EricksonAquatics

Poor Murph. What a good boy he’s been! He will be missed💗

I’m always team Betta but if you’re looking for just a schooling fish, I think a school of CPDs is always a stunner. Just make sure to have a plant jungle because from what I’ve heard they can be pretty shy😂 Or Chili Rasboras! They’re one of my dream fish to own, someday, someday…

I think I have a black thumb. The plants can not seem to thrive in my tank. The new Val and Hydrocotyle Tripartita is already slowly melting away. Even my anubias is starting to get tiny holes! I feel like there is a simple issue/deficiency going on that I can't see! Nitrate is at around 40ppm, Nitrite 0. I think my GH is pretty high, around 100ppm. KH is about 80. As @nabokovfan87mentioned, maybe my GH is just way too low if it needs to be double my KH. I'm now wondering if my lack of Wonder Shells has been causing my GH to go down? Even though it doesn't seem low? Does anybody find they like Equilibrium better than Wonder Shell? It seems more boujee but I don't know if that makes it any better😂 I feel like such a newb haha. I've had this tank a little over a year and the plants decided they hate me.🤪

Yes, however these plants are not new to me. They should all be converted by now.

The test strips can definitely be a pain to read. I’ve been meaning to try the test kits to see if it’s any easier to tell what’s going on. I’ve been dosing Easy Green the regular dose, one pump once a week. Sometimes a little extra depending on if I test the water and nitrate is lower than 20ppm. Seems to be keeping the tank around 30ish ppm Nitrate. For filtration I’ve got a sponge filter. If the GH is low, is that the problem? I’m just confused as to how the plants could die so fast just from that. I don’t think my GH drastically changed recently? Do you think this just some sort of nutrient deficiency and the low GH is only part of it?

Oh sorry, I’ll try them again. That’s good to know about the ratio between GH and KH. I thought the floating plants were taking all the ferts from the water column but my test strip isn’t showing that. Also, I’m terrible at reading test strips but it seems my GH is either pretty high or pretty low? But KH has always been around 80ppm. Do you think my water parameters could be causing all this plant melt? thank you so much for your help!

I tested my water yesterday and the results are below. These are the parameters I've had for a while. My plants have done well, but none have necessarily thrived. I think the tank is not yet fully balanced, but I'm not sure how to proceed there since the algae is much better than it ever has been. By the way, it's a 10g with one betta and a nerite snail. The tank has an Easy Plant LED at 20% (seems so low to me, too, but there are pretty much only low light plants at the moment and I'm afraid the algae will kick in if I turn it up😅). Even the floating plants have started melting back a bit. @nabokovfan87thanks for the video. I only watched a tiny part of it but I gathered that KH should be lower than GH? Does that sound right? I don't run co2 so that shouldn't be a problem. IMG_0389.jpg 2.5 MB IMG_0387.jpg 2.3 MB

Hi all, I’m still fairly new to the hobby so any advice is appreciated. This past week a ton of my plants mysteriously kicked the bucket. I seriously don’t know what happened! One day they were looking wonderful and literally two days later my bolbitis, a ton of my crypts and my tiny pogo octopus (which weirdly has never done well for me) all melted away. My dwarf lily and Amazon sword are just fine. The only thing I changed last week was adding a bunch of floating plants. I thought that surely the floating plants had just sucked up all the nutrients and the crypts freaked out, but I tested my water and nitrate was still at 20ppm. Low, but not that low! Anybody have any clue what happened? Some kind of crazy fast hitting deficiency? My favorite bolbitis is completely gone😭 Thank you!

