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As you can see, this bucket is a catch all for plant trimmings and as the water evaporates I top it off at water change time from the tanks nearby (and it has its own light). I've recently moved plants from QT into the bucket after it was occupied by pencilfish for three weeks. And I've also pulled some plants from CPD jungle tank into here fairly recently. It's unheated and I think the temp probably sits somewhere between 65 and 70. Which do you think these are? It's almost got to be CPDs, but I have no idea how pencilfish lay their eggs so maybe it's likely that there would be eggs in a floating mat of hornwort. I will say they are right at the surface, so I think that's one point for pencilfish. I've never seen a CPD above the midpoint of the tank they're in unless I'm trying to net them. Just the two fry so far (both in first picture).

Six months ago I converted my salt reef tank to a freshwater aquascape. Things were going pretty well but I could never get the sump and aquarium "balanced" for some reason. I never could get the valve to stay consistent with the water leveling. Long story short, I decided to pull the sump and replace it with a Fluval 307 canister filter. This has worked out great and provided additional storage space below. The one gotcha is the overflow that was designed to feed the sump. That had to be blocked of to hold the water back. This has been a small challenge but I think I have about got it licked. If I knew then what I know now I would have just removed the overflow chamber and sealed off the three holes at the bottom. Anyway, loving the tank. Attached you will find photos of the six month growth from start to now.

So this is a long story, but I did and she did. Early on, @gjcarewposted that NBAT article (hopefully everyone looked through it 😆) and we studied it for months. I just basically threw in plants and watched them grow. I would then trim or top and replant. Over time I could see how each plant responded and the shapes they formed. We would then start moving the groups around to separate leaf shape, color and to form shadows. We would then watch for a week and each of us offered our opinions if it was working or not. Each water change, we would make the changes we thought were needed. My hands would be in the tank and she had fast food trays where she was cutting plants to length. Once that was done, she would guide me with each stem placement. While I was finishing up planting/ trimming, she would be setting up equipment for the water change. She played a huge part in this tank and it was better from it. I guess I would say it was my vision made better with her influence.

Figured I'd post a status picture before I wake up one morning and get annoyed enough to go all Edward Scissor hands on this jungle! Which I know is going to become an all day project once I start pulling threads on this proverbial sweater........... 😮‍💨

I’m so sorry for your loss. I would be incredibly bummed and have tanks melt down and total loss before. It’s awful! If those were the only fish, I would drain the tank as low as possible. Pull all plants and soak in seltzer water for 3 hours (look into Reverse Respiration). Then I would spray the inside of the tank and everything non-living with straight 3% peroxide. I would clean out the filter, discard the biofiltration, and disinfect the filter itself with peroxide and essentially start over. If there are live shrimp, snails, fish, anything in the tank, I would instead try to bolster the immune system by using beneficial bacteria, like FritzZyme 7, as much as you can afford at the highest dose on the label. There are some that use bottled bacteria at an even higher rate, but you should add extra aeration any time you dose BB’s, especially if you add high dose. A few of us have been fiddling with some testing and I have converted to being a believer in some brands with FritzZyme 7 being one of them. Don’t lose heart, it will get better!

Results announced this morning. I took second place. I dedicated this tank to @gjcarewfor his endless support and assistance. The Second Hand of Carew

I would opt for a 20L in most situations. 10's are really difficult to work in. I would say 20H vs. 20Long. The difference being floor space.

For the sponge filter, I wouldn't throw it away. You can simply dry it out, or use the "Reverse Respiration" technique to kill the algae.

Thank you so much. I have a confession, I have never successfully grown a Java fern. They always turn black and die. I’ve given up on them. 😃

Sounds like a sweat shop operation to me!!! I'm exhausted from just reading all that, all joking a side, congrats!! That post was a great peak behind the curtain of what it takes to create a tank of that caliber! 👏👏👏👏👏

I personally really enjoy the flattened look. I think the biggest thing you should consider is whether you want emergent plants. They will add dimension to the space. Sedge species are readily available in the spring in most pond sections and bog ferns are the first that come to mind. There are also a few anubias that actually prefer to grow emersed, including the ever popular anubias nana. I think con would be that you are greatly limited in plant selection. Anything that grows tall will look squished so your plant selection submerged needs to be smaller plants or slow growers like microswords and mosses and such. Another con is that fish get really comfortable in these enclosures with emergent plants. They feel safe and happy which means that even fish not considered jumpers will breach. Either use clear mesh netting over the water or allow for about 3-6” of space between the water level and the top of the tank. You can get clear mesh at BRS. Anyway this is my 50g sub-alpine creek biotope:

