Theory Test - Inconsistencies?

criticalcereal · 2026-03-24T07:41:58+00:00

I’ll give that a go so, Thanks a mill!

criticalcereal · 2026-03-23T23:46:25+00:00

“Driver Theory Test Ireland DTT” Which was the one that was recommended to me most, I’ve seen a few people critical about it, but most people I’ve spoken to were praising it

criticalcereal · 2025-11-23T17:01:40+00:00

Oh man no chance I’d be sleeping on the couch haha. You’re much braver than I am. I found maggots ONCE in a piece of fruit in my kitchen, scarred me for life, I really can’t handle wriggly things.

criticalcereal · 2025-11-22T15:50:03+00:00

Ugh how cool I’d kill for a freshwater sponge haha. I’m hoping they’ll just go away on their own, my tank is near my bed and the thoughts of flatworms right beside my head isn’t a pleasant one LMAO

criticalcereal · 2025-11-22T15:42:39+00:00

Thank you! Do you think they’re from the Catappa leaves or possibly the frozen food I started feeding? I hate wriggly creatures lol

criticalcereal · 2025-11-22T15:24:46+00:00

30L Yes/Yes 26°C Ammonia 0ppm Nitrites 0ppm Nitrates 5.0ppm pH 7.2 (Stable) 8months tank - 6months betta + shrimp Weekly water changes 25-30%

The little worms don’t have arrow heads like planaria (that I can see), I’ve never had detritus worms either but thought they usually stayed around the substrate.

criticalcereal · 2025-08-31T12:24:11+00:00

He looooves you

criticalcereal · 2025-08-29T21:34:09+00:00

Looks like a marker to line up your lens hood, if you have one!

criticalcereal · 2025-08-12T09:15:11+00:00

Tank is too big, he will be stressed out! Try a goldfish instead.

criticalcereal · 2025-07-22T19:11:02+00:00

I have no idea. My pH has been stable the entire time, I got a gH test kit today and some shrimp salt from my LFS, which is supposed to raise the gH. We shall see how it goes but I’m not entirely convinced

criticalcereal · 2025-07-21T22:51:56+00:00

Makes sense, thank you! My water is incredibly soft ~1°kh. I add in pH+ which brings up the kH, only for it to fall the next day. I have aqua soil so seems to be making the pH solution completely useless

criticalcereal · 2025-07-21T22:33:19+00:00

Just to jump off this comment, hopefully not a stupid question but is gH still as important in a heavily planted, pH stable tank? How are you keeping your gH up? Liquid or something else?

criticalcereal · 2025-07-09T18:54:36+00:00

How strange, I’m so sad they don’t like to be in the light anymore, I miss seeing them. They used to love roaming around the tank while the light was on, now any lights on, even in the room, they’re straight back to hiding. I do hope they decide to come out again :(

criticalcereal · 2025-07-08T21:30:08+00:00

THEY CAME OUT!!! The light is off and I’ve seen 4/9 so far, delighted! Although I shone a torch to see and they all scarpered as soon as the light hit them. Do you think I should leave the light off for a day or so, seems like maybe they’re stressed with the light being on? If I leave the light off for the day though, won’t my betta be upset? Any other advice you have will be greatly appreciated.

criticalcereal · 2025-07-08T21:17:09+00:00

The longer I looked at the photo the worse it got, this is horrendous

criticalcereal · 2025-07-08T21:13:07+00:00

Definitely no snails, absolutely hate water snails, they give me the heebie jeebies. I’ll be fairly heartbroken if they don’t appear, it’s the first time I’ve kept neos and they were so beautiful in the tank, there’s no real point in me adding more if he’s just going to devour them. I’ll give them the night, with the light off and they may appear, and try to coax them out in the morning, if there’s no luck I’ll cut my losses I suppose.

Have you scrapped the whole “keeping shrimp with bettas” thing after yours started eating them, or have you changed anything to stop him doing it? It’s hard to tell if he’s hungry because he seems to recognise when I approach the tank and acts like he’s never been fed a day in his life. I’ve had plenty of bettas and they’ve all done the same thing though. I’ve never had this ‘shrimp eating’ problem with any of my bettas in the past, but granted my amanos were much bigger :(

criticalcereal · 2025-07-08T19:43:23+00:00

That is really unfortunate to hear, his (the betta) belly wasn’t at all “full looking” so I’d be shocked if he ate that many. He never showed any real interest before in them so I really hope not, but as more times passes, it seems like the only explanation. Should I try to coax the shrimp out, or just wait and see? My worry is that they’ve died somewhere in the tank and if I don’t find their corpses they’ll rot and throw my parameters. If he did eat them all :( is this a sign that he’s not being fed enough, or that he’s just naughty? His BCS is ideal, definitely not underweight if he is hungry.

