Lennie

You may want to check on this one:

Sounds good to me. If you'd like to hear about my suggestion: Observe how your plants react to fertilizes in the following days for fast grow plants, and following weeks for the slow growing ones. You can basically have an idea about your fertilizer needs/routine in this way based on the current situation of your tank. Easiest way to tell is, Any signs in the new leaves would show if the fertilizers were enough or if they lack anything, and any signs of algae starting to grow may sign you currently don't need as much of a fertilizer, so you may dose less next time. Sometimes our plants may not need a lot or full dose, especially when the tank is new. I personally start with %50 dose of the reccomended in the first weeks, than gradually increase over time by observing the plant/algae situation. Also, It may be a chore sometimes, but if you can, I feel like dosing the total amount divided in to seperate days feels better than dosing all the weekly requirement at once to me. I'm not a plant expert by any means. People who are more experienced with plants may help more! I just feel like plants consistenly using the enough amount and not having large amount of nutritions at once help with potential algae issue better. New growth already sounds fun 😄 Enjoy your tank!

@anewbie thanks a lot! That really helped me to understand the concept. I personally can't take that sort of potential agression myself. It kinda makes me worry, even if its their natural behavior. At the end of the day, I believe we are the ones that put them in X-size tank, so they really have only the swimming space, decorations, or even fish group size that we decide to provide and make it available to them to deal with the agression, unlike natures unlimited resources. So I feel like it would be a duty of mine to deal with the agression myself. Cause in nature, that fish can just swim away or establish a territory at least more safely in another location rather than facing constant agression, or death maybe. So it feels like my decision rather than fish's nature when kept at home. So I'm not sure if I will be keeping them after learning a lot about them. If I do, a single apisto seems like the best bet for me I guess.

Frankly, Test kits should tell you. What I personally do is, when I setup a tank even with established media, I keep testing the tank every day for the first week, then once every 2 days, and I do my water changes if I see anything off. If everything seems okay, I just let everything to establish for a while and don't do water changes. I never clean the filter in the first weeks, letting it gunk up a lil. If everything seems alright in the first 2 weeks, I decrease the testing amount to maybe like once every 3 day. But I keep testing regularly especially in the first month. After some time, when I observe my readings are not off, then I can start planning my weekly water changes based on mynitrate readings(I would say 40 max imo) if anything seems to be done more than once a week. This may be subject to change with every addition to the tank, how seasoned your tank becomes gradually, and how much plant growth is going on. But I do water changes every week in my seasoned tanks, and nitrate readings are not the only reason why we make water changes in my opinion. So I would do at least small water changes once a week even if the nitrate readings are not 40/50, but I suggest to do that when the system gets established well. And see nitrates not reaching 40 at the end of the week as an opportunity incase if I have to skip a water change that week or for a couple days Early time water changes without off parameters may slow down establishing process in my opinion. So I would watch parameters closely and let the tank do its job for a couple week, and do water changes when necessary.

Nice topic! I'm Turkish. As I follow numerous youtube channels and forums, I'd like to mention some differences I see. 1- We have so many EU(mainly German) and Asian brands available, but finding some brands and products that are common in US is basically impossible. Some that are easy to name are API, Fluval, etc. Meanwhile the products of Seachem are commonly available and mostly affordable. 2-The most common problem I personally face is finding test kits, especially liquid ones. The only ones I can find for liquid test kits are Sera and JBL. They are both good brands. But there is no complete set available which covers the basics like API Master kit. Also the only test strips that are available are Tetra 6in1 and JBL easy/proscape. The problem is, all of them are imported, and they are mostly expensive. Especially the ammonia test kit. 3- We tend to buy our stuff like aquariums from reputable craftsman in this aquarium sector for years rather than going to an lfs and buying a well-known brand. We like to visit the store, drink a tea/coffee, have some conversation first. Building communication and trust comes first. You decide on what you want to purchase/to be designed and made afterwards. It is almost always cheaper to buy stuff handmade not to mention, and well known reputators provide like 15 yrs of guarantee lol. You can knock on their door whenever you need some help. 4- Medicine. It is really hard to follow up to quarantine trio, aquarium salt dosages, or any sort of medicines as mostly forums are either Us or UK based online. We either dont have them, or under different names/brands. At least we commonly have Seachem products which is reputable. 5- People mostly build their own DIY CO2 systems at home. I know it does not provide a stable level of dosing compared to a mechanical system. But I've seen really good results. 6- We really should learn that methlyn blue is some sort of a last call or has a very specific use. So people use it as the first source of treatment sometimes. Like ich. 7- We have so many live stock and aquascaping options, as we are in the center of both Europe and Asia, and we already have lots available in our country anyway. Edit: 8- Some species that are mostly wild caught but seemed very commonly are never available here. Like amano shrimps for example. Idk why. 9- We label fish species under weird names somehow. Like Yellow lab cichlids are "yellow princess", ottos are "small plecos", corycats are "trash collectors", borneos/hillstreams are "butterfly pleco" and so on.