I have another one. I was outside watering plants or something (it was 30 years ago, so some of the details are fuzzy) with my son when he was around 3 or 4. He had a little plastic bucket that he brought up to me, and he asked for some water in it. I filled it about halfway, not knowing what he had in mind. He took the bucket, walked over to the cat, and dumped the whole thing on it. Of course the cat freaked out. I felt like I should correct him, so I said "Will, that wasn't very nice." He stopped giggling just long enough to say "No, but it was funny!" That's been a family joke ever since.

I have been known to leave the room, wait a bit, then crawl back into the room (with room lights out, of course) below the level of the bottom of the tank. Then have phone camera ready and slowly lift it up to where the fish can be seen and click away until I have a half decent pic. I often forget to delete the bad pics so it’s no wonder I have so many bad fish pics on my phone! Plus sometimes I keep bad pics of specific events like seeing a male pleco on eggs so I have the date for laying and can predict the best date reasonably well for pulling babies. Then I forget to delete those bad pics. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I spotted a baby piano snail! 🥰

There is something like 250 species of ramshorn native to North America, so we can just settle with the colloquial “ramshorn snail” But anyway yes that appears to be a baby ramshorn snail

Fieryblack Shiner… my NANF favorite…

I think these look fertile. They had decent spawns for two days and I harvested about 40 or 45 eggs. Have taken out a couple eggs that got white, but the majority seem to be developing.

KH (carbonate) is consumed during the nitrification cycle (converting ammonia to nitrate). So, tap water that starts out at 7dKH will make its way down to 2dKH as carbonate is consumed. With tap water at 7 dKH, it seems like water changes (and even just top off) should be enough to replenish your tank. How often do you do water changes (and how much water do you change)?

I've been thinking about that in between running like a crazy person at work today. UNS sells lids and clips. My other option is to have one cut locally.

I definitely am a fan of a big tank with a few schools of smaller species. It works really well and you can add in a centerpiece if you want!

I see a possible white spot on the upper portion of the tail I not sure its ick. I don't see any white spots on the gills but that doesn't mean they are not there. Other than that you fish looks pretty healthy with the usual blend of koi patterns. I will tag @Colu in case he has any input.

You might as well maximize the space. Would a 29 fit in that space? 🙂

Either my male is confused or a bit slow but he scares me. His idea of dirty dancing for the girls is rolling on his side contorting his body. The same way they would if he was actually fertilizing eggs. But he does it in the center of the tank 🤪 Every time I see it I think he is dying. Then I see both girls looking on and rubbing on him. Tammy apparently had no fry. Yesterday she dropped her war paint and today her and Crystal both have on their sexy man catching dress. So I was vacuuming the tank today when George decided to put on a show. They have no fear of me it the siphon. I have to stop suction and nudge them out if my way. Today I stopped siphoning to try to video his Fish Dirty Dancing. By the time I dried my hands he stopped. With as violently as he shakes I half wonder if he isn’t fertilizing the water column and that’s why I keep getting infertile eggs?? So this is them not doing what I’m trying to video 🤣🤣🤣

Yesterday morning there was so much activity. Girl 1 still won’t commit to the cave. She goes from coy to coquettish and back again in minutes. Everything happens when lights are out so I apologize for the glare. While watching the boy get frustrated I spotted the other girl rise from under the moss log where she lives. Haven’t seen her in a few days. Was hoping she was on eggs. No luck but she rose with an impressive egg belly. She hovered about until the boy noticed her. The boy went straight to her and he lost all interest in girl 1 who was showing yellow. Though girl 2 had an egg belly she showed no yellow. After 10 minutes of the boy starting to show interest she began getting yellow. I managed to get pictures of her before and right as she started turning yellow. Before just getting color.

Wow, I'm humbled. Thank you for such kind words, seriously. I think back to when I first joined and realize I was such a jerk 😆. Being here literally changed who I am today. I must thank you and everyone here for being a part of this journey and I'm a better person because of you all. Again, thank you! Without the support from everyone, this was never possible.

