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Just wanted to share my second aquarium setup. I got my first tank a little over 3 years ago, and it was a 40 gallon breeder. Then afterwards I discovered aquascaping, and since then I have loved the idea of building up a beautiful tank. Jump forward 3 years, and I finally got the courage to get a second tank setup, this time I went with the ADA 30C (30 cm cube). It’s a 7.2 gallon tank, and I bought that at Aquarium Zen. The plants are all from Aquarium Coop though, and they look great! It’s just on its second day so I have a few more weeks of cycling to do, and I will be spending that time thinking about what I want to stock the tank with :) Details: Tank: ADA 30C Substrate: ADA Amazonia 2 (9 L bag), I filled up 3-4 inches on the bottom Filter: HOB (Mighty Aquarium Filter, I replaced the cartridge with bio media and sponge) Light: Lomhie Asta 20 Heater: Hygger small aquarium heater (50w) Hardscape: ~6 lbs of Seyriu stone, 1 driftwood Plants: Monte Carlo, Java Fern, Cryptocoryne Lutea, Anubias Nana, Rotala H’ra, Ludwigia Repens ‘red’ So far I am extremely pleased with the experience of scaping a small tank! It is so much more manageable and I just feel like I could experiment much easier. I wanted to try having the shimmering effect with a spot light, and I tried out the light that MD Tanks used for his tank, the Lomhie Asta lights (much cheaper than a Kessil light). I will create a different post to review the light so it would be easier for others to find. As for stock, I am currently thinking of: pygmy cory OR otocinclus, chili rasbora, shrimp (likely Crystal shrimp because my water is quite soft at 6.4), and some type of snails. I wanted to share my experience because it was a really great one. I’m looking forward to seeing the plants thriving!

Anubias - my 9g betta tank is mostly anubias and dwarf sag. They seemed to be the plants that worked best w/ my water and no injected CO2.

Get creative! Put plant weights or rocks on top of roots & let the roots grow into the substrate like below Here I cut an aquatic pot and pinned it down to guard corries from digging up a crypt flamingo. And here i suspended a plant weight from a rubber band which I then wrapped around a tiger lotus bulb to hold it down. In the background you might also notice a crypt spirellas (sp) that I simply pinned down its roots with a plant weight to self root!

Definitely Hydra. I don’t recommend scraping them off as yes they will multiple. I’ve taken my siphon hose, and scraped that against the glass with the siphon going to remove them. Also, Fenbendazole will get rid of them. Safe for shrimp and plants. Not so sure on the snails.

5 gallon shrimp tank

Here's an older but good pic of some of mine

Try plant weights! I used these when I got some stem plants that did not want to stay in the substrate for the life of me. If you can't get any, you could diy a plant weight by tying the plants together with some fishing line / elastic and place a pebble on top of the plant once you bury it. Or tie the pebble to the plant. I hope that helps ya out.

Hi @D Robinson, First of all overall that is a good looking tank and the new leaves of your java fern (Leptochilus pteropus) look good as well. What I did notice was the older leaves seem to be the ones that are suffering. This would indicate insufficient availability of one of the mobile nutrients, but which one? There are a couple of clues, the chlorosis (yellowing) of the older leaves tip and margins followed by the necrosis (death of the leaf tissue) would indicate insufficient available potassium as @clownbaby suggested. Insufficient available potassium can be caused by a couple of factors; 1) not enough potassium being dosed or 2) an excess of calcium impeding the uptake of potassium. You didn't indicate the water parameters of the tank or what nutrients are dosed with the amounts or frequency but I would suspect it issue is potassium related due to the fact it is a mobile nutrient as the symptoms the older leaves exhibit. I too grow java ferns (Leptochilus species) both the 'Trident' and the 'Windelov' variants and I find if I am not dosing at least 20 ppm of potassium (K2) the growth will slow or stop completely and my leaves start to look like the one the arrow is pointing at. When I up the dosage the growth increases and new leaves emerge from the rhizomes. Hope this helps! -Roy

Hey, sorry it's been so long since I updated. Btw, Buzz is doing great! His tank had been getting messy and hard to clean so I decided to give the tank a makeover.

I intentionally put my heaters next to my sponge filters to actively circulate the heat. With the Easy Flow kits I believe it’s even better. I wouldn’t hesitate to put an air stone next to a heater. In my opinion, it’s favorable to distribute the heat through the tank.

I have a good update on my dwarf redtail eel now. This summer he has been significantly more active and interactive. He is much more like the eel I was so enthralled with in the beginning. He definitely has regained his appetite and is strong and healthy looking. I rescaped his tank with a dogwood tree log from my yard. It is hollow from one end to the other with four or five escape holes where branches used to be. He loves hiding in it and slithering through it. I made sure to make lots of pathways and cave type structure throughout the tank. I also removed most all of the plants that were rooted and used mostly Java Fern and Anubius instead. Now I don't have to worry about him uprooting the plants like before. I can say without a doubt that he loves his new tank. I added a bunch of dwarf barbs (pethia gelius) to give more movement in the tank, which has turned out nice. All in all, I would say things turned out great.