I see! I literally love the pure bright yellow color all over the tank too. I think they look really good alone only as yellow tab tank as well. Please take my abovementioned opinion above with a grain of salt. Just wanted to mention that, to be better safe than sorry. You have time ahead to search for a good answer anyway. Have fun!

I see! I'm not that experienced with cichlids by any means, but as far as I know, understocking sometimes may lead to aggression, as they all start to establish some sort of territory if I'm not wrong. That's why I've asked if you wanna keep the same numbers considering the tank size more than twice! You may wanna look on that one, or our friends here who are experienced with cichlid keeping may make some suggestions. Again, I'm not that experienced with cichlids, I kept them like 15 years ago or so. Just wanted to share something left on my mind! I feel like 11 yellows in a 75g might be on the understocking side for cichlids, just an opinion tho.

I agree with the comments above as well. Everyone explained it very well. One of my LEDs is a pretty cheap one (sold under the plant LED name, but very low tech I must say), and I've been succesfully growing lots of floating plants, heavy root feeders, and rhizome plants(except java fern, but I think it is my water with super high kH). The only negative side I've been experiencing is, there is a much wider gap between the leaves in some root plants. They all try to reach to top as fast as possible, then start getting denser, but at that point it is usually a trimming time or else, they block surface agitation a lot. But in a 20L, considering height will be even lower, I see even this not being an issue at all, if it seems visually unpleasing normally. Keeping it understock is a great point to keep it low maintenance I should say, in addition to lots of plants, especially floating plants in my experience.

Water changes are not only related to nitrate levels tho. Nitrate levels are indeed a sign of water change time and helps you set on an approximate schedule over time, but I don't think we can limit the potential benefits of water changes with nitrate readings. We can just use nitrate levels to show it is a must do. So I don't think we should see water changes as a negative thing. When you consider the nature and the constant circulation/movement of water, it is usually not sitting just like it does in our small tanks at home. Plants absorving x element from the water does not mean it is self sufficient. Water changes can be a life saver sometimes. Also I believe that, a tank is not really exactly "self sustaining", as long as you are feeding the creatures in the tank, adding fertilizers, or making any sort of external touches. If everything is recycling and going on a cycle inside the tank including food, plants are the only source of oxygen, fish and bacteria are the only source of co2, etc., then maybe. But in my eyes, aerating, feeding, fertilizing, using man-made filtering, topping up the water, etc. are not really different than doing water changes. They all affect the tank with an external touch anyway. Gravels are not the most suitable planted tank substrate for sure, but they are also not "terrible". It is usually beginner friendly, or helps to people who does not wanna spend a lot of money, or just like the look of it, or maybe helps to have an easy maintenance time sometimes. It is not always black and white when it comes to fish keeping. Especially considering his tank is already set and running. Calling a gravel substrate terrible for many people who wanna try easy plants disencouraging, especially when coming from the anaerobic bacteria perspective. I'm not sure to what extend anyone needs it as long as you don't mind some maintenance. But again, water changes are not nitrate specific in general anyway. People are just trying to be helpful about a running tank. Trying to look at from this perspective might help a little to understand why noone called the gravel terrible in previous comments P.S: densely planted tank, dirted bottom, can survive without any water changes in an overstocked tank guy here.

