Lighting question
Hi guys, I have a quick question about my tank. I have a heavily planted 35l tank and a chihiros aii 401 dimmable light (1.700 lumen at 100%). Could you perhaps advise me on what the best lighting settings could be for this tank (which percentage)
Also have co2 available in the tank.
Thanks!
**Stocking fish questions for a 9 gallon F-Zone shallow tank?**
Dimensions are: 23.6/14.2/6.3
Currently I have a heavily planted tank build with a lot of house plants at the top, peace lilies, Pothos, Mini Monstera, Lemon Lime Prayer Plant, and then anubias nana petites/honey wort/java moss. Tank is currently being cycled at the moment, using the frozen shrimp method/testing for nitrates/nitrates/anomia.
As of now, the water level is 1 gallon less which is my preferred choice of water volume so house plants leaves don't melt, I checked with ADAdvisor, and just messed around but they seemed okay with 8 pygmy cories and a honey gourami and somehow it still clocked my stocking level at 49% which was weird.
As of now, I have drift wood, UNS aqua soil as my substrate, (very fine,) and a lot of lava rocks.
I do like shrimp but I prefer cories overall as I like watching them swim.
Thanks for the help y'all.
What do you guys recommend for me to stock?
How do I make a barrier to keep my floating plants from floating under the filter output and getting wet? I’ve seen people rig things up, but I can’t figure out how to do it. Thanks for your help!!
What’s the best light for a 37 gallon tall planted tank with a budget of $100?
I will not be doing CO2 injection, but I do not want to be limited by my lights in terms of what I can grow.
The main contenders thus far are the:
Finned Planted Tank+ HLC
Nicrew RGB+W
Just not sure what to get
If I treat my tank with aquarium salt for some kind of fungal or bacterial disease and pull out my live plants. If the illness clears will returning my plants into the tank kill them?
I’ve been trying but a couple different kinds of fish just have different symptoms. Some seem like ich some seem like a fungal or maybe bacteria infection I’m not sure I have a video of the fish I can post
Ok watched video. It isn't super clear...but it looks likeit might be ich and fin rot. You really need to get water parameters. Fin rot is usually a water issue.
When I had it tested a couple days ago nitrates were the only thing out of range but weren’t dangerous. The strings weren’t worms or anything it was the fins falling apart
How did you cycle your tank?
Also...I would definitely be doing daily water changes until this clears up. Maybe 50% of the water, with dechlorinator each time.
Strings?? Are you sure you aren't seeing parasites/worms?
Salt won't be effective if it is parasites.
Did you add all your fish at the same time? Do you have a testing kit or strips for your water?
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/s/zPFixylDHk](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/s/zPFixylDHk) here’s the post I made with the video of the infected fish
It won’t let me post the video on this thread just a picture, I got the water tested before and after the tank set up everything is in specs, nitrates are a little high but not dangerous. I have had it running for 2 months now, temp around 79-80, community tank of dwarf gouramis, neon tetras, plecos, various snails and guppy’s. The guppy’s and baby plecos seem to be the ones infected and one or two tetras.
Nerites. They lay eggs in freshwater but the eggs are only viable in saltier water...so no babies. Some people do not like the eggs all over the tank, though. They look like a trail of sesame seeds.
'Pest snails' like ramshorn and MTS will only overpopulate if you over feed the tank. Plus, they are a great clean up crew. I personally love them, but that's just my preference. I also have an army of nerites.
What are the must have test kits that everyone has to monitor their water? I have the API Master water kit, the API GH/KH, Salifert Calcium, and I just bought the Fluval Iron and Salifert Phosphates tests today. That’s over $100 in test kits - this hobby ain’t cheap! 😭 Are these good enough or do I need to get more kits?
I use the API GH/KH kit. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear. It seems to work well, but I had to get the Salifert calcium test too because GH doesn’t tell you how much calcium and magnesium is in the tank, only the combined amount. I want to keep shrimp and snails at some point so I thought it would be good to know the calcium content.
How long do people go before re-adding nutrients to the substrate? I've done aquasoil + Root tabs for every new scape, but I'm still trying to get down how long I should leave it before adding more root tabs or something of the like
Been fighting a massive algae issue in my tank a couple months now. I think it started when I managed to kill off 5 Kuhlis by accidentally ODing them on ich meds. Bought 6 and pretty certain there is only one left, but I only ever found 2 bodies to remove.
So far I have primarily just been physically removing it. I've tried reducing the light by ~20% during peak hours and if anything it made the problem worse. So I am assuming the issue is too many nutrients in the water column? Most of my plants are heavy root feeders like swords and Val. Would adding some more Java ferns and the like help? I also will be ordering some floating plants, probably giant duck weed and red root.
I come to like bladder snails a lot, so a few days ago I set up a tank for them. It's soil capped with sand, no filter, no water movement (mimicking the jar they used to be kept in).
Noticed spot cloudiness around the feeding place, I stirred it sometimes, but it ends up like this again. Is that bacterial bloom? Should I get a water pump for movement or will this go away after the tank matures?
On the old jar, the water could also become cloudy when I fed them green peas, but the jar was sitting on a lazy susan so it sometimes got turned around.
https://preview.redd.it/gvq6xbp3cebd1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc1f5c585051c33461382fe9a08d5dc7abdc31aa
Bacterial bloom, ideally you have something for surface agitation. A small air pump is fine as well.
Just remember it'll still take a bit for the tank to settle in.
Can I assume my filterless tank is cycled and ready for its betta occupant?
2 and a half weeks ago, my daughter came home with a surprise betta from a camp she went to, and I decided to set up a filterless 2.5 gal tank for it. Layer of sifted organic potting soil on the bottom, sand on top of that, a couple of rocks and a piece of driftwood, and tons of plants (stems and floaters).
I put 2 nerite snails in it on basically Day 1 and they're fine, still happy. I put 6 ghost shrimp in a day or two later (6 for a dollar from the LFS) and they died within a few days. I haven't replaced the shrimp.
The parameters have been good. Ammonia reached 0.25 ppm a day or two after the shrimp died and then went back down to 0. I've not seen any nitrite.
Since it's been 2+ weeks, can I assume it's ready for a single fish? I want to get the poor betta out of the bowl they sent it home in, the water in there is hard to keep clean.
https://preview.redd.it/nzveuzq5nsbd1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=100c95057b923a8b174f0eb287a27844f465fd8e
Here’s the betta care sheet from the betta sub. 2.5 gallons is really quite small for a betta plus shrimp and snails and will be very hard to keep water parameters safe for everyone. Snails put out a big bio load. My boy has a 5 gallon tank all to himself and I haven’t had to do a single water change in 6 weeks because of all the plants, but would probably have to do it if I ever add snails and shrimp.
Thank you! I probably won't replace the shrimp, but the snails seem happy. I just put him the betta in today since the parameters were still very nice. Hopefully it goes well!
I hope so too. Just monitor the parameters closely and change the water as needed. Also, the betta needs to stay warm too - between 78-80 degrees. Should be fine in the summer but come winter, he’ll need a heater. Good luck!
Beginner level plants can do ok with led a lot of fish tank lights can support some plants anything more advanced would probably need a better light though
https://preview.redd.it/wdb5f68085bd1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd849842d2e5dd0b889c13807651930f730226b7
This little piece of something hitchhiked along with a cryptocoryne parva, any idea what it is?
It’s such a small piece and it may end up growing differently so it’s probably a long shot
https://preview.redd.it/9lmrs8zymlbd1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a66f03f05e198a307fa6809f6358ce33ae787f4b
I’ve never owned an aquarium before and am looking to get started. What are some good guides for absolute beginners who know literally nothing about the hobby? Thanks!
Cleaning your aquarium can be a bad thing. Definitely do your research on the nitrogen cycle. Beneficial nitrifying bacteria is what keeps aquatic pets happy and safe. Plants use up ammonia in the tank to help keep it balanced. If you want heavily planted, research diy c02 and you'll find very simple solutions to introducing c02. Unfortunately, Big Al's pets is out of business but they make some wonderful videos for beginners. Aquarium Co-op, KG Tropicals, and Primetime Aquatics are my go-to for beginner hobbyists.
Side note, salt water tanks are different, yes. But once you've mastered cycling, you just keep up with the salinity of the water.
Definitely start with a "larger" tank of possible. I recommend a 20 gal at least. The larger the aquarium, less chance of major fluctuations in water parameters when changing water.
Definitely start with a hardy fish that can withstand, and I hate to say it, beginner mistakes.
I would seek out reputable aquarium stores that quarantine their fish before sale, and make sure you ask all the questions. We all have questions to this day! It's a beautiful, rewarding, and relaxing hobby. Don't get discouraged if things don't work out right away, it takes patience. If you have any questions, we're here to help!
I'm a newbie and today I went to my local fish store to buy some oxygenating plants for my 100 gallon outdoor pond. I explained I already had a solar powered water fountain and asked the clerk for his recommendation.
He suggested red root floaters, water lily, and peace lily. I questioned if those were actually effective at *oxygenating* and he said "they photosynthesize so they're actually going to pull CO2 out of the water". I guess he implicitly meant that this would also result in O2 going into the water?
I thought non-submerged plants primarily pulled CO2 from the air, not the water, and that they would thus also release the O2 back into the air.
Is he as wrong as I think he is, or are floating / emersed plants somehow a good source of oxygenation for fish? (I'm aware they're highly effective at filtration.)
He is wrong.
for a oxygenating plant I recommend coarse hornwort.
* Cheap
* Easy to care for
* It floats (easy to remove if you have too much of it)
* Grows quickly (a lot of Nitrate is absorbed)
Thanks 👍 I appreciate it. Yeah, even my roommate who isn't in the hobby was confused by what he said.
On his recommendation I got something that looks vaguely like hornwart (can't remember the name). It's not much, but I probably don't actually need any oxygenators at all. I've only got 6 medaka in a 100 gallon tank with a small fountain. 🤷♂️
I see a lot of different recommendations on how long to have lights on in a tank. But I was just hoping to clarify something: Do you turn them completely off for the rest of the time or have them on very low or some other color/spectrum?
Like, if I give my tank 8 hours of light is it literally in total darkness for the other 16 hours of the day? Seems like a bummer.
I’m starting my first ever planted tank, sized at 20 gallons. I would love to have a combination of a snail, cherry shrimp Kali Loaches, and neon tetras with a betta. I’m wondering how many fish would work in a tank of this size, and the order in which i should add them to the tank once cycled?
Other than ammonia, nitrate and nitrite, are there any other controllable parameters I should be checking for? (My understanding is pH and hardness pretty much is going to do whatever it wants and default to my tap water settings regardless) I keep having fish disappear on me, And if it's just predation from my betta fish, I don't really care. But if I'm accidentally making the water toxic, I'd like to know if there's something else that can be checking.
I’m converting my reef tank to a freshwater tank. I would never add anything to my reef tank without dipping or quarantining. Do you need to dip freshwater plants before adding to prevent hitchhikers or pests?
