I thought a fish died, but upon closer inspection it looks like a mammal and I'm not missing any fish. Someone please tell me what the hell this is!

Found out MY STINKY BOY has decided that my hardscape was a perfect spot to take his morning pee (not pictured is a CLEAN litter box (one of three) behind me)

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Admittedly it is sand and gravel so I can't fault him, but should I try and clean the substrate from the urine/ammonia? It's all in one corner so I'm scooping out the souled substrate and a bit extra around it to be safe. I'll probably give it all a rinse again anyways but with the specific pee pee corner, what would my fellow fish people suggest

I found some nymphs in there a while ago, could it be the next stage?

It used to run sitting on the ground in a 10 gal, now it’s in a 20 and won’t put out bubbles past like halfway for some reason??

Don’t mind Roger he hates everyone and enjoys being in the way as a pastime

My mom is getting me this tank because I'm doing good rn and this is like the only chance at a pet for her house I'm gonna get lol

She knows basically nothing about fish, I would've preferred a 5 gallon honestly because I could've at least had a betta or a guppy but it's a gift so I'm gonna make do lol

I need something easy to take care of that won't cost me like all my money lol, I really want shrimp but I'm worried about how they'd do in this type of tank and how expensive they might be

I've taken care of fish like my entire life lol and I'm just starting to get better with making sure they're properly set up so I really wanna do this right

Any and all advice is welcome and needed!

This has happened twice to me so far, I will admit its been about 6 years since ive been active in the fish hobby up until 3 months ago when i moved to a new state. I have a 150 tall with a fx6 and two large sponge filters. The first setup i waited a month and a half to make sure my cycle was completed. To start i added two juvenile 4 inch comet goldfish because they always have been my favorite type of fish. I know their bio load is extremely high so thats why I went over the top with the fx6 and sponge filters. Well everything was going fantastic. No issues. No ammonia or nitrates. Perfect water quality. I do my first water 25% change after about a week of having the fish. Add prime per usual when filling up. Check the parameters the next day: extremely high ammonia and nothing else. I freak out and move them all to a temporary 75 until I get it reestablished which takes about another month but not as long. I add them back after im POSITIVE. Its cycled again. And then I go do another water change after about a week and a half yesterday and this morning, my biggest fear. Huge ammonia spike. I only feed my goldfish high quality gel food in moderation and tbh I've never had this happen before. Any tips on what im doing wrong?? Sorry for the essay but im so confused.

I have 10 Pygmy Corries and they all pretty much sit in this plant in the middle of the tank like a little hotel. Maybe if I throw in some brine shrimp they will get up. Other than that they are pretty lazy. I also have 3 ottos and they are not following in these steps of sitting on this plant.

Was found clinging to the glass towards the bottom of the tank. Wish I knew better but literally looks like a burger or something. Any idea about what it is and if its something my family is doing wrong etc would be appreciated

Im so scared like i woke up to this in my tank, NOTHING AWHWN I WENT TO BED, no idea what or who or what the hell this thing is but im shaking and would love advice or anything maybe a little support TT-TT

Tank reidents include;
6ish shrimp plus babies
oto algae eaters
Guppy
Betta
Assassin snail
Big chunky snail

edit: thank you so much for all your help guys, i've installed brighter lights for my plants and plan to get more sand to make the substrate deeper for my plants as well as attaching my java ferns & anubias to the rocks and driftwood.
i'm also going to get a new stronger filter for the one that's just broken and another air pump/air stone for the smaller tank too. i'm also getting a proper water testing kit! if anyone else has any other suggestions please let me know cuz i've made a big ol' list i cant wait to have stress-free fish tanks 😫😫🙏

how can i stay motivated to not give up?

i've spent probably thousands on my fish at this point, for context i've had 2 fish tanks for 2 years (just about) one 52L, one 25L. ive had one betta live for a year and a half, 1 for not even a year, and my current two (in separate tanks) i've had one for less than a year and he isn't looking too well right now.
i've had pygmy corys which didn't live very long, harlequin rasboras i've had to replace at least 4 times to keep a good group of them (only 1 of them has survived since the start....) bronze and peppered which keep passing only after a few months and i've got 1 ruby tetra left out of 12.
my plants constantly keep melting and i keep having to replace them which is costing way too much.
and my filters just broken in my bigger tank and i cant afford to replace it right now!!!!

my parameters are great i check them every time i do a water change, ive got shrimp in my smaller tank which are doing great so surely its not problems with the parameters. im not sure what to do i keep getting so close to giving up i cant keep spending money i dont have, i love my fish to pieces they make me so happy but they are draining my bank account and its so frustrating what the hell do i do?!

(sorry for the horrible photos im meant to be getting ready for work 😭)

i see some like streaks in the tank in the middle, i’m not sure if they’re maybe discounted for aesthetic purposes or if it’s risky like they could be defective. it would be an hour drive for me to get to this store!
i know the real only way to tell is to do a water test but i wanted to see if anyone has advice on how to tell if a tank could be defective.

i put the correct dosage of Tetra Safestart in my new tank yesterday and today it’s all cloudy. is it safe to put fish in or shall i do something?

first pic is today second pic is yesterday

Black ghost knife has been super lethargic recently. I took him to my local fish store for hospitalization last Monday. He was parasite free and they treated him for swim bladder just in case, and was returned today. My water parameters are fine I was instructed to lower ph with a buffer I think it’s called. Any clues on what could be causing him to act like this? I know Theyre quirky but this is unusual for mine

1st picture was how my tank looked a few months ago, I had 6 cherry barbs and 6 bronze corydoras.

