Christhefishman

Awesome, thanks for chiming in Cory! I think at this point I’m going to replace this tank with a 40 that I’m planning on taking down that doesn’t have this issue and return this tank. Being up on a second floor with hardwood and carpeting just makes me too nervous even though chances are probably slim that something bad would happen. Landlord would have my head if this thing leaked while I was out at work!

Okay gotcha! Of course I didn’t notice this was going on until after it had been set up on the stand and filled for multiple days so it’s still sitting there it’s been a total of about a week and no leaks or anything I’m just constantly checking those areas and feeling nervous about it 😅. I did reach out to Aqueon and they said not to worry but since it’s something I’ve never encountered before I even still can’t help but worry and wanted to see everyone input on here. But on my search for a replacement tank I’ve found the exact same issue over and over it’s driving me nuts haha unless this is just how it is. here is Aqueon’s response:

Hey Daniel! Thanks for your input, I’m glad you haven’t had any leaks or blowouts!! Maybe it’s because I zoomed in so far on the photos but the bubbles are actually appearing in the thin layer of silicone that is structural and holds the glass panels together. That’s why I’m so concerned. Thats always been my understanding based of what I’ve researched that it’s the thin silicone where the glass panels meet that’s structural and the other silicone just provides a waterproof seal around that “glass on glass contact silicone” unless I’m mistaken. for reference here is another 40B I have set up and where the 1/4” glass panels meet there’s no bubbling vs. the current tank which has a ton of bubbling in that thin layer of silicone that’s supposed to bong the panels.

Hey everyone! So I’ve been kind of freaking out about a new Aqueon 40B I bought a week ago. It’s currently going through a fish-less cycle. I inspected the hell out of the tank before purchasing and everything looked great! Now that it’s filled with water however, there’s thousands of what look like tiny air bubbles in the silicone seams where the glass meets glass. I understand 40B do bow a little bit when filled on the front and back panels but this is the first Aqueon tank I’ve seen this happen. Tank and stand are dead level, I triple checked. Bubbles go away if I drain 50% of the water but come right back once it’s filled. I drove around to multiple stores to inspect their 40’s and out of the 3 stores I went too, every 40 breeder I saw either had the same bubbles already while empty, or the same bubbles appeared when I used my hands to apply pressure on the inside of the tank. It freaks me out as a potential leak/blow out! Anyone experienced this before? Here’s are some pics. last picture is another 40 breeder I had them fill at the store and the same thing happened. I’ve now looked at 5 of these tanks over the past few days and they ALL had this issue. @Cory I believe you’re a fan of 40 breeders, have you ever seen this?

First off I I just want to say thank you!! That video was absolutely excellent more people need to see it! I’m going to re watch it again tomorrow it was that good. As for the off gas testing, I think that’s an excellent idea and will help plan of course for what needs to happen on my part. I’ll start that testing process tomorrow as well. Seriously thank you, you’ve been really helpful and I greatly appreciate it. I’ll come back here with some more testing results and we’ll go from there!

Okay one thing, I just noticed the test I was using for Kh was totally expired so I got a new one and now it’s saying the KH is just shy of 80ppm in the tank and it’s about 100ppm out of the tap.

Thank you for all of your feedback!! I’ve been keeping fish for 15 years but it’s always been larger Central American cichlid tanks or Malawi tanks. I haven’t given an honest shot at planted tanks until the past year and holy cow it’s like relearning everything!! The thing is though, now that I have planted tank I just can’t picture myself NOT having live plants, the whole environment just feels and looks so nature I’ve fallen in love with planted tank. But, as we both know it can be a real frustration when you think you’ve finally got everything looking good and growing good just to all the sudden have an algae explosion or the plants start looking bad but that’s what this happy is about, facing challenges and learning how to deal with them! So, I just did a test of my GH/KH and Gh is right between about 200 and 250. my Kh however is really low.. right around 40 or even a tad less. Uh oh. Although I haven’t noticed and Ph swings it’s always sitting at the high 7’s (usually 7.8) Is that odd that my general hardness is high yet the alkalinity is next to non existent? Rest of my tap water came back the same as well. Could that be a big contributor to the issues I’m facing? Would crushed coral in a big in the filter help or something like seachem equilibrium help?

