Doug_E

Yes. moderately planted. Just one medium spiderwood piece. I also have Sieryu (spelling?) stone which will increase pH.

I just moved to a 40g tank and have plenty of room for more fish. I prefer smaller schooling fish, low maintenance, and community/non-aggressive. My water is hard (12) and pH is high (8.0-8.2). Tank is planted, no CO2, no heater (67F to 75F) but would bump that up with a heater if I need to. Current stock: 8 White Cloud Minnows 6 Eastern Blacknose Dace (local minnow from the creek...very hardy and will school with the White Clouds) 7 Amano Shrimp 4 Nerite snails I'd like something darker with color. I'm not looking for bottom feeders (Cory/Oto), guppies, platys, or anything over 2". Some I'm considering: Celestial Pearl Danio (may also breed them) Rummy Nose Tetra (may need warmer water and lower pH than I can provide) White Cloud Minnow (I plan to get more, but probably want a second species along with them) Harlequin Rasbora (my pH may be too high) Most of them (and anything really) prefer lower pH. I'm told they adapt and consistency is more important. Thoughts on that?

I moved the water, plants, and remaining rocks. Added Prime (1.5x the dosage) and then added the fish and shrimp. Ammonia was maybe a hair over 0 and nitrite around 0.25. I'll go easy on the feeding and test regularly for the next few days. The fish are all very active and their color is back. They were pretty pale and hid among the plants in their old tank since removing the big rocks. Seems they are not stressed anymore and settling in.

I have one that is pretty much always out where you can see him. I have 6 others who managed to find their way into my HOB filter and lived there for a few weeks until I found them. Now 3 are pretty easy to find, 3 take more time. I'm not sure if it the same 3 each time, but I rarely see more than 4 at any given time. They are natural hiders, but also eating machines. If they can find food they like and privacy, they will not be seen. If its more bold and finds a food source it likes, you might see it all the time. I'd say pretty normal.

Thanks. Reading about Prime it sounds like an ideal product for this sort of thing IF it really does bind up the ammonia and nitrite, yet still allow BB to consume it. The only ones who seem to say the BB bacteria cannot eat the bound up toxins when using Prime, are competitors who make BB in a bottle.

I had some air bubbles in one I got. I called and emailed with them and they basically said there can be visual flaws but the tanks work fine. I get the impression we worry a lot more than we need to.

I have a planted 20g tank with 8 White Clouds, 6 local minnows (1-1.5"), 6 amano shrimp, and 4 Nerite snails. I am moving them to a 40g. I have already moved most of the rocks, but am using new substrate in the 40g (Flourite black sand and Eco Complete). I've also moved some plants and will move some more when it is time to move the fish. I had two filters on the 20g for the last month. I put the media from one into my Fluval 307 that is on the 40. It has been running for almost a week and I've been putting flake food into the tank every 24-48 hours. The 40 has a pH of 8, ammonia 0.5, and nitrite 0.5. So it isn't quite cycled. I'd like to get them into the new tank as soon as I can. They are a bit stressed with all the changes (removing rocks and plants), but otherwise healthy and eating. I have a few options, any better than others or any to avoid? Move 20g water to the 40g; Move Fish; Move the 207 filter on the 20g to the 40g and run both filters for a week or so. Move 20g water to the 40g; move bio media from 20g filter; dose with SafeStart+; move fish. Move 20g water to the 40g; move bio media from 20g filter; dose with Prime; move fish. Move 20g water to the 40g; move bio media from 20g filter; dose with Prime; move fish; dose with TSS+ in 24-48 hours. Wait until new tank cycles on its own, then move water and fish. I can find information that says any one of these is right, safe, bad, wrong. At the end of the day I want to do this quickly, but also without killing or harming the fish.

The shop I got them at said they find them all over the floor and in other tanks. The reason is they are native to marshes and they will go for a stroll to find new waters.

I had one. Even that didn’t keep them fron shrimpvana inside.

