Scaperoot

I just watched Dean's new video on his successful breeding of Corydoras Geryi, which were on his bucket list. So I'm wondering what fish others have on their bucket list. For me, I have a variety of Corydoras as well, and this gorgeous Cenepa Red Pencilfish. I love the look of red fish in a planted tank, so I'm hoping the price on these will go down in a couple years. I've only been in the hobby for a couple years, so I'm sure there are many fish I haven't seen that I'll end up wanting!

I lost the panda as well. There was an ammonia spike over the weekend, so I did water changes. There were wafers that had been pushed to the back of the tank behind drift wood and plants and gone bad. I missed it. I had assumed the fish had eaten everything. The ammonia is gone now and the fish are behaving normally now. I'll have to keep a closer eye on uneaten food.

Came home last night and found the last 3 were dead. Not sure if it's related, but one of my new Pandas is very pale. He/she is moving and eating a bit, but is less active than the rest. I haven't seen any aggression between any of my fish, but I do suspect that the cpds weren't getting to the food fast enough. I try to disperse it throughout the tank since my Otos are so shy. Another mistake was that I couldn't get to the store for a while to get frozen brine shrimp, which they loved. I substituted dry shrimp pellets, frozen daphnia, pellets, wafers, and even fry food to cover my bases. It was human error.

The tank has been running for two months. The cpds and most of the tetras were together in a smaller tank previously. I added the Betta and Corydoras once I changed the tank over a period of a few weeks. The last ones added were the Pandas, a week ago. The tank has a hang on back filter placed at the center of the back of the tank.

In one of my tanks, I've lost 4 CPDs over the past week. There are Ember Tetras, Gold Tetras, Panda and Pigmy Corydoras, Otos, and a female Betta also. I haven't seen any pine coning, or spots, or strange behavior. I did liquid testing and found nothing out of the ordinary. What else should I look for? The tank temp is 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and is moderately planted (Anubias, Crypts, Buce, a few floaters). I feed the fish 5-6 times each week and do water changes of 25-30% about every 10 days.

My takeaway here is that a filter-less setup is possible with the right balance of plants and specific stock. Not something to rush into without considering various factors. I think the setup looks amazing, but I want to know it's sustainable. I'm curious to see how long Tanner keeps this one going. I totally understand why he and MD build and tear down setups so frequently. They only have so many tanks and space, and they need to produce content for revenue. I'll never hate on that. I wouldn't be in the hobby if it wasn't for MD. Thanks for all the input!

Which fish do best in a no-filter setup? I jut watched a video from Tanner (Serpa Design) where he sets up a no-filter guppy tank, and I was wondering if cherry barbs or white cloud minnows would do well in a similar setup. My wife and I dream of doing something like this some day, but I want to make sure the fish can thrive. Here's the video I'm referencing:

Thanks. I'll definitely start filling the buckets by bringing the hose in, and leave them overnight to cool for now. If I do the pump, I'll post an update.

I will begin checking the temp to see how big the discrepancy is. I tried using a pump for water changes before, but it stopped working after a couple uses. Not sure if I just got a bad pump.

I haven't tried that yet. I was hesitant since the water was so warm. I try to do 30% every 7-10 days on the 10 and 20 gallon tanks. Occasionally, I'll do 40-50% on the 40 gallon depending on parameters.

In an effort to save time, and my back, I'm considering refilling my tanks (water changes) by using our backward hose. My only concern is the water temperature. Our warmest tanks run at 75-76. The rest at 72. The water coming from the hose is much warmer than that. The cold water tanks have Minnows, Mollies, barbs, Corydoras, and snails. The warmer tanks have a Betta in each, and Nano fish. Is using the hose with the colder tanks even an option? I don't want to stress the fish. I'm in South Florida.

I've read the ACO recommended dose of 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons when adding salt to a tank. I'm wondering if there are certain plants that can't even tolerate that amount. In particular, I'm concerned for my Anubias, Buce, and Dwarf Lillies.

Jasmine lives with Gold tetras, ember tetras, cpds, pigmy corydoras, otos, nerites, and two surviving shrimp lol. She ate two the day we added her to the tank (20 gallon).

Brutal heat and scorching sun, followed by afternoon thunderstorms. Miami summer weather.

It's an investment of your time, but if you wish to develop those skills it's a great option. I follow hundreds of hobbyists and many of them post videos showing the steps they took to create their aquascapes. Most are friendly enough to answer questions and provide tips. When I started I asked a few people questions at every turn. Give it a chance.

Are you on Instagram? I follow MD Fish tanks for inspiration, but most of my ideas for scapes come from other hobbyists on Instagram. It's a great community.

The strange thing is that the last time I purchased Anubias, I placed one in a separate tank and it's still doing well. That's why I was wondering if one plant was the source and the rot spread to the other.

How common is it for Anubias rot to spread in a tank? I've never had so much trouble with this as in the past month or so. The tank is pretty new (6 weeks), and I've already lost two different Anubias plants in that time. I use easy green weekly, as well as root tabs for other plants. The two Anubias came from different vendors. I'm not sure which of the two began losing leaves first. I don't want to add any more until I know it's not an issue with my tank. I heard Cory mention he ordered tons of Anubias to try and figure out why so many are having this issue.

I need to get my hands on another card so I can compare in person. I do think it's closer to 40. I was mainly concerned with the change in color on the strip as time passed. I appreciate all the input!

I lost the scale so I pull it up on my phone and compare that way. This is the test strip after 5 minutes. First pic was after 2 minutes.

Should I read the tests to mean Nitrates are somewhere between 40 and 50 ppm? I lost the API test chart so I look it up online. I’m seeing a dark orange.

I understand. If I had many tanks I probably wouldn’t find time to deal with it either. I guess what I should have asked is whether not trimming would have any kind of negative impact on the health of the fish or other inhabitants. Thank you both for your insights.

In the latest stream, Cory mentioned that he doesn't bother trimming dying leaves from plants in his tanks. I always thought you needed to trim in order for the plant to focus its energy on new growth. What am I missing? I currently have a couple plants with leaves that are dying, which have drawn the attention of my Otos. Are they eating them?

I thought of a follow up question. Would any of the advice change if I was doubling the size of the tank, from 10 to 20 gallons?

I really thought this was going to be a huge ordeal. Thank you for all the tips!