I’m going to try this out, I’m so used to my old mbuna tanks without plants and being able to have the light on longer hours for viewing but looks like when it comes to planted tanks I just have to suck it up and wind down that viewing period! Would it hurt the plants too much if I knocked the light down considerably to maybe 6 hours total for a bit to really make some progress with the algae more quickly? Or just knock a couple hours off like you said and slowly try to win the algae battle? I could also knock the intensity down from 75% to 50% if that will still be enough

Hey everyone! So my plants over the last 2 weeks have just started to look a little crummy and I’m trying to figure out what’s going on. Low tech tank so no co2 injection. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, nitrates are consistently around 25 ppm, Ph is always right around 7.6-7.8 and moderately hard. hygger 24/7 plant light that runs for 5 hours, then a 4 hour siesta, then back on for another 5 hours. I’ve been running the light at 75% intensity. Easy Green is used at the recommended dosage after each weekly water change of 25% and I have co op root tabs in the sand that I replenish every couple months. I also add wonder shells for my 2 mystery snails and ramshorns. Recently I’ve noticed a short green hair algae is appearing on a lot of the plants, my patch of Bacopa is looking less vibrant green and more of a yellowish pale color and the older leaves towards the bottom are getting algae all over the place. Anubias are getting dark unsightly looking algae on the leaves. The dwarf aquarium lily is doing extremely well but when I look closely I can see short green hair algae on those leaves as well. Everything just looks kind of crappy right now and I’m not sure if it’s a light problem or a nutrient deficiency (esspecially with the color change of the Bacopa to looking more pale) and the hair algae is starting to really get on my nerves so I’m looking for advice on how to move forward! Still new-ish to live plants so if I’m missing something obvious bear with me. Thanks everyone!!

Okay great, thanks @Colu! I was hoping you’d see this post! I’m happy that it’s atleast looking like inflammation from a minor injury and not some kind of parasite or start of a bad infection. I’m off to grab some more aquarium salt. Appreciate it!

Hey guys, wondering if anyone might have an idea what’s going on with the tail fin of one of my young Congo tetras. Appeared randomly about a week prior to me posting this and seems to slowly be getting larger. Not sure if treatment is needed or if it will go away on its own since I haven’t encountered something exactly like this before. Fish swims, eats, and acts completely normal. planted tank with no signs of illness on any other fish. 0 ammonia,0 nitrite, 20 ppm nitrate for plants, PH 7.6, moderately hard, temp is 79 thanks everyone!

Hey everyone! So, I’ve had a marble angelfish who I dearly love growing out in a 29 gallon for the past year along with a Pearl gourami, a male/female pair of bolivian rams, and 8 panda Cories. All of these fish were tiny a year ago and I always planned this tank as a grow out for them all. Everyone gets along awesomely and the rams have bred for me multiple times. My plan was always to upgrade them to a 75 (my favorite tank size) but life happens and money is just so tight these days so I am moving home for the next year or so. Due to space in the new living situation, the best I could shake was a 40 breeder. its been set up now for over a month and ive been slowly planting it with trimmings from the currently heavily planted 29. anyway, since this new 40 breeder isnt as large as I originally hoped the next tank would be, im curious to hear your opinions on stocking options. If you were me, would you just move the existing fish over with no additions or could i get away with turning my pair of bolivian rams into a small group? or do i have enough space to add a school of larger bodied tetra species or peaceful barb like cherry barbs? I know the height of the 40B is pushing it with how tall angels get, but its the best i could do for now. last thing I want to do is something that would disrupt the harmony that has been shown over the last year so if you think im better off keeping the stock as it currently is then please let me know. i still have one more month before the move, and I will continue planting and fertilizing the 40B so that when I move the fish, there will be an abundance of plant life (a whole bunch of Bacopa caroliniana, as well as italian val, anubias nana, dwarf aquarium lilies, and Amazon frogbit) so that all these plants will aid the beneficial bacteria in processing ammonia in this new set up once fish are added. I just want to do what’s best for my current fish as I’ve grown really attached to them. Give me your thoughts on this tank size and if it gives me room to make additions or if I’d be better off keeping the stock the same as it is now and letting them continue to grow. sorry for the long winded post, and I appreciate your feedback!! -Chris

Hey guys, I recently got 8 golden pristella tetras and I’m deeply regretting being impatient and not putting them through a longer quarantine period. I came home today to find out of nowhere there are multiple pristellas that have this strange thing going on where it looks like there are white spots just underneath the scales in the body. It doesn’t look like ich but I’m stumped. Since this color variant allows us to “see through” the body of the fish, I’m not sure if what I’m seeing is the effect of an external parasite or if this is purely internal. Tank is planted and has lots of snails so I want to be certain what I’m dealing with before I start taking action that could potentially hurt the plants or snails or other fish. tank: 29 gallon running problem free for about 11 months. temp: 77-78 degrees PH: 7.8 (my tap water runs high, close to 8). GH: moderately hard about 100ppm Buffer: 80ppm ammonia: 0 nitrite: 0 nitrate: maintained right around 20ppm for plants (anubias, dwarf aquarium lilies, Italian vallisneria thanks everyone!!

Phew! Alright cool thank you, I googled some different species of caddisfly larvae and found some pics that are exactly what I’ve found in my tank so that’s it. Sounds like they really won’t harm anything and I actually saw one of my dwarf acaras just found one while swimming through the plants and ate it so looks like some free food for the fish!

That’s the exact model I bought! I’m happy to hear that you had great results. Mine will be arriving on Wednesday and then finger crossed I’ll be able to actually see and enjoy the fish and plants again!