Hello there, I also love shallow tanks. I have one 23cm high and 20x 25cm h shallow tanks, so 21 shallow tanks in total. (One more, but I use it for my isopods). I dont think there are big differences between normal tanks and shallow tanks. I can mention a few negative stuff that comes to my mind -Plants that grow vertically fast can be a lil annoying to maintenance. This can be a limiting factor. I would advice you to choose your plant options wisely in general to make sure height wont be a problem. Make sure this wont be an issue for you - substrate depth can cut very much from the tank and swimming space. Scaping with a thin layer of sand on the bottom and leaning towards less substrate depth might be a good idea. Otherwise creating a balance between swimming space and substrate thickness can be a problem, planting and rooting may become annoying. -Installing a HOB can be annoying if thats your choice of filter. I use an AC30 in one of my tanks with similar size to yours, and I had to remove the intake tube and attach a fine sponge filter there directly. In one of my long shallow tanks(110cm long), I had to install a wavemaker to turn the water well and create nice surface agitation. - siphoning the bottom is a bit challenging. Why? Because before you finish whole ground, you are usually siphon the half of the water in the tank. Surface area of the substrate is equal to the tanks that are much taller, so they hold more water. But in this case, tanks hold less water than an average tank with a similar footprint. - In where I live, majority of the heaters are tall even if they are low W. The shortest I find is aquael ultra heater and even that is 16cm tall. With substrate it can be a bit challenging to position the heater vertically. Make sure tk get a heater that is short in height, or can be used lopsided

Been a busy few months and tanks have been a bit neglected. Did a big cleaning on the small tank this weekend. Everything looks great minus erio quin. Uprooted most the plants to clean the substrate. Plan to move some stuff around in the 60p this week when I do maintenance.

I am so so very sorry for your losses. I agree with what @Odd Duck suggested for the seltzer (plants) and 3% peroxide (tank, substrate, equipment). Welcome to the forum also. Glad you are here, and we will help you however we can.

Thanks for all the great responses. what was a quick fix prior to 2018 here in Canada now becomes a disaster because we are no longer able to get fish meds. there are no longer any inhabitants in the tank as it was only the tiger barbs. I will keep the tank going and feed the nitrifying bacteria for the next few weeks and add a few test fish after to see what happens. unfortunately I think this will have to end in odd ducks suggestion. Good project for the up coming holidays in December thanks fish people.

I’m so sorry this happened to you. Saving your plants like @Odd Duck recommended with seltzer is the best way. Here is an article explaining the process.

Wow! That is absolutely an awesome work of art. It's hard to believe you did all this in just nine months or so. You are truly gifted.

Hello again @Epiphanaea We have a reputable betta breeder friend in our local group who also breeds so many different wild types. I asked him what this is by sending the pics youve shared, and he said it is a male betta smaragdina. Not an alien or female. I cant tell if it is exactly true or not but I hope it helps. At least wanted to share his opinion with you

You can't go wrong with a good old classic wooden chest of drawers! There is also this one I found on Amazon. Heavy duty metal frame work and a very strong wooden manufactured wood. Very water resistant and it has the cabinet style doors to hide stuff.

Story time, I need a new tank stand. So I thought to myself, if I have to break the tank down, why not splurge on that rimless tank you want. Self, this is great time to buy a larger tank. What do I fall in love with? The UNS 60S. It's 23.6 x 14.7 x 7.9. For those that have a shallow tank, what are the pros and cons? Filtration would be the Oase filtosmart 60. I have a fluval planted nano light. I currently have rice fish and white clouds in a 10 gallon.

They are doing well and spawned several times. Then promptly ate the eggs. They will figure it out. Most of my kids do. (This does not include my German blue rams who are the worlds worst parents and NEVER figure it out 🤣) The girl came in with a bit of fin rot and a slight haze to her eyes. I thought I had her cleared up but not completely. I put an acrylic divider in the tank to work on clearing her up completely. He is a touch of a bully when she does not want his attention. She is recovering again. They are so different from my L. dorsigera who are lovey dovey all the time. I wholesale all my babies to a vendor who always wants more of everything I breed. Though your addition of a caution is appreciated. For folks who are first time breeders dwarf cichlid spawn numbers can be quite surprising. Current time out setup in 15g.

