u/Glittering_Put3361

He lives in a heavily planted breeder tank at 74 degrees Fahrenheit. Ammonia and nitrites are at 0, nitrates are at 40ish, and ph is 8.0 (probably because MN has such hard water). I’ve had him for about a 9 months and him in this tank the whole time. I rarely ever do water changes, but I test the water regularly, and the parameters stay the same. I have ember tetras, cardinal tetras, Pygmy Cory’s, and otocincluses. I basically have to hand feed him Xtreme 1mm semi-floating betta pellets until he ignores them, which doesn’t take long. I don’t have any plastic in the tank, just driftwood, plants, and rocks.

He’s never had a lot of energy, I’ve usually had to put pellets infront of him 1 by 1 the whole time I had him. But lately I’ve been looking at his fins and they just don’t look good. I would love some insight if there’s something I’m missing that I should do, or something on his body I should treat for.

Thanks!

I put in a Cryptocoryne balansae when I first set up the tank and I didn’t know how long they got, and now it’s grown all over the tank. I already removed one that was up against the glass, but there are still 2 more against the glass and one about to pop out of the soil.

I know it’s more of a personal choice but I’d love some outside opinion. On one hand it blocks some light to the front of the tank and I’m interested in it being more open in the front, but it might also mess up the plants around the Cryptocoryne balansae I remove and I’m nervous I won’t like what it looks like afterwords. Let me know!