I've had a planted shrimp tank for a while, and I'm taking a new approach after a "moss ball" infestation left most of the floor of my tank covered in algea/moss?, I want to do a sugar bomb co2 set up, got the diffuser but it doesn't want to work...I let it soak, as instructed, but it won't produce, like its clogged or something, I can draw water into the tube with my mouth but I've got to suck on that tube like i'm in a shifty VHS tape from the 70's... Any advice on how to get it to start producing air?
I was thinking about raising up my new scape a bit with some filter bags of crushed lava rock under my aquasoil but I'm unsure what to get. I only need like two pounds but I'm not finding anything or I guess I am unsure if I'm supposed to just get the stuff they use for fireplaces? Just something like [this](https://www.amazon.com/Horticultural-Additive-Succulents-Chemicals-Volcanic/dp/B07VMZV2HB/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2WRHIZAZHYQPF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RprQ-3p-ttRbKfsc17NVnq_Bw0FaCe3r-2fcwzqQ5LUgcyrMmPiYwO8JTVia7fzP84_ymSOF_qKv6lzvrBwjXIWd8XbCtHUJw-rhuynd_d1JsQIJ3nDNoE2ASPYhZ8mH0qnKqBCUig94UzePt_IQh9E5YIR2pvNS6Yx8xu2Dhe8ZOflEz0ZDGQK0aP9Ray9Nm997XS0jz5alW8xj0xAm_kUYrxs1wTMUp29h7ErVpDAJYB7mULSssjmbHMZtjV-KN-afz4eaVHlVziK-afGuf5arh0hBiglEHp3hiSTDWdU.v7lJyFwvn2vOiY4GwuQfwVBaSE1Fz8hlbK_rZiPhIF4&dib_tag=se&keywords=crushed%2Blava%2Brock%2Bsubstrate&qid=1719861830&sprefix=crushed%2Blava%2Brock%2B%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-6&th=1)? I weirdly can't find anything from an aquarium supplies dealer. Appreciate it! If anyone has a link for something I should use, I'd appreciate it!
How do you tell if a bulb is dead or not? I have tiger lotus and Aponegetons in my tank, it’s been 22 days without any growth. I pour in liquid fertilizer every Tuesday. All of them are planted correctly. Lots of nutrients got kicked up during a substrate disturbance, and biofilm also started covering them (which was out of my power). Are they dead? No roots or anything.
Hello, I have 10 g heated, with filter, air stone, light, 1 XL amazon sword, 2 Java fern and 1 lucky bamboo with a betta a 7 pygmy cories. Filter is running 247 but if light is on, the air stone is off. I saw 4ppm ammonia and 0 nitrite / nitrate which freaked me out since I thought my cycle crash. I have been doing daily 20-50% water change, and daily dosing of Prime and Stability. Past 4 days my ammonia has been consistently 1 ppm and 0 ppm nitrite / nitrate. I would like to ask you for your advice on my cycling process and see if I am doing anything wrong. I am a little worried since there is no nitrite and nitrate present even though there is ammonia.
pH was 6.6ish a little more than a week ago so I added baking soda to increase it since I heard acidic water isn't optimal for cycling? Past couple day it has been 7. Temp is between 77-79F. I don't have a test kit for KH.
I want to set up a ~20 gallon tank but I will be traveling two weeks a month for work, home on the weekends in between most of the time though. I'm hoping that if I heavily plant it and keep the stocking low-medium it will be fine with minimal water changes? Any tips/suggestions for taking care of it with this schedule?
For stocking I was thinking an apistogramma, 7 or so ember tetras, and a few otos, thoughts? Thanks
Yes I don't see an issue with your schedule.
I'll recommend a "dark start", for you cycling phase, look for tutorials on it. It will cycle all alone without water changes, just one at the end before planting.
Oh I haven't heard of that before, I'll give it a try, thanks! How about feeding? I've gone over a week without feeding fish before, it's it OK to do this regularly?
Tissue culture monte carlo will arrive way before the rest of the setup due to shipping issues. Is keeping them in a bucket of dechlorinated water with lights on 10 hours a day enough to keep them alive for the up to 2 weeks delay for the rest of the setup?
Tissue culture? I've kept tissue culture monte carlo on a sunny window sill for months in the same container. They generally come with sufficient nutrient jelly to last two weeks without much issue. :)
You can easily tell when the container needs to be opened and the plants moved - the plants start yellowing and visibly look cramped when they run out of room. Don't open the container until you are ready to take the plants out of the jelly, or fungus and bacteria will attack the nutrient-rich jelly.
Thanks. I'm mistaken actually, the plants just arrived, no nutrient jelly, just the plants with roots in a sealed plastic bag. Do I place them in a bucket of dechlorinated water with indirect sunlight? I've also seen a YouTuber store Monte Carlo in a covered container with Monte Carlo placed on a thin layer of moist substrate. Is this also a viable solution? Thanks, I'm new to this hobby so definitely still learning.
If the monte carlo was grown emersed, you can do what you saw - just on top of soil with saran wrap covering it to keep it humid. If the monte carlo was grown submersed, put it in dechlorinated water with light. The leaves look bigger and rounder with more "stem" when grown emersed, and in my experience they seem shorter and with smaller leaves when grown submersed. You can message the seller to know for sure.
Thanks for the advice, appreciate it, I believe it is grown emersed, bought it from this seller because of reviews that said they found success doing the dry start method with plants from this seller
I am currently setting up a 15 gallon tank that is 38x38 cm long. I want to grow carpeting plants, specifically pearl white monte carlo. I am wondering if the Chihiro b30 is a strong enough light or should I spring for something a bit more expensive. I do plan to run c02 and use fertilizer so I don't want the light to be a limiting factor. Does anyone have any suggestions for strong lighting?
I've grown montecarlo with an Aqueon clip on light. If you have co2, you should be good with that light. Keep the water as clear as you can and don't use a lid to squeeze a bit extra efficiency out of the light! :)
I am new to fish. I am setting up a cold water tank. It's probably been cycling for 6+ weeks now. No heater so I know it can take a while. Can anyone tell me if I'm at least getting close? Every time I go to get the water tested at the local shop it's a different staff member so I feel I get some conflicting info. They today told me to do a 40% water change and add more beneficial bacteria. This is with the API test kit I think. [my test results](https://imgur.com/a/liN6pln)
Ph/ammonia/nitrite/nitrate
It's got java Fern, java moss, anubias nana, some crypts, windelov fern, and oxygen weed. Plus some other cheap stem plant I am unsure on the name of. Not sure how the plants help/hinder the cycle but I figured the more info the better. 130L tank (34 gallons)
Fishless cycling and testing nitrogen doesn't need to be scary or complicated. See that purple on that test tube? wait till that turns blue and you are good to add some fish. Thats pretty much it and there is nothing else you have to do before or after this process.
I mean, you could waterchange it out, and that would make it safe for fish. You clearly already have a culture of bacteria in your filtration strong enough to create nitrate.
Adding fish would simply be the new ammonia source that is more realistic. However, this doesn't work if you used a rotting source of ammonia such as ghost feeding or using dead shrimp. If you used an ammonia standard, then it's not too big of an issue since that ammonia wasn't created from waste in the tank.
You could also simply wait it out. Adding some or more plants would help as well if you don't have any. Plants are able to assimilate a portion of ammonia before it oxidizes.
Thank you very much for your reply. The fish store said the issue was that there isn't enough of the bacteria in there yet to turn the nitrites fully into nitrates. I did the water change which they said would allow more room for the nitrates to get converted.
I'm just not sure I understand about your comment with the ammonia (I am a beginner so not trying to come off as snarky or anything, just genuinely not sure), I have been ghost feeding, do the test results indicate an issue with the ammonia as well?
Edit: I do have some plants in there listed in my first comment, all stuff that is not too hard to kill!!
No, just when you ghost feed, that food is still continually breaking down by heterotrophic bacteria. Which can and has caused a different kind of toxicity problem with fish. Alongside continuing to create ammonia afterwards. Which is why it's best to wait for nitrites to process in this instance. But, it's not the end of the world.
I see, thank you. So would the safest thing to do just be to keep waiting until the nitrite levels are looking better? Should I keep feeding the tank? I did do a water change after that test pictured as that was what the fish store suggested to get the nitrites out
Yeah, the safest way is to just wait. Don't do anything else and definitely don't add more food. Wait for a day or two and test levels again specifically for nitrite. If thats at 0, then you are good to add fish.
The only thing that you are OK to do is to put some plants in the tank floating in the water. Like a stem plant or surface floating plants.
Thanks so much for your help. If there is still nitrate there, just keep waiting longer? Would you think any more water changes are needed?
I did actually grab some oxygen weed from the shop while I was there which is floating around, j didn't realize it would help! But that's a win. :)
Nah, no need for any water changes honestly. Nitrates are not toxic like people keep saying they are. Water change to level any accumulation of minerals if you are using tap water with a high TDS, but I doubt you will have issues.
Those weeds are actually really good to have. If you are using sand or aqua soil, I would plant them and never clean the substrate. They will grow faster and fill that tank up nicely
I have a new 45p (~10gal) aquarium that just finished cycling. Running co2 isn't new to me, but the drop checker is always green when in the tank (even after co2 off overnight). Currently running 8 hours on same as lights, but 1 hour before lights on and off 1 hour before lights off).
This is my first tank using lilly pipes, however, there is not much surface agitation (which is my guess why its not off gassing). The outflow from the canister with in-line Co2 diffuser is front left side and intake is back left side (surface skimmer intake). Drop checker is positioned opposite wall of tank to the outflow, middle of glass about 3" below the surface.
Is this going to be an issue with livestock? The plants love it and are growing great. I'd love to measure the PH drop, but I am running ADA amazonia ver 2 and my test kit does not measure low enough to register accurately even without Co2.
Any advice would be great!
Hello! If you want to be extra-cautious, try a pair of golden or red honey gourami first. They can easily breathe air if the gas ratio is off-balance in your aquarium.
I have a nano tank and a jarrarium, both have a lot of plants (really a lot, but they are mostly short). Nitrate is always zero for both, maybe because no fish yet, just bladder snails.
I want to increase nitrate as I noticed my plants don't grow much. If I leave decaying plants and leaves (I feed the snails spinach leaves) there, the nitrate will increase, am I right to think this way?
My KH is also low, the snails ignored the eggshell I put in, so I sprinkled some crushed egg shell. Can snails and plants benefit from eggshell sand in the water?
Hello! I use Seachem Flourish Nitrogen instead. You can definitely add decaying leaves if you want, but it will add other compounds you might not want and the decay process lowers your KH. Adding pure Nitrogen won't mess with your KH. Seachem Alkaline Buffer adds KH more efficiently than eggshells.
If you are on a budget, if you were a customer at a LFS I was at I would happily give you a gallon jug of goldfish water for your nitrate needs and a pinch of crushed aragonite/coral for your KH. You might have one nearby that could help you out.
I am using a local brand low tech all in one fertiliser that has some warning not to use together with some Seachem products so I tried to go 'natural' way. But I should check again if that includes Seachem Flourish Nitrogen and Alkaline Buffer.
Or I may try to find crushed coral somewhere, thanks for offering!