I’m so very proud of you! Congratulations - well deserved! Following along has been so fascinating and a true privilege. Plus your tank is gorgeous, of course! What a nice dedication and tribute to @gjcarew! You are an exceptional human to work so hard and be so dedicated to your goal, then have the consideration and take time to dedicate it to your friend and mentor. Someone on this forum inspires me in one way or another, every time I start reading. Today, it was you! You have inspired me to keep pushing forward, keep learning, and keep working towards the ideal. Even if you don’t think things are going perfectly, you might be surprised at what you can create or achieve. This is what I need to tell myself and yes, I know I’ve told you essentially that many times. 😆 We should all be easier on ourselves and more forgiving to ourselves. We are almost always our own worst critics. We need to practice kindness to ourselves more often. Keep up the good work and I can’t wait to see next year’s entry!

I'm going to second the recommendation to look up a club. They're really handy for finding good fish or uncommon fish. Not to mention just having a group of other people willing to talk about fish

I've spawned these many times they prefer to adhere eggs to a flat stones in most cases but you may get a pair that prefers wood, glass side or glass bottom Spawning can turn a usually passive fish into a monster. Small tank size is going to exacerbate this bad behavior. Breeding cichlids in a community tank can very disruptive 75L gives the female a chance to avoid being roughed up if she's not ready to spawn. I like to add a group of 4-6 small platys they give the Curviceps something to chase away and gives shy fish confidence feed them well and avoid disturbing the tank it won't take long for dancing and egg laying you may or may not lose several broods to the parents before it clicks and they figure everything out. As with most Cichlids when the eggs or fry get eaten by a parent there may be some fighting. If successful you're going to have more Curviceps than you'll want so plan accordingly

First @JJ9254 Welcome. I'm excited you took the opportunity to post and hopefully we get to hear more from your experience and your setups! I think this might just be similar to what a lot of discus keepers go through. They recommend using a QT tank and "testing" if you can mix the two sources. Essentially, you have to give it time when introducing anything to an established tank because you just have no real idea what will happen. That being said, unfortunately, the answer here is really just time and quarantine. Once the "new" fish are used to your water, your care, then add them to the display. I only say this for an established display because it's been up and running for a long time. Once you have the new fish in your care for weeks, preferably a month, then maybe you take one from the tank and add it to the QT and run it for another ~14 days. Without having meds, a microscope, and the ability to really dive into diagnosing parasites or illnesses, it's really tough to know exactly what to do. As far as what to do next, you can pull the plants and "QT" them in a bucket or tote for as long as you feel necessary for any fish pathogens to die off. You can dip the plants or treat them in something like Alum. You can reset the tank, sterilize things, and restart your cycle, but I'm not sure what you wish to do. In time the pathogens should die off without a necessary host. You can deep clean the tank, remove gunk, and "reset" things as you need to and go from that point without using harsh chemicals or anything, and start slowly with a small trio or something to verify that the tank is acceptable for fish at that point. All of this looks good. First @JJ9254 Welcome. I'm excited you took the opportunity to post and hopefully we get to hear more from your experience and your setups! I think this might just be similar to what a lot of discus keepers go through. They recommend using a QT tank and "testing" if you can mix the two sources. Essentially, you have to give it time when introducing anything to an established tank because you just have no real idea what will happen. That being said, unfortunately, the answer here is really just time and quarantine. Once the "new" fish are used to your water, your care, then add them to the display. I only say this for an established display because it's been up and running for a long time. Once you have the new fish in your care for weeks, preferably a month, then maybe you take one from the tank and add it to the QT and run it for another ~14 days. Without having meds, a microscope, and the ability to really dive into diagnosing parasites or illnesses, it's really tough to know exactly what to do. As far as what to do next, you can pull the plants and "QT" them in a bucket or tote for as long as you feel necessary for any fish pathogens to die off. You can dip the plants or treat them in something like Alum. You can reset the tank, sterilize things, and restart your cycle, but I'm not sure what you wish to do. In time the pathogens should die off without a necessary host. You can deep clean the tank, remove gunk, and "reset" things as you need to and go from that point without using harsh chemicals or anything, and start slowly with a small trio or something to verify that the tank is acceptable for fish at that point. All of this looks good. @Odd Duck, @Colu how would you handle an established tank with a severe contamination (virus, bacteria, or parasite)?

