zpayne10

I know this forum is predominantly freshwater topics, but I was wondering if anyone has a solid preventative quarantine process for marine fish they wouldn't mind sharing? I read the article posted by Aquarium Co-Op (https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/how-to-treat-sick-aquarium-fish) and was curious if this would be effective for marine as it is fresh, mainly because it lacks a copper treatment which seems to be a staple based on a few saltwater forums.

Here is the response I received from their customer support: "The 21.1" light fits within the tank itself. The 30.1" size chord cannot fit under the glass lids all the way. This is why we recommend the 21.1" model." So basically a poor design on their behalf limits someone from adding a longer light.

It's a freshwater setup. I agree that it's weird they include the 21" light vs the 30" in the kit, knowing it would fit better. There would be quite a bit of shading with a light 10" shorter than the tank.

My apologies, let me clarify: Waterbox Aquariums offers the Eden line of aquariums, and on their website you can buy either the tank itself, or a bundle which includes the tank + AI Blade + Sicce EKO 200. However, the 40 gallon kit which measures at 31" long comes with the 21" AI Blade in the bundle. My comment was instead of buying the bundle, I'll probably buy the tank separately so that I can get an adequately sized light for the tank. Sorry for that confusion 🙂

Resurfacing this thread as life got in the way, and now back in the market for a setup. I'm still eyeing the Waterbox Eden, and as stated above the 40 gallon is 31" long. They make a kit that comes with the AI Blade, and a Sicce EKO 200 filter. I'm thinking of just buying the tank and the light separately, since a 21" light is going to leave a lot of drop off with the 40 gallon length...

This is great, thanks for the side-by-side comparison! How's the coverage between the two? The tank I'm looking at now is the Eden 40, which is 32L x 16W 21H. Curious if I'd want one or two light bars for best coverage.

Title says it all - has anyone used the AI Blade FW yet and have an opinion? How does it compare to say, the Fluval Plant 3.0?

Do most people add fertilizer after a water change? I'm specifically curious for those with new tanks, if you're doing water changes a few times a week to try and prevent excess nutrients, do you add a few pumps of fertilizer afterwards? The 'right' answer is probably to test you nitrates after each water change and determine if you're within a desired range or not, but maybe there is a faster/better answer.

So this is a totally stupid question, but which magfloat scraper should I consider? The tank has 10mm glass, which means the medium magfloat is good for that glass thickness. Or am I better off going to the larger size for a "stronger" connection (up to 19mm glass)?

This isn't a cost issue, it's a colorblind issue that makes the API tests difficult to read 🙂

Do you find it's pretty easy to calculate the dilution factor? My understanding is the nitrate test is for the low range (up to 5ppm), but they have a dilution equation to track up to 50ppm.

Are you using the marine version of the nitrates from Hanna?

If I could use the tests "designed" for saltwater but under freshwater conditions, I'd be quite the happy camper.

Has anyone found reliable digital test kits for the freshwater hobby? I know Hanna makes a bunch for saltwater, but I can't seem to find anything for freshwater. I'm red/green colorblind so reading tests like the API nitrate test is darn near impossible (not to mention lighting changes how the colors look).

That's very helpful, thank you! I think I'll take the "tried-and-true" method of reducing the light a few hours a day, reducing my feeding (not that I overfed, but to be safe), and increasing my water changes from weekly to 2-3x a week. Appreciate the feedback!

I definitely think there is something to be said about running injected CO2. I've never done it before, and honestly I'm a little intimidated by it which it why I haven't gone down the route. But maybe it's something to consider?

As the title states, can I dose all of the Easy-line additives? I'm battling some hair algae at the moment, so thinking about dosing Easy Carbon in addition to my weekly Easy Green dose. Since I also have a few red plants, I'm inclined to also dose iron to give them some extra pop. I want to preface that I know these aren't "one stop solutions" nor do I want to just throw them all in because it'll "be the best". I do think each have their merit, however. Easy Green has been great, but I've also reduced my lighting schedule and am actually waiting for my Fluval Plant 3.0, so it's just a regular LED light strip for now, to try and combat the hair algae. I also plan to increase my water changes to keep nutrients more in check. But I'm hoping Easy Carbon can give me a boost. I am using the API freshwater kit to test for nitrates to make sure I'm in the 20-50ppm that is often recommended. Clearly I'm a noob 🙂

That makes sense, and I appreciate the feedback! In addition to the dosing question, how does one differentiate a low vs medium tech tank?

I've purchased some Easy Green liquid fert for my tank, and I'm wondering about dosing requirements. I'm running a tech without CO2, but has two Fluval Plant 3.0s. Most of the plants I'd consider "low tech", so I'm not sure if I should be dosing once or twice a week, per the bottle. Additionally, how should I go about dosing? It's a 75 gallon tank, so should I really dose ~7 pumps all at once, or it is more beneficial to do one pump each day so the plants have continually access to nutrients? Or maybe it doesn't matter...

Now that I'm getting close to receiving my tank, I've been dialing in my expectations between dosing a liquid fert, root tabs, or both. I think there is validity to both, especially as things establish, but long-term I'm wondering if root tabs will be the preferred path (the tank will be mostly crypts, rotala, vals, and maybe swords (which I know will need root tabs). Then on the topic of root tab, is there a "best" one? I always heard of API or Seachem. I've also seen responses of Nilocg Thrive root tabs being good. Anyone swayed one way or another?

Do you feel this lights up the tank adequately and you get good plant growth? 38% seems so low, but I also haven't seen the light in action so it might be plenty bright!

Hi all! My new tank is almost here, and it'll be coming with two (2) of the Fluval Plant 3.0 lights (very excited!). I've looked at other posts around the 3.0 light and schedules, but wanted to ask a specific question with the dimensions of my tank. Does anyone have schedules they find work well? The tank is 22" high, 35" long, 22" deep and the lights will sit just a few inches above the water (it's how the Fluval kit is designed). I plant to heavily plant the aquarium, with probably 85% coverage on day 1. I also plan to dose the liquid fert NilocG Thrive 1x a week for now. From the videos I've seen, some of the preset light settings look pretty good, but they ramp up to 100%. I know I'll get some algae to start, but wondering how to find a happy medium to get plant growth without too much algae. The plants won't be anything with high demand - crypts, rotala, anubias, ferns, etc. Thanks in advance for what people suggest!

Quick update on this thread: I believe the snails I have are actually bladder snails, not ramshorn. Still a pest. A few details I failed to mention above are that a few amano and a few nerite snails are in the holding container to keep algae at bay. Short of a full blown nuke user Cupramine and killing all the inverts I want to keep, I think I'm out of luck in eradicating the pests. Maybe I'll have good luck keeping their numbers contained when the display tank is up and as it matures? Any other ideas?

Ideally I find a black gravel for the price of the Vigoro bag, as it's the color preference of choice. Not sure I'll be so lucky to find it though...

This topic is somewhat controversial, as snails of any sort so add benefit in the right numbers. Anyway, I picked up some plants via a plant swap with my local aquarium community, and as-expected there are ramshorn snails. Lucky for me, the plants are living in a cooler with a light, heater, and filter until my tank arrives, so I have things in isolation. Is there anything I can dose in the water to eradicate the issue before putting it in the main display? I crush them as I see them, but their numbers are definitely growing. Maybe a kuli loach? Or can I dose with something that'll help?