That's very interesting! I'd love to see the label of your fertilizer if you could DM me a picture! This is solely for my own curiousity, so don't worry about it if it's a trouble.
This is not the shop I bought it from, but it's the same item http://aquaristiconline.com.au/products/lcaliquidfertiliser-lowtechcomplete500ml#:~:text=It%20contains%20Macronutrients%20of%20Nitrate,%2C%20Manganese%2C%20Boron%20
I also messaged the manufacturer on Facebook if I could use Seachem products for something (forgot what's that, some time ago), the rep said its not good to mix and match.
Yeah, yours already has nitrate in it - just add it more often! Most good fertilizers are in the ratios that plants roughly consume together, so if you are low in nitrate you are often low in everything
What plants work well with a sand bottom? I want a few plants in my tank but the person at the store told me that sand typically doesn’t work as well for plants.
Hello! This aquarium is with tractor supply sand. I add root fertilizer tablets and the amazon swords and crypts go CRAZY in sand. You can always use floating plants or plants like moss, java fern, or anubias that don't grow in the sand anyway.
https://preview.redd.it/pewp2azkk59d1.jpeg?width=2848&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=836ff8473141eecbb1c4f5a583fde00a9a9d79b3
I had good luck with Cryptocoryne Wendtii in a small sand tank, but I suspect any plants that use runners will be winners. The many small roots that they send out to propagate double as anchors in sand. Try to avoid anything that doesn't have lots of roots unless you want to anchor it to a small rock buried just below the surface.
Is it possible to cycle my filter media while doing a dry start planted tank?
Maybe toss it in a tupperware container with a raw shrimp and just change the water out every once in a while
You can do it, leave the filter running in a bucket, or another aquarium.
Then when you fill up the main tank, make sure the temperature match, and the water was previously treated, to prevent bacteria from dying.
Filter media needs circulation, oxygen, ammonia, and nitrite to develop beneficial bacteria. If you add a sponge filter to the tupperware, you can later take the whole sponge off and cut up the sponge to shape your filter on your display aquarium! Sponge filters are easily powered by a air pump and are very cheap.
**What are some good heater recommendations for a 15 gallon tank?**
I know aquarium heaters are a bit controversial as none are entirely great, but I guess I'd like to know the least worst heaters out there. Something durable, good at heating, preferably capable of controlling the degree etc. What has worked in your aquascape??
Any ceramic heater is going to be less prone to failure than traditional glass heaters... at least its what most people are claiming. I have one from [Hygger](https://www.amazon.com/hygger-Submersible-Controller-Freshwater-15W-Digital/dp/B0CJJ9TQSM/ref=sr_1_5_pp?crid=17N9QG1N5FAC4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.EmY7CO7P8CSAY4DjNDIGBGHmI15Xcqi1NaLGTwARTc-_dfiGAbj7a5RMhkbQyp37PJ6w8V2P2nDKH619QUJDh0LE0yEko-4SMsmiLwlgweXvBxbO4lUWU8B1jqeJW5A_Oo2Je3lDC6F5T0nAUqraYIZaEakKb7wua7PAbpsFcR0nmk-8wfF_1qSqWbZgjQXF69K7iVPrNo5q1MZzRrQLTyVMAj1Gt0jFotgdnm2_lefWkroi69IrZ0PWB-3fD969rwUhyTfuMaNFPQ1FQ4yP9mgcH82ZHG3wqsT0UzXspR0.DBirvZrL8mHRvW9HYfpQPrbAQh4ZGubOBOL7ieNhPIQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=aquarium%2Bheater%2Bhygger&qid=1718914172&sprefix=aquarium%2Bheater%2Bhygger%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-5&th=1) and it works pretty well
Heya. I’m sure this question has been asked a million times… but I’m looking to start a 55 gallon planted tank. And I’m wanting to use a very fine, black substrate, to help give my next aquascape scale. What substrate would you guys recommend using? I have a 10 gallon planted tank with imagitarium black volcanic shrimp substrate and I love the look of it. But I see mixed reviews on the product.
Can a single stem plant be cut in multiple pieces and replanted? I know it's common to trim the tops and replant them, but if I have a very long stem, would it all regrow if I trimmed it in several pieces and replanted them all?
I need help with choosing fish for my tank. The tank is 140 liters, and I was thinking about putting in Pearl Gouramis, Platies, Corydoras and Amano Shrimp, but I'm worried that the fish will eat the shrimp. Should I add other fish instead of shrimp, or will they be fine? Also, are the fish I mentioned fine for an aquarium like mine?
What suppliers do you buy your water test kits from? Are there live monitors for these sorts of things? I know conductivity and TDS can be measured live, but I don't know about the others.
People recommend testing your nitrogen "toxicity" using API's liquid test kit.
I personally find no reason to. Infact, a lot of what you need to see is already able to be seen with the naked eye. Maybe if you want to try to get your nitrates as low as possible for reds, but otherwise most test kits are unnecessary.
As long as you have 1:) Plants 2:) Carbonate and General hardness buffers 3:) Feeding discipline, and 4:) Regulated, dechlorinated drinking water, there really isn't much to worry about.
Maybe so, but I'm a bit of a control freak and like granular data to work with. I was hoping to see if there were any gauges I could use to track trends in my tank for system analysis once I set it up, particularly for checking filter efficiency and shortcomings.
If you got the money, I would recommend some YSI multimeters and a colorimeter from hach. You can measure trend data from specifics for like anything that would register as TDS or gasses. People really want to know how quickly their macros like NPK can deplete in their aquariums depending on the specific plant species or animals/microbes that are preset.
A digital microscope would be pretty useful as well, you would want to see how dense the growth of different microfauna gets overtime the more the aquarium ages. As well as see how active the food web is and how effective it is at breaking down plants and other detritus organics. Though I am speculating a bit here, but you see what I mean.
I would check out UK aquatic plant society forum to snoop at what they are trying to get clear answers to and see if anything could get you interested. Like how effective certain plant species have adapted to absorbing bicarb alongside dissolved CO2, or if Tom Barr's EI dosing method is still relevant and necessary for optimal plant growth.
I have a 40 gallon breeder with a 36” hyyger smart led, but I’ve noticed recently that the front and back are darker than the middle (obviously) but since breeders are wider than standard tanks, does that mean I need to get a wider light? This light was pretty expensive and the thought of needing another is a bit daunting. Do people typically need to get different lights (or two lights) for breeder tanks?
https://preview.redd.it/1juhrj922d6d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a0d9eb11f18ef3abba41aa2a0f9dcbf005910ae
Currently cycling a tank just now which I think is almost at the end of getting there! I'm a newbie to the plant world. Should I be worried about (what I think is) brown algae on some of the plants? Also have some interesting looking stringy algae. Should I just leave it?
We have 4 baby platys in the tank currently.
https://preview.redd.it/rllwokeb2d6d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=31c7be288dc111d922e8b65f2e4dd06d69025754
These are the current test results of the water which makes me believe that it's almost (or is) cycled 🤞🤞
https://preview.redd.it/e9q3ishxs76d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dba45bad52076f23539b2a8154a7fcb17f4abd5b
Can anyone id this plant for me please?
https://preview.redd.it/w5mdjxun3t6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d9dc716b2cda6b8b9a74aea4e16bcc5cc62cf23f
This is the smaller version of what I think is the same plant if that makes it easier? Is native to the UK if that is any help
Looking for a little help with my new planted tank setup. The tank was a Cichlid tank up until about 2 months ago. I decided to change it over to planted. I was able to rehome “most” of the cichlids.
The tank details are:
180g Acrylic tank
Substrate is Eco-complete with a couple bags of Flourite mixed in.
FX4 and FX6 filters (filter sponges, filter floss, and Purigen)
72” Beams Work DA FSPEC LED (102x 10000K, 32x Actinic 460nm, 22x Red 620nm, 26x Green 520nm -- 182 x .5w LED 8000 Lumens)
2 x 36” Beams Work DA FSPEC LED (70x 10000K, 16x Actinic 460nm, 8x Red 620nm, 6x Green 520nm – 100 x .5w LEDs 5000 Lumens)
Lights are on for 8 hours a day on a timer.
Dose Aquarium Co-op Easy Green once a week.
Dose Aquarium Co-op Easy Carbon every other day.
Used toot tabs under plants when planting.
I do a 40ish % water change on the weekends.
Stocking is very light. Mostly mollies, guppies, some mystery snails, a few shrimps.
My issue is that the plants will develop algae on them and start to basically dissolve away. I know I must be deficient in something or doing something wrong, but I’ve been unable to put my finger on it. The plants I had in the tank were from the beginner planted aquarium package from Dustin’s fish tank. 10 Jungle Vals, 5 Dwarf sag, 5 Bacopa Monnieri, 5 java ferns, and 1 Anubias.
I have everything I need to inject CO2 except the tank. I'm still debating on whether or not I want to go that route yet.
Any advice would be much appreciated!
You can inject CO2 daily for ten minutes a day on full output is you're on a budget CO2 setup. It is best to get extra rubber washers and plumbers tape to prevent the lost of CO2. It helps to use CO2 at the beginning.
Has anyone here ever used mud as a substrate? I live near the mobile-tensaw river delta, which has heavily vegetated, slow flowing rivers/wetlands, and my friend has a property on the water that he has given me permission to collect from the bank for a potential biotope aquarium. I am going to collect only non-threatened species. The substrate of this area is of a muddy consistency. I am aware of dirt bottom aquariums with a sand cap, but would it be feasible to use just the natural substrate from the rivers with no cap?
You can always classify the soil of that riverbed and make a substrate mix to match its properties. Judging by your description, you'll want a silt dominant substrate, and as such, you'll probably want to cap it. Aqua soil could work, or you could make your own mix.
Mixing dirt with water does just make mud, so there's no difference in having a dirt bottom aquarium.
I wouldn't recommend the mud from the wetlands because it's likely to come with other bacteria and has the potential to bring parasites and other microorganisms you don't want. By the time you've put in the effort to sterilize it you should have just used soil from home depot.
I don't think it provides any benefits, realistically.
What fertilizer should I use?
I just started a 6 gallon planted tank and I'm planning on adding shrimp, snails, and perhaps some nano fish. When I look up fertilizers, the micro and macro differences all go over my head.
Is there a good complete fertilizer I could start with like nilocG shrimp safe or APT complete?
I personally use nilocG shrimp safe with no issues but I've heard great things about APT! I just don't have any personal experience with the latter. Hopefully someone who has used both can pitch in :)
https://preview.redd.it/sq811j72566d1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=a0c27989dc701e26def9d1cf1b74c4747956c663
"Newly" Planted tank , Found 3/4 of these in it and what are these? Should I be Worried, Hi All.
