Rebecca M

Here’s a picture of the supplies I used to make that susswassertang wall, plus the plants of course. @ChargerstoLA hey, good morning! I’ve got to get ready for a meeting, so I just copied the info below from where I answered a related question in my introductions thread. Apologies if it’s not all on point. Just reach back out if you have any other questions! It’s not hard to keep trimmed; I just pull wads off. There’s no cutting involved. The worst thing about it is that it tries to start little colonies of itself all over the tank, and you have to pull it out. But it’s the best thing I’ve found for giving the infant shrimp shelter and for letting me keep fish like the scarlet badis, which really only want to eat live food. Imade this susswassertang wall 4 years ago, when I set this tank up. It is made of rigid black plastic canvas, like for needlepoint, then I spread wads ofsusswassertang all over it, stretched nylonhairnets over it, and sewed the hairnet to the canvas with monofilament fishing line. The canvas is attached to the aquarium glass with suction cups. I keep only small fishes; all of them can swim behind the canvas when they want; there is space at either side of it. Of course, none of the fish I keep bother the shrimp once they’re half grown.

@ChargerstoLA hey, good morning! I’ve got to get ready for a meeting, so I just copied the info below from where I answered a related question in my introductions thread. Apologies if it’s not all on point. Just reach back out if you have any other questions! It’s not hard to keep trimmed; I just pull wads off. There’s no cutting involved. The worst thing about it is that it tries to start little colonies of itself all over the tank, and you have to pull it out. But it’s the best thing I’ve found for giving the infant shrimp shelter and for letting me keep fish like the scarlet badis, which really only want to eat live food. Imade this susswassertang wall 4 years ago, when I set this tank up. It is made of rigid black plastic canvas, like for needlepoint, then I spread wads ofsusswassertang all over it, stretched nylonhairnets over it, and sewed the hairnet to the canvas with monofilament fishing line. The canvas is attached to the aquarium glass with suction cups. I keep only small fishes; all of them can swim behind the canvas when they want; there is space at either side of it. Of course, none of the fish I keep bother the shrimp once they’re half grown.

@Jim Fox, I have a heavily planted tank that has been running with a Fluval Stratum substrate for 4 years. I had to move it 4 months ago, and as a result needed to add a new layer of Stratum to this established tank without uprooting the crypt/Eleocharis carpet. I carefully siphoned out as much of the stirred-up mulm layer as possible, then poured the new Stratum on top, cup by cup, with the water in the tank, disturbing the old substrate as little as possible. The crypts died back from being moved, but they are now starting to re-grow, as you see. It was a mess, but the roots lived at least. I don’t see why you couldn’t pour a layer of Fluval Stratum right on top of your existing gravel, if you don’t mind a slightly deeper substrate. Certainly, your plants will love it. Also, Jim, I saw that you keep your tank at 79 degrees, but I didn’t see where you said what fish you are keeping. If they are discus, or German blue rams, or something else that really requires heat, then you have to run hot. But if you have regular community fish, they and your plants will do very well at 73 or 74. In my experience, plants prefer it cooler, and most community tank fish also live longer in cooler water. Just a thought for you.

@EVoyager31, I don’t have a discus tank right now, but when I did keep them years ago, I kept them at 80 degrees with a large school of rummy noses and these plants: Cryptocoryne balansae, Java fern, and Java moss.

@ChargerstoLA, hi. I have the back wall of my 30-gallon cube set up in susswassertang. It does a pretty good job of serving as a nursery for my cherry shrimp and scuds. You might try a wall of it if, like me, you want to plant other stuff in the rest of the tank. 😊Front and side views below to show the wall:

@David Retired LEO, I have had my hillstream loach for about 4 years. If you aren’t already, I recommend you consider feeding them those Xtreme sinking algae wafers, or Hikari, or similar. I don’t think they can get along on the tank algae alone. The goldfish will like them as well, I should think.😊

@David Retired LEO David, your goldfish and hillstream loaches look very happy. They are fishes with lots of personality, aren’t they? I should have mentioned earlier, I run my tank on the cool side, as I’m sure you do as well. I keep it at 73 degrees F.

@Patrick_G @John Henry Very nice balance, Patrick, and I love the lilies in the front. John Henry, I am afflicted with two agile cats. I have a sturdy, full glass canopy, with three of these Nicrew strip lights sitting directly on the glass. Then on top of the lights is a metal baker’s cooling grid, and then a 20-lb book on top of the rack. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01C84SLRO?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title I run the lights 8 hrs a day when I’m in town to dose ferts. If I’m out of town, I cut the photoperiod in half. I don’t have anyone feed the tank unless I’m gone for more than a month. I don’t use pressurized CO2, and all my plants are easy ones that don’t require frequent trimming. We have very soft water here in Little Rock. I use Seachem root tabs (because they are heavy and don’t float up out of the Fluval Stratum), and I dose EasyGreen and Seachem Excel daily in the water column. I also dose EasyIron a couple of times a week. I adjust the amounts according to the plant mass. Because there are so many shrimp in the tank, I also have to use Wonder Shells or similar calcium supplements — if the pest snails start looking pale and transparent, I know I’ve forgotten to do that. The picture below shows this tank before the recent move and crypt melt. They have not been replanted since then; they are just regrowing from their old roots. It was quite the messy jungle, to be honest, but the fish and crustaceans like it that way.

Hi Patrick. It’s not hard to keep trimmed; I just pull wads off. There’s no cutting involved. The worst thing about it is that it tries to start little colonies of itself all over the tank, and you have to pull it out. But it’s the best thing I’ve found for giving the infant shrimp shelter and for letting me keep fish like the scarlet badis, which really only want to eat live food. I made this susswassertang wall 4 years ago, when I set this tank up. It is made of rigid black plastic canvas, like for needlepoint, then I spread wads of susswassertang all over it, stretched nylon hairnets over it, and sewed the hairnet to the canvas with monofilament fishing line. The canvas is attached to the aquarium glass with suction cups. Of course, none of the fish I keep bother the shrimp once they’re half grown. That is a beautifully planted tank you have. What size is it?

Those are lovely tanks, and I like the way you’ve managed to get all three stacked up in that small footprint! Clever!

I’m new to the Forum, although I’ve been an Aquarium Co-op customer for a few years and have kept planted aquariums for more than 40 years. I have a low-tech, densely planted 30-gallon cube. It’s been running for 4 years, although we moved house 4 months ago, and of course the crypts hated that. So we are in re-growth mode now. I have cardinal and ruby tetras, three scarlet badis, a hillstream loach, three clown plecos, and large breeding colonies of cherry shrimp and scuds. I have had most of these fishes for three or four years, and I sell 50 cherry shrimp or so each month to my LFS out of this tank. The back wall of my tank is covered in susswassertang, which helps some shrimplets survive in the tank full of predators. The first photo below is a front view, the second is from the side, and the third photo shows some ruby tetras flashing around 😊