NOLANANO

Thats a hard question to answer. I'd say it took me a few months to be able to recognize that something was off in my tank and that I needed to research it but thats a far cry from having everything under control. I am currently trying to learn about dosing my planted tank with ferts because the directions on the bottles are bare minimum dosages and don't take a lot of factors into account. I feel like I'm running in quicksand sometimes but I am definitely learning a lot as I go.

My LFS offers water testing for a fee but I have never used that service as I have a water test kit at home. I have been struggling a bit recently with my planted tank and was wondering if anyone has used these tests before and if they would give me a reading on the potassium, CO2, phosphate, etc. in the water or if its just the standard Nitrite, Nitrate, Amonnia, PH type of test?

New Idea: That tank would a sick puffer tank. like a group of south american puffers with a rocky background with anubias and Buce everywhere.

Yeah, I wouldn't touch that 90. It looks great. As for the shell dweller debate I think that people don't usually put tankmates with Shellies because they usually put them in a 40 breeder or something like that where there isn't enough space. In a tank that tall, I think you could do shellies down low and then a top water fish and there would be enough room for everyone. I do have to add that my opinion is based on theory and not actual practice so take it with a grain of salt.

I think it would be hard for this to be a permanent tank for any "large" fish because of its footprint but it would look awesome with a ton of cardinal tetra or something like that in the middle, a bunch of hatchet fish at the top, and a bunch of cories at the bottom. Pearl Gouramis is another option for mostly top water fish. Shell dwellers is another option for down low. What do you have in your community tank? If you want like an Oscar or some african cichlids or something like that then maybe you should make the 84 a community tank and use the 90 for the bigger fish. Edit: I'd like to see close up pics of the 2 tanks in the background because they both look nice.

MD boils the leaves he collects. This is supposed to help them sink right away and kill anything harmful on the leaves.

If you have any crypts, they kind of fall flat when they need a root tab. Whenever my crypts start to droop, I put root tabs under all my root feeders.

This a pic of my first pair of rams (RIP). I now have a group of 6 with 2 males and 4 females.

I have no experience with either light but I have a hygger on my 29g and it was only like $50 and grows plants really well. Just wanted to mention it since you were looking for cheaper light options.

I have come to learn recently that unless your water parameters are vastly different than where the fish came from then the best thing you can do is to get them temp acclimated and into you tank as quickly as possible. I have started temp acclimating for 25 minutes doing one scoop of my tank water in the bag for 10 or so minutes and then releasing the fish and I haven't lost any fish right away like I used to when I made acclimation last over an hour. The theory behind this being that the fish are more stressed from being in the bag than any parameter difference would make them. Now the fact that these are mail ordered could mean the parameters are way different and then my whole theory is worthless and you'd need to drip acclimate.

So I’ve read that if the eggs turn white then they aren’t fertile. Would these be considered white eggs? if so, is there anything I can do to help them in the future? if they are good eggs and they hatch, what do I feed them? I have frozen daphnia, would that work?

Its because you are growing them upside down. try flipping it over like Fish Folk suggested. lol. Is that a Hygger light? I have one on my 75G which is 21" deep and it grows plants really well but what works for one person may not for another. Before investing in an expensive light, have you tried root tabs?

I have only had my current group a few weeks but the other day I was trimming Moss and catching it with my net and the little buggers wouldn't stop swimming IN THE NET to see what I was scooping! Show me another fish that gets comfortable enough with its owner to literally net itself.

So how much Nitrates should I aim for? I have German Blue Rams that don't like Nitrates so it'll have to be a delicate balance. I may just go ahead and do the weekly or biweekly water changes to fix my Nitrate issue because I am sure that it doesn't harm my Rams and I am afraid I'll accidentally kill them.

This hobby is so funny. Everything you read about FISH keeping says to try and get the nitrates as low as you can and plants help with this. I haven't read anything until this thread that said I needed Nitrates for my PLANTS. But it makes sense. I watch guys like MD on Youtube and he sets up no filter eco tanks that don't need water changes and makes it look easy. Its not until I really think about it do I realize that he only leaves his tanks up for 6 months or so before tearing them down and rescaping. He hasn't addressed any nutrient issues with those tanks because they aren't up long enough to run into it.

