Thanks again for all of your help!
Interesting comment re. city water ... pretty sure that my tap water is the same as the fish store, and the fish looked pretty happy/active there. I downloaded a copy of the water testing report from the city - any thoughts about what minerals I might want to look for to see if the levels are off?
So you recommend maintaining the salt content? I was thinking of trying to wean them off of it after a week or so by starting to do small water changes and see how they react. Just because that will leave more options open for future (e.g. if we want to introduce live plants ... I was also thinking of putting in some corys at some point). If the fish stop eating or otherwise look unhappy, we could bring the salt content back up - what do you think of that strategy?
I also noticed another fish (one of the females) spending a lot of time at the surface ... not sure if it's the salt or something else bothering her ... she does seem to eat fine ...
Re. the feces, haven't seen any recently, at least not coming out of any fish. Would I be able to see it on the gravel or something? Not sure exactly what I'm looking for ...
It's frustrating that these issues are so difficult to diagnose. All I can do is measure the water parameters (which seem OK) and try different things, I guess.
Thanks again for your sage advice as I try to get this tank established!
Interesting comment re. city water ... pretty sure that my tap water is the same as the fish store, and the fish looked pretty happy/active there. I downloaded a copy of the water testing report from the city - any thoughts about what minerals I might want to look for to see if the levels are off?
So you recommend maintaining the salt content? I was thinking of trying to wean them off of it after a week or so by starting to do small water changes and see how they react. Just because that will leave more options open for future (e.g. if we want to introduce live plants ... I was also thinking of putting in some corys at some point). If the fish stop eating or otherwise look unhappy, we could bring the salt content back up - what do you think of that strategy?
I also noticed another fish (one of the females) spending a lot of time at the surface ... not sure if it's the salt or something else bothering her ... she does seem to eat fine ...
Re. the feces, haven't seen any recently, at least not coming out of any fish. Would I be able to see it on the gravel or something? Not sure exactly what I'm looking for ...
It's frustrating that these issues are so difficult to diagnose. All I can do is measure the water parameters (which seem OK) and try different things, I guess.
Thanks again for your sage advice as I try to get this tank established!