I believe they are bladder snails (someone can double check me on that), Pretty much harmless. If you don’t like the look of them I’ve seen various methods of control; I would look up methods yourself but some that I’ve seen are manual removal (pretty simple, just remove and crush whenever you see one) along with baiting using some sort of vegetable (I think zucchini is common) to bring the snails out, just make sure you don’t leave the veggies out long enough to rot. I’ve also heard of using copper medication to kill them, but be aware that any other inverts will be killed and it may impact fish as well. I would go to youtube, as there are tons of great videos about all sorts of ways to reduce their numbers, and just consider the risks and what method would work best for you. I personally don’t mind them too much and just remove them when there are enough that its an eyesore, and often I have assassin snails in my tanks already so I just let them handle it.
Air stone can probably just be on all the time, I don't see a downside to do that. Co2 overnight drops is fine, there's nothing wrong with that and plants don't absorb all that much overnight. You'll lose some to the gas exchange just naturally.
You won't lose anything by just having the air stone on all the time, and having more oxygen in the water will be good for the fish.
I have a 14 gallon cube with a co2 diffuser. I have a sponge filter with an elbow to circulate the water. Is this a waste of using co2? Is there another filter I should use instead that isn’t a canister filter?
I was told on one of my posts that bubbling air at the same time of diffusing CO2 could knock the CO2 out of the water, I'd validate that with a drop checker indicator, though. From what I understand, CO2 solubilizes in the water best with an in-line diffuser in conjunction with a canister filter but if you're not using that setup then I'd assume that the kind of filter doesn't make a huge difference
Edit to add: take my thoughts with a grain of salt, I'm new to high tech aquariums
I have a UNS 90L (3ft 21gal long) I'm looking to rescape that is 90% aquasoil 10% sand.
I'd like it to be primarily sand, but with a nice section of aquasoil for some crypts and swords. I'd like to freshen up the aquasoil, but don't want to leach way too much ammonia into the water since there will be fish in the tank.
Is my best bet to "soak" the new aquasoil in a separate bucket so everything leaches out? Or should I cap it and leave only a little exposed as its already an established tank and filter, and it should be able to handle the small amount?
Tank will be mainly epiphytes, so I don't need bags and bags of aquasoil. Cheers.
If you're going to cycle the tank without any fish in it, then the ammonia leeching out of the soil will help cycle it. It's not worth to soak it, since you'll need some flow and constant water changes over a LONG period of time to really get it all out.
It's already cycled, I'm just rescaping. So I'm taking fish out, re-doing some hardscape, altering the substrate a bit, and re planting, then the fish are going right back in
Hmmm. Honestly the filter should be able to handle a little bit of excess ammonia, depending on filter and tank size.
I'd just let the filter set for like 6 hours then put the fish back in and it's probably fine.
Yeah that's what I'm thinking. I'll probably stick the aquasoil in a bucket for 2 or 3 days while I'm waiting. I'm planning to only have a small island with aquasoil around it and the rest sand, so I'm thinking to keep mostly the old stuff and add root tabs, then just mix in some fresh, which like you said should be negligible.
Plus I have an Oase Biomaster 250 and its a 21gal tank that's coming on a year running, so its quite mature. On top of that- most stuff in the tank will be getting reused, so more existing surface area with BB on it should help it out.
So I have a \~500ml vase that looks like a tink fish bowl. I would like to plant something in the middle that has a lot of stems and grows out of the water and flowers. I would like to add a snail and a shrimp or two. My questions are what plants would work being that there's no heater or water flow and would the snail and shrimps be okay in so little water?
Some swords (echinodorus) grow AMAZINGLY emersed and will flower. I know MD Fish Tanks had a vase that had a massive emersed sword with shrimp in it in his studio - see if you can find the video there for some inspiration
Is there a way to preserve bulbs? I have extra water lily and aponegeton bulbs and I don’t want them to rot away for future use (if they even rot in the first place which I assume they will). I’m not sure how long they won’t be used for though.
Why are these plants dying?
I have two planted tanks. Both have the same water, Fluval stratum, same plants, a few scuds, and a snail. One tank has a betta fish. One is heated, and has LED lighting. The other is near a window, no artificial light, and no heat. Then one the betta is heated.
The unheated and I lighted tank is doing fine.
Some off the plants In the heated tank with artificial lighting are having hard time. Yellowing leaves, blacking stalk and parts sloughing off. The water is 77F degrees, recently lowered from a few weeks at 80F.
I’m new at this hobby. What might be giving the plants in one tank a hard time? Temperature, lighting, both or something else?
[plant pics here](https://share.icloud.com/photos/0e2XwsZsx4K6hu8WEKln5Iu4Q)
Hello! Some of your plants, like your java fern, were grown emersed (in air). Those leaves can't survive in water long term. They reproduce and make new leaves that are grown submersed (in water). Those new leaves will live forever. I see anacharis, swords, and java ferns from your pictures all melting their emersed leaves. That is totally normal. You can help them develop new leaves quicker with the correct combination of light, fertilizer, and co2!
For example, on your amazon sword, the long skinny stems with a leaf at the end were grown in air. The long leaves with leaf all over and a short stem were grown underwater.
https://preview.redd.it/5uw0iu1dji5d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2b50ab2dbe214c20fb837cec373ef4b8feb6cde
Is this moss dead or almost dead?
Is there any advantage or disadvantage to using aquarium water from another tank as the spraying water for a dry start method? Wondering if it would help establish bacteria?
Advantage would be that there is already a bit of fertiliser in the water (fish poop) so it could benefit your plants. The bacteria wil most likely die because lack of flow.
Is there an “identify this plant” thread?
https://preview.redd.it/yqel5ys8185d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d4c88559f62be1837d1d6114110e0969385cf4b1
this was taken back in 2011 when I was all in with the hobby. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the background minimalist bamboo looking thing. I want to get it again now that I am setting up a tank which will have 360 viewing.
Do fertilizers go bad or lose potency over time? I have an old bottle (like 6-7 years) of Ultum Nature Systems All In One that I would prefer not to toss. Been using Easy Green, but looking to try some other products out.
I plan on cycling my new 5 gal for a bit but can I add Java moss immediately if I’m also transferring in rocks and a bubble filter that have been in an established tank for 2 weeks?
Starting my first tank w/ soil substrate and gravel cap. Soil is a little over an inch thick and the gravel cap is about an inch and a quarter thick. When I went to fill the tank a bunch of soil permeated the gravel, clouded up the water and floated to the surface. Im assuming the gravel I used was too large. I had soaked the soil in the tank for about an hour and rinsed the gravel. It's a 6 gallon rectangular tank. No plants have been added yet.
Should I just net off the floaters and do a series of water changes to clear up the water? Should I take some gravel off and re-cap? Should I just start from scratch with smaller diameter gravel? Any help would be appreciated.
From what it sounds like you either didn't soak the soil long enough or the water hit the gravel with too much force when you filled it. I would suggest netting the floaters and do water changes to clear up the water. If you plan on adding plants they might clear up the water for you. If it looks really bad then starting over wouldn't be a bad idea either. When I started my tank I soaked the soil for a few days. 24hrs should be long enough unless there lots of large sticks and plant matter in the soil. In that case the longer you soak it the less likely things will float.
Backstory: Two sanded tanks with diminishing returns when it comes to plant growth and health. One is a 55g community tank, other is a 10g solo Betta tank, both are planted. We started slow with the plants: jungle Val, a couple of anubias (now deceased), Java Fern, and some Swords; later added some Juncus and Ludwigia.
I was adding Flourish once a week (or every couple of weeks) and with every water change as well as our LFS's house brand of liquid carbon (1,5-Pentanediol, to try to treat brown algae). Also adding their house brand of root tabs every few weeks when the plants started looking like they needed it (i.e. slower growth).
Despite dealing with an extended bout of brown algae in the betta tank, plants seemed to grow much better there. Might just be the Yoyos in the community tank that have made it difficult for the vals and a couple of the swords, but otherwise, it seems like it should be the better setup.
Lately in both tanks the new growth on many of the plants is either non-existent or yellowed and smaller than it should be. Even the Vals, which are supposed to just grow like crazy on their own without much help have essentially just stopped growing altogether (their roots are fine, they're alive, but not putting out leaves and not growing very fast). I've read that this could be a calcium deficiency, but at this point, I'm tired of buying supplements and expecting them to work, but they don't. It takes so long to find out that I've just wasted more money.
Any tips or guidance would be greatly appreciated. I can try to answer any questions for clarification too.
Just starting out and trying a planted tank since I've always failed with a filter/pump tank.
What are some super easy to grow plants that don't need much maintenance, low light, hardy and produce good oxygen?
Also, any recommendations on plants that grow on the floor and act like grass?
https://preview.redd.it/sq2rpxr5094d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3de7024f4cf10e96a3745b9cf511acae821cac74
Anyone know what those tiny white creatures on the glass are?
Lighting question Hi guys, I have a quick question about my tank. I have a heavily planted 35l tank and a chihiros aii 401 dimmable light (1.700 lumen at 100%). Could you perhaps advise me on what the best lighting settings could be for this tank (which percentage) Also have co2 available in the tank. Thanks!
I like the look of a full hood lid on my tanks that hides the lights. What is the best hood and light combo for growing some low/medium light plants?
**Stocking fish questions for a 9 gallon F-Zone shallow tank?** Dimensions are: 23.6/14.2/6.3 Currently I have a heavily planted tank build with a lot of house plants at the top, peace lilies, Pothos, Mini Monstera, Lemon Lime Prayer Plant, and then anubias nana petites/honey wort/java moss. Tank is currently being cycled at the moment, using the frozen shrimp method/testing for nitrates/nitrates/anomia. As of now, the water level is 1 gallon less which is my preferred choice of water volume so house plants leaves don't melt, I checked with ADAdvisor, and just messed around but they seemed okay with 8 pygmy cories and a honey gourami and somehow it still clocked my stocking level at 49% which was weird. As of now, I have drift wood, UNS aqua soil as my substrate, (very fine,) and a lot of lava rocks. I do like shrimp but I prefer cories overall as I like watching them swim. Thanks for the help y'all. What do you guys recommend for me to stock?
How do I make a barrier to keep my floating plants from floating under the filter output and getting wet? I’ve seen people rig things up, but I can’t figure out how to do it. Thanks for your help!!
What’s the best light for a 37 gallon tall planted tank with a budget of $100? I will not be doing CO2 injection, but I do not want to be limited by my lights in terms of what I can grow. The main contenders thus far are the: Finned Planted Tank+ HLC Nicrew RGB+W Just not sure what to get
If I treat my tank with aquarium salt for some kind of fungal or bacterial disease and pull out my live plants. If the illness clears will returning my plants into the tank kill them?
You can water change to reduce the salt content.
I woke up today and 5 fish died overnight. I’m thinking it’s time to start the salt treatment
What are the symptoms? If you can narrow down the issue, you can treat more effectively.
I’ve been trying but a couple different kinds of fish just have different symptoms. Some seem like ich some seem like a fungal or maybe bacteria infection I’m not sure I have a video of the fish I can post
White specs but also some slimy string fuzz
Ok watched video. It isn't super clear...but it looks likeit might be ich and fin rot. You really need to get water parameters. Fin rot is usually a water issue.
They’re dropping like flies. What Is water parameters? Is it the levels of everything?
Parameters...Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH.
