Dave K

Hello Everyone, I'm in the process of cycling a 5 gallon tank to house a beta. It will be a little while yet before I add the fish. I've asked two people about how much to feed them. One person said give them pellets until they stop eating them. Another person said 2 pellets every other day. I know betas have small stomach and can get sick when over fed. What are recommendations from who have kept betas? Thanks.

The way I understand it is that it removes the nitrogenous waste that isn't first taken by the beneficial bacteria. Therefore it does not give that waste time to develop ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates. The beneficial bacteria still thrives and works though. That is the reason the water flows through the sponge, then media, and lastly through the purigen. It doesn't remove those elements but helps keep it under control. Also, purigen won't strip out some fertilizer like I'm told carbon would. I like it because it would suck up any other organics that might cause problems later down the road.

Thanks @Fish Folk. I'll check out those plants. No inkbird. That is just a digital thermometer.

I really like the room setup. The black wall makes the tanks really stand out. Well done.

Hello everyone. I wanted to share a video of my tank setup. I have it on YouTube. I'd like to hear some suggestions on adding more plants and what type. Thanks for watching.

I' Thanks, I'll keep everyone posted.

Hello everyone. I have been documenting my setup, cycling, stocking, and testing on my 20 gallon planted tank. Previously I didn't have plants in earlier aquariums. Plants are a new experience for me. So I've decided to share my log and notes here through a link to a PDF file I printed from my Log that I keep in an EXCEL file. I use a new sheet for each week. I record my test data and comments so I have something to look back on. I'm now using EASY GREEN and EXCEL once per week. Root Tabs (ACO) about once every three weeks. I'm having some white slime on the glass and, as you can see in the photo, on the airline tube. When I wiped it off the glass today, it floated in the water before the filter grabed it after about an hour. The water is a a little hazy afterwards. Yesterday, I started using Purigen in the filter. It really cleared the water nicely. I'm hoping it will be better tomorrow. This picture is a couple days ago. It basically shows the current plants and how they are doing. I added the Red Melon Sword on 7-5. Let me know if you see anything that stands out that I could improve on and also what you think of the format. Click here to view my log: My Aquarium Log as of 7-8-22 @nabokovfan87, I tagged you here since you were very helpful in another post recently.

Thank you @nabokovfan87 for the helpful information. I am setting my light levels to what you recommended. What is the brown fuzzy on your plants in the above photos?

Thanks @JoeQ I think I will lower my settings a bit, especially with the blue. I seem to be pretty high on that one.

Hello, I have the Fluval AquaSky LED. It is 12 watts and is adjustable from 16 inches to 24 inches. I have it on my 20 gallon high tank. It seems to be bright enough, but I wanted to get some feedback if I would be better off going with a designated Plant light. Do my red, green and blue settings seem right? Thanks ahead of time for any suggestions and comments.

Thank you. I like your plant placement and how they have grown out of the water. Looks very impressive. What kind of snail do you have? I'm sure he is a great glass cleaner too. Does he ever to climb out of the tank.?

Thanks Patrick. I really like your aqua scaping. The red plants in the front really add depth. I too have some Cherry Barbs and really like them as they compliment the green plant leaves.

Hello everyone. I'm Dave from Lancaster, Pa. I had my first aquarium as a child. It was a 10 gallon fresh water tank. I didn't know much about it then but enjoyed the fish with the help of my dad. That might have been around the early 1970's. Jumping to 1999, I started the hobby on my own with a 30 gallon fresh water fish only tank. This is where I cut my teeth so to speak. I tried canister filters and then switched to HOB filters. I learned the nitrogen cycle and started my tank back then with a few live bearer platys. Those fish survived it. Within a few months, IO had a well stocked tank with several fish of mollys, platys, sword tails, tiger barbs. The tank was pretty successful for me. I had that tank for over a year before I had to move with a work reassignment. I gave the fish away to other hobbyists and eventually sold the equipment. Now just about a month ago, I got the urge to get back into it. I now have a 20 gallon high tank with Cherry Barbs, and Glow Light Tetras that are doing fine. I also went the live plant route and have a few Java Fern, a Crytocoryne Pontederlifolla, and a few Crytocoryne Luciens. The first set of fish and plants were added on June 15 of this year. The tanks has been doing well for me these first few weeks. The fish appear healthy. I'm just waiting for things to get seasoned as time goes on. I would like to add some more leafy plants in the background to give more play space for the fish. Any suggestions? I would like to have some plants that could use up the nitrates quicker. My nitrates are holding around 10ppm. I am using EASY GREEN fertilizer once a week, Aqauriumn CO-OP Root tabs (3 across the front), and Flourish Excel twice a week.My light is a Ffluval AquaSky 12W full spectrum that is 16 inch to 24 inch. My fileter is an AquaClear 50. I'm looking forward to enjoying this forum. Dave K