Starr22

Welcome!! Have you ever thought about turning your high school story into a mini series 😃!

Right Tank update. Mystery snail has died….I don’t know why. All water parameters remained unchanged, did weekly water changes. The only thing I could attribute it to is my fertiliser which has 0.005% Copper in it. Would this be enough to poison my snail? I don’t know but I’m going to look for a fert that dos not contain any copper / is safe for snails & shrimps. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I’m also dealing with some persistent algae, not a lot but enough to be noticeable. I don’t know what to do about this either. I have reduced my light hours and intensity. I removed the Ambulia and instead put in a broad leaf plant I bought some weeks ago and was sitting in my fish pond outside. I also replanted some of the micro swords and removed a heap of susswassertang that I found hiding 😊. The red root floaters are growing and I can see their little roots in the water now. Exciting! Left Tank update I bought another pot of Monte Carlo and put this in as well. There is good growth which only makes me more impatient! I have found a little snail roaming around as well which is amazing as the tank is full on cycling!! Current parameters: pH 6.8 Ammonia 2 Nitrite 0.5 Nitrate 5 Have been dosing with Dr Tim’s Ammonium Solution. I also bough another light for this tank. A Lominie LED 2 channel light. Should be arriving any day now (honestly don't know why I bought this as the current light seems to do fine).

Here I will (try to) chronical the two tanks I currently have sitting on my desk. The tank on my right is 40l and measures 30cm wide by 27cm deep by 40cm high (1ft x 10.5” x 16”). I bought the tank second-hand for $10 (Australian). It did have an internal filter set up but I took this all out. The tank now has a Chihiro A series II light and a sponge filter for filtration. This tank was started on the 31st of October. Master soil as the substrate and the first plants to go in Water wisteria (Hygrophila difformis) Ambulia (Limnophila sessiliflora) Crested Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus) I added some Monte Carlo (Micranthemum umbrosum) a few days later. I currently have 5 tetras (4 x cardinal and 1 neon), a male betta and a mystery snail in the tank. I also have added some red root floaters (Phyllanthus fluitans), this is mainly to combat algae. This tank is my first foray into the world of aquascaping / aquariums and so far it hasn’t been too bad of a journey. The plants are growing but not as fast as I want them too 😊 and I have some issues with algae from time to time. I do also seem to get the occasional ammonia spike. The tank on my left is also second-hand. I bought this for $40 and it came with a little Aqua One LED light. This tank is 23cm wide, 37cm deep and 24cm high. I placed it so that the longest side is easiest to see when I'm sitting at my desk. I’m running a second air line from my air pump to feed a nano sponge filter in this tank. The idea is to set this tank up as a shrimp tank only (neocaridina’s). I started this tank on 04/12/2022 (3 days ago). As substrate I used Fluval plant & shrimp (I used a little gravel & sand at the back to raise the floor) and planted it with the following (front to back): Monte Carlo (Micranthemum umbrosum) Lobelia Cardinalis Rotala rotundifolia Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus) Ambulia (Limnophila sessiliflora) < cutting taken from the other tank Red root floaters (Phyllanthus fluitans) < also from the other tank Both the Lobelia and the Rotala I got for free from my local pet store as they were about to throw them out. They cam in tissue culture pots and seem to be ok for now. I’m trying to get my hands on a bottle of Dr Tim’s ammonia so I can start the cycling process with this tank. I’m using both these tanks as learner tanks and to take these lessons to a larger community tank.

Oh my lord! good luck

Thank you all for your comments!! Based on the responses thee is a very solid argument to be made to fit a lid to my future aquariums!

I had a nice bunch of Yabbies (freshwater crayfish) in my aquaponics tank but after a big rain event the tank filled to the brim and the next day all the Yabbies were gonski! Now I have an aquarium inside I still do not have a lid. Partly because I bought the tank secondhand and it did not have a lid but also because I don't like having a lid from an aesthetic point of view. So far so good and I have not walked in to find any fish outside the tank. Am I an irresponsible fish parent for not having a lid? What are your views on having or not having a lid?

It is a massive snail! For some reason our local petstore has masses of them. The log is hollow and on numerous occasion I had to remove it as I was afriad that the snail was trapped inside!! I have remedied the situation by putting a stick inside the hollow with an airplant to make it look like it supposed to be there.

Hi Vibe, I added 10 cherry shrimp to my 10g community tank and was mesmerized by them!! First day they were out and about and it seemed neither Jeffrey the Betta or the neons were interested. Next day, all gone!! Could not find them. Fearing the worst I thought they had been eaten. 2 days later I spotted 4, they disappeared again. So until half an hour ago I had not seen any in 8 weeks. Then one popped up again. I think they are incredibly good at hiding. 🙂

Hi all, Fairly new to the wonderful world of aquariums although I have had 2 aquaponic set ups and a goldfish pond for a few years now (with varying degrees of success). As our company closed offices left right and center I have now been working from home for 3 years. I moved into a little room we had spare and slowly started to make this into but an office!! I currently have 1 off 40l (10g) on the left side of my desk in which I keep a betta, 6 tetras and a mystery snail. On the right side of the desk is an empty 80l aquarium which I'm planning to set up with as a guppy tank. I also have plans to put a tank in behind me along the wall with a shrimp set up. Hope to get some valuable advice and inspiration! Thank you