Novabound

So I've been dosing Easy Green since forever in my 75 gallon, and it wasn't until fairly recently that I actually read the online store's instructions. So if I'm reading correctly, after dosing fertilizers and after some time for it to mix in, it should register on water test kits as nitrate? If that's true, never seeing a significant increase in nitrates is probably a symptom of not dosing enough fertilizers? The tank is super over filtered but strictly with sponge and biomedia, so I don't think either would reduce nitrates. I also have been dosing 16 pumps about 4-5 times a week while also increasing my feedings to get more fish waste over the past 2 weeks. Thank you for the input!

Reading the responses are reassuring. Here's my 75 gallon that I can never settle on how i can improve it.

This is a good idea. I have a 75g, 10g, a 10g hospital, and a 7.5g. The hospital houses plants as well since it helps reduce stress in fish and acts as a holding cell for trimmings/plants recouping from shipping.

I have a hard time figuring out what i want to do with my tanks. I feel like i have instagram envy syndrome because it seems like no matter what i do, I'm never satisfied with my tanks. And then i watch videos and read posts and they're accompanied by gorgeous aquascapes that feel like they went out to a lake, assembled a glass box in a section of it, and then placed it in their home a la minecraft. I then stare at all the hours i put into my tanks and it just feels super amature hour. Sometimes i rearrange some things in hope that I'll enjoy it more but i feel like constantly moving plants is hindering growth, which in turn makes things take longer to get to the "filled in" look...only to get the itch to rearrange it a month later. I've only been in the hobby for a year, is restlessness common at this stage of experience? It feels like being able to picture a painting of your own creation in your head vividly in great detail, but not having the artistic ability to be able to actually paint it. Would it be weird to ask for people to criticize my tanks?

I've wondered something about this as I've always heard that trimming the leaves going to the surface will "train" it to grow shorter and shorter. If i trim the lower leaves will it only grow leaves to the surface?

These are all good suggestions that i have access to. Thank you so much.

Oh my gosh thank you Edit: It's definitely a hint of green in the white container. At least I have confirmation that I'm dealing with algae now.

This definitely looks like green algae water right? I did 1 week of no lights with 1 day of a short light period to not starve the plants i want. I'm in the middle of week two and I've since added excel paired with no lights to help combat it but it's tough. I also added purigen to the filter to see if it was a bacterial bloom and hoped that would help. When the tank was clear, it got about 8-9 hours of light and co2..which I'm not entirely sure how to measure. The bubble counter is about 1.5 bubbles/second and by the end of the day the co2 liquid was on the light side of green. I used to dose ferts while the water was clear, about 1 pump twice a week of easy green, but I've also stopped dosing ferts once it got cloudy. I've performed 2 water changes in the past two weeks. Current parameters are 0-0-5. Does anyone have any suggestions or should i continue the black out excel method and do another water change at the end of the week? Or maybe it is a bacterial bloom and i just need to wait it out. I couldn't find any bodies that may have caused it, but i really can't think of anything i missed. I'm super grateful for all suggestions.

I always wanted a tank but for my college years i moved living situations at least once a year so i felt like it would have been too much trouble to keep hauling around. I got a house 2 years ago and then last year i remembered i wanted to try fishkeeping. Sold some magic cards and jumped into the deep end with a 75 gallon and have loved it ever since.

I also have issues with attaching moss to hardscape. But when a loose piece falls off of the hardscape and tangles itself at the back of my tank at the base of plants, I'll find huge wads of it months later. I'm thinking they don't like too much light. Now I'm forever pulling out java moss from my 75 gallon.

They work hard to keep stuff clean and make reinforcements if there's a ton to clean up.

I noticed while taking out the trash that this was growing all over the spout from my roof gutters. Is this pennywort? And if it is, could i put this in my aquairums? I'm aware of using hydrogen peroxide for sanitizing plants but are there other steps i should take before introducing it to an aquarium? Thank you!

Ahhhh walnuts. However, i am relieved to hear that my lighting is sufficient. Replacing the substrate sounds like an incredible pain, so I think I'll look into getting CO2 set up for this tank. Thank you Cory!

The feet on each side extend a decent amount to help fit aquairums.

Hi, i am in need of guidance for lighting suggestions. I feel like no matter how much i read, it's just overwhelming to try and come to a sound conclusion. When i upgraded my light from the light my tank came with, i got a fluval plant 2.0, and it feels like a week after they were discontinued for the 3.0. I got the 48" for my 75 gallon which is 21" tall. The tank is heavily planted and has nice algae growth on the sides for otos and snails. I've noticed stem plants and tall plants do decently well, but anything that stays low does not do so well. I desperately want a carpet of any kind but everything has just melted. The only carpeting plant that hasn't died is a ton of dwarf sag that i bought. However, they don't really propagate. They don't get bigger, make runners, or die. They just exist. I do plant root tabs near them and put ferts in the water column, and since shorter plants die, i can only assume my light isnt strong enough to reach them. There is no CO2 diffusion in this tank. So here's my dilemma. Do i buy a fluval 3.0 and have 2 lights with one that's minimally inferior? Is there that big of a difference between the 2.0 and 3.0 that would merit getting two 3.0s? Or is there a better light for a 21" tall tank that is in a similar price range? Thank you for reading and all input is welcome. Including my tank in case that helps with suggestions. (A bit cloudy from introducing the tall driftwood on the left).

I have a 10 gallon planted quarantine tank because i think the plants help reduce stress by giving new fish cover. But i kind of wish i went with a 20 gallon.

Project took a pain staking 3.5 hours of careful moving of critters and plants, then replacing the old 5 gallon tank with a 7.5 gallon and decorating/replanting. I added a new hardscape i found at the LFS and tied moss to it. Hopefully when the moss grows it'll look like a tiny tree. I used a ziploc bag that I poked holes into to gently pour the water back in to not disturb the sand. Emerald rasboras used to only hide in the crypt in the back but now they swim through the "tree" branches and check out the space.

So I mistimed my orders by assuming a large piece of driftwood would arrive tomorrow for me to start a rescape project. It's gonna arrive between Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. I had ordered a ton of different types of bucephalandra species. Will Buce be okay vaguely floating in a unoccupied and cycled hospital tank with decent light until the driftwood arrives? Or do they HAVE to be attached to hardscape in order to survive at all? More info on the hospital tank the buce is in: It's fully cycled, has a decent light, and is dedicated to growing plants to a healthy, transferable state since I rarely have to put fish in. I figured if any fish do fall ill and they have to be quarantined, a separate planted tank would help alleviate stress. Thank you for the suggestions in advance.

These are good points, and frankly, is way easier to do. I think petco is doing their infamous 1$ per gallon sale. Maybe i can upgrade them to a 10 while I'm at it. Thank you.

First post! Hi everyone, I'm planning to revamp my 5 gallon shrimp tank this weekend and i have the petsmart rimmless tank that has a gray curved wall in the back with a water pump. It seems that there's a ton of detritus in the back that i can never seem to clean well enough. As a result, every water change, regardless of how much i vacuum, there seems to be piles of it in the display area within a couple days. I've moved to feeding a smidge of food once every 3 days and change water once a week for some time, but at this point I've grown fond of the idea of getting a bit more space and rearranging everything. Anywho, any tips for removing the grey wall? I'm afraid brute force may break the whole thing. I'll be emptying the tank and housing the critters and plants in a tub with the sponge filter while i do it. Thanks for reading.