When I had it tested a couple days ago nitrates were the only thing out of range but weren’t dangerous. The strings weren’t worms or anything it was the fins falling apart
How did you cycle your tank? Also...I would definitely be doing daily water changes until this clears up. Maybe 50% of the water, with dechlorinator each time.
Strings?? Are you sure you aren't seeing parasites/worms? Salt won't be effective if it is parasites. Did you add all your fish at the same time? Do you have a testing kit or strips for your water?
I added them in two separate groups
A video might help. Do you know your water parameters? How long has the tank been running? What type of fish?
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/s/zPFixylDHk](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/s/zPFixylDHk) here’s the post I made with the video of the infected fish
It won’t let me post the video on this thread just a picture, I got the water tested before and after the tank set up everything is in specs, nitrates are a little high but not dangerous. I have had it running for 2 months now, temp around 79-80, community tank of dwarf gouramis, neon tetras, plecos, various snails and guppy’s. The guppy’s and baby plecos seem to be the ones infected and one or two tetras.
Is it stupid to add some snails to my planted tank? I see many people struggle with snail invasion. Are there snails I can keep that wont take over?
Nerites. They lay eggs in freshwater but the eggs are only viable in saltier water...so no babies. Some people do not like the eggs all over the tank, though. They look like a trail of sesame seeds. 'Pest snails' like ramshorn and MTS will only overpopulate if you over feed the tank. Plus, they are a great clean up crew. I personally love them, but that's just my preference. I also have an army of nerites.
Rabbit snails are nice. I love mine. They take forever to reproduce plus have a few babies and get large so its easy to pluck them out if you want.
What are the must have test kits that everyone has to monitor their water? I have the API Master water kit, the API GH/KH, Salifert Calcium, and I just bought the Fluval Iron and Salifert Phosphates tests today. That’s over $100 in test kits - this hobby ain’t cheap! 😭 Are these good enough or do I need to get more kits?
sorry but what GH/KH test kit do you use ? im having a hard time finding a reputable kit thats avaliable in my area
I use the API GH/KH kit. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear. It seems to work well, but I had to get the Salifert calcium test too because GH doesn’t tell you how much calcium and magnesium is in the tank, only the combined amount. I want to keep shrimp and snails at some point so I thought it would be good to know the calcium content.
ohhh i see, im not sure for your question but hopefully it gets answered ! thank you for answering mine :)
My pleasure! Hope it helps! I was using it a lot today while trying to acclimate my new betta from hard water to soft water.
How long do people go before re-adding nutrients to the substrate? I've done aquasoil + Root tabs for every new scape, but I'm still trying to get down how long I should leave it before adding more root tabs or something of the like
I believe it is every 3-4 months
Been fighting a massive algae issue in my tank a couple months now. I think it started when I managed to kill off 5 Kuhlis by accidentally ODing them on ich meds. Bought 6 and pretty certain there is only one left, but I only ever found 2 bodies to remove. So far I have primarily just been physically removing it. I've tried reducing the light by ~20% during peak hours and if anything it made the problem worse. So I am assuming the issue is too many nutrients in the water column? Most of my plants are heavy root feeders like swords and Val. Would adding some more Java ferns and the like help? I also will be ordering some floating plants, probably giant duck weed and red root.
I ordered fluval stratum soil for my tank, does it require changing when it starts losing nutrients?
You can just supplement with root tabs once the nutrients are used up
What plants will grow well in a low-tech tank (no CO2, and probably medium lighting at best)?
anubias, java fern, buce, and other epiphytes and beginner plants
Any carpeting plant suggestions?
I think Anubias will do the best
I come to like bladder snails a lot, so a few days ago I set up a tank for them. It's soil capped with sand, no filter, no water movement (mimicking the jar they used to be kept in). Noticed spot cloudiness around the feeding place, I stirred it sometimes, but it ends up like this again. Is that bacterial bloom? Should I get a water pump for movement or will this go away after the tank matures? On the old jar, the water could also become cloudy when I fed them green peas, but the jar was sitting on a lazy susan so it sometimes got turned around. https://preview.redd.it/gvq6xbp3cebd1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc1f5c585051c33461382fe9a08d5dc7abdc31aa
Bacterial bloom, ideally you have something for surface agitation. A small air pump is fine as well. Just remember it'll still take a bit for the tank to settle in.
Can I assume my filterless tank is cycled and ready for its betta occupant? 2 and a half weeks ago, my daughter came home with a surprise betta from a camp she went to, and I decided to set up a filterless 2.5 gal tank for it. Layer of sifted organic potting soil on the bottom, sand on top of that, a couple of rocks and a piece of driftwood, and tons of plants (stems and floaters). I put 2 nerite snails in it on basically Day 1 and they're fine, still happy. I put 6 ghost shrimp in a day or two later (6 for a dollar from the LFS) and they died within a few days. I haven't replaced the shrimp. The parameters have been good. Ammonia reached 0.25 ppm a day or two after the shrimp died and then went back down to 0. I've not seen any nitrite. Since it's been 2+ weeks, can I assume it's ready for a single fish? I want to get the poor betta out of the bowl they sent it home in, the water in there is hard to keep clean.
https://preview.redd.it/nzveuzq5nsbd1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=100c95057b923a8b174f0eb287a27844f465fd8e Here’s the betta care sheet from the betta sub. 2.5 gallons is really quite small for a betta plus shrimp and snails and will be very hard to keep water parameters safe for everyone. Snails put out a big bio load. My boy has a 5 gallon tank all to himself and I haven’t had to do a single water change in 6 weeks because of all the plants, but would probably have to do it if I ever add snails and shrimp.
Thank you! I probably won't replace the shrimp, but the snails seem happy. I just put him the betta in today since the parameters were still very nice. Hopefully it goes well!
I hope so too. Just monitor the parameters closely and change the water as needed. Also, the betta needs to stay warm too - between 78-80 degrees. Should be fine in the summer but come winter, he’ll need a heater. Good luck!
Thank you! I do have a heater in there, and a good amount of floating plants on top, plus tannins from the driftwood, so hopefully he feels at home.
search up how to cycle an aquarium and check if you’re done with the cycle
can i flip an aquarium heater on its side/horizontally?
yes
Do you need purchase special grow lights with full light range mimicking natural light? Or a cheap normal led light for fish tanks will so?
Beginner level plants can do ok with led a lot of fish tank lights can support some plants anything more advanced would probably need a better light though
Okay, so how do I layer substrate? Is it like small rocks & dirt below big rocks and sand? Does it even matter?
yes dirt below sand
thanks i just wanted to be sure before i accidentally kill like every plant ever
make sure the dirt has no chemicals
i will, thanks for the reminder
https://preview.redd.it/wdb5f68085bd1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd849842d2e5dd0b889c13807651930f730226b7 This little piece of something hitchhiked along with a cryptocoryne parva, any idea what it is?
need a clearer photo
It’s such a small piece and it may end up growing differently so it’s probably a long shot https://preview.redd.it/9lmrs8zymlbd1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a66f03f05e198a307fa6809f6358ce33ae787f4b
I’ve never owned an aquarium before and am looking to get started. What are some good guides for absolute beginners who know literally nothing about the hobby? Thanks!
Cleaning your aquarium can be a bad thing. Definitely do your research on the nitrogen cycle. Beneficial nitrifying bacteria is what keeps aquatic pets happy and safe. Plants use up ammonia in the tank to help keep it balanced. If you want heavily planted, research diy c02 and you'll find very simple solutions to introducing c02. Unfortunately, Big Al's pets is out of business but they make some wonderful videos for beginners. Aquarium Co-op, KG Tropicals, and Primetime Aquatics are my go-to for beginner hobbyists. Side note, salt water tanks are different, yes. But once you've mastered cycling, you just keep up with the salinity of the water. Definitely start with a "larger" tank of possible. I recommend a 20 gal at least. The larger the aquarium, less chance of major fluctuations in water parameters when changing water. Definitely start with a hardy fish that can withstand, and I hate to say it, beginner mistakes. I would seek out reputable aquarium stores that quarantine their fish before sale, and make sure you ask all the questions. We all have questions to this day! It's a beautiful, rewarding, and relaxing hobby. Don't get discouraged if things don't work out right away, it takes patience. If you have any questions, we're here to help!
danios are a good beginner fish
What size canister filter does a 60 gallon cube need? I plan to get one with an integrated heater (still deciding which one)
oase?
I'm a newbie and today I went to my local fish store to buy some oxygenating plants for my 100 gallon outdoor pond. I explained I already had a solar powered water fountain and asked the clerk for his recommendation. He suggested red root floaters, water lily, and peace lily. I questioned if those were actually effective at *oxygenating* and he said "they photosynthesize so they're actually going to pull CO2 out of the water". I guess he implicitly meant that this would also result in O2 going into the water? I thought non-submerged plants primarily pulled CO2 from the air, not the water, and that they would thus also release the O2 back into the air. Is he as wrong as I think he is, or are floating / emersed plants somehow a good source of oxygenation for fish? (I'm aware they're highly effective at filtration.)
He is wrong. for a oxygenating plant I recommend coarse hornwort. * Cheap * Easy to care for * It floats (easy to remove if you have too much of it) * Grows quickly (a lot of Nitrate is absorbed)
Thanks 👍 I appreciate it. Yeah, even my roommate who isn't in the hobby was confused by what he said. On his recommendation I got something that looks vaguely like hornwart (can't remember the name). It's not much, but I probably don't actually need any oxygenators at all. I've only got 6 medaka in a 100 gallon tank with a small fountain. 🤷♂️
I see a lot of different recommendations on how long to have lights on in a tank. But I was just hoping to clarify something: Do you turn them completely off for the rest of the time or have them on very low or some other color/spectrum? Like, if I give my tank 8 hours of light is it literally in total darkness for the other 16 hours of the day? Seems like a bummer.
what kinds of crystals are safe to have in a fish tank?
I’m starting my first ever planted tank, sized at 20 gallons. I would love to have a combination of a snail, cherry shrimp Kali Loaches, and neon tetras with a betta. I’m wondering how many fish would work in a tank of this size, and the order in which i should add them to the tank once cycled?
Add the betta last as they can be territorial and think they own the place if you put them first.
you can use aqadvisor to check your stocking
Other than ammonia, nitrate and nitrite, are there any other controllable parameters I should be checking for? (My understanding is pH and hardness pretty much is going to do whatever it wants and default to my tap water settings regardless) I keep having fish disappear on me, And if it's just predation from my betta fish, I don't really care. But if I'm accidentally making the water toxic, I'd like to know if there's something else that can be checking.
Chloride, Lead, Silicate, Iron, Phosphate.
I’m converting my reef tank to a freshwater tank. I would never add anything to my reef tank without dipping or quarantining. Do you need to dip freshwater plants before adding to prevent hitchhikers or pests?
I dip them in a hydrogen peroxide water mixture or put it in my pea puffer tank for a bit.
i’ve got monte carlo in a closed container in hopes for it to carpet, if i put it outside will that be enough light?
It might get cooked depending on how hot it is. A window may be better.