Yellow labs and Cyrtocara mooriis(we call them "dolphins") were what made me love fishkeeping. We call them "yellow princess" in my country! 🙂 Beautiful colors, energetic character and behavior on a little bit more peaceful side for cichlids in general(ime). And easy to breed! I just love heavily planted tank look more than rocky lake biome. But I miss these fish sometimes. Just not a fan of the tank look myself :') Any plans on adding more fish or breeding them more to increase the population for 75g? They look so pretty😊 Would love to see the 75g in the future!

I basically created to topic to learn about peoples experiences with apistos/rams or maybe kribs in general rather than my own stocking plans tbf. So there is no certain species I wanted to ask for. I just wanted to see if we really understand the needs/standards of dwarf cichlids in our small-medium sized tanks as a single centerpiece fish!🙃 We were talking with @beastie couple days ago, and I've never thought they can be bored alone until she mentiones it. We are so used to hearing the idea of keeping dwarf as one centerpiece fish no agression type of suggestion. So I wanted to learn more from experiences! Yea! My LFS sells Apistogramma cacatuoides, A.Macmesteri Red Shoulder, A.Borelli Opal, A.Alenquer and A.Hongsloi in pairs; and Apistogramma pandura and A.agasiizi fire red as 1m:2f. I think my LFS fails there as @anewbie also mentioned they cacatuoides like it in harem! Maybe they are just being cautious about agression, can be hard to keep in small tanks in lfs for sale if they get super agressive maybe. Bolivian rams and GBR/golds, kribensis etc are all sold alone.. Naw, poor baby. That was actually the reason why I wanted to ask. Many thanks for your response Rube, as always^^ That's interesting! I didn't even know they even have different preferences between their sub-species. Probably that's why they are sold as 1m:2f in my lfs. Fire reds look the cutest to me. It is interesting to learn! So can we say, single apisto is likely to be unhappy, and rather prefer to be kept in harems or pairs based on subspecies? Do you have any experince/opinion about rams being kept alone? I love the look of golden rams too 🙂 How agressive they are compared to apistos/nonpaired rams if kept in groups and gradually pair over time? I don't even know about keeping dwarf cichlids, as I already have lots of aquasoil, and only sand in front of my tank. So I'm not sure it would be good for dwarf cichlids anyway. So yea, I wanted to learn about cichlids more rather than a specific stocking plan for myself. I'm not sure front sand is enough for them to meet their sand needs, and whether they would like aquasoil. If you think it will be any help regarding my questions, can you share the topic please? I would like to read further. Thanks a lot btw. Learnt lots of info about apistos already. I'm happy:) cheers!😊

Mostly ye, but he has videos where he has apistos, angels and discus!

Just like Angels. But people mostly keep angels together from the start or maybe sometimes forever. That is one of the reasons why I'm kinda curious! Btw, Hey @Zenzo, When I think of cichlids, you are one of the names that come to my mind first. Would love to hear your opinion! As I've seen your video from 4 yrs ago when you've kept 6 apistos in a community tank 65gT. How was the experience? Do they to better in groups? what would you suggest in smaller sized tanks, maybe community tanks? 🙃

Thanks! @Theplatymaster Would love to hear further opinions! I don't plan any sort of breeding project, but if they do better in groups, I may go for groups. Or if they love big groups that will cause so much agression, then I may avoid them at all. Still did not decide what I will be getting. One of the rams, pearl gourami, apistos, or angels is what I'm still considering and searching for everyday :') Talking for a planted 50x50cm cube tank, 125L/33g. But besides my stocking stuff, I really wonder what they really love, especially dwarf cichlids! I wonder whether they are actually more "nano centerpiece fish" compared to another harem cichlid

@beastie keeps them in a group of 4. Do they well alone or like groups? Maybe she can share some experience

I would probably act in a way you normally cycle your tank and see "seeding" as a speed up factor.

