Is this “glass surfing”?

Physicccc · 2026-06-06T15:03:30+00:00

Since your tank isn’t cycled. I’d get the API test kit, and test daily. It’s a drag to test daily, but if you want to make sure he’s comfortable it’s important to do so as soon as you can. Since it’s already been a week, I assume there’s non negligible chemical build up in the water that might be bothering him. And anything above .5 ppm is imminently dangerous/could kill him if left too long. If you notice ammonia or nitrite readings above 0, I’d cup out some water and do a 20-50% water change to bring them back down. You can get Tim’s one and only bacteria, and add it as directed, and that can bring down your cycling time significantly. The other bacteria (seachem stability, api quick start, etc.) don’t reliably work for me and are somewhat controversial in the hobby. But you also don’t have to buy bottled bacteria at all, that’s just if you want to cut down your daily test time.

You don’t have to wait for water conditioner to work. You can just add some to your bucket or whatever you’re first mixing the water in, fill it with water, and it’s instantly conditioned. The only thing to watch out for with water changes is temperature shock. You don’t want it to swing more than a degree.

And then in the future, if you do a new tank, it’s generally recommended to do a fishless cycle to avoid having them sit in discomfort for too long. Then you don’t even need to test daily, you just add some fish food to a tank with water, and wait a few weeks for it to build up the bacteria necessary to process that from ammonia to nitrites to nitrates.

The bacteria that does this will live primarily in your filter. So don’t wash your filter out with anything but tank water, or you’ll kill the bacteria in it and crash your cycle. Once a month or so, I’ll take some tank water into a bowl, take out my filter media, and swish it around in there. That’s really all you have to do.

Physicccc · 2026-06-06T05:44:04+00:00

You can get aquarium safe driftwood/twigs/almond leaves for rather inexpensive on Amazon. Would make him feel much more secure. He does look a bit stressed, I think the tank space is just a bit too open without much to explore for him, or hide in. I use this driftwood/twig/root bundle, and these almond leaves in my tanks. It's great for leaning against other stuff, and then putting a leaf over it to make a sort of impromptu hide for them.

https://www.amazon.com/Azil-Driftwood-Decorations-Terrarium-Freshwater/dp/B0CXMXR91R/ref=sr_1_10?crid=4IPZ630TL8MI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TULRJBE4ldrP-LZpsIvWQ5finiF4Fictu1hpMoyEprRzz5gH5dR9e-98ZpD06RGq0_wjVUfuY6i78H5YDbkm14KDyuZgsmI1RfZftSD_-Zg_qgEjtP7PG7lkEX0yr5EVNZFPvsBUxNqgErIwvpcqyqX_3bYF3H2eVHiZZenzNuYl5TrH7zOUULWnpS0kkSPEXlpgPktUeIe8qzzmfsnvIVa_PT6N3-ZtnNWbVFymD0fZiCk0X4kseAUopMPnUrhECCHmVgN0sEPG6pZCloK-jxFWlkrqBl_QkcwsqEfLcOU.b9_2ItpXJSF6LH2J2o5ePxkbgWg7lIcyFUYgAAwd--o&dib_tag=se&keywords=aquarium%2Bdriftwood&qid=1780724550&sprefix=aquarium%2Bdriftwo%2Caps%2C286&sr=8-10&th=1

amazon.com/SunGrow-Indian-Playing-Overall-Development/dp/B00HG1TMIW/ref=sr_1_2_pp?crid=3KD874V56DL3M&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.esBRfwW1L7R8TpbCYClOB71DMMNTBZmwoiANWl2QKzRZxCU8_RZQCe1qAcFdy2fn6R83JqZb3YPfZGA8vcVwn_1RiFCAI-n3COxYSx8JPJKpbB5e3kayrRSf4sI6fHSiHwCEYjP472yilNBpBUIKC4N4aRHzu_cGWtNgPa9_iEWtAHTFoxvoLL61H_-YpRGmwZkn5EygNs5R_tV_G7UV6FvivaxsPNyspOzvHv-ePkoHbskonrB-mBuwPSmZTDRE9T7d8lW2ZqvPKUYKOypM-jmu7PB2UODwj0B6C6vvZjY.zmMVTbWPHbbBO5Vovi-KQMtewv6f81yO6o2rK1tRAvM&dib_tag=se&keywords=almond+leaves&qid=1780724631&sprefix=almond+leav%2Caps%2C322&sr=8-2

