CKetchum

@TheSwissAquarist It's gonna be a great Fall day! Take time to enjoy nature daily, today!

I also really like the Anubias gold coin, it looks great and has been easy to care for. I would have a tough time choosing though! The tiger and red drawf are also really lovely.

Update: This product clear all the white spots from my fish. I dosed twice daily. 5ml/10gall or 15ml in my 29g Increased temp to 80 (slowly) Turned up my air stones. Cleared in about a week, no issues with plants, shrimp, snails or water chemistry. I did catch the infection early on and it was hard to watch my fish go through it but they could of cared less. I overfed a bit to make sure they stayed eating and healthy. They really loved baby brine shrimp. My nitrates are up a little due to feedings and not changing any water for ~2weeks now. Which is technically on schedule for a water change anyhow. My nitrates are just up a bit more then normal.

Even after quarantining my Von Rio babies (new from LPS) they have tiny white spots after going into my display tank😬😭 So this is ICH and I am not a fan. Only the babies have a few spots on fins, my other established fish all look great. Everyone is eating and acting fine. I see an occasional flashing behavior in my peacock gudgeon. My tank has 3 MTS, amano shrimp, ghost shrimps, and ramhorn snails. I also have Moby the Hillstream Loach as well. I am worried about using ICH X with my inverts; my LPS recommends Kordon's Ich Attack. It's a natural product that is safe for inverts and reefs. Thoughts? any experience? .

Welcome to the Nerm forum 🙂. I have never kept cichlids, just community fish. I am interested in a 40 gallon breeder for some dwarf cichlid fish in the future. I have also thought about dipping my toe into brackish tank keeping. MTS is real!

Von Rios -- quickly becoming my favorite tetra!

Very nice! Do they "sparkle/flash"?

When you try to offer the fish a special treat and the tank 😆 come out! 🤣

Pearlweed and S. repens. Love the snail army!

My Italian val sprouted two new plants and is just stagnant in growth. No worse, no better just there. All other plants are happy. Val seems to be the jealous type. Meaning, it doesn't like competition for nutrients or attention (?). I haven't addressed it because it really isn't a problem per se, just not the effect I wanted. I also am to chicken to risk upsetting any of my other plants.

I agree I would watch the newer leaves growth, if holes are present maybe a potassium deficiency. EG liquid is higher in potassium then most other fertilizers but swords love potassium. Keep us posted.

Flourish is pretty low in nitrogen as compared to EG fertilizers. I have a low light 29 gallon and Flourish barely moved my nitrates at all. I dose my 29 gallon (moderately planted) with EG 4 pumps/weekly (Sundays or Monday) and 5 ml of Flourish on Wednesday or Thursday). No algae here and fish are happy. I also have to dose Equilibrium 1/2 tablespoon monthly. bi-weekly 25% water changes. I have PSO, Java Fern, Anubias nana, Anubias coin, red dwarf lilly, Crypt wend green, Crypt tropica. Italian Val (not growing tall thou), Salvina floating plant (30% coverage over top), java moss (small amount), christmas moss (small amount). I have a medium sponge filter and a small sponge filter (more for just encase I need a hospital or QT). pH 6.4, kH low 40 on ACO strip (waiting on a test kit), gH 150, nitrate 10- 20, nitrite 0 6 blue tetra, 2 von rio tetra (waiting on more to come in to my LPS), 1 peacock gudgeon, 1 hillstream, 1 million juvenile MS (30), 1 adult MS, we don't talk about what happened to my momma snail. 🤐 And some random ramhorn snail juveniles like 3-4 --- hitchhikers/free loaders came on plants.

The edges of your sword also may indicate a deficiency. I have very soft water so I have to dose Equilibrium to help combat deficiency. Curling leaves could be a calcium deficiency.

I have a low light tank (29 gallon, 16 inch high, with a finnex sting ray) and my red dwarf plant is basically a weed trying to over tank my tank 🙂 I have to trim it once a week, only to find more Lilly pads in 2-3 days (no kidding). I do dose both EG root tabs and EG liquid fert. I also have great luck with PSO. What about some floating plants? Or pothos? Those will both help to compete for nutrients against algae. As far a floaters -- water lettuce grows a long root system you can always cull so that it doesn't block too much light or set up an airline loop to contain it to a corner.

Tiny aliens! I can't help but hearing nom, nom, nom......nom when they are eating or going weeeee when the parasnail.

Its not easy being a blue heeler but somehow Jasper seems to pull it off 🥰

There really isn't anything cuter in a fish tank then baby Mystery Snails 🥰

@Bertman35769 looks like you are doing a great job with your new tank! I really like the layout. I was in the same place you were a few weeks ago. Cycling a new tank with plants. I have gravel substrate and only used root tabs under the "root feeding plants" like my red melon sword and crypts. Typically time works out most issues when it comes to the hobby. Keep asking questions, watch Co-op's videos to learn more. We are all learning, my KH was super low yesterday I and I had a mild freak out! What is in your 55 gallon? Oh, and I keep a small sponge filter in my 29 gallon for a just in case I need a QT or hospital tank. I use a medium sponge filter for my main filtration. Lastly, my peacock gudgeon was "missing" in my tank. I was mildly worried, until my kid walked in the room and said (pointing to tank) you mean this fish? UGH. 🤪

My 29 gallon has some von rio tetras, super colorful and have some personality. Also, not to big so you can get a reasonable sized group of them. I have a peacock gudgeon as well. The Von Rios, hang out together then go their separate ways, then hang out together again. They really like investigating the plants. More of a middle to bottom of the tank dwellers. They are also kinda comical to watch. I also have some Conchu tetras (blue tetras). Pretty fish, very active and too common. They like the top to middle of the tank. They can out compete the Von Rios for food so I make sure to have some slow sinking pellets (Extreme Nano). They are more of a shoaling fish in my group of 7. They are bigger then the Von Rios (flame tetra). I attached some pictures, but seriously don't do the any justice, more vibrant in person.

Tested my 29 gallon tank today, routine monitoring I did not have any concerns. On the Co-op test strips my kH is very low (yellow) and of course my pH is low 6.0 (or less). Zero nitrites, nitrates <10 (added EG), hardness 150 (I have soft water I add Equilibrium ~ 1 monthly for plants). To avoid pH swings and to bump up my pH and kH I am thinking of crushed coral. In the meantime do I dare add a small amount of Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to neutralize acids? 1/4 tsp? I have a medium sponge filter for filtration and a small sponge filter. The small filter I have cycled for just in case I need a hospital or quarantine tank. When I get the crushed coral do I just rinse and add to my tank? 1/2 pound? Thoughts? I have 7 blue conchu tetras, 2 Von Rios (waiting to add more) 1 peacock gudgeon, 1 hillstream loach, mystery snail and ~ 20 juvenile mystery snails (for 2 more weeks). Thank you! 😁

Very excited for your new adventure.

🙂Welcome to the Forum! We are just a group of friendly folks that share our failures and successes. Looking forward to hearing about experiences and seeing your tank (s). Beware MTS is real! 😁

Welcome to the FORUM! Are beignets really worth the hype? I really like sponge filters 2 large filters in the corners combined with airstone(s) in the filter help with tank circulation, aeration, bio and mechanical filtration. I don't think you can beat it. It all depends on what you stocking in the tank thou I think fancy goldfish are "derpy"---that is a good thing in my book. 😊

Warm French bread - versatile and irresistible 😁

Are you dosing Fe in your tank? or using a fertilizer with Fe? You could add more plants to compete for nutrients and/or reduce nutrients as well (like add root feeders and root tabs vs. fertilize the water column).