To my experience, that still lasted 1.5 weeks for me to cycle with this method. In addition I've used Stability and some established media, I've poured gunk of my filter to the new filter/tank as well.. The seeding action came from 1 year old overstock tank media. Idk, maybe it was my experience. Still speeds up the cycling for sure! Like normally you don't get 1.5 week cycle ofc. But not instant. At least it was not on my case So keep testing no matter what. I would not move corys instantly for sure

I've been thinking of it for some time, while I've been making lots of research for my new tank stocking plan. I guess we have a consensus that, when it comes to schooling fish, it is always the more the merrier!🙂 But what about the small-middle sized tank centerpiece fishes except dwarf gourami and bettas? Especially dwarf cichlids or maybe angels in low numbers, considering ACO recommends max 4 in a 29g community tank? Do you guys think that only one Apistogramma or one Gbr/bolivian ram etc. are actually happy when kept alone? They should like it in a more crowded group rather than being alone right? Maybe like a harem like other cichlids usually prefer to? When it comes to species like discus, or african cichlids, or sometimes angels, we always say at least a group of X, or 1m:4/5f. What makes rams or apistogrammas suitable as nano tank centerpiece alone other than any other cichlid or fish that are kept in bigger groups but not tightly schooling or territorial. I somehow feel like dwarf cichlids like rams and apistos would not like to be kept alone, but we keep them so they fit in small tanks and don't have big territory/agression problems in there. But do they actually like it in a way for example a Betta does? What would be the ideal of keeping an apistogramma pair/harem in a community tank / min tank size? Would love to hear about your ideas! I'm interested in keeping them, and would love to hear experiences/opinions of yours!🙂

They are looking really pretty. Especially the Bluefin! (I found the orangey one again lol!) The only sad part is their lifespan 🙁Wish it was longer. But nature has its own way of working things out :')

I was looking for scaping Ideas for hex and found these looking pretty good to me. So wanted to share, if you wanna go for Hex considering the difficulties mentioned in the video!

I've never kept one myself. Fish mostly like longer than taller, When I was getting a cube myself, I had questions in this regard. But you can find a way to deal with this and scape it well I guess if you really wanna go for this shape. But a 20L would be a much better choice tbh. It is always good to know positive and negatives in advance! Safer than sorry, especially starting from 0. Facing struggles once you've found a motivation again can be a bit demotivating. I highly recommend watching this before you make a decision! Also I thought you were planning a 20L. Forget about my suggestion for the corys 😄 They like having a gulp of air sometimes, and love having lots of bottom space. A hex does not sound ideal for corys from my experience

If you keep livebearers with m:f ratio, you will probably have more than 9 at the end of the month. Maybe only males or females, if you don't want them to breed. But females will likely to come pregnant anyway. And keeping males only may lead agression. If you wanna keep only 9 fish in total, schooling fish sizes or livebearers will be a lil questionable considering you wanna have everything covered with fish alone. What about adding snails? or shrimps? That would make it easier to stock I believe, if you are certain with the number 9. They are a great non-fish cleanup crew. I would pass on goldfish, It is hard to keep with plants and you can't really find a tankmate to keep him with in a 20L even if you force bare minimum to keep one goldfish as a grow out tank. No way reaching 9 fish there. What are your water parameters afterall? Cories would like a crowded group. Livebearers would enjoy 1m:3f ratio, but they would breed. I think you have plenty of options but limiting it with 9 makes it hard, as you will need at least 6 cories and ideally 4 livebearers. Which leaves no algae eater fish option Maybe panda guppies? 1m:3f. The male would give you the black color you are looking for. Plenty of snails. And corys if you like. And some amano shrimp? If you want other colored guppys, then 6 black venezuela cory? You can rehome the guppy babies if you don't want more when they grow up. But that counts as keeping? XD Idk, I don't understand this energy stuff. Just make your fish happy! the more the merrier in school size 😄 How sensitive are black venezuela corys compared to normal corys? @nabokovfan87

Great to hear. I've just planted those reddish/pinkish plants you have in the background to my new tank. But I was worried due to not having co2. I assume the ones you have are some rotala, ludwigia and Alternanthera?

Maybe one day! 😄 I've never seen these in my lfs before tho. I mostly see Panchax and clowns, from killis. Unrelated question, but do you use co2 in your tanks? All types of plant colors in the background really complimented their look!

So beautiful. You are gonna make me buy a lid on my tanks.