I started with 3 Amano shrimp and they did great for a few weeks so I got 3 more. The next morning I found 3 of the 6. Then a few days later just 1. Then none. OK, I hear they are good at hiding. A week goes by...none to be found. Now I'm concerned and curious. I look under every rock in the tank. Nothing. Maybe they have some sort of stealth technology that lets them go invisible? THe more I look into it, the more I read about them climbing out and looking for other water. Uh, oh. I look all over the floor, and sure enough I find one crispy Amano shrimp. Dang it. I then look all over for more. No more to find. Maybe when they die with the cloaking mode on they stay invisible? A few days later after Christmas (and a short...Jesus it would be cool if... prayer...) I see one climbing on my HOB filter! A Christmas miracle! No more to be found, in the tank or out. This past weekend I was at the LFS and of course I can't resist and get 3 more. The next day...gone! Now I feel bad for these shrimp I keep sentencing to a short life of crawling across dusty hardwood floors. So another prayer (what can I say...I believe it works) and back to work. Yesterday I was getting my new 40g tank ready and I took the HOB filter to the bathroom to pull the media for the new tank/filter. It is a Tidal 55 so it has the handy bucker like thing you pull out with the media in it. As I am draining that I see movement in the bucket. What is that? Well I'll be...an Amano shrimp. I take the media out and...two more are sitting in the bottom! I then look into the filter body (main black part) and sure enough, 3 more are sitting there together looking at me with an expression of, "What? All the food we could want and privacy. What did you expect?" Mystery solved. Amano shrimp are remarkably clever, good climbers, very social, and if they can find a hiding spot...they will go there and you will never see them. No stealth cloaking tech...just well honed instincts.

I have a Fluval 307 for my planted40b tank I just set up. It blows my plants around a bit more than I'd like. The fish like low flow, they hang out in the lower flow parts of the 20 long they are currently in. I have a cover (jumping fish and amano shrimp) and with the layout the filter intake/output will go in the back right corner. I do like lilly pipes, but not the way you are limited in how you can position them. I could put it on the back side, but then that would blow right onto my val inches away. Putting it on the back means it would blow straight to the front and not get good circulation. The other and mabye better option is the Fluval spray bar. $20 and easy to install. It also is pretty discreet with its upper mounting position, and flow can be customized (number and size of holes). Are there other options to consider? Easy DIY spray bars that work better than the Fluval? For $20 its hard to beat unless it has some significant flaw.

Do you leave the runner on the new plant? It seems like it would just melt or rot and it might be best to cut it off entirely. Also for aesthetics, I'd rather not have it potentially sticking out of the substrate. I'm 99% sure it doesn't matter I can do whatever, but also being an engineer/biologist I have an unhealthy attention to detail!

I am setting up a new tank and will move some of my Val. Do I cut the runner at the mother plant end? New plant? And do I leave it hanging off or cut it off entirely and toss it? I’m not sure if it propagates from the same runner or if it melts back. I have regular jungle Val and dwarf that have both sent several runners and I’ll be trimming and moving.

$10 "limo tint" at Walmart is a good option. Larger sizes for full coverage in one piece. Nearly totally opaque, but lets in just a bit of light which allows for some interesting background effects.

In a recent video Cory suggests we might be using too much light. He has a tank with plants and NO light for months (just room light). The low light plants are doing just fine.

I have a 36" on my 40b and it is more light than I need. These things put out a huge amount of light. At 18" the 36" is 54 PAR. The 75 is not much deeper and the 48" will output more light.

Aqueon got back to me and was very helpful. They (CS rep and R&D person who also looked at the photos) said it was likely on the outside where the rim joins the glass. It just looks like its inside due to refraction. I did another 72 hour leak test and it was fine. When filled you can more clearly see the bubbles are on the outside between the rim and glass. I also decided to move my office to the basement (for my tanks and other reasons). The tanks will be 10-15' from the basement drain, on a concrete slab, and even if all 