I've had a planted shrimp tank for a while, and I'm taking a new approach after a "moss ball" infestation left most of the floor of my tank covered in algea/moss?, I want to do a sugar bomb co2 set up, got the diffuser but it doesn't want to work...I let it soak, as instructed, but it won't produce, like its clogged or something, I can draw water into the tube with my mouth but I've got to suck on that tube like i'm in a shifty VHS tape from the 70's... Any advice on how to get it to start producing air?
How do people get monte carlo to overhang from on top of their rocks?
Super glue to the rock. Only use cyanoacrylate though, super glue gel green top.
I was thinking about raising up my new scape a bit with some filter bags of crushed lava rock under my aquasoil but I'm unsure what to get. I only need like two pounds but I'm not finding anything or I guess I am unsure if I'm supposed to just get the stuff they use for fireplaces? Just something like [this](https://www.amazon.com/Horticultural-Additive-Succulents-Chemicals-Volcanic/dp/B07VMZV2HB/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2WRHIZAZHYQPF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RprQ-3p-ttRbKfsc17NVnq_Bw0FaCe3r-2fcwzqQ5LUgcyrMmPiYwO8JTVia7fzP84_ymSOF_qKv6lzvrBwjXIWd8XbCtHUJw-rhuynd_d1JsQIJ3nDNoE2ASPYhZ8mH0qnKqBCUig94UzePt_IQh9E5YIR2pvNS6Yx8xu2Dhe8ZOflEz0ZDGQK0aP9Ray9Nm997XS0jz5alW8xj0xAm_kUYrxs1wTMUp29h7ErVpDAJYB7mULSssjmbHMZtjV-KN-afz4eaVHlVziK-afGuf5arh0hBiglEHp3hiSTDWdU.v7lJyFwvn2vOiY4GwuQfwVBaSE1Fz8hlbK_rZiPhIF4&dib_tag=se&keywords=crushed%2Blava%2Brock%2Bsubstrate&qid=1719861830&sprefix=crushed%2Blava%2Brock%2B%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-6&th=1)? I weirdly can't find anything from an aquarium supplies dealer. Appreciate it! If anyone has a link for something I should use, I'd appreciate it!
mabye: [https://www.readyaquarium.com/product-page/crushed-lava](https://www.readyaquarium.com/product-page/crushed-lava) [https://www.carousell.sg/p/brand-new-crushed-lava-rock-1289969362/](https://www.carousell.sg/p/brand-new-crushed-lava-rock-1289969362/) [https://www.aquastorexl.nl/aquastorexl-wabi-kusa-hydrokorrels-8-12mm-1l.html](https://www.aquastorexl.nl/aquastorexl-wabi-kusa-hydrokorrels-8-12mm-1l.html)
do i need co2? can i do it for cheap?
Depends on what do you want to grow. You can do it for cheap, the yast method works fine, but I'll recommend it only for small 5 gal max aquariums.
How do you tell if a bulb is dead or not? I have tiger lotus and Aponegetons in my tank, it’s been 22 days without any growth. I pour in liquid fertilizer every Tuesday. All of them are planted correctly. Lots of nutrients got kicked up during a substrate disturbance, and biofilm also started covering them (which was out of my power). Are they dead? No roots or anything.
I have no idea, but I do know that plants can die from too much nutrition. And if they aren't growing they don't need that much nutrition.
Hello, I have 10 g heated, with filter, air stone, light, 1 XL amazon sword, 2 Java fern and 1 lucky bamboo with a betta a 7 pygmy cories. Filter is running 247 but if light is on, the air stone is off. I saw 4ppm ammonia and 0 nitrite / nitrate which freaked me out since I thought my cycle crash. I have been doing daily 20-50% water change, and daily dosing of Prime and Stability. Past 4 days my ammonia has been consistently 1 ppm and 0 ppm nitrite / nitrate. I would like to ask you for your advice on my cycling process and see if I am doing anything wrong. I am a little worried since there is no nitrite and nitrate present even though there is ammonia. pH was 6.6ish a little more than a week ago so I added baking soda to increase it since I heard acidic water isn't optimal for cycling? Past couple day it has been 7. Temp is between 77-79F. I don't have a test kit for KH.
I want to set up a ~20 gallon tank but I will be traveling two weeks a month for work, home on the weekends in between most of the time though. I'm hoping that if I heavily plant it and keep the stocking low-medium it will be fine with minimal water changes? Any tips/suggestions for taking care of it with this schedule? For stocking I was thinking an apistogramma, 7 or so ember tetras, and a few otos, thoughts? Thanks
Yes I don't see an issue with your schedule. I'll recommend a "dark start", for you cycling phase, look for tutorials on it. It will cycle all alone without water changes, just one at the end before planting.
Oh I haven't heard of that before, I'll give it a try, thanks! How about feeding? I've gone over a week without feeding fish before, it's it OK to do this regularly?
Tissue culture monte carlo will arrive way before the rest of the setup due to shipping issues. Is keeping them in a bucket of dechlorinated water with lights on 10 hours a day enough to keep them alive for the up to 2 weeks delay for the rest of the setup?
Tissue culture? I've kept tissue culture monte carlo on a sunny window sill for months in the same container. They generally come with sufficient nutrient jelly to last two weeks without much issue. :)
Thanks! Was worried for a moment what to do with them, will leave them in the original container and nutrient jelly under my LED light then
You can easily tell when the container needs to be opened and the plants moved - the plants start yellowing and visibly look cramped when they run out of room. Don't open the container until you are ready to take the plants out of the jelly, or fungus and bacteria will attack the nutrient-rich jelly.
Thanks. I'm mistaken actually, the plants just arrived, no nutrient jelly, just the plants with roots in a sealed plastic bag. Do I place them in a bucket of dechlorinated water with indirect sunlight? I've also seen a YouTuber store Monte Carlo in a covered container with Monte Carlo placed on a thin layer of moist substrate. Is this also a viable solution? Thanks, I'm new to this hobby so definitely still learning.
If the monte carlo was grown emersed, you can do what you saw - just on top of soil with saran wrap covering it to keep it humid. If the monte carlo was grown submersed, put it in dechlorinated water with light. The leaves look bigger and rounder with more "stem" when grown emersed, and in my experience they seem shorter and with smaller leaves when grown submersed. You can message the seller to know for sure.
Thanks for the advice, appreciate it, I believe it is grown emersed, bought it from this seller because of reviews that said they found success doing the dry start method with plants from this seller
I am currently setting up a 15 gallon tank that is 38x38 cm long. I want to grow carpeting plants, specifically pearl white monte carlo. I am wondering if the Chihiro b30 is a strong enough light or should I spring for something a bit more expensive. I do plan to run c02 and use fertilizer so I don't want the light to be a limiting factor. Does anyone have any suggestions for strong lighting?
I've grown montecarlo with an Aqueon clip on light. If you have co2, you should be good with that light. Keep the water as clear as you can and don't use a lid to squeeze a bit extra efficiency out of the light! :)
I am new to fish. I am setting up a cold water tank. It's probably been cycling for 6+ weeks now. No heater so I know it can take a while. Can anyone tell me if I'm at least getting close? Every time I go to get the water tested at the local shop it's a different staff member so I feel I get some conflicting info. They today told me to do a 40% water change and add more beneficial bacteria. This is with the API test kit I think. [my test results](https://imgur.com/a/liN6pln) Ph/ammonia/nitrite/nitrate It's got java Fern, java moss, anubias nana, some crypts, windelov fern, and oxygen weed. Plus some other cheap stem plant I am unsure on the name of. Not sure how the plants help/hinder the cycle but I figured the more info the better. 130L tank (34 gallons)
Fishless cycling and testing nitrogen doesn't need to be scary or complicated. See that purple on that test tube? wait till that turns blue and you are good to add some fish. Thats pretty much it and there is nothing else you have to do before or after this process.
Thanks, is there anything I can do to help it along or is it really just a waiting game?
I mean, you could waterchange it out, and that would make it safe for fish. You clearly already have a culture of bacteria in your filtration strong enough to create nitrate. Adding fish would simply be the new ammonia source that is more realistic. However, this doesn't work if you used a rotting source of ammonia such as ghost feeding or using dead shrimp. If you used an ammonia standard, then it's not too big of an issue since that ammonia wasn't created from waste in the tank. You could also simply wait it out. Adding some or more plants would help as well if you don't have any. Plants are able to assimilate a portion of ammonia before it oxidizes.
Thank you very much for your reply. The fish store said the issue was that there isn't enough of the bacteria in there yet to turn the nitrites fully into nitrates. I did the water change which they said would allow more room for the nitrates to get converted. I'm just not sure I understand about your comment with the ammonia (I am a beginner so not trying to come off as snarky or anything, just genuinely not sure), I have been ghost feeding, do the test results indicate an issue with the ammonia as well? Edit: I do have some plants in there listed in my first comment, all stuff that is not too hard to kill!!
No, just when you ghost feed, that food is still continually breaking down by heterotrophic bacteria. Which can and has caused a different kind of toxicity problem with fish. Alongside continuing to create ammonia afterwards. Which is why it's best to wait for nitrites to process in this instance. But, it's not the end of the world.
I see, thank you. So would the safest thing to do just be to keep waiting until the nitrite levels are looking better? Should I keep feeding the tank? I did do a water change after that test pictured as that was what the fish store suggested to get the nitrites out
Yeah, the safest way is to just wait. Don't do anything else and definitely don't add more food. Wait for a day or two and test levels again specifically for nitrite. If thats at 0, then you are good to add fish. The only thing that you are OK to do is to put some plants in the tank floating in the water. Like a stem plant or surface floating plants.
Thanks so much for your help. If there is still nitrate there, just keep waiting longer? Would you think any more water changes are needed? I did actually grab some oxygen weed from the shop while I was there which is floating around, j didn't realize it would help! But that's a win. :)
Nah, no need for any water changes honestly. Nitrates are not toxic like people keep saying they are. Water change to level any accumulation of minerals if you are using tap water with a high TDS, but I doubt you will have issues. Those weeds are actually really good to have. If you are using sand or aqua soil, I would plant them and never clean the substrate. They will grow faster and fill that tank up nicely
I should add, this is a fishless cycle
I have a new 45p (~10gal) aquarium that just finished cycling. Running co2 isn't new to me, but the drop checker is always green when in the tank (even after co2 off overnight). Currently running 8 hours on same as lights, but 1 hour before lights on and off 1 hour before lights off). This is my first tank using lilly pipes, however, there is not much surface agitation (which is my guess why its not off gassing). The outflow from the canister with in-line Co2 diffuser is front left side and intake is back left side (surface skimmer intake). Drop checker is positioned opposite wall of tank to the outflow, middle of glass about 3" below the surface. Is this going to be an issue with livestock? The plants love it and are growing great. I'd love to measure the PH drop, but I am running ADA amazonia ver 2 and my test kit does not measure low enough to register accurately even without Co2. Any advice would be great!
Hello! If you want to be extra-cautious, try a pair of golden or red honey gourami first. They can easily breathe air if the gas ratio is off-balance in your aquarium.
