PonyPlantedTanks

You’re probably right. This information is coming from my grandpa. He’s not that old but he probably doesn’t know what he’s talking about.😂

Funny story that also connects to how I got into the hobby.. My grandpa kept tanks as a kid (mostly Oscars😂) and worked for TFH Publications (tropical fish hobbyist) for a super long time. His boss was Glen Axelrod, who funny enough “discovered” one of the most well known fish in the hobby. Think cardinal tetras… scientific name is Paracheirodom axelrodi… after Glen Axelrod! I believe my grandpa said he was gone frequently to Lake Tanganyika for cichlids. So anyways, that was a pretty interesting conversation with my grandpa. He supports my hobby in a lot of ways and really enjoys taking me to club auctions and the like. If it wasn’t for him I probably wouldn’t have kept going down the fishkeeping rabbit hole!

I have that too. I don’t think it’s an algae but rather some sort of biofilm. I’ve seen tons of people have the exact same thing and it’s always on the airline tubing! Mine comes right off in big chunks if you rub the airline between your fingers. Does yours come off easily too @Yoshi?

Very nice! Plants all look very healthy so far! Best of luck!😍

A couple years ago one of my elementary school teachers brought some Lily pads from his pond to our school so we could grow them in these massive stock tubs on our counter by the window. Unbeknownst to him a guppy (also from his pond) hitchhiked and had babies in the tub. Since guppy is as guppy does, generations of guppies were born and by the end of the year everyone got to bring home a pet guppy. I absolutely LOVED that fish. I got her a 2g from PetSmart, then a 3.5g, then a 5g where she lived out her golden years and passed away. I had just gotten into plants and was really loving the hobby. So I sold the 5g and set up a 10g for a Betta which I hoped to keep. And that’s where I am today! Just me, Merlin and a nerite. I absolutely love this hobby, especially the plants and just sitting next to your tank and watching what’s going on. I especially love setting up new tanks. Hopefully time will allow me to set up one or two more in the future but right now I’m really having a good time maintaining my one 🙂

It’s not technically a floater but most of the people I know that keep it say it does better floating than planted. I think it’s a pain to get it to stay in the substrate, but it does better closer to the light and surface anyways!

Absolutely! I didn’t expect it to do well in lower light because I’ve heard it’s more of a med-high light kinda guy. In higher light I’d expect it to grow like crazy! Plus, once it takes over the top of the tank you can grab a stem and plant it in the substrate for a cool eye catcher😉

I like the idea of having a real life version of the co-op plant deficiency chart (or something similar)! It would be neat to have a compilation of pictures labeled with their deficiency and how to prevent/“treat” it. Could be helpful for us new hobbyists who are struggling with plant health.

I can’t get over how cool they are😍❤️‍🔥

Brazilian Pennywort has quarter sized leaves and really thrives floating! I just barely got mine and it’s doing super well in pretty low light 🙂 Water Sprite also does well floating. It turns into a massive chunk that you can easily trim and move around if needed. And the emergent grown leaves look cool!

I agree, I think it’s cool to see how much you can do with a 5g. Plant it up really nicely with some sort of scape and throw in some small schooling fish (like micro Rasboras or small tetras) or a centerpiece wet pet like another Betta or a pea puffer or a scarlet badis or something cool like that! And it would be fun to have a little colony of shrimp on the bottom if you’ve never tried them 🙂

You just got some extra fancy little guys!😂

Sorry that you’re being bombarded with info.😂 Only one pea puffer would be suitable for a 7g, so not as exciting but still a really cool fish. Chili Rasboras are definitely more vibrant than most other dwarf rasbora species. When they’re colored up the males are super duper fire red! I would probably pass on a honey gourami since I think they prefer to be in something 10g or larger. Unsure on sparkling gourami, but I believe someone on the forum kept a small group (pair or trio, I believe) in something like a 5g. So I think it could be done, but keep in mind they are micro predators so they will most likely gobble up your shrimplets! A long tank like that is actually a great size, however. I think a lot of species prefer the length to school back and forth in so you’re in luck there!

