Ninjoma
-
Posts
477 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
2 -
Feedback
0%
Content Type
Forums
Downloads
Store
Events
Blogs
Gallery
Profiles
Posts posted by Ninjoma
-
-
I've been posting my photo updates on the Facebook group, so I figured I would use the forum to do journaling. It will also be nice to have my photos centralized so I can look back on them.
I currently have 5 tanks:
#1
10g with ember tetras, guppies, cherry shrimp and ramshorn snails.
-I recently moved over some of the colorful guppy fry from my brackish tank to act as dither fish for my shy ember tetras.
-I'm working on growing out some of my ludwigia rubin cuttings for the background plants. I also sorta don't like how the melon sword doesn't go all the way to the top of the tank, so I am trying to grow some hygrophila behind it. I may just go back to suction cupping a floating plant back there.
-I swapped the kedagang that was on the center rock with the black pearl that was on the right log so it is more symmetrical with the left log that also has kedagang.
-I've been struggling to deal with planaria in this tank, that I think is preventing my shrimp for repopulating. I've tried expel-p a few times, and am currently finishing a dose of prazicleanse, which also doesn't seem to be doing the trick. Going to try "no planaria" next week.
#2
16.9g + penn-plax trutle topper brackish paludarium with guppies, gold claw fiddler crabs, indonesian batik fiddler crabs, a red claw crab, nerite snails, amano shrimp and ghost shrimp.
-These pictures are a bit dated because I didn't have a chance to take photos today.
-Figuring out what plants will work in a brackish tank has been a process. Most of my anubias has rotted and died, and most of my crypts melted all the way back. Some of the crypt parva is hanging in there. Some of bolbitas fern seems to be doing well. Val, hornwort and maybe even my rubin sword and hygrophila are thriving. I'm going to try micro sword for the foreground, since it is supposedly one of the most brackish tolerant plants."King"
"Crabby"
#3
29g with an angelfish, german blue rams, platies, honey gourami, ottos, kuhli loaches.
-This tank is my closest to being "complete." My water sprite died off when I raised my temperature in preparation for my blue rams, so I have been working on replacing them. Currently trying a green rotala on the left and hygrophila pinnatifida on the right. Other than that, I am happy with where the tank is
"Derp"(my partner painted this for me for my birthday)
#4
40g breeder with a fancy goldfish, bristelnose plecos, zebra danios, swordtails, peppered corys, mystery snails, and apisto borelli.
-My orange and black goldfish Jasper recently died of dropsy, which was heartbreaking, so am moving away from keeping goldfish for the foreseeable future.
-I recently added a black mystery snail "chocolate chip", so now I just need a chestnut mystery snail and I will have one of every color combination.
-No particular goals for this tank. I have a lot of slow growing plants, that I am curious to see how they will shape up."Jasper" (RIP 😭) and "Ruby"
"Phantom"
"Chocolate Chip"
#5
75g with pearl gourami, roseline sharks, siamese algae eaters, flagfish, reticulated hillstream loaches, bolivian rams, a rainbow shark, indian lilac crabs, CPO crayfish, a blue kong zebra crayfish and amano shrimp.
-Recently moved the log on the right in front of the dwarf sag because it was being completely blocked. I decided to add repens in front of the log, because I saw some nice ones at my LFS.
-Decided to use larger anubias species for the top of the center cave instead of the nana petite that was there."Mortimer"
-
2
-
9
-
-
I have a 40 breeder and regret not getting the 65g in retrospect. Having the extra volume is nice and It's fun to grow really tall plants.
-
2
-
-
In addition to what others have mentioned, you could also try adding some additional bacteria like fritz zyme 7 or seachem stability.
-
1
-
-
Hygrophila corymbosa might be worth a try. They seem pretty sturdy.
Edit: Oh and maybe wisteria. It grows so fast I don't think a flagfish could destroy it.
-
On 5/17/2023 at 1:23 PM, martinmin said:
Here are photos. I tested again and nitrates, nitrites and ammonia are very high.
Thanks for sharing these photos! I have some thoughts and some questions, but not sure I have any useful advice yet.