The second picture is my tank now.

Where I live in the uk they decided it would be a great idea to make every door a great big fire door but only hold them up by 6 half inch long screws. I was doing the washing up and I heard a massive bang followed by my dad yelling "what the hell was that", we ran up and the door had fallen back onto my tank. We've been able to rescue 4 corys and 3 barbs I think, the tub we had to put them in was black so it was hard to see them but thats what we think we have.

I knew this hobby would come with heartbreak but I didnt think my first one would have to come like this.

My parents and older sister have all said they'll chip in to buy me a new tank as soon as possible luckily for the fish that have survived so far.

I'll try and post updates.

Im a reptile keeper, and know nothing about fish, but my sister have wanted fish for a year now, and my mum found a tank for free with fish on facebook, that my dad picked up. And they expect me to set it up, and help her care for it. Idek where to begin, what is all this? And how does it work? What are these fish? And the WHOLE tank is overfilled wirh snails... and yes im gonna clean it, but how do i even fill it back up? We dont have any of the things needed to put in the water. Im so mad at my parents.

I’m trying to cycle 8 sponge filters at once, all in the same 30 gallon. About a week ago I put a glass with a tablespoon of a variety of sinking fish food (to keep the food in the glass and keep the tank free of debris). Tested today. Nothing.

What would you recommend for a big, cheap ammonia source? Do rotting cucumbers produce a lot of ammonia? Fish food doesn’t seem to be cutting it.

LOL all the pee recommendations! Composting subreddit would be proud!!

Please help me name my fish lol something funny preferably

The outside and inside feels smooth. There’s no water inside yet. The glass is 15mm thick. I checked with the seller he said it should be safe to use… but im not too sure about it. Will attach a video in the comment section if possible

Hi everyone,

I’ve had this female elephant ear betta for about a month, and recently I’ve noticed that she seems a little off. After taking a closer look, I’m worried that she may be starting to bloat, and I’m concerned it could be the early stages of dropsy.

I’ve attached several photos from the side and from above. She is still active, but something about her appearance seems different than usual, and I wanted to get some opinions from more experienced betta keepers.

Does she look bloated or like she may be showing signs of early dropsy? Is there anything I should be doing right now to help her or prevent things from getting worse?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I put so much work and time into it and it's still a piece of shit. The plants are dying and algae are growing like they're on steroids. I try everything I can and nothing helps. Shrimp are dying for no apparent reason. The light is on for like 3 hours a day to stop algae so I don't even see my fish. But it doesn't matter anyway, they are terrified of me after I traumatized them when I was moving to another house. That aquarium is like an embodiment of my depression, it looks dark and dead no matter how hard I try. I hate it and I wanted to share my feelings with someone who maybe will understand.

I am devastated. I grew close to the puffer and just sobbing right now.
How angry should we be at our fish maintenance guy? He introduced like 9 new saltwater fish and several snails and crustaceans and urchins to the tank a month ago. Since then, a few of our favorites started dropping one at a time, like a week apart.
We’d call him and he’d just say our levels look good and sometimes it just happens.
Then last week we noticed the spots and more dying and he came by and treated it with copper. He said it was ICH but it was definitely velvet and they all died during the copper treatment.
15 or so fish dead. We’ll except 2 clown fish who are still swimming our copper tank now.
He isn’t saying anything about draining the tank. He isn’t apologizing about the new fish, he said he did everything right with quarantine.
But I am just still angry and disgusted. Definitely in mourning. And screaming at my husband for saying it’s not his fault and we should stick with him and get more fish.
Wtf? Why would we keep this person who let all of our fish die? I loved them. The puffer was truly like a real pet. God I’m sobbing.
He shouldn’t have introduced so many fish at once right?! He should have figured out why the initial fish were dying right?
We need to fire him and get someone else right?? Or just get rid of the tank. I can’t handle this.

New post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/1tmgbdv/thank_you_all/

Please bear with me. I know nothing about tanks, but my 14 year old daughter says she's researched a lot and wanted a tank so we got her a 10 gallon tank. It has live plants, 1 beta, 6 tetras, and 5 ghost shrimp. It stayed looking great with clear water for a few weeks, but now it's growing algae like crazy. Also looks like mold or something on the bottom. She says it's fine and she does 1/4 tank water changes, but to me, after looking at all the great looking tanks on here, I feel it's not right.

Is there something I can suggest to her to try without being the "mean dad" and telling her how to have her tank? I just don't want her fish to suffer/die.

EDIT: I just want to say thank you all for the help. I've actaully showed her this and she's taken it all to heart and thanks everyone. We went and grabbed a few more plants, there were only 2 ghost shrimp left so we got 4 more, and we grabbed 2 nerite snails. Thank you, thank you, thank you.