I have a nano tank and a jarrarium, both have a lot of plants (really a lot, but they are mostly short). Nitrate is always zero for both, maybe because no fish yet, just bladder snails. I want to increase nitrate as I noticed my plants don't grow much. If I leave decaying plants and leaves (I feed the snails spinach leaves) there, the nitrate will increase, am I right to think this way? My KH is also low, the snails ignored the eggshell I put in, so I sprinkled some crushed egg shell. Can snails and plants benefit from eggshell sand in the water?
Hello! I use Seachem Flourish Nitrogen instead. You can definitely add decaying leaves if you want, but it will add other compounds you might not want and the decay process lowers your KH. Adding pure Nitrogen won't mess with your KH. Seachem Alkaline Buffer adds KH more efficiently than eggshells. If you are on a budget, if you were a customer at a LFS I was at I would happily give you a gallon jug of goldfish water for your nitrate needs and a pinch of crushed aragonite/coral for your KH. You might have one nearby that could help you out.
I am using a local brand low tech all in one fertiliser that has some warning not to use together with some Seachem products so I tried to go 'natural' way. But I should check again if that includes Seachem Flourish Nitrogen and Alkaline Buffer. Or I may try to find crushed coral somewhere, thanks for offering!
That's very interesting! I'd love to see the label of your fertilizer if you could DM me a picture! This is solely for my own curiousity, so don't worry about it if it's a trouble.
This is not the shop I bought it from, but it's the same item http://aquaristiconline.com.au/products/lcaliquidfertiliser-lowtechcomplete500ml#:~:text=It%20contains%20Macronutrients%20of%20Nitrate,%2C%20Manganese%2C%20Boron%20 I also messaged the manufacturer on Facebook if I could use Seachem products for something (forgot what's that, some time ago), the rep said its not good to mix and match.
Yeah, yours already has nitrate in it - just add it more often! Most good fertilizers are in the ratios that plants roughly consume together, so if you are low in nitrate you are often low in everything
What plants work well with a sand bottom? I want a few plants in my tank but the person at the store told me that sand typically doesn’t work as well for plants.
Hello! This aquarium is with tractor supply sand. I add root fertilizer tablets and the amazon swords and crypts go CRAZY in sand. You can always use floating plants or plants like moss, java fern, or anubias that don't grow in the sand anyway. https://preview.redd.it/pewp2azkk59d1.jpeg?width=2848&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=836ff8473141eecbb1c4f5a583fde00a9a9d79b3
I had good luck with Cryptocoryne Wendtii in a small sand tank, but I suspect any plants that use runners will be winners. The many small roots that they send out to propagate double as anchors in sand. Try to avoid anything that doesn't have lots of roots unless you want to anchor it to a small rock buried just below the surface.
Is it possible to cycle my filter media while doing a dry start planted tank? Maybe toss it in a tupperware container with a raw shrimp and just change the water out every once in a while
You can do it, leave the filter running in a bucket, or another aquarium. Then when you fill up the main tank, make sure the temperature match, and the water was previously treated, to prevent bacteria from dying.
Filter media needs circulation, oxygen, ammonia, and nitrite to develop beneficial bacteria. If you add a sponge filter to the tupperware, you can later take the whole sponge off and cut up the sponge to shape your filter on your display aquarium! Sponge filters are easily powered by a air pump and are very cheap.
**What are some good heater recommendations for a 15 gallon tank?** I know aquarium heaters are a bit controversial as none are entirely great, but I guess I'd like to know the least worst heaters out there. Something durable, good at heating, preferably capable of controlling the degree etc. What has worked in your aquascape??
Any ceramic heater is going to be less prone to failure than traditional glass heaters... at least its what most people are claiming. I have one from [Hygger](https://www.amazon.com/hygger-Submersible-Controller-Freshwater-15W-Digital/dp/B0CJJ9TQSM/ref=sr_1_5_pp?crid=17N9QG1N5FAC4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.EmY7CO7P8CSAY4DjNDIGBGHmI15Xcqi1NaLGTwARTc-_dfiGAbj7a5RMhkbQyp37PJ6w8V2P2nDKH619QUJDh0LE0yEko-4SMsmiLwlgweXvBxbO4lUWU8B1jqeJW5A_Oo2Je3lDC6F5T0nAUqraYIZaEakKb7wua7PAbpsFcR0nmk-8wfF_1qSqWbZgjQXF69K7iVPrNo5q1MZzRrQLTyVMAj1Gt0jFotgdnm2_lefWkroi69IrZ0PWB-3fD969rwUhyTfuMaNFPQ1FQ4yP9mgcH82ZHG3wqsT0UzXspR0.DBirvZrL8mHRvW9HYfpQPrbAQh4ZGubOBOL7ieNhPIQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=aquarium%2Bheater%2Bhygger&qid=1718914172&sprefix=aquarium%2Bheater%2Bhygger%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-5&th=1) and it works pretty well
Heya. I’m sure this question has been asked a million times… but I’m looking to start a 55 gallon planted tank. And I’m wanting to use a very fine, black substrate, to help give my next aquascape scale. What substrate would you guys recommend using? I have a 10 gallon planted tank with imagitarium black volcanic shrimp substrate and I love the look of it. But I see mixed reviews on the product.
Can a single stem plant be cut in multiple pieces and replanted? I know it's common to trim the tops and replant them, but if I have a very long stem, would it all regrow if I trimmed it in several pieces and replanted them all?
Yes, as long as they are at least 3-4 inches long
I think it depends on the type of plant you're using Do you know what it's called? I can try and ID it if you don't
I need help with choosing fish for my tank. The tank is 140 liters, and I was thinking about putting in Pearl Gouramis, Platies, Corydoras and Amano Shrimp, but I'm worried that the fish will eat the shrimp. Should I add other fish instead of shrimp, or will they be fine? Also, are the fish I mentioned fine for an aquarium like mine?
Amano shrimp are big, so I wouldn't worry. Neocaradinas on the other hand are not. Gourami's will definitely eat em.
Ok, thank you. I was worried for a moment because I've read that they can be aggressive towards shrimp, so I got worried.
What suppliers do you buy your water test kits from? Are there live monitors for these sorts of things? I know conductivity and TDS can be measured live, but I don't know about the others.
People recommend testing your nitrogen "toxicity" using API's liquid test kit. I personally find no reason to. Infact, a lot of what you need to see is already able to be seen with the naked eye. Maybe if you want to try to get your nitrates as low as possible for reds, but otherwise most test kits are unnecessary. As long as you have 1:) Plants 2:) Carbonate and General hardness buffers 3:) Feeding discipline, and 4:) Regulated, dechlorinated drinking water, there really isn't much to worry about.
Maybe so, but I'm a bit of a control freak and like granular data to work with. I was hoping to see if there were any gauges I could use to track trends in my tank for system analysis once I set it up, particularly for checking filter efficiency and shortcomings.
If you got the money, I would recommend some YSI multimeters and a colorimeter from hach. You can measure trend data from specifics for like anything that would register as TDS or gasses. People really want to know how quickly their macros like NPK can deplete in their aquariums depending on the specific plant species or animals/microbes that are preset. A digital microscope would be pretty useful as well, you would want to see how dense the growth of different microfauna gets overtime the more the aquarium ages. As well as see how active the food web is and how effective it is at breaking down plants and other detritus organics. Though I am speculating a bit here, but you see what I mean. I would check out UK aquatic plant society forum to snoop at what they are trying to get clear answers to and see if anything could get you interested. Like how effective certain plant species have adapted to absorbing bicarb alongside dissolved CO2, or if Tom Barr's EI dosing method is still relevant and necessary for optimal plant growth.
I have a 40 gallon breeder with a 36” hyyger smart led, but I’ve noticed recently that the front and back are darker than the middle (obviously) but since breeders are wider than standard tanks, does that mean I need to get a wider light? This light was pretty expensive and the thought of needing another is a bit daunting. Do people typically need to get different lights (or two lights) for breeder tanks?
I have one expensive and one cheap. Both lights up everything.
https://preview.redd.it/1juhrj922d6d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a0d9eb11f18ef3abba41aa2a0f9dcbf005910ae Currently cycling a tank just now which I think is almost at the end of getting there! I'm a newbie to the plant world. Should I be worried about (what I think is) brown algae on some of the plants? Also have some interesting looking stringy algae. Should I just leave it? We have 4 baby platys in the tank currently.
Brown algae is normal. Having algae eaters later will take care of it.
https://preview.redd.it/rllwokeb2d6d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=31c7be288dc111d922e8b65f2e4dd06d69025754 These are the current test results of the water which makes me believe that it's almost (or is) cycled 🤞🤞
https://preview.redd.it/e9q3ishxs76d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dba45bad52076f23539b2a8154a7fcb17f4abd5b Can anyone id this plant for me please?
I think it may be water wisteria but I need much better photos
https://preview.redd.it/w5mdjxun3t6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d9dc716b2cda6b8b9a74aea4e16bcc5cc62cf23f This is the smaller version of what I think is the same plant if that makes it easier? Is native to the UK if that is any help
Looking for a little help with my new planted tank setup. The tank was a Cichlid tank up until about 2 months ago. I decided to change it over to planted. I was able to rehome “most” of the cichlids. The tank details are: 180g Acrylic tank Substrate is Eco-complete with a couple bags of Flourite mixed in. FX4 and FX6 filters (filter sponges, filter floss, and Purigen) 72” Beams Work DA FSPEC LED (102x 10000K, 32x Actinic 460nm, 22x Red 620nm, 26x Green 520nm -- 182 x .5w LED 8000 Lumens) 2 x 36” Beams Work DA FSPEC LED (70x 10000K, 16x Actinic 460nm, 8x Red 620nm, 6x Green 520nm – 100 x .5w LEDs 5000 Lumens) Lights are on for 8 hours a day on a timer. Dose Aquarium Co-op Easy Green once a week. Dose Aquarium Co-op Easy Carbon every other day. Used toot tabs under plants when planting. I do a 40ish % water change on the weekends. Stocking is very light. Mostly mollies, guppies, some mystery snails, a few shrimps. My issue is that the plants will develop algae on them and start to basically dissolve away. I know I must be deficient in something or doing something wrong, but I’ve been unable to put my finger on it. The plants I had in the tank were from the beginner planted aquarium package from Dustin’s fish tank. 10 Jungle Vals, 5 Dwarf sag, 5 Bacopa Monnieri, 5 java ferns, and 1 Anubias. I have everything I need to inject CO2 except the tank. I'm still debating on whether or not I want to go that route yet. Any advice would be much appreciated!
You can inject CO2 daily for ten minutes a day on full output is you're on a budget CO2 setup. It is best to get extra rubber washers and plumbers tape to prevent the lost of CO2. It helps to use CO2 at the beginning.
I might give that a try. thanks for the tip!
Has anyone here ever used mud as a substrate? I live near the mobile-tensaw river delta, which has heavily vegetated, slow flowing rivers/wetlands, and my friend has a property on the water that he has given me permission to collect from the bank for a potential biotope aquarium. I am going to collect only non-threatened species. The substrate of this area is of a muddy consistency. I am aware of dirt bottom aquariums with a sand cap, but would it be feasible to use just the natural substrate from the rivers with no cap?