If you’re looking for more of a “wet pet” and willing to feed live or frozen foods every day (definitely not for everybody), pea puffers are awesome. Definitely more work than your average school of Rasboras or tetras but they’re awesome. It sounds like you might not be interested anymore, but Chili Rasboras are awesome little fish that would do really well in that tank. Green Neon Tetras are like a smaller version of neons but with less red. Lots of color in a small package. CPD’s (celestial pearl danios) are shy but in a heavily planted tank they’re awesome. There are lots of other small bodied tetra and rasbora options that offer a lot of color. Keep in mind most schooling fish don’t really live more than 3 years anyways, so if you’re loving the endlers you can still get a lot of enjoyment out of them! 🙂

Interesting! Thanks for sharing. Hillstreams are for sure a bucket list fish for me! 🙂

Nerites are great! Mine has done an excellent job at cleaning up the flat algae in my 10g. If only he would eat hair algae… sigh…😂 Time will tell if yours is a girl or a boy! Look out for tiny white sesame-seed looking eggs👀

Off topic but looks like you’ve already got plenty of good advice - I’ve never heard of the Tucano Tetras. Did a quick Google search and they look lovely! Have you liked keeping them?

That’s great!! I’m glad it didn’t go to waste!

There’s already a lot of great input, but I’ll still share my experience and two cents haha I tried to supplement my nerites diet with the Hikari mini algae wafers because I was worried that he wasn’t getting enough to eat. But that didn’t work out so well since my Betta decided he wanted to be an herbivore and snatch that algae wafer before the snail could get to it🙈And plus the snail was sitting right next to it but moved on like it wasn’t there. Honestly I would only feed the snail once your tank “runs out of algae”. If you have a decent amount of diatoms (their main favorite) and other flat algae’s like green dust or green spot algae, you really shouldn’t need to feed them extra. But you can still give other foods a try for sure! I saw mine munching on a catappa leaf I threw in there a couple times. 🙂

That sounds like HEAVEN😍 I’m a big snorkeler - never been scuba certified (maybe someday) but anytime we go on vacay I always try to get in the water and snorkel around! Have so much fun!!

First plant looms a little like Water Wisteria to me, just really short. Or like previously stated it could be Staurogyne Repens. Third plant looks like a species of Cryptocoryne. I’m guessing Lucens is the specific variety? Last one looks like dwarf sag to me. Im not an expert but hope I can be of some help. 🙂

I haven’t kept them myself, but I got super close to keeping them at one point. From my research and from talking to several people, here are just a few general things I’ve learned: - A good population of snails is a must. Make sure your snail population is plentiful and established before bringing home your puffers. - If you want to keep more than one, make sure your tank is heavily planted! If your tank is sparsely planted, you’ll have a battleground of peas trying to establish their territories at all times. But it definitely can be done! - From what I’ve heard, it’s pretty hard to train them to eat Vibra Bites or any other prepared food. So if you plan on doing that, plan on a lot of patience because they are a lot smarter than people think.😂They won’t be fooled! - Pea puffer tanks require more maintenance since no snails will, erm, be allowed to clean. #they’llbesnacks But @AllFishNoBrakes has had good luck with Nerites (he also has a pea puffer tank and can likely offer more advice). You’ve probably learned all these things already if you’ve done a decent amount of research, but from talking to people in my local club I can confirm them 🙂 Good luck!

If you weren't using CO2 before, your tank looks fabulous for low tech. And I'm a big fan of chili rasboras! I hope you're enjoying them🙂

Aw, I'm so sorry, it's hard to lose centerpiece fish. They really are little wet pets. I haven't posted on your journal at all but I always love seeing updates on Punk.🙂Such an awesome little guy!

Do the best you can to manually remove all of it, then watch for more of it like a hawk. This is pretty much a duckweed type situation🤠 I had Java Moss in my tank at one point, removed all of it because it got covered in hair algae and never recovered. Literally a year later I see one singular strand of java moss poking out of the substrate. Like, what the heck? This thing is invincible I swear.😂