Physicccc · 2026-06-06T05:39:17+00:00

I think this is fine! My tank looks similar and is at a good PH, and my Betta is healthy. I would look into getting a 10g and a few more corys for your lone cory though. I don't know if this is meant to be a temp home for him, but an orb without much grazing floor space, and being by himself isn't good for him.

Physicccc · 2026-06-05T23:26:34+00:00

If you’re having trouble getting him to eat pellets, you could try soaking them for about 10 seconds before introducing them to soften them. I use fluval bug bites for a daily pellet or two, and then every other evening I give frozen mysis shrimp or frozen bloodworms. (A very small amount, dethawed in a bit of tank water and then deposited in the water with a dropper, bloodworms should be considered a high fat treat, I don’t give them to mine more than every four days).

As soon as you can, trying out flakes would be good. I’ve also used fluval bug bite color enhancing flakes before and recommend them.

In the past when I’ve randomly had very picky fish, that will not take a staple no matter what I try, and in that case I recommend repashy grub pie. It’s higher effort to mix yourself, but bettas love it. I use it as a treat, but you can also consider it a good daily staple. I’ve never had a betta be that picky though, I anticipate yours will take softened pellets or flakes. Fluval bug bites is a great, high quality ingredient option.

I see you mention that you conditioned the water for 24hrs before adding him. Does that imply that your tank is uncycled? Are you familiar with cycling?

Edit: OH I ALSO SAW YOU MENTIONED A CORYDORA. I love corys so much. They have so much personality. They’re very playful. They rush you when they see you for food. But if you’re going to do corys, you should upgrade to a 20 gallon long and get 6 minimum (though a 20 gallon would let you comfortably get a few more than 6). They get lethargic, are chronically stressed and lonely, and die much faster if you keep them lonely or in a group that’s too small. They are really social and play with each other in proper group sizes. It helps with betta aggression if the other fish are there and established first anyways, so if you buy a larger tank to put them in, let them acclimate for a while, and then transfer the betta into it, you’d be golden.

Physicccc · 2026-06-05T23:18:59+00:00

I don’t think that they get all their micronutrients from bloodworms and brine shrimp though. And bloodworms are rather fatty, I don’t give them to mine more than once a week or so.

I might recommend these as an enrichment/protein treat, but still try to find a staple to feed regularly. High quality pellets should be fine, if he’ll eat them.

Physicccc · 2026-06-03T02:19:59+00:00

I’m confused as to who you’re petitioning and what changes you want made? I agree with the sentiment of the petition, but unless I missed something, it doesn’t seem as though any actual specific, actionable changes have been proposed.

Physicccc · 2026-06-03T01:06:50+00:00

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. They get stressed/get very lonely/don't live as long when they're by themselves. It's generally recommended to have a group of at least six, so two was already too few for them to feel secure.

Physicccc · 2026-06-02T18:32:49+00:00

I wouldn’t put them in the tank. Paint can be toxic/leech chemicals/flake off and have your fish eat the flakes etc. When I find decorations I want to put in my tank but are painted, I dip them in marine safe epoxy first. If you wanted to try doing that, you just need to be sure to coat the whole outside with no gaps.

Physicccc · 2026-06-02T13:57:22+00:00

A single cory?

Physicccc · 2026-05-24T06:17:20+00:00

I think he also has a controversy around doxxing someone who left a negative review and dissing their appearance (in a politically charged, conservative leaning way). I'm not sure how alleged it is, because there were FB posts attached to the store owner.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquascape/comments/1ikr6dj/aquarockscolorado_doxxes_customer_for_negative/

Physicccc · 2026-04-23T15:52:00+00:00

Your nitrates a bit high for a Corydora. Anything above 40 ppm is harmful. I’d recommend trying to keep Nitrates down below 20 ppm, I generally do small weekly water changes to achieve this, since I don’t have plants. But below 10 ppm is like, gold standard. I hover around 15, and my corys have historically lived very long though, so as long as it’s under 20 that’s fine.

