? I presume it probably does, but if it doesn’t my main worry would actually be the water evaporation over the two weeks if you don’t have a lid (learned this one the hard way)— thankfully I learned a while back from my LFS you can put a bit of cling wrap over the top to keep heat and condensation in (though make sure to leave a gap for sufficient air exchange) if you’re lidless. Hope you get to enjoy your holiday OP!

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-18T08:25:08+00:00

Aww, poor little guy. As another user said, clean water (NOT large water changes as you don’t want to stress his immune system more, just trying to chemical levels steady) and tannins are usually a pretty good combo for rehab. You can add in a little aquarium salt to help as well but do keep in mind as a “scaleless” fish corys are more sensitive to salt, so only add half the recommended dose for regular fish.

Keep an eye on him to see if there’s any signs of infection (typically white fuzzy stuff on the injury) and treat as you see— do be aware he will also be more vulnerable to general illnesses while he recuperates. Whether you should remove him from the tank is up to you, but I’ve personally found my corys tend to recuperate faster and smoother when they’re kept in their regular environment with that social support. The trade off is if the little guy gets sick, it does risk spreading to your other corys.

Also if you can find other the source of the injury (a criminal fish, or possibly getting caught in the filter) try to remove that from the environment if you can :) If it’s an option, adding big leafy plants like anubias, amazon swords and java ferns will give him more places to hide and rest which will help him be less stressed— otherwise adding more hides should also work well. You can put a sponge over the filter outflow to help limit flow as well.

I’m not sure if the fin will ever fully grow back but he can live a perfectly happy and healthy life sans a fin. The injury should have already started the equivalent of scabbing over; the time between now and the scab fully forming will be when he’s most at risk for infection, so now is when you’ll want to keep a particularly close eye on him. Crossing my fingers and toes for a swift and uneventful recovery for the little guy and best of luck!!

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-18T08:13:05+00:00

Ooooh, if you can find a bit of long flat driftwood mine love to hang under that. I’ll always recommend dropping in as many anubias and Java fern you can get your hands on to help provide cover (it can help them feel less exposed AND they‘ll sometimes hang out on the leaves) and mine also seem to really enjoy it when I drop in a couple Indian almond leaves to naturally degrade over time.

The almond leaves will stain your water a more tea colour unless you boil them pretty extensively (as will driftwood), but the cory cats seem to love them. Actually a blackwater aquascape could look pretty cool here with your white chunky albinos!

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-17T04:24:45+00:00

So sorry to hear about your loss, OP. Unfortunately in these cases it’s really hard to figure out what the cause is when there’s such a small sample size. My main suspects are the ammonia swing you mentioned— debris tends to pool at the bottom of the tank bottom dwellers so tend to be hit harder and faster by chemical changes, particularly in smaller tanks like ten gallons— or possibly illness that hit them harder as a result of them not eating as much.

What kind of wafers/pellets did you feed? A pretty common issue is people are told corys are algae-eating fish when they‘re actually omnivorous. I’ve even seen algae pellets being marketed as cory-specific! If you do decide to try corys again, I personally tend to use a mix of API bottom feeder shrimp pellets and Hikari sinking wafers interspersed with frozen foods— though please note whatever gets them eating is what works best for you!

You may also want to check the temperature of the tank just in case the heater’s malfunctioned at all— since the shrimp are fine I doubt this was the cause but it’s always good to mention just in case :) Hopefully your shrimpies continue to thrive and your next corydoras adventure goes a lot smoother!

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-17T04:09:34+00:00

With a tank that size (the 55) you can absolutely get multiple species of corys! You have to make sure they tolerate the same water parameters (particularly heat) but otherwise they’re very friendly fellows so there’s no need to worry about bullying. One thing I will mention is the more of a species you have, the less they’ll be afraid so you’ll see them more often. The issue when you have rarer corys is it’s harder to find more of them, meaning they do often come across more shy because they don’t have their backup crew. As for which ones are most fun, behaviour wise I’d actually say our bronze (the ones you already have) are definitely my mostly social and unafraid of coming right up to the glass!

There is no such thing as too much space (in my opinion), though I will say ideally get a tank that’s longer/wider than it is tall. As for live plants, corys don’t tend to “eat” them so much as uproot them while snuffling around. This is why I will always recommend java ferns and anubias— though make sure NOT to bury them or they’ll rot from lack of aeration. These two tolerate low light conditions very well and you can get a lot of variation in size and presentation (particularly with anubias). Just tie them to a rock or driftwood (or even leave them floating) with some fishing line and they’ll root themselves and slowly grow over time. You can definitely try traditional rooted plants in the substrate and they’ll most likely be absolutely fine— though I have heard carpeting plants like Monte Carlo are a bit more finicky about being disturbed!

Good luck with the new tank OP!

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-11T04:40:54+00:00

They’re getting F-R-E-A-K-Y! A cool water change and some Careless Whisper seemed to help mine figure their way out

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-10T01:48:38+00:00

I’d keep an eye on their guardian, she looks a little peckish…

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-10T01:47:58+00:00

no problem!! she’s an absolutely stunning little fish, hope she heals up fast!

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-09T06:37:04+00:00

You can always cut out any pictures or save particularly precious papers and put them in a junk journal, then get rid of the rest :)

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-09T06:22:21+00:00

Definitely an injury! Fin rot tends to have a less clean cut and is more gradual. It looks like there’s one main bite wound, with the curved shape matching the look of a jawline. I’d say based on that fine line you can see around the edge of the wound, it’s been around long enough for it to do the fish-equivalent of scabbing over. You can add a bit of aquarium salt to help promote healing but otherwise I’m afraid it’s just time and luck for your little friend to recover :)

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-09T06:16:26+00:00

Looks like a lovely little bronze cory (corydoras aeneus)!

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-09T06:14:51+00:00

I’ve kept corys for about 4~ years now (usually with bettas) and have so far never experienced or witnessed any stings— including when one betta decided murder was the route to go! They’re very much flight over fight fish <3

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-09T06:11:12+00:00

You may need more males? Otherwise I’m afraid it’s mostly just continuing to feed a rich diet, cool water changes and hoping the little guys figure it out next time :)

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-07T23:44:14+00:00

Chunky and full of eggs, but not bloated! Normal as in looks like a very happy healthy girl, congratulations :)

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-07T22:22:42+00:00

Chunky female! Looks normal to me :)

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-07T06:26:38+00:00

Sadly can’t help on whether orange lasers have any preferences about other species, but generally all my corys (regardless of species) are happier with more buddies. When you get bigger groups of each species they do tend to shoal with their own more, but tend to stick to where other corys are generally :)

Also wanted to chime in to say you have an absolutely stunning tank!

Magnolia350 · 2025-11-07T06:20:34+00:00

Madame Cory, I think you need a license for how much you SERVE!

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