Miranda Marie

It used to be 30-40% weekly. Now that it's fully cycled and heavily planted, it's more like 50% once a month. I have trouble keeping enough nitrates *in* the tank for the plants (Easy Green once to twice a week depending on how the plants are doing), rather than trying to get the nitrates out. 😆 So it just gets cleaned when it needs a solid trim and cleaning. (Which it does, so maybe tomorrow I'll do that.) It's got 6 Endlers, a colony of dream blue neocaridina shrimp, and 5 nerite snails and is a 20 gallon long.

The problem was around well before I started the carbon though, so I'm not sure how it's going to help? I've been struggling with stem plants since January (the first set melted back so drastically and didn't really come back almost at all, so I did another set in May, and it's still struggling). I started the carbon in August. I haven't seen any worsening since using it (and the ground cover has acted much, much happier) but also no improvement in the stems either. So I'm not sure the carbon is the problem? I guess I will ease back on the carbon, lower the hours of light per day, and up the fertilizer dosage and see if that helps.

I was wondering if that might help... But then someone else pointed out that my substrate (which is nutrient rich) shouldn't have run out of stuff yet (the tank isn't even a year old yet)... So now I'm a bit confused. 😬

Just the Easy Green fertilizer and Wondershells.

Here's the full tank. I don't know the GH/KH unfortunately (I need to find a test for it but money has been tight). My water is rather hard though (7.5) and I've been adding wonder shells once a month religiously because I have nerite snails and shrimp. My algae actually hasn't been that bad at all. A bit of string algae but it's easy to remove with my weekly water change. And I have the shrimp/snails that I want to make sure are getting plenty to eat. But I could try dialing it back if it might help the plants thrive better? Also, as you can see, the ground cover is growing wild and is very bright green and happy seeming. It's just the stem plants that seem to be struggling.

I'm not using the easy carbon to inhibit algae, I'm using it in place of Co2 so the plants have carbon (which is what I thought it's purpose was...?) and it's actually helped a *lot* since I started dosing it every day with the ground cover, which is growing like a weed and a very vibrant green. Unfortunately, the stem plants don't seem to have perked up any with its usage, so idk if they're not enjoying it or if it simply didn't help. (They were struggling even before I started using the Easy Carbon in August.) As for parameters: It's been running 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and around 20 ppm or less of nitrates. I did just add 6 additional Endlers (I had 2, so now there are 😎 so perhaps that will help up the nitrates and in turn maybe make the plants happier?

Hey guys! I'm wondering if someone can help me identify a problem in my tank. I have a 20g long that I planted back in April/May, and the stem plants in it have been struggling since the beginning. Their leaves are thin, have small black holes, and tend to melt again and again. I trim them, replant, and they do a little better for a while. Then repeat. (I haven't added any new plants. So they're still alive...just not flourishing.) I set it up with everything I could find that online said to have to have a thriving planeted tank, barring Co2 (I am using Easy Carbon instead). Specs are as follows: Light: Beamswork DA 6500K 0.50W Series LED, set at max with a timer so it's always on for 11 hours a day Fertilizer: Easy Green from Aquarium Co-op (twice a week) Carbon: Easy Carbon, dosed at the proper amount, once every day (in the morning). Substrate: UNS Controsoil (black) Plants: I'm honestly unsure. I stuck a whole time of kinds in when I started the tank and just watched to see which would stay alive. Only a few kinds survived the initial melt back. One is a Rotala of some kind (it has bright pink on the undersides of its leaves?) Any advice or thoughts would be welcome. I've been trying everything I can think of for months to help them thrive better. Adjusting the light, the amount it's on for a day, doing more water changes, less water changes, etc. Nothing seems to be working. My next thought is maybe they need more nutrients from the substrate than it is giving them? So maybe adding root tabs would make a difference? It really seems like they're missing something vital but I don't know what, and I don't have the resources to test trace elements. Any and all help is appreciated!

Everyone's tanks look fantastic! Here's my 20g long. Started last January with a totally different scape and decided I didn't like it. So I changed it up in May to the newer scape and planted more heavily. The carpet has gotten a bit out of control lately 🤣

They're all males (I wasn't intending to breed them).

Hey! So I have a planted 20 long aquarium that I have stocked with Endler Guppies. I had gotten 5 originally and they got delayed in the mail so only 2 survived. I decided to let them settle in before trying again and then life happened and suddenly it was 4 months later. They settled in well enough that one decided the entire tank was His Space™ and began bullying the other. So I sat down and ordered 6 more to add in with them. After quarantining them to make sure everyone seemed healthy, today we added them in. Well, they have all been sparring ever since. LOL. I turned the light out to keep them calmer so they would settle better but they're still going at it. I guess my question is, is the sparring a bad thing and how long will it take to settle? Or is it dangerous if they do it continually? The group is now 8 with the two older ones. I assume this will settle down over time once they establish a higher archy but I am just checking. Thanks!

Yeah oops. I suppose that's true; I usually end up breaking them by missing them when scanning community guidelines. I'll make sure not to do that again tho! Thanks again. 💙

Oh sorry! I didn't catch that rule before posting. 😬 Didn't mean to break any. I'll definitely look into those then. Thank you! 💙

I was wondering where all of you go to get fish online. I live in a rural area with nowhere nearby to get decent quality fish (just a couple PetSmarts/PetCo that sadly usually have a bunch of dead fish when we go, so I don't feel good buying from them). I'm specifically looking to get a few Endlers. I've bought a few from Aquatic Arts but their current selection is pretty limited, and I was wondering if there are other places (or specific shops on places like eBay) that are reputable, high quality, and treat their fish right. Would love to hear your guys' suggestions! We don't have any local fish stores or breeders here so online is really my only option. Thanks!