I hope you don't feel like I am badgering you but I have questions lol. 1) How often do you do water changes? 2) How often do you dose? 3) do you dose anything else or was the Nitrogen the issue and everything else turned out to be fine?

I have had similar experience with Pygmy Cories and Panda Cories. It seems like acclimating to a new tank is tough for them and you lose a decent number each time. Once they get past that initial shock, they live long happy lives though.

German Blue Rams. They have quirky personalities, are super active, and meet at the top of the tank whenever I walk up hoping to snag a treat. They can be difficult to keep in smaller aquariums due to their need for consistency in water parameters. I'd imagine Bolivian Rams would have similar personalities and be a little easier to keep. Pearl Gouramis also have good personalities if you get a small group. In my (limited compared to many) experience, the key to seeing a fish's personality is to keep it in a group. this way you can see them sort out territory and access to females. If you just have a singular fish or a pair then you miss out on a lot of their natural behaviors.

Thats definitely a viable option. Make sure to add plenty of "Overhangs" that the CPO can back into and be protected from behind and above. The more hiding places the better. If you only have one or a few spread out, he won't feel comfortable moving around and you won't ever see him.

I am actually dealing with BBA as well which I am treating by spot dosing the Excel with a syringe. Can you explain in more detail what a nitrogen deficiency looks like and tell me what product you use to supplement the nitrogen. My experience has been similar to what you describe as I have had this tank set up for about 6 months and t was growing wild for the first 4 months and its been a struggle the last 2. At first I thought my red tiger lotus was emitting a chemical to stunt the growth of the other plants. I removed the Lotus and did a water change (to remove the chemical) and the plants started to grow so I thought I figured it out. Then a couple of weeks later, the plants stopped growing again and my Willow Hygro started losing leaves. At this point I thought it was a Potassium issue. I started dosing Potassium and upping my Easy Green from twice a week to every other day. This let me hold serve, so to speak. Plants weren't growing but they weren't dying either. This is also when the BBA started. I treated with excel and it went away but now its back. I researched it and found out that lack of CO2 could be the cause which makes sense since I only dose the Excel when I see BBA. Finally decided to do another water change about 2 weeks ago and BOOM, lots of plant growth. It looks like the plants are stunted again so I did another water change today and assume the growth will be evident tomorrow. I am still planning on Dosing every other day to try to lengthen the time between water changes.

@JoeQ I just saw your Nitrate edit and my tank doesn't have much nitrate (if any) because of the amount of plants. I have actually begun doing water changes every other week to try and replenish the nutrients, CO2, and Nitrates in the water (my tap has 10 PPM nitrates). I have been dosing Easy Green, Easy Iron, Potassium, and flourish Excel every other day as well. I finally did a water change about a week ago and my plants all sprung back to life and started growing so I think the regular 10-20% water changes is the fix for my nutrient issues.

The plants in the picture are in the process of converting so I don’t think it’s a nutrient issue but I will keep and eye on it once it’s trimmed.

So I actually have 2 lights and this picture was take when only my “show” light was on. I call it that because it clips on the front rim of the tank and shows off the reflective colors of my rams and pearl gourami. The “plant” light is on a timer and isn’t on yet. I will upload a picture when the plant light turns on and see if you still think that lighting is an issue. by “top” It do you mean trim them and only plant the healthy top portions?

Update: this is what my parrot feathers look like right now. 2 questions: 1) should I trim them so the majority of the stem has green leaves? 2) should I throw away the parts with brown leaves or leave them planted? Basically will the brown leaf part of the stem start to grow new green leaves?

I had 2 CPOs with 5 panda cories and 8 Pygmy cories in a 75G and it worked out great. The crawfish have since died but they all coexisted without issue for a year. They even ate sinking wafers together. I only saw the crawfish go after fish a couple of times but they weren’t quick enough to catch any healthy fish.