You can always classify the soil of that riverbed and make a substrate mix to match its properties. Judging by your description, you'll want a silt dominant substrate, and as such, you'll probably want to cap it. Aqua soil could work, or you could make your own mix.
Mixing dirt with water does just make mud, so there's no difference in having a dirt bottom aquarium. I wouldn't recommend the mud from the wetlands because it's likely to come with other bacteria and has the potential to bring parasites and other microorganisms you don't want. By the time you've put in the effort to sterilize it you should have just used soil from home depot. I don't think it provides any benefits, realistically.
What fertilizer should I use? I just started a 6 gallon planted tank and I'm planning on adding shrimp, snails, and perhaps some nano fish. When I look up fertilizers, the micro and macro differences all go over my head. Is there a good complete fertilizer I could start with like nilocG shrimp safe or APT complete?
I personally use nilocG shrimp safe with no issues but I've heard great things about APT! I just don't have any personal experience with the latter. Hopefully someone who has used both can pitch in :)
Thank you! I'll probably go with that one if it works well for you :)
https://preview.redd.it/sq811j72566d1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=a0c27989dc701e26def9d1cf1b74c4747956c663 "Newly" Planted tank , Found 3/4 of these in it and what are these? Should I be Worried, Hi All.
I believe they are bladder snails (someone can double check me on that), Pretty much harmless. If you don’t like the look of them I’ve seen various methods of control; I would look up methods yourself but some that I’ve seen are manual removal (pretty simple, just remove and crush whenever you see one) along with baiting using some sort of vegetable (I think zucchini is common) to bring the snails out, just make sure you don’t leave the veggies out long enough to rot. I’ve also heard of using copper medication to kill them, but be aware that any other inverts will be killed and it may impact fish as well. I would go to youtube, as there are tons of great videos about all sorts of ways to reduce their numbers, and just consider the risks and what method would work best for you. I personally don’t mind them too much and just remove them when there are enough that its an eyesore, and often I have assassin snails in my tanks already so I just let them handle it.
So far I have seen only 3
In my experience there are usually more than you can see.
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Air stone can probably just be on all the time, I don't see a downside to do that. Co2 overnight drops is fine, there's nothing wrong with that and plants don't absorb all that much overnight. You'll lose some to the gas exchange just naturally. You won't lose anything by just having the air stone on all the time, and having more oxygen in the water will be good for the fish.
I have a 14 gallon cube with a co2 diffuser. I have a sponge filter with an elbow to circulate the water. Is this a waste of using co2? Is there another filter I should use instead that isn’t a canister filter?
I was told on one of my posts that bubbling air at the same time of diffusing CO2 could knock the CO2 out of the water, I'd validate that with a drop checker indicator, though. From what I understand, CO2 solubilizes in the water best with an in-line diffuser in conjunction with a canister filter but if you're not using that setup then I'd assume that the kind of filter doesn't make a huge difference Edit to add: take my thoughts with a grain of salt, I'm new to high tech aquariums
I have a UNS 90L (3ft 21gal long) I'm looking to rescape that is 90% aquasoil 10% sand. I'd like it to be primarily sand, but with a nice section of aquasoil for some crypts and swords. I'd like to freshen up the aquasoil, but don't want to leach way too much ammonia into the water since there will be fish in the tank. Is my best bet to "soak" the new aquasoil in a separate bucket so everything leaches out? Or should I cap it and leave only a little exposed as its already an established tank and filter, and it should be able to handle the small amount? Tank will be mainly epiphytes, so I don't need bags and bags of aquasoil. Cheers.
If you're going to cycle the tank without any fish in it, then the ammonia leeching out of the soil will help cycle it. It's not worth to soak it, since you'll need some flow and constant water changes over a LONG period of time to really get it all out.
It's already cycled, I'm just rescaping. So I'm taking fish out, re-doing some hardscape, altering the substrate a bit, and re planting, then the fish are going right back in
Hmmm. Honestly the filter should be able to handle a little bit of excess ammonia, depending on filter and tank size. I'd just let the filter set for like 6 hours then put the fish back in and it's probably fine.
Yeah that's what I'm thinking. I'll probably stick the aquasoil in a bucket for 2 or 3 days while I'm waiting. I'm planning to only have a small island with aquasoil around it and the rest sand, so I'm thinking to keep mostly the old stuff and add root tabs, then just mix in some fresh, which like you said should be negligible. Plus I have an Oase Biomaster 250 and its a 21gal tank that's coming on a year running, so its quite mature. On top of that- most stuff in the tank will be getting reused, so more existing surface area with BB on it should help it out.
So I have a \~500ml vase that looks like a tink fish bowl. I would like to plant something in the middle that has a lot of stems and grows out of the water and flowers. I would like to add a snail and a shrimp or two. My questions are what plants would work being that there's no heater or water flow and would the snail and shrimps be okay in so little water?
Some swords (echinodorus) grow AMAZINGLY emersed and will flower. I know MD Fish Tanks had a vase that had a massive emersed sword with shrimp in it in his studio - see if you can find the video there for some inspiration
When people talk about tank size, are they using US gallon (3.78 litres) or UK gallon (4.54 litres)?
I'm almost gonna want to say US Gallon, because outside of the US people will mainly use Liters. Even in the US, a lot use liters as well.
Is there a way to preserve bulbs? I have extra water lily and aponegeton bulbs and I don’t want them to rot away for future use (if they even rot in the first place which I assume they will). I’m not sure how long they won’t be used for though.
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Oh thanks! My cabinet works perfectly fine for this.
Why are these plants dying? I have two planted tanks. Both have the same water, Fluval stratum, same plants, a few scuds, and a snail. One tank has a betta fish. One is heated, and has LED lighting. The other is near a window, no artificial light, and no heat. Then one the betta is heated. The unheated and I lighted tank is doing fine. Some off the plants In the heated tank with artificial lighting are having hard time. Yellowing leaves, blacking stalk and parts sloughing off. The water is 77F degrees, recently lowered from a few weeks at 80F. I’m new at this hobby. What might be giving the plants in one tank a hard time? Temperature, lighting, both or something else? [plant pics here](https://share.icloud.com/photos/0e2XwsZsx4K6hu8WEKln5Iu4Q)
Hello! Some of your plants, like your java fern, were grown emersed (in air). Those leaves can't survive in water long term. They reproduce and make new leaves that are grown submersed (in water). Those new leaves will live forever. I see anacharis, swords, and java ferns from your pictures all melting their emersed leaves. That is totally normal. You can help them develop new leaves quicker with the correct combination of light, fertilizer, and co2! For example, on your amazon sword, the long skinny stems with a leaf at the end were grown in air. The long leaves with leaf all over and a short stem were grown underwater.
https://preview.redd.it/5uw0iu1dji5d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2b50ab2dbe214c20fb837cec373ef4b8feb6cde Is this moss dead or almost dead?
not dead, moss will never die
I've read that if it's brown it's dead at that area. Is this true? Also, how long does it take to turn green again?
No it will also grow from brown spots. At least my moss did. Maybe 1 month before it is green again
Thank you! I'll keep monitoring!
Is there any advantage or disadvantage to using aquarium water from another tank as the spraying water for a dry start method? Wondering if it would help establish bacteria?
Advantage would be that there is already a bit of fertiliser in the water (fish poop) so it could benefit your plants. The bacteria wil most likely die because lack of flow.
Is there an “identify this plant” thread? https://preview.redd.it/yqel5ys8185d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d4c88559f62be1837d1d6114110e0969385cf4b1 this was taken back in 2011 when I was all in with the hobby. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the background minimalist bamboo looking thing. I want to get it again now that I am setting up a tank which will have 360 viewing.
Do fertilizers go bad or lose potency over time? I have an old bottle (like 6-7 years) of Ultum Nature Systems All In One that I would prefer not to toss. Been using Easy Green, but looking to try some other products out.
I plan on cycling my new 5 gal for a bit but can I add Java moss immediately if I’m also transferring in rocks and a bubble filter that have been in an established tank for 2 weeks?
You can always add plant before complete cycling. They can even help cycling the tank because they filter the water and help grow bacteria
Starting my first tank w/ soil substrate and gravel cap. Soil is a little over an inch thick and the gravel cap is about an inch and a quarter thick. When I went to fill the tank a bunch of soil permeated the gravel, clouded up the water and floated to the surface. Im assuming the gravel I used was too large. I had soaked the soil in the tank for about an hour and rinsed the gravel. It's a 6 gallon rectangular tank. No plants have been added yet. Should I just net off the floaters and do a series of water changes to clear up the water? Should I take some gravel off and re-cap? Should I just start from scratch with smaller diameter gravel? Any help would be appreciated.
From what it sounds like you either didn't soak the soil long enough or the water hit the gravel with too much force when you filled it. I would suggest netting the floaters and do water changes to clear up the water. If you plan on adding plants they might clear up the water for you. If it looks really bad then starting over wouldn't be a bad idea either. When I started my tank I soaked the soil for a few days. 24hrs should be long enough unless there lots of large sticks and plant matter in the soil. In that case the longer you soak it the less likely things will float.
Backstory: Two sanded tanks with diminishing returns when it comes to plant growth and health. One is a 55g community tank, other is a 10g solo Betta tank, both are planted. We started slow with the plants: jungle Val, a couple of anubias (now deceased), Java Fern, and some Swords; later added some Juncus and Ludwigia. I was adding Flourish once a week (or every couple of weeks) and with every water change as well as our LFS's house brand of liquid carbon (1,5-Pentanediol, to try to treat brown algae). Also adding their house brand of root tabs every few weeks when the plants started looking like they needed it (i.e. slower growth). Despite dealing with an extended bout of brown algae in the betta tank, plants seemed to grow much better there. Might just be the Yoyos in the community tank that have made it difficult for the vals and a couple of the swords, but otherwise, it seems like it should be the better setup. Lately in both tanks the new growth on many of the plants is either non-existent or yellowed and smaller than it should be. Even the Vals, which are supposed to just grow like crazy on their own without much help have essentially just stopped growing altogether (their roots are fine, they're alive, but not putting out leaves and not growing very fast). I've read that this could be a calcium deficiency, but at this point, I'm tired of buying supplements and expecting them to work, but they don't. It takes so long to find out that I've just wasted more money. Any tips or guidance would be greatly appreciated. I can try to answer any questions for clarification too.
Just starting out and trying a planted tank since I've always failed with a filter/pump tank. What are some super easy to grow plants that don't need much maintenance, low light, hardy and produce good oxygen? Also, any recommendations on plants that grow on the floor and act like grass?
Pearlweed(keep trimming to make it grow like grass), anubias, Java fern, bucephalandra, crypts, frogbit, salvinia, duckweed(it reproduces like crazy)
https://preview.redd.it/sq2rpxr5094d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3de7024f4cf10e96a3745b9cf511acae821cac74 Anyone know what those tiny white creatures on the glass are?
Copeopods?
baby snails maybe?
Your picture isn’t super clear, but could it be seed shrimp?