Yeah I figure since it was actually on sale cheaper than the fx-2 i might as well just get it and can throttle it down some if needed.

My guppies used to nibble on hydra. Not eat voraciously but definitely nibble on them

Use a melamine wipe to remove them. If you leave any cells they just regrow. The melamine wipes seem to get all of it. They really are more an eye irritant than a threat. I have them from time to time in my shrimp and fry tanks. The fry and shrimp avoid them unless they get extremely dense. Fenbendazole will kill snails but is safe for shrimp and plants. Stop feeding fine powder foods and brine shrimp for a few weeks. They will cyst up and mostly can be vacuumed out.

Totally your call and what you’re comfortable with.

I only have sponge filters, and moss and subwassertang impede flow and trap a lot of stuff. I'd probably use soil or aquasoil, but probably no reason to use both. I use soil cuz it's cheap and they're fish tanks, not plant tanks. I usually let them sit in some water for a week before adding to the tank in case it causes an ammonia spike, but if it's not much soil I usually don't bother. I've never had a pot fall over, but I have small fish. If that's a problem I'd go with a heavier pot, like terra cotta. Or a layer of gravel at the bottom for weight/stability, capped with soil and then sand or fine gravel. Or just gravel capped with aquasoil if you go that route.

I was thinking, for me I actually really like the plastic fake terra cotta planters cuz they're light and you can move them easily when cleaning the bottom of the tank. I use soil capped with sand, so it might not make a difference if you use heavier gravel. One of a million little future projects is to figure out a nice easy way to get everything off the bottom so detritus collects in one spot and I don't have to move anything to clean.

I use anything vaguely container shaped lol. Take out containers, clear plastic cups, glass jars, greek yogurt cups. Terra cotta or fake tc planters if I sorta care that it doesn't look totally horrible.

That sounds like some wonderful soil. I'd go for the hygro corymbosa compact. I love hygros.

I've always just accepted this as one of the many annoying aspects of hatching bbs. I just use a wash bottle to rinse the eggs off the sides after a few hours. But the type of eggs, design and cleanliness of the hatchery might all be a factor. Not running air for the first hour or two to let the eggs rehydrate before turning it on would also probably help.

A LARGE school of them shoaling all over the top half of a 55 gallon aquarium is a sight to behold! Any given year I have 24-50 in my school. I still haven't been able to get them to breed, so as they die off from old age, I'll order a couple dozen to get their numbers back up.

Hydrocotyle is actually pretty easy to grow (especially in small, shallower tanks). It did well closer to the light in my tank. Pearlweed is another good one if you’re ok with a lot of trimming and replanting!

Absolutely helps I will try dosing potassium. thank you. I am dosing a complete fertilisers but it is in the lean side for easy maintenance.

The test for nitrates isn’t very sensitive. On most color comparator tests you really get about 3 ranges. Zero-very low, just right, and way too high. There’s a good chance your nitrates are way high and you just cut them down but not enough to make a difference in the test. are you using the ACO test strips? Try a liquid dropper test.

Definitely anubias. Bettas like to rest on plants, Anubias barteri has good broad leaves for them. You can stick them on a rock or stick up higher in the water column without affecting the substrate. Dwarf sag is nice but will take over in a small tank like that. Crypts make a good floor cover. Baby Tears is a carpeting plant that needs special care to look good and really doesn’t benefit a betta. what substrate will the tank have?

Test your tap water source.

Depending on your desired style, I've found terracotta pots are always safe. I've also used glazed bamboo pots with beautiful results.

Wow! Such a pretty tank.Keep up the good work

Yes for whatever reason this one wants to stick with me, I've had others that have died. I got it in 2010, here's an old comparison photo of it: I don't like using chemicals either. I've been using something called Mighty Mint that seems to work for some things but not others. I water blasted the leaves after repotting it (the current picture that I posted earlier) this week. I had a master gardener once tell me to just keep water blasting plants to get rid of pests. It can be time consuming when a plant is big but the poor thing doesn't have many leaves right now -- BUT it has a CRAZY large root system. This is not the first time this plant has been attacked. I've also used Neem Oil.

That's a bit my plan as well. Hatch inside. Get them going. Then bring them out for some added wild cuisine. Hopefully it will work out. Will be to try!