A CO2 drop checker gives you a broad guideline of your CO2 status, not enough, about right, too much, but I'm assuming you already know about those and are looking for something more precise.

how long is the tank? Barbs like a lot of swimming distance (lengthwise). In terms of yellow there are some options, but I would also toss in pale green as a color that can often be pretty yellow. Gold barbs, Albino tiger barbs, Neon Green Rasbora would seemingly all fit the theme.

The White Wizard snails are in a tank together with hornwort, java moss, and a pothos with a nice root system. Leaf litter, palm wood, and duckweed are present. Only one of them is fully white, or almost fully white, and there are a handful of them. They get frequent but small feedings, veggie heavy, but with protein too. The colony is all together now, though there’s may be one hiding out in the planted portions of Jacaranda or the WC 20, but I do keep an eye out for them every day. When I realized they were being out competed by the other snails, I gathered them and the piano snails together into their own colonies.

The Piano Snails are in a tank together, with a sand bottom, some wood, rocks, leaf litter, hornwort, and java moss. A pair of guppies and four shrimp joined them. I’ve seen one itty bitty baby! So, so cute. I’m keeping my eye out for more babies, and will get some pictures up soon. Apologies for the potato quality. They’re getting a diet of grindal worms, baby brine shrimp, frozen brine shrimp, frozen bloodworms, spirulina powder/pellets, kens wafers, and a few other prepared foods, like repashy and bug bites, as well as veggies - either steamed or frozen.

I still have the six that you gave me, GuppySnail! They are in a tank with plants, blackworms, and a few least killis. I check for eggs every day. The temp on that tank is 78. There are also half a dozen from the ACLC swap last weekend in another tank, at room temp, with nothing but hornwort and pothos. Both are getting a diet of live foods, frozen foods, and dry foods, small pinches a couple times a day of whatever it is that’s being fed. Grindal worms, brine shrimp, bloodworms, kens protein wafers or veggie wafers, spirulina in several forms, calcium tablets and nano blocks, green repashy, and anything else that gets put into the rotation. Cucumber and green beans happen a time or two a week as well. I’m waiting on some Snello pellets. Until they arrive, I’m just counting on variety to help keep them as healthy as they were when I got them. They’re looking great, and seem active. But I haven’t seen any clutches of eggs yet. The ph in my tanks is pretty high, with a lot of minerals, as well as leaf litter and tannins. I’m trying to learn what they like to eat best, and when they’re most active. They’re beautiful! I’ve been researching them and taking notes. Advice is more than welcome. 🙂

@Tanked I removed what I could without completely destroying the plant. If I didn't completely get it all will it just come back? And what is the recommended quarantine length? Thanks again for the help.

My ricefish have been breeding in my Java fern, but Java moss or home made mops should work just as well. Best of luck the fry are super tiny!

One of the funniest was about 30 years ago. My wife and I, and her sister and husband, were going to San Antonio to stay at a nice hotel on the Riverwalk for a few days. They'd flown in from Virginia, so we took my truck. I pulled up in front of the hotel and we waited while my brother-in-law went inside to see about the rooms. A few minutes after he went in several men came out to the truck with a cart. At every hotel I'd ever stayed at previous to this if you wanted your luggage in your room you carried it there yourself (this place was above my pay grade), but I'd seen this kind of thing on television, so I knew why they were there. For a little background, I was driving an old Ford extended cab pickup, with a hitch in the back for a gooseneck trailer. Since we didn't have much room in the cab for luggage, and we didn't want to expose it to the weather, I had borrowed two 55-gallon barrels from work, put the luggage in them, put the lids on, and laid them down in the truck, with one on each side of the hitch. I put a rope across one, down through the hitch, across the other one, and tied on the other side to keep them from rolling around. Anyway, I guess these fellows took one look at that old truck, and me untying the ropes holding the barrels down, and wondered just how far back in the woods did these folks come from, because one of them looked at me and asked, very politely "Sir, will these be going inside?"

Reset and a few new plants. I needed to clean more but this session went late but still got alot done.