Lost another rainbow - I believe all of the rainbows are done for, but that seems to be it. This whole experience, whatever caused it, was apparently too much for them.

I have decided not to stock my 40-gallon as I had planned (with puffers), and once the 150 stabilizes, maybe in a month or two, I will restock it but will use my 40-gallon as a quarantine tank. This will permit the mystery fry inhabiting it now to declare themselves and mature to the point of identification, and perhaps introduction into the 150, since they are undoubtedly tetra/rasbora/danio type schooling community fish and appropriate to move into the big tank. This remains to be seen, of course, but their behavior and appearance indicates as much.

This way, I can keep the fish in quarantine as long as I like, and gradually introduce them to the 150. I purchased the cories and the cardinals with the same thing in mind - these do best in large groups and they might not be available later if I purchase only a few at a time, so better get the bunch all at once. I thought the 150 could handle it.... Now I can still get the larger groups but put them in the 40 with BioSpira and let them settle in there for a while, and be sure they are not ill or otherwise problematic. If there is a problem I can treat the 40 and not bother any of the other fish in the process. I can use heat and salt and whatever else at my disposal, but there will be enough water to handle the load of a single group of fish at a time.

Over time, I will have my 150 restocked and where I want it, including angels. At that point I can switch the 40-gallon over to a puffer tank. I still have a 37-gallon tank that can be used for quarantine/hospital purposes. That does not need anything in it; a bare bottom and a couple of sponge filters would probably do the trick. I have sponge filters already, plus a spare small Eheim Ecco canister filter that I can use. I have several spare heaters also.

Once again, I am very happy I did not sell off my equipment when I thought I was done with it, even though at times I wanted to do so but did not have the time or energy to make such arrangements. I came the closest to selling off my CO2 equipment, and am SO glad I did not. That's probably the most valuable stuff I saved, and I will likely be using that on the 150 in the future when it is balanced. I am generally the type that likes to purge stored items, finding clutter and collections of belongings to be unsightly and a waste of space, but in this case something told me to hold on to it.