Dr A

Crypts dying back (to be expected), spotty dieback spreading from java fern. Sounds like might be a N/P/K deficiency. Swords doing OK (battling fine hair like alage). Flourish Excel perhaps? Anubias Nana doing OK. Need to actually start cycling the tank though...

You're.

What does the laser pointer do? ( I feel like I'm walking into something)

Either way, I've got a devious plan going. The missus suggested keeping the fighter OUT of the tank as it had so much plant mass in there. Maybe I could get some of those dwarf puffers?! I really want to try get 2 of those Otto's too, I see that someone else on here was selling 2 out of his 12L tank (w/ puffers too). Kinda think it might be overstocked though... what else is small and inoffensive (ideally a plant/algae grazer)?

Dunno, it sure makes for a bit of unpredictability though. TBH One of the biggest annoyances I have with this tank are the unpublished strength of the LED lights, at least for growing plants.

Mirror IN the tank?

What voltage are you running the HSF at? Small ones can be quite noisy... I'd be inclined to get a bigger heat sink and a better quality 120/80mm sleeve bearing fan running slowly.

Went slightly mental and brought heaps of plants! Got some sort of sword things, anubias nana, and a crypt. No idea what I'm doing, fingers crossed they grow. I learned to garden on dry land by the same method...

Insurance should be mandatory...

Well, nothing in the short term. Ideally Mr tail-rot will go back in...

So after problems with my fighter, I wanted to strip the tank down, esp after the fin-rot returned. I completely stripped and washed everything, in the last few days brown algae went wild, possibly due to the lank of water movement. I took the opportunity to add dirt into the mix, I had some Daltons Aquatic mix left-over after potting up a water lily for my pot yesterday. As with everything there's so much conflicting information out there, re: enriched / fertilized soil or not. Anyway replanted my sword and the weedy thing at the back. I think the water-fern is too far gone but I've got a small new bud and some roots left from the crown/center of the then floating plant. Will get some more plants in there tomorrow, seems as though I need lots and lots of plants. Would be nice to go full-walsted if I can. Pics in the meantime.

Crikey. I sure lucked out. Will see how this second dose of Furan goes... TBH I'd probably consider passing the fish on to someone with the time/skills/experience to actually sort it out if it doesn't respond.

Oh dear, it's back again. Just finished following the Furan destructions, followed by daily/bi daily water changes. Not sure why but gone downhill again. Having some issues with my plants too, the Indain ferns on top of the tank got slimey and died very rapidly, along with a sudden increase of algae inside the tank. Currently warming up my "Hospital" tank, plan is to keep him in there (filtered) while completely stripping the normal tank and cleaning everything (no soap).

Any chance of getting them here? Low/None I assume?

I decided to put him back into his normal tank. Did a bit of cleaning, pulled out the activated carbon from my filter, large water change and dosed with the Furan + a bit of salt. Correct move as he's swimming around lots more and generally looking happier. I'll do daily 10% water changes going forward until this settles down.

I had a look at the tail rot today and think it's still progressing slowly. I'll pick up some furan this arvo, should I treat him then add him back to his normal tank or should I treat him in the normal tank?

Roger that, I'll see how he's going tonight and get it tomorrow. I have the luxury of working 2mins away from HFF Albany (a dangerious thing for for most people in this forum I'd suggest).

Huh? Thanks for typing the reply but I'm already doing that/the other stuff you said isn't relevant.

Filter is a Helia BT-200 that was included, but I'd double check that. I saw it had the same filter included at HFF, but it could but sold without it... I'm not particularly endeared to the filter as it's quite noisy, and it could easily fit something else... No heater, but it should fit any standard one in it's little house. Lights seem OK for growing plants, my red one didn't do to well, and neither did the arrow-leaf thing, but that was probably more me than anything else. I don't know much about the type and quality of light provided. The Indian ferns I've got go nuts under it. I've got a few gripes re: the tank. Screws at the back were gimmicky, I took them out and never replaced them. The buttons to turn the lights on are a bit cheap feeling, probably because they're waterproof so you've got to squash them down a bit. The other big issue I've got with the lights is that they are soft touch rather than switch operated, so you couldn't put a timer on them. You've also got to cycle all the way through the 4/5 brightness levels before turning it off. I could probably re-wire them if I really felt the need... The top cover doesn't provide a tight seal, there's a 5mm+ gap on two sides. Don't know if that's a problem of not. NB: You can take the lights off the tank if you want via those screws mentioned. I'm kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel here though. My main issues I think are due to the nature of the tank (ie, small) rather than the tank itself. After working with it though I can see why those Fluvial Edges must be a massive pain in the ass. It seems nice and solidly built.

Pictures. Feel sorry for the little guy. His tail is breaking up still and is developing small holes in it (too fine to see in the photograph). He's still in good temperament. The blue is from 1drop of Wundertonic. To recap: Took him out of his main tank last sunday (I think, might have been sat). Since then he has been in the hospital tank (for one day), and then in alternating floating juice bottles, effectively giving him 100% water changes every day. Every tank he's been in has had a dosing of tonic salts too. Had conflicting reports of how to use the wundertonic, I've been giving one drop per aprox 2L. Still no sign of improvement, indeed that bit of tail hanging off the back is getting noticeably worse.

Will pop one up tonight. I suspect he's had it for as long as I've got him, although it's hard to say.

Indeed, although I didn't do anything clever, he just likes to "freeze" sometimes when he's swimming, he does it at all different kinds of odd angles. He's actually not in there at the moment either, I've got him in juice bottles whilst his fins recover from rot. Would be keen to get more plants in there too... Anyway I'd love to get something larger but my house is rather small. I'm not sure what the landlord thinks of fish either: my tenancy agreement says cat only... I figured with a small tank I'd be hard for him to get shitty.

Mute point as the water is being completely replaced every 24hrs though?

Well my "hospital" tank is circa 30L, but only 3/4 full. No lights, and an oven tray over the top to keep the condensation and heat in. He spent day one in there, day two in in one of those big 3.5L juice bottles - with the top cut off - standing in the tank. This effectively gives him a 100% water change (when filled with new water, dechlorinator, salt, almond leaves), and I only have to heat the bottle-load of water (the heater is in the main tank). Surely that's less stressful than moving the fish elsewhere (ie: back into my every day tank with it's possible bad bacteria) while I heat up a new tank load of water. Everything I've read says no filter as water-movement slows down fin-regrowth. I've got another large plastic bottle I'll put in tonight, I found the last one go up to 26 degrees in an hour or so, and I can take out the old one and wash it. I can keep swapping them over in this manner until the his fins improve.