I have only bought neocaradina shrimp from Swimming Creatures on Amazon only after looking at the recent reviews and looking online on YouTube. I was happy with results and have bred the shrimp. (make sure the seller does returns or replacements in case of DOAS)

That’s what he was looking for I agree. And sometimes some fish still comes from there. Depending on the store of course. Sometimes you can just see when something is off.

No, all of my tanks are injected with CO2. I drive the system harder than any non-CO2 tank obviously, so if I don’t use root tabs, how does non injected CO2 tanks need tab? The cold hard reality is a successful aquarium is controlled with precise nutrients, solid water changes, and husbandry.

Purely curious, why wouldn’t you want to buy from a big box store? When I was new to the hobby, and before I discovered the LFS’s around me, a lot of my fish came from PetCo. Some of them I still have to this day. Albino Cory’s, my first couple Angels, etc. PetCo/Smart vs Amazon, I would rather be able to get my eyes on the fish and be able to look for visible signs of illness, sunken bellies, etc. I’m simply curious why Amazon would be the preferred route? Just seems like more of a gamble to me, personally.

I checked both bulbs again. Took them out and pressed on them. Weren’t too mushy but weren’t exactly firm either. Then I smelled them. They stank! So out they went with the water I was changing out. Both duds. What a bummer. I am not sure if I mentioned it, but one of the embers (top right) is missing a piece of its tail. I added low dose (1 T/5 gal) salt and it has been growing back nicely. Everyone else looks good except 1 dude (on left) isn’t coloring up like everyone. HOWEVER, that fish is the most energetic and the smartest. It always understands the Repashy and is first to eat it. It teaches the other fish that it is food.

I see maple leaves, oak leaves, and almond leaves. I collect most of my botanicals outside (only do this in areas you know aren't sprayed with herbicide or insecticide etc!) I know in florida there are many great trees to choose from. Many oaks, such as your native southern live oak, have great botanicals. I think swamp oak / cow oak would be great too! Magnolia leaves would be nice too. Mangrove and red maple are likely in your area too. Or you could order some! Either way again what I mainly see is maple leaves, oak leaves, and almond leaves. Maple and oak seems the most prevalent: the ones with the sharp lobes are maples or oaks. Hope this helps!

@NOLANANO, I might disagree with the comparison between Amazon and Petsmart. You can buy from vendors on Amazon who are small businesses that pay to sell on Amazon. Whether you agree or disagree with Amazon and their business I can't deny that it's smart to use their customer base to help sell your products when you are small. Having said that, whenever I'm buying from an "outside seller" on Amazon I check reviews for the seller. They usually direct ship to you and if there are returns or issues often you have to work through the seller. The better the reviews the more chance you will have zero issues.

I had fun with Limia nigrofasciata. There are a few really nice looking Limia types.

If you can afford the 16 off the bat, I’d say go for it! I have had the most success with no plants in the tub with them just a few spawning mops if breeding is the goal. I leave the mops in with the adults for 7-14 days. At day 14 eggs that were laid on the first day of the mops should be pretty close to hatching. I then take the mops and put them in a 10 gallon tank (or breeder box) and leave them for another 14-18 days. During this time you should have new fry hatching every day. Newborn fry are pretty small so I wouldn’t add them back in with the adults for at least another month if not 2 so they are large enough. I feed sera micron and baby brine shrimp 2-3 times a day. You can end up with tons of fry this way so if you want smaller numbers just pull the mops sooner than 14 days to limit egg production. Hope this helps!

I use sourdough discard on bread slices, instead of yogurt for my white worm culture. It works great, I'd say its equal to yogurt but free

If you are growing crabgrasss indoors, you may have enough light to grow mint. Mine produces floating carpets in the pond, but won't grow indoors.

I would run more plants. Ideally for a dirted tank I want the tank to be full with plants, at least to the point where I couldn't meaningfully add more plants due to lack of space in the substrate.

So it turns out this thing is actually a pig. He never stops wanting to eat, and that fat belly shows it. He has already cleaned out all my shrimp. I do add more from other tanks as I can, because it's his favorite treat. Now all of a sudden he has figured out that those snails are gourmet food. There are almost none of those left either. He has wasted no time growing to full size for this species. He was four inches when I got him, now he is a bit over seven inches. Here's a few pics of a great pet.

Wouldn't the coarse sponge filter out finer particles as it begins to clog? I have both kinds. I use them more for water movement than for filtering anything. I also use them with HOBs. I will say that I'm part of the not really maintaining the sponge filter group. It's nice that it takes the coarse sponge takes a while to clog. I once did not service the coarse sponge filter for several months and when I did, I found 3 medium sized Rams Horn Snails in side of it. It was odd because I removed all the Rams Horns from that tank. I'm guessing when they were tiny baby snails that they could actually make their way through the sponge into the hollow part under the air stone. Their shells were all beat up like they had been tumbling around in there.