rethinking...

This is mostly a thinking post so feel free to skip if you're bored by it!

I moved one of the zebra nerites out of the 45 into my 20H the other day, but it is hanging out just above the water line. I wonder if the angel has already bothered it, or do I need to do a wc. I thought the plants in the 20 could use a bit more nutrient from poops, and might be nice to have less of that littering the broad leaves in the 45. I think the angel nips the snails' feelers- because I never see them during the day- if I do spot one it is retreated into its shell and doesn't move at all. But in the morning I find signs of them having crawled all over- their small loglike waste scattered on leaves.

Sooo- The tetras aren't doing so good in my tenner in the basement- many of them look thin and pale while others look healthy. It could just be the older ones didn't fare so well when the tank cycled- ammonia damage? feel really bad for that. But they all eat eagerly now and only two (bottom of social ladder) have bitten fins. I don't like keeping them in that tank, it's really not suitable. Yet I also feel reluctant to get rid of them, feel obligated to see them thru the end of their lives (oldest is about 5, youngest are 2yrs).

When I moved the angel Skye out, I thought I'd re-home it and keep just Mr. Beautiful. Skye was always smaller than Beautiful, and I kinda wonder if Beautiful was mature and ready to spawn, Skye just not, and so Beautiful got upset. Could be totally wrong- still don't know if either is male or female. Meanwhile I think Skye is still growing- voracious while the other's appetite has slaked off, and becoming more attractive daily, and now, as happens with many other aquarists, I've grown attached to the fish and don't really want to re-home it... but I also don't want to leave it in the smaller tank alone for its life.

Here's Skye washed out- alarmed at the appearance of the camera

a bit calmer. Seems to be developing larger forehead- so I think Skye may be male?

My other problem is the angel still in the 45 still frequently gets startled and frightened when people walk by the tank suddenly- it's been suggested to me that getting dither fish might relieve the angels' anxiety, and also distract them from being aggressive to each other?

I have thought of putting Mr. Beautiful in a bucket while I rearrange the tank decor, then re-introducing both angels at the same time, in hopes they might get along again. I've also always rather wanted to keep black skirt tetras with angels- but I have these serpaes so no place to keep new tetras thru quarantine. When I look up tankmate recommendations and others' experiences online, it seems black skirts have a much better chance of getting along with angels (not nipping their fins) than serpaes do... as long as I keep the numbers high enough (more than 10 seems ideal).

I feel like it's 50/50 chance the tetras would leave the angels alone, and even slimmer chance the angels will get along at a re-introduction, but I'd like to try if its possible... . . .

Meanwhile I wonder if I'll keep this 20H going, after Skye hopefully moves out- whether to a new home or back in my 45 if I can make that work. I'll use it to quarantine new tetras if I get some, and then... ? keep it going with snails, in case I need to isolate an angel again? I still don't feel like running a light or dosing ferts on it, so while the rotalas have grown some, they don't have nice straight form

Recently moved the enchinodorus from the corner- I thought it was doing poorly, but it actually has some newer, healthy white roots so I trimmed off a few unhealth-looking leaves and replanted it.