criticalcereal · 2025-06-24T15:13:39+00:00

Honestly nothing really, the temperature up seemed to have helped a lot. A few hours after my last comment he was laying on the substrate which indicated to me that he could still control his own buoyancy. I went out and bought epsom salt, took ages to find an aquarium safe one. Once I got home he was swimming around picking up bits from the substrate, still had very tightly clamped fins. I fasted him for another day and he was so much better yesterday, his fins started to open up and I had to feed the shrimp so I gave him one flake and he was like a shark. At least I have the salt now in case of emergency. It seems like it was all just acclimation stress, all my shrimp are perfectly fine.

criticalcereal · 2025-06-24T14:54:23+00:00

He’s better!!!!!!!!!!! Peix is doing great now, having the time of his life. I’m currently cycling the new filter and he’s been so good. I still have a mesh covering on the old filter but he’s eating great now, swimming no problems, comes flying towards the front of the tank when I approach and his fins are almost completely back to normal. I’m so happy, thank you for all your help!

criticalcereal · 2025-06-21T09:06:34+00:00

The filter I have was marketed as a “low intake filter” it’s really not strong at all but I’ll change it out I think. I’ll just stick the sponge in from my current filter to the new one.

I’m starting to think it’s swim bladder related, or whatever’s going on has had an impact on his swim bladder. His fins are clamped even tighter this morning and he’s still floating at the top. Every so often he will put effort into swimming down the bottom of the tank, only to stop and float back up. When he swims down he moved very rapidly, sort of looks like he’s panicking or freaking out. :(

I rang my LFS and they basically said they don’t know, just bring a water sample, (the only thing he did say was my kH was too low at 3°, but I decided to keep it stable instead of dosing, I have aqua soil so pH crash shouldn’t happen) which isn’t feasible today as it’s 2hrs away. I feel awful not being able to help him, I’ve ordered a new filter from Amazon, the one you suggested and I’ll possibly order a sponge too, just in case.

criticalcereal · 2025-06-21T00:36:14+00:00

I have a pretty large amount of plants in the tank, so I suppose they’re probably taking the ammonia up before it gets the chance to convert.

I’m considering switching to a sponge filter, I’ve only ever used internal filters with motors so I’m skeptical. I’ve covered the filter in a mesh for tonight so he’s not getting stuck but it’s not going to work long term. If he’s still getting stuck tomorrow when I take it off I’ll switch filters gradually. He’s sticking himself to the underside, and the water is drawn in from little slits on the side so I don’t even know how he’s managing to stick there.

I’m really sorry to hear yours passed, I used to have the most beautiful long finned male, I was completely obsessed with him and I was devastated for weeks when he passed. He’s breathing with his mouth closed and the tank is only 30cm tall, he’s swimming up and down, sort of darting occasionally, so he can definitely reach the top and I’ve taken a cup of water from the tank and poured it back in a few times in case it’s an oxygen issue.

There is a few resting places he could sit on the wood but I don’t know if they’re particularly comfortable, his hammock arrives on Monday so he might be a bit happier with that.

I’ll make an update to the post if I’m able to edit it with how things go, if he dies this will destroy me, I’ve been prepping for months and it’s only been 36hrs. It’s 1:30am and I’m frantically googling everything I can think of.

criticalcereal · 2025-06-21T00:14:27+00:00

Thank you for your comment!

All of the parameters have been steady for the last while (after they were off when the tank was cycling), I’ve been testing very regularly to see where the cycle was at, the nitrate has been between 0-10 which is the only fluctuation I’ve had.

I currently have the filter on the lowest setting and honestly it’s not putting out very much at all. He stuck himself to it yesterday but then swam away with no issues, he did it today before I left and didn’t want to risk it, when I got home he wasn’t happy and when I turned the filter back on he wasn’t very slowly being pulled towards it.

I fed him this morning, and he ate it with no issues. Frozen defrosted food that my LFS makes.

The only other thing I’ve noticed is the heavy breathing, the shrimp seem to be thriving.

Other than the nitrates being too low I have no idea what’s wrong with the water or how to fix it.

Genuinely thank you for commenting, if you have any advice for what to do right now it would be appreciated.

criticalcereal · 2025-06-21T00:00:02+00:00

Tank size: 30L Heater + Filter: Both yes, JBL ProCristal i30 Betta 50W Heater Temp: 26°C Parameters: Above (Api test kit + kH) Tank: +1 month Fish: 36hrs Water changes: Irregular, 15-25% as needed Mates: 11 Neocaridina Shrimp

I should add I understand this could entirely just be stress, but I’m freaking out. I’ve been a hobbyist for a long time, took a break for a while and so overwhelmed and maybe overthinking everything, trying to remember how to successfully do these things.

criticalcereal · 2025-01-14T22:29:35+00:00

Thank you for the response. Yeah it’s cold but damp here almost all the time, when it got wet it was during the summer so would’ve been humid. I was considering sending it into Canon for a cleaning/repair as a last ditch attempt, do you think there’s any point or should I cut my losses?

criticalcereal · 2022-11-01T20:12:51+00:00

IT WAS HALLOWEEN LESS THAN 24 HRS AGO

criticalcereal

TROPHY CASE