FLFishChik

@Cinnebuns, @nabokovfan87 I woke up this morning after the big rescape to see this! Could it be??? Panda Cory eggs???? There’s only 4 and I doubt anything will come if them, but even so… if it’s Cory eggs I’ll take it as a good sign! Definitely not Nerite eggs and only other fish in the tank are Cardinal Tetra and Otocinclus.

Thanks! Before, I just kinda plopped plants in wherever there was a space without much thought. I originally had 3 large Lava rocks in there , but once the driftwood was in, I couldn’t fit the all, so I kept the 2nd largest one. I left a gap between the rock and the driftwood as space for the Vallisneria to do it’s thing. Moved the Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus to the corner where I can keep it better under control and moved the Red Dwarf Lily to center directly behind the driftwood. Overall, I’m happy with it and can’t wait to see how it all progresses as it grows Here’s a pic from this morning after everything settled back down an the filter had time to clear the water

Same, the towel I use to wipe up any water that drops on the outside of the tank after a water change is damp enough that I can clean the glass on the outside. I use the magnetic scrubber on the inside on those very rare occasions that my Nerites or otocinclus miss something

I did it. I rescaped my 29g! Took everything out except the substrate. Added Spider wood, rearranged plants, added new plants and … voila! I like it better. Would have been nice to change the substrate, but far too much work! I can live with this, especially when all of the background plants fill in! here is the before and after…. and after… it’s a little cloudy because I kicked up a lot of stuff, but once it settles and grows in, I think it’ll be fabulous.

Squirrels… they are taunted by squirrels. They scurry along the top of the fence, pause long enough to twitch their bushy tail and squeak “neener, neener!” Before scurrying on their way.

My Rat Terrorists. I haven’t come across dog pics anywhere in the fish threads, but then again, I haven’t seen every single thread either 😂

The cottony stuff that comes in the pot is called Rockwool. But, you don’t need it unless you’re wanting to resell the Java plantlets. You can let them float in the tank if they are too tiny and let them get a bit bigger, then glue them to rocks or driftwood.

Ah! Didn’t know that! Makes sense ! Thanks for explaining!

What’s the reason? I just started with carbon so curious as to what I should wait?

I hadn’t thought about that!

There's like 30+ lbs of gravel in this tank and I really dont want to stress about finding a temp place for the fish, scooping out the gravel, washing another 30+ lbs of gravel to replace, then wrangling up the fish to put back in, lol.... Im lazy like that. I dont want the black gravel enough to go through the headache of removing all of the substrate. I'll learn to love it as is.

Agreed! Right now, it's just a hodge podge of plants Ive thrown in there in whatever spot was open. Now, I want to make it look more puuuurdy, lol. I think I'll be foregoing the Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus though, it grows way to fast and I'm tired of having to trim it now, lol. which means..... ROOM FOR MORE PLANTS!!!

Yeah, the more I thought about it logically, the less excited I was to do it. I am still going to try and rescape, just not in the grand scale I had originally wanted, lol.

Yeah, that was what I was going to do, but it’s a lot of gravel to remove. I’ll just keep it and rescape anyway… less work and no danger of crashing the cycle. I’ll learn to live with the gravel color, lol

I’m thinking to just leave it. It’s too much hassle. I just wanted black because it looks awesome in my 20g and 5g tanks… but I really don’t think it’s worth the trouble now.

Need advice on how best to do this. Currently there is about 3 inches of natural gravel in the tank. I want to change it to black. Should I leave the current in and cover it? Remove some? Remove all?

One of the first aquariums I owned was a 20g hex tank as a teenager with mollies as and an under gravel filter. I didn’t know that water had to be tested or changed out regularly. I gravel vacuumed as needed but never tested water or changed it out, just topped off when needed. had that tank for 3 years and many Molly babies. If i tried that approach today, I’d likely lose all my fish

What about something like plastic canvas mat, just bend it into a cylinder shape and set upright in the corner of the tank. Big enough to allow fry in and out but not the parents?

I had an algae issue with mine at one point. I took it out of the tank about 2 months ago, used an extra soft toothbrush dipped in hydrogen peroxide and very gently “scrubbed” each leaf, rinsed the heck out of it and put it back in the tank. Lowered my lights a tad and in a couple days it was gone and so far hasn’t come back

Believe it or not, it was a faux piece of driftwood I picked up at Petco by a company called Penn Plax. Supposedly, the fake “moss” contained seeds and would sprout in water. It did, but no idea what kind of plant it was, but the little seedlings would eventually get loose and be floating around the tank. I ei got tired of chasing the things around the tank constantly do I pulled it out, dried it out, cleaned all the seedlings off and put it back in the tank. The ghost shrimp love it and its pretty much just decorative now.

Do you remember which stream it was? I’d like to listen as I’ve always dosed after a water change too

I agree with leaving the foreground bare as I feed at the front of the tank and it makes cleaning much easier! I like the idea of the Anubias creating shade on the driftwood! I have one rather large Anubias already in the tank and not real certain where to place it

Sounds like the makings of a period drama😁

I am in no way talented when it comes to designing an aquarium scape. If my terrestrial gardening says anything about me, it’s half-hearted cottage style with chaotic overtones. My 29g though ‘nice and functional’, gives more of a “eh, it’ll do” vibe. I found a very cool (at least I think it is) piece of Spider Wood that I want to use in the scape. I’m also considering changing the substrate to black as I did my 5g and love the way that looks. BUT, I’m not good at the design and need some help. Here is my current list of plants in the tank. Some are on the way from ACO as I type and will be noted by an asterisk. Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus Vallisneria Argentine Sword Dwarf Aquarium Lily Aponogeton Crispus *Scarlet Temple Pearlweed Java Fern Java Fern Windelov Anacharis Anubias Barteri Anubias Coffeefolia *Anubias Gold Coin *Cryptocoryne Wendtii Green *Cryptocoryne Tropica 1) is there a black gravel that’s more rounded (like my current natural substrate) for my Cory’s or would they be ok with standard gravel. 2) there is about 4 inches of gravel currently. Should I remove some and cap the rest (wanna keep some of the BB) or should I try to go with a coarse black sand… biggest grain I can find. 3) being that I decided to do this AFTER purchasing more plants, with the crypts be ok staying in their pots for a few weeks until this project is finished? Any and all suggestions for plant placement, wood placement or ideas for different rocks would be very, very much appreciated! By all means, flood me with pics of your aquascsapes for inspiration!! pic of the tank and Spiderwood…and 5g tank with black substrate…

😂 I’m so tempted!