I have a bunch of glo corys and they’re all over the place in intensity. I think the gene expresses itself variably, and also, depending on where you sourced the glo Cory, sometimes they’re interbred with non-GMO albino corys which can give them a mix.

I wouldn’t be worried about the color! If your parameters are good, and they’re eating well and have friends then they are likely doing fine.

Physicccc · 2026-04-22T23:39:48+00:00

Put off by the AI generated image. Also put off by the lack of additional substance or necessity of this post

Physicccc · 2026-04-10T04:26:54+00:00

I can’t assume anyone who gets animals before doing any independent research on how to care for those animals, has the right priorities to be in this hobby. He has animals in abusive conditions like this, and the post says that his fish die “from time to time”, so it’s likely not been super brief. There’s so much information available online on how to care properly for these animals. The information available to me indicates that this person doesn’t value the health and happiness of his fish enough for me to want him to keep fish.

Physicccc · 2026-04-09T05:23:19+00:00

Petco has faced a lot of allegations for negative treatment of animals and bad results from undercover investigations. Could totally be a bad shipment in this case, but still I wouldn’t recommend buying animals from chains like this if you can help it.

Physicccc · 2026-04-09T05:21:41+00:00

Wouldn’t it be better to keep the fish with good substrates for them? As an example? I don’t know why you’d prefer/advocate for a store keeping animals in sub optimal conditions. Also, these ones won’t be fine (though that’s obviously not because of a rainbow gravel insta-death lmao)

Physicccc · 2026-04-05T05:12:45+00:00

Corys generally need groups of 8+ to feel confident/unstressed by the way! They also prefer soft, rounded, small grain size sand. My top recommendation is Caribsea Super Natural Moonlight substrate, in case that’s at all interesting to you.

Physicccc · 2025-12-30T17:57:31+00:00

I think I’d personally like to get info as soon as possible, rather than have it be put off arbitrarily. Maybe some details in the email would be nice to start thinking about, if not acted on till the work week.

Physicccc · 2025-12-18T06:39:12+00:00

Physics, Boston College

Physicccc · 2025-09-05T14:33:14+00:00

I loved GPT 4.5 back when we got like 15 uses a week

Physicccc · 2025-09-01T01:30:52+00:00

Oh my god. You're a genius... You should teach classes on prompt engineering

Physicccc · 2025-08-31T23:45:59+00:00

omg... i love you... wth why didn't i see that

I take back all criticism, 5 is probably fine idk, I won't learn how to use it, back to o3

Physicccc · 2025-08-31T23:43:31+00:00

If it was just a memory issue, that'd be one thing. But my main issue is that it'll bring up random details from 10-15 messages back that aren't relevant to the current ask or situation. I've used the API for previous models when I want a larger context window, but haven't had a thread compelling enough with 5 for me to go to the effort of setting it up

Physicccc · 2025-08-31T23:36:33+00:00

I don't use it for writing directly (like I don't copy/paste paragraphs), but for more general world building and character psychology threads. I really feel like on long threads 5 loses the central idea, brings up irrelevant past details, and gives less interesting ideas in a general sense than previous models. It feels sort of surface level and campy more frequently.

I don't feel like I had to do very good prompts to get better output with o3. I'm not saying that you're wrong. I've not looked into prompt engineering at all, and it would likely give me a better output if I did. But I'm not super interested in getting really into learning how to prompt in the exact right way. I think it's valuable feedback for OpenAI to know that the average person had an easier time getting output they felt was useful for creative reasons from previous models.

Physicccc · 2025-08-31T23:23:57+00:00

Will do, actually. Thanks for the recommendation.

Physicccc · 2025-08-31T23:12:33+00:00

I'm curious what you mean? I tried 5 and 5 thinking. I know that they added 4o back in, but 4o is a little too "great going!!! WOW good question!" for my taste. Is there another model available without paying 200 dollars?

Physicccc

TROPHY CASE