[Hello to the community !]

Beautiful tanks! 

[Guppy + Endler Wars]

This is happening to me right now. My male Endlers are relentlessly attacking  my 2 remaining male guppies. I had added the Endlers thinking they would be chill and get along. 

[Is this Green Hair Algae?]

I am dealing with something I’ve never dealt with before. Green hair like algae is on my plants. I took my water to be tested and my LFS and they said everything looked good. I’m using a Fluval Plant 3 but maybe I’m running my lights too strong? I usually run them for 8 hours as I’m trying to grow an Amazon Sword. I’ll attach my settings. Is there anyway to keep this from spreading more?

 

[8 Month Progression Planted 20 Gallon Long]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:08 PM, Brenden Mitchell said:

August 1, 2022

I had no idea what I wanted to do with this tank in the beginning, I placed fluval stratum underneath fluorite gravel and threw some plants in. 

September 22, 2022

The plants didn't grow very much in the first two months, I bought lots more and added a tree root that I found in a lake. I ended up hating the look of the fluorite gravel and I poured more fluval stratum on top. I'm more of a dirty mulm kind of guy, I don't like the clean look that much. Expensive mistake buying fancy gravel... 

March 22, 2023

After I added the top layer of fluval stratum the plants started to grow much better, the dwarf hair grass eventually took off. I added in some crypts, the foremost is doing well. The other two in the middle and on the right side are slowly growing. Java fern and Pogostemon stellatus did not do well, I have finally removed the Pogostemon because it refused to grow, replacing it with Elodea, which I don't necessarily like but it grows super fast and generally looks decent. It fills in empty space well. I added pearl weed in the middle, which has just been trimmed. It was reaching the top of the tank before the trim. Anubias nana petite is attached to the wood, and it has been growing very, very slowly. There is also some type of grass that is doing excellent, dwarf chain sword? I bought it at a LFS and it was unlabeled. 

There is a slight cloudiness to the tank that has persisted, coming and going, for a couple months now. 
I change 1/3 of the water every two weeks or so. I fertilize with two pumps of Easy Green and one capful of API leaf zone every Sunday. I test water before water changes and I never have Ammonia, Nitrites, or Nitrates. I don't vacuum the substrate, but sometimes I stir it up when I'm changing water to suck up a little of the algae growing between the grass. My PH is something like 7.8-8.2 usually. The tank is unheated and usually fluctuates from 68-72° F. That's about all the details I've got. I have 10 white cloud minnows and a handful of wild type cherry shrimp which I culled from my 10 gallon cherry shrimp tank. I want to keep the good colors in the 10 gallon and put the rest in here. 

I'm feeling good about this tank, it's had a lot of ups and downs but I think it's finally getting pretty solid. I will probably not use aquarium substrate again. I think that fluval stratum is not really worth the money, nor are the gravels - at least not for my uses. They do look very nice, and for certain styles they can work well. However, I prefer organic potting soil and gravel/sand from creeks. I have noticed a distinct difference in this tank and my other two tanks which had soil. This tank took much longer to show plant growth, the growth is less intense, and it has had many ups and downs in health, whereas my dirted tanks have always remained stable. 

Anyway, thanks for checking out my tank. If you have any thoughts or questions let me know.

Very nice! 

[Hello from Tennessee - Seeking stocking advice for 29 gallon]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:05 PM, anewbie said:

Kubotai rasbora are very active but small fishes that like modest temp; if you look at them closely they actually have a blue stripe that adds to their beauty but swimming you won't notice it much. In my 29 i keep ember tetra with a pare of nannacara amolae; she mostly ignores the tetra but goes after the male with a vengence - you know how dare you leave me with all these eggs to care for - and she really does beat the crap out of him - anyway a 29 is a decent size aquarium. If you are on the east side there are some decent stores; in the middle/west not so much. To be honest there are hundreds of fishes that likely meet your critera - i'll name a few suitable for a 29:

cardinal tetra

green neon tetra

kubotai rasbora

(dozen other rasbora)

cherry barbs

(most barbs can get a bit larger but cherry stays a decent size - around the size of a cardinal)

white fin rosy tetra (these along with many other species like phantom, serpae, ...) get a bit larger and i'd limit myself to around 6 or 8.

--

While kubtai rasbora are a fast schooling fish - they are rather small - i would avoid larger schooling fishes like rummynose as the aquarium really isn't large enough for them (lack of swimming area) -- cardinals are the same size as rummy but they don't swim much - they like to just sit in the plants looking pretty. 

You could also consider something like pygmy cory - they are a bit different than other cory (besides being small; smaller than cardinal tetras) they love to swim and school.

Thank you for taking the time to drop some names. It seems Rasboras are fairly popular here. I've never kept them and many of the names being talked about I have no idea about so I'm reading up on them, I should have actually mentioned what you stated about the swimming area as the spiderwood and plants take up a lot of space,

[Hello from Tennessee - Seeking stocking advice for 29 gallon]

On 3/23/2023 at 11:23 PM, Kendall’s Aquarium said:

Sunset or rummynose variatus would look great!

Just Googled both and love the look of the Sunsets. Very beautiful fish! The high fin looks very cool also.

[Hello from Tennessee - Seeking stocking advice for 29 gallon]

On 3/23/2023 at 8:59 PM, Guppysnail said:

Welcome to the forum. That tank looks lovely. I keep honey gourami in my 29. I recently saw my friends 29 with pork chop Harlequin rasbora. They really looked good in their 29. 

I've never heard of a Porkchop Rasbora. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

On 3/23/2023 at 9:53 PM, Levi_Aquatics said:

There are so many options to pick from. I would probably do guppies or endlers, but there are many interesting tetra species that would look amazing too! Welcome to the forum!!

Thanks for the reply. I'm definitely considering Endlers.

[Hello from Tennessee - Seeking stocking advice for 29 gallon]

Hello all! New to the forum but have kept fish on/off since I was a teenager.  I finally got my 55 Gallon to where I want it and now I'm bored so I started cleaning up a 29 gallon last weekend with my youngest son. I need small fish that like plants and maneuvering around them. Any recommendations would be appreciated. It would be nice to add some color to the tank whether it be fish or plants. Going to let it cycle for a while but in the meantime planning on what I'll add to it.