-It is interesting your ammonia and nitrite is very high even though you do not have any fish in the tank yet. Have you intentionally been adding an ammonia source to start cycling your tank? If not, do you have any ideas where the ammonia is coming from?
-What substrate are you using? I know some substrates, like ADA aquasoil, can release ammonia.
-Since your substrate is new, it is normal to have some brown diatom algae. This happens because new substrates contain silicates which brown diatoms like to eat. It will go away once the silicates are eaten. That could be some of -the spots on plants you are seeing (https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/faqs/brown-diatom-algae)
-Since your plants are new, it is normal to have some "melt back." This can happen because the plants you purchased may have come from a farm where they were grown out of water, so now that they are submerged they need to shed their old leaves and produce new leaves that are better suited to the new environment. If you are seeing some leaves turn brown, become soft and "melt" off, this may be the reason.(https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/faqs/melting-or-dying-plants)
-Alternanthera requires high lighting to thrive. What light do you have? What is your lighting schedule? In my personal experience these plants are just hard to grow in general, so maybe someone else can provide better advise for growing those.
-Rotala blood red also requires high lighting to stay red.
-Are you using any fertilizers?On 5/14/2023 at 6:40 PM, martinmin said:I have sponge filter. It's strange that I didn't add any fish, but nitrate and nitrite get very high, and I just did a 100% water change. If they don't hurt plants, probably shouldn't I change water? for plant only tanks, normally how often should I change water, to make plant grow well?
I'm not sure what the upper limit is for ammonia and nitrites harming plants. However, if your goal is to eventually cycle the tank, having the ammonia too high will hinder the cycling process. I would aim for 2ppm ammonia or lower and 5ppm nitrite or lower.
In terms of how often should you be doing routine water changes in a plant only tank, I would suggest at least once per month. You want to be changing some water so that there isn't anything building up over time, that you wouldn't normally test for. If you have minerals in your tap water, it can also help replenish some minerals that are used up by your plants. -
Could you provide some photos of your plants? There could be some algae growing on them or they could have nutrient deficiencies.
On 5/17/2023 at 12:04 AM, martinmin said:Normally, the nitrite and ammonia should become zero. Right?
Yes, normally the ammonia and nitrite will become zero once there is enough beneficial bacteria in the tank/filter to convert them to nitrates.
-
If your goal is to try to avoid algae completely I would start with moderate intensity (maybe 50%-60%). And a short photo period (6 hours). I would only increase intensity or duration if I noticed plants struggling.
Personally I like to start with a lot of light, welcome algae growth, dial it down once a week until algae growth stops and then leave it there for a while. Eventually I will start increasing the intensity again If I think more efficient plant growth is possible.
-
Maybe kuhli loaches?
-
On 5/14/2023 at 4:51 PM, martinmin said:
Will the nitrites reduce in a few days without changing water?
Maybe. I wouldn't rely on the plants reducing the nitrites by a lot if that is your goal.
On 5/14/2023 at 4:51 PM, martinmin said:I read from other sources that high level of nitrites, nitrates and amanio can harm plants too, so plant-only tank also needs to be cycled as fish tank do.
I don't think this is the case for moderate amounts of ammonia and nitrites. It definitely isn't the case for nitrates. I don't know whether extremely high ammonia or nitrites would hurt your plant, but I wouldn't personally worry about cycling a plant only tank.
-
On 5/14/2023 at 1:27 PM, martinmin said:
1) Is the 75ppm good for planted aquarium?
Yes, that is around where I keep my tanks at. Certain plants may have more specific requirements, but I haven't had any issues with any of the species I've tried.
On 5/14/2023 at 1:27 PM, martinmin said:2) If I don't add fish into the tank with plants only, do I need to change water to reduce nitrite? Does plant-only tank also need to be cycled by frequent water change?
No you don't need to cycle the tank or do water changes because of high nitrites for a tank that has plants only. Plants can utilize the nitrogen in nitrites, so it is basically food for them.
