Maceo

Nice! The fish are gorgeous and I love the heavily planted look and I am sure the bettas love it for lurking!

You're not going to be able to tell until you test again Salt can be really help for dealing with cycling stress in fish though, so hopefully your water params will be a-ok!

Lovely tank!! As for the bump I have found that Bettas are good at getting weird cysts from time to time keep an eye on it he should be fine just make sure if it bursts to change the water and keep it pristine while it heals --- I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=26.689690,-81.742648

How is your water quality? Water temp? --- I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=26.690147,-81.742225

An amazon sword will get rather large. Also plants are going to make a lot of detritus materials that can in fact up your nitrates if you don't carefully clean the bottom of the tank often so be careful of that. High nitrates can cause tail issues. --- I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=26.689650,-81.742617

I second the Azoo Palm filter. My bettas have always liked them. Another one that I've had my eye on but haven't tried yet is the Elite Stingray filter.http://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Stingray-Submersible-Filter-Gallon/dp/B0009YF47G It is submersible which I like for a betta tank I think it disturbs the water less. I had a Whisper submersible in a 20 gallon tropical set up that I put together for my mom's classroom and I like the water flow, and her betta doesn't seem bothered by it.

I have never had luck finding a hearty gourmai they always die on me in a few weeks no matter what I do but maybe that's just me. I have always kept cories with my BN pleco and have never ever had even the slightest hint of an issue. Rummy nose tetras are cool schooling fish and would do well in your tank. I've been enjoying my Dwarf German Ram but he can be a bit territorial.

And just as a word of warning if you aren't super vigilant you can transfer them from tank to tank and they will lay eggs in your filter so if you are wanting to get rid of them, make sure you clean it out well --- I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=26.689754,-81.742527

I know that. Blue catfish and channel cats croak and squeak when you catch them out of the river or lake

OOOOooook, I was very tired last night and missed that, that makes me feel much better. A lot of times the Dollar Store has pure ammonia that's where I always find it anyway.

Wait. Do you have fish in the tank you're trying to cycle? Don't add ammonia or anything else for that matter! It's just going to be a long road with one small fish, he just doesn't make enough waste to quickly cycle your tank. Hang in there keep up the water changes and it will happen

Oh man, that's awful. I too wonder if it's natural or man made. We're having red tide down here right now lots of icky dead fish washing up on the beaches. Ruined my weekend plans.

Cute! Has Donna Noble left the library? (Such a good episode!)

Where was this? In the ATL? I am jealous that you got to go but I might forgive you since you posted pics!

You again?! You mean getting you married off didn't keep you from coming back?! Darn it! Ok, well maybe I am a little bit happy to see you back here....ok maybe a lot bit! We missed you!!

Yup it's just chlorine, you wouldn't want water without it

My concern here aside from food, would be aggression quicker fish have a tendency to pick on slower fish. This may not be the case with your fish but I have seen it happen in the past.

Try her on some brocolli if the peas aren't doing the trick. Just zap in the microwave with a little tank water to soften it, and then make sure it cools before you feed it. I thought the aquaclear 110 only gets 300 gph, I may be wrong but if that's the case you may want to up your filtration. Just a suggestion/thought here, have you checked the expiration date on your test kit?

And make sure you get/have a good tank cover, they are known to escape your tank! They are really cool creatures! I am sure you will enjoy them.

SO gorgeous! I am enjoying watching your tank evolve!

We nerds here! Welcome to Koko's!

How odd! I am glad Shepherd is doing ok now! Just out of curiosity what type of salt were you using?

Yes Metro is more effective in food, as it only really works when you get in inside the fish and suspended in water it doesn't get administered well

I thought flagyl was only used as a parasite killer. I am not familiar with it but I will see if there are some others who can advise you a little better given your med restrictions. If your mystery powder is indeed bionox that might be your best bet here but I would hold off until we can get some other opinions.

Right but if the fish isn't pineconing and is still eating I think that Maracyn I and II used in combination will help. Used in combination they will kill both gram positive and negative bacteria and I have had great success using this combo in the past. It's my general working method to go to the least harsh most effective method first and then move to the antibiotic foods and such if the fish is in serious distress, in this case he has popeye and no other symptoms so the Maracyn in my opinion is a good route.