I saw a video that explained that and I’ve since been poking holes in them :) though sometimes I just can’t get them down far enough. My tweezers aren’t curved which makes it challenging. How exciting! I’m sure your shrimp will be living their best lives, whether you see them or not😂

I'm late to this, but I've had Easy Root Tabs pop up on me during several occassions (I blame it on my terrible tweezers) and they've never caused any problems. Water parameters are not affected. My betta even decided to eat a few chunks and he was just fine🤨😂

Yes, substrate is eco complete. That’s very good to know! It’s mostly just the crypts, so it could just be them doing some weird adjustment things. I’m going to dose extra root tabs this week (realized I’m almost out.. shoot!) and see how it goes. It’s a fairly minimally planted tank, I’d like to add some more stem plants in the back. I usually just add root tabs every 2-3ish months. I’ll add some extra root tabs because it also could be my Amazon sword getting huge and eating up all the nutrients!🤦🏼‍♀️

Hi all, I’ve recently noticed a bunch of holes start to show up on some crypts in my 10 gallon. They’re fairly new (been in my tank for about a month now) but they adjusted quickly and have been growing new leaves. I noticed one tiny hole starting on one of my Anubis’s leaves today too… noooo!!🥲That’s why I was wondering if this was a nutrient deficiency? I use Easy Root tabs and dose Easy Green every week. It almost looks like something has been eating them but I don’t know what that could be! The only inhabitants in the tank are one betta and a Nerite. Thank you in advance🐠🩵

Thanks for the info. The only club I know of in my area does strictly saltwater sadly. I'll probably see if my LFS has any want for it, otherwise I'll just put it on FB Marketplace. @Fish Folkthose Nothobranchius rachovii are amazing! Stunning fish 🙂

I recently impulse bought a biOrb 30L tank because it was on sale for a very good deal. But after having it for a while I've sadly come to realize I currently don't have the time or need for it. I can't return it so I'm just wondering if anyone knows where I could resell it? It's brand new in the box. Is FB Marketplace the best place to find a hobbyist who might want it? I don't know if there is even any interest for these tanks anymore, but I was just wondering if there are any special places that I should put it for sale on. Thanks 🙂

I think I'm going to order some kanaplex soon. The salt hasn't seemed to do much and some of the tips on his tail are starting to turn reddish and die off 😞 With the kanaplex, do I need to set up a hospital tank or is it ok to dose straight into the tank? (with the plants and nerite)

Thank you both! I heard about kanaplex but thought I'd try Maracyn first because that's what the Co-op recommended. I picked up some salt today and I'll try to get some catappa leaves soon. And sorry, this is a newb question😂 but how often should I dose the salt? Just after every water change correct? And should I do more frequent water changes now? Also, my nerite snail should be ok with the low dosage of salt, right? If the salt and catappa leaves don't help I'll start a course of kanaplex. 🙂

Hi again - my bettas fins began looking a little more rough (not sure if he was biting his tail or if it really was fin rot) but I did a full dose of maracyn (per the instructions on the box) just to be safe. Just barely finished that course a day or two ago and within the last few days his tail has gotten worse 😞 The water is still clean (parameters are great) and I can't find anything that would be causing him large amounts of stress. Should I dose maracyn again or try aquarium salt? Maybe some catappa leaves?

Thank you for the quick response and info!

Hi all, My betta just recently started showing signs of fin rot in his tail. It seems to be very minor at the moment, but I still want to treat it before it gets any worse. Water parameters are: Ammonia: 0ppm Nitrite 0ppm Nitrate 20ppm. He's in a 10 gallon (heated to 76, live plants) with one nerite snail. I have Maracyn on hand, so should I start dosing that? And since I don't have Ich-X, should I still treat the way in the Co-Op's video says to (one packet for one week, then water change) or should I follow the instructions on the box (one packet each day for 6 days)? Please and thank you! 🙂

A bit of a newbie here! I have one betta in a 10g tank with one nerite snail. The tank is heated (76F) and has plenty of live plants. I noticed about a week ago that my betta has a few spots in his tail that look a little rough. I can’t tell if they’re chunks taken out by biting or fin rot. Water parameters are normal (Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 30ppm) and water changes once a week. He cycles between Xtreme Betta Pellets, Hikari Vibra Bites and Freeze Dried Bloodworms. I’ve had him 5 months now and no problems until this. Do you guys think this is fin rot or tail biting? I can provide more pics if needed. Tank light was off at the time😂 Please and thank you!!