-
For most fish:
-Xtreme community crave
-Xtreme nano pellets
-Hikari vibra bites
-Hikari micro pellets
-ACO/Hikari freeze dried brine shrimpFor inverts:
-Hikari crab cusine
-Xtreme shrimpee sticksFor goldfish:
-Hikari fancy goldfish
-Hikari sinking goldfish excel
-Extreme nice semi floating (also for angelfish and other largish fish)-
1
-
1
-
-
On 5/14/2023 at 12:53 PM, tetra said:
What about snails?
The largest aquarium snail is the sulawesi. They get pretty big (4 inches) Though I don't think its gonna be easy to find them on sale. Will dojo loach eat that?
I definitely think there is a chance that the dojo loach will try to eat giant rabbit snails. It could be worth experimenting though, if you are willing to take the risk.
-
On 5/14/2023 at 12:04 PM, tetra said:
Maybe panda corydoras cause their in that range. Or bristlenose pleco.
Will dojo loaches eat shrimp or larger snails? I've never had shrimp or snails. I've been wanting to have them for a while. I've heard dojo loaches eat snails, but some say that their dojos haven't ate their snails. I'm not so sure about shrimp though.
When I was considering dojo loaches, my LFS reccomended against keeping them with shrimp because they pretty much nibble on everything to see if it's food.
-
On 5/14/2023 at 11:38 AM, tetra said:
I was actually hoping you'd ask this question. During the day, the tank is around 67.5F. I'm not so sure at night but I'm assuming around 60-65F.
This temp may not be accurate sense I don't have a temp gun @Ninjoma.
In my opinion, the easiest solution to this dilemma is to throw in a 100w aco heater set to 70-72 degrees. Then you have tons of options.
Alternatively for fish to consider that could do well on the mid 60s, I would try:
-Florida flagfish
-Reticulated hillstream loach
-Long-Finned leopard danio
-Long-Finned White Cloud Mountain Minnow
-
I have the ACO heater in 4 of my tanks and haven't boiled any fish yet. The only issues I've had are when I drain the water past the heater with the heater still plugged in, it will start to burn itself. You can avoid that by unplugging the heater when doing water changes or positioning the heater towards the bottom of the tank.
-
How cold do you plan to keep the water? Most tropical fish will also do fine in the low 70s. Here are some suggestions:
-Bolivian rams
-Honey gourami
-Apisto borellii
-longfin leopard danios
-Long-Finned White Cloud Mountain Minnow
-beckfords pencilfish
-Florida flagfish
-
1
-
-
Lack of information and availability on the types of animals I like to keep (crayfish, crabs).
-
2
-
-
On 5/12/2023 at 1:38 PM, schmofam said:
Yes, I have room for bio rings, coarse sponge and crushed coral in mine. It really just depends on how much of what you want to put inside it.
-
1
-
-
I have the aquaclear 30 on my 10g. You could also use the aquaclear 20 or the nano filter ACO sells: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/nano-tank-hang-on-back-filter-1
-
1
-
-
On 5/10/2023 at 9:49 PM, martinmin said:
Yes I waited overnight but still the same.
Hmm interesting. What regulator are you using?
-
Hey all. I am getting a blue kong crayfish (cherax alyciae) soon. I'm looking for some good caves that can fit a 5-6 inch crayfish. Does anyone know if the ACO pleco caves work well for medium sized crayfish? If not, does anyone have any good recommendations for caves that fit medium sized crayfish? I'm looking for something that can be easily decorated with plants or blend in with plants, rocks and wood.
-
I'm not sure exactly why, but it can take some time for the co2 to wind down after the regulator is turned off. Have you checked to see if co2 has stopped several hours after the timer turns off?
-
I think any sinking protein rich food would be good. Like Hikari sinking carnivore pellets, xtreme nano pellets or xtreme krill flakes.
-
1
-
-
I would do guppies and neos or Dwarf crayfish. You could also try a Apricot/tangerine crayfish (cherax holthuisi)
Ninjournal
in Photos, Videos & Journals
Posted
Yeah, I had a lot of issues keeping the plant in warmer temperatures. I ended up getting a chiller for the tank just for that plant and it started errupting with big beautiful leaves.