You can use the existing biorb media but you will need to position it so that it hangs in front of new filter with water flow directed towards it and monitor water quality closely for first few weeks, you should be fine doing that with just a small group of ember tetra. Don't add any more fish until you are certain the new media in the new filter has colonised fully and you can remove the bag.
You could have some otocinclus, small sucker mouth catfish, but you will have to allow new tank to mature a little longer, otos graze pretty much constantly, so ideally leave the back wall of the tank to colonise with algae and any decor too where possible. Other than than, some varieties of shrimp would be acceptable, amano shrimp which will not breed and cherry shrimp who will breed but babies likely to be eaten by embers.

Could be some kind of sponge.. If it doesn't retract its not a polyp of anything, if you can get it as close to the glass as possible and with as much light as possible that should help. I don't think its anything bad though.

Hi,
Any chance of a clearer picture? Looks like it could be a zoanthid polyp of some variety, or possibly a large aiptasia, but pic isn't clear enough for me to see properly, and also aiptasia can move... Does it have any other distinguishing characteristics? Have you touched it with an object to see if it moves/retracts in response. Is this a new piece of rock in your tank? If so, knowing when you bought it and when you first spotted it gives me a timeline to work out how quickly it may have grown etc.

Flashing on its own with no signs of parasites or infection is probably nothing, fish can just get an itch like we can... Doesn't mean there's anything wrong, having said that, pH 8 may be a smidge higher than they would like it to be, upper end of tolerance for platies, I think guppies would prefer closer to 7.6, bringing it down to 7.7-8 might help. But unless they are constantly rubbing, or there's a sign of something definite, adding meds is not a good idea, meds should only be used when needed, not just incase, that's bad advice from lfs.
Is your pH naturally 8? Do you have KH and GH readings too?

Well ideally you should get it as close as possible, you can mix up a batch of water, and dilute it with some more RO until its as close as you can get it. 6 to 6.8 is a massive difference and acclimatising over a few hours is too fast. Needs to be done gradually over at least a week, maybe two. Maybe you could ask the shop for enough water from their tank to make it easier?
Do you know if they are wildcaught or farmed? As this will make some difference, farmed should adapt more easily as they are often acclimatised to harder water already.

What pH are they in at the shop? Can take weeks for fishes internal chemistry to adapt if its a massive change from what they were in, so maybe a good idea to have a small tank set up as quarantine and match the water conditions from the shop, and then gradually acclimatise them over a few weeks to your water.

Don't worry, he should recover just fine, orandas with head growth can damage it quite easily so melafix is probably the best thing to have on hand. stress coat probably won't do much good at all. I dont believe there is any evidence that adding anything to help the slime coat is actually beneficial, Fish naturally produce their own mucous, save your money and just use a normal dechlorinator.

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Lol, when a shop says four types of loach are ok in a 1m long tank, they probably make up their own names for things too!! I was thinking they just meant the gyrinocheilus too...
Just read the whole thread properly, and noted tank dinensions, i was only thinking aboit the volume earlier. If you really do want a loach species in that tank a group of dwarf chain loach (botia sidthimunki) would be much more suitable.

You would be better with one full group of the same species, the shop should really have pointed that out to you rather than selling you a pick and mix.. Quite poor service really! In a big enough tank some loach groups are suitable to keep together, but generally all loaches that live in social groups prefer to have their own kind to group with, as slight differences in behaviour can cause issues between them in smaller numbers. I'd pick which you prefer and take the other species back. The Chinese loaches should probably be returned too as they will not be compatible with a lot of other species because of their nature.

Upside down cats are cool, bought 3 babies a few weeks ago to keep my loner company, only ever see them when food goes in, they dart in and out of the wood really fast, the big one can't hide without his tail tip showing.. Lol!
Do you have some pics of the plecs? Bet they appreciate the space!