FLFishChik

Well, it’s been 5 months since I made the change from “plastic to planted”. In that time I’ve made a few changes to the tank. The large piece of spider wood was removed- it was constantly migrating in the tank and made maintenance very difficult. I rearranged the lava rocks to the middle of the tank for a more central focal point and moved the Argentine Sword from back left to the back right. Also moved the Red Dwarf Aquarium Lily from Front right to the back left as it had begun to block out the view. I’ve had to trim both the Watersprite and Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus numerous times, but the trimmings along with babies from the Java fern and a plantlet from the Red Dwarf Lily have helped me convert another tank to planted so… woot! I ordered 3 more plants from ACO yesterday - Vallisneria, Aponogeton Crispus and Pearl Weed. Will be excited to get those in when they arrive! but, here is my tank as of today!

They keep me on my toes, for sure! I thought I had lost him, but so glad he’s still with us!

Woot! I found the 4th Panda (after giving him the “Where have you been” speech in my best worried mom voice)

So… this is happening in my tank now 😫. Started appearing about 3 weeks ago and I’m not sure just how to approach my plan of attack. Params: Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrites 0ppm, Nitrates 20ish ppm. I adjusted my lighting from 8 hrs daily to 6 hours daily but it doesn’t seem to be making any kind of difference. Any ideas or is this just something I have to learn to live with?

Here are my 3 little guys ( originally had 6, 2 passed over the last 5 months and 1 has been missing for a few weeks… assumed he’s passed as well).

So, while shopping ACO online for some supplies, I may have impulse purchased a plant (or two or three) and now need some advice on where to plant them in my current setup. If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears! Plants purchased: 1- Vallisneria, 1- Aponogeton Crispus, and 1- Pearl Weed (which I plan on leaving in the pot and burying in the substrate)

Even if aggression isn’t an issue with you’re Betta, keep an eye on his food intake. I had a Betta in my 29g community tank who got along great with the rest of the gang (16 Cardinal Tetra, 6 Panda Corydoras and a few shrimp and snails), but the problem was he gorged himself when I fed the community to the point he caused himself issues and had to be removed to his own 5g tank so that I could control his food. Such a glutton, that one!

I spent way more than I should have at ACO (but my fish babies neeeeeeeded this stuff…. Mmmhm! 😉)

The Serpent Queen. I’m a sucker for historical (or loosely based on historical…) dramas.

“You know.., I’m far more handsome close up… with some frozen clams in your hand. Just saying”

@Guppysnail Thanks! I did see that, but was wondering the size of the intake tube on the actual filter (I didn’t really want to have to wrestle it out of the tank to measure it if I didn’t have to). But I’ll just have to take the filter out and measure the intake tubing. Eh, probably needed to clean the pump anyway 😬

I have a Topfin Silentstream 30 HOB filter that came as part of a kit along with a really dense pre-filter sponge. I want to replace it with the ACO coarse sponge but don’t know which size I need and can’t find the dimensions of the intake online anywhere. Does anyone else have this filter or know which size sponge I need for it? Thanks!

Fertilizer is just a fancy name for plant food! But they aren’t all created equally. As @Mmiller2001 said, use only fertilizers designated for aquariums in your aquarium. Fertilizers all contain certain levels of nutrients that plants need to thrive and the right fertilizers depends on the type of plants you have.

You can leave plants that reproduce by runners in the pot with some root tabs. Once they start sending off runners with good root systems, you can nestle the “babies” into your substrate. Let their roots get established, then cut them from the mother plant. You can then move the mother plant to a different tank and do the same. Takes some time but it’s a way to get more plants for multiple tanks without the extra expense!

I have 2 running - a 29g and a 5g 3 empty- two 10g and a 5g

Easy green root tabs! My Red Dwarf Aquarium Lily goes through them like candy!

Well, I have a 29 g planted tank. Currently housing 14 Cardinal Tetra, 4 Panda Corydoras, 5 Nerite Snails, 3 Ghost Shrimp and 1 Powder Blue Gourami..

*UPDATE* Audrey 2.1 is doing well! I ended up needing to relocate her to the back of the tank because she was so big that she was blocking the view! She had roots clear across the tank and it took quite a bit of fiddling to get them all covered again. She’s lost a few pads due to the move and because she’s an extremely heavy root feeder (like she’s gone through all my root tabs now) but, she’ll no doubt bounce back! She’s my fav plant in this tank!

So… it’s been awhile since I’ve been on the forum, life got crazy around here… but…. Yuzu, sadly, did not make it. after moving him into quarantine and watching him carefully for over a month while his new tank was cycling (decided not to have him rejoin general population and opted to give him his own space), I moved him into his new bachelor pad. He was doing well. Eating normally, acting normally, swimming normally- no outward signs of illness or disease, everything seemed fine and life with my Aqua pets carried on. Then, one afternoon I came home to find him passed away. Nothing seemed amiss otherwise. Ammonia was 0, nitrites 0 and nitrites just at 10ppm. No chlorine or chloramine and ph was 7.5. I was heartbroken. He was such a cool little character and I’ve no idea what happened to him, but he got a proper farewell. I ended up just breaking the tank down and storing it away.

No damage, I hope? Glad you’re ok! I will admit. I was worried what I was going to do if I lost power as I had put off buying the battery operated air pump… I had a plan (sort of) but thankfully, our power stayed on. I did a large water change two days before the storm and fasted the fish just in case the power went out.

Hey! We did ok this time around! Didn’t lose power. Being native Floridians, we are always prepared. Don’t do the “last minute” run for supplies- we just keep them on hand yearly and replace usually in the Spring as needed ( emergency candles, first aid kits, flash lights, batteries, batter packs for cellphones, canned goods, non perishable dry goods, ziplock bags for making ice packs and bottled water ). How did you do? Everyone get thru ok?

Well… it is perfect, for sure. “This is the Bob Pleco”…. Short and to the point 😂

Tequila Bob???

Well… I’ve been reading and learning about Pea Puffers! I’ve wanted the for quite some time… so I’m giving myself a year to plan it out! If I’m still enthralled with the idea, then I’ll take the leap! I’m tagging @Ken Burke

Ok, I withdraw my suggestion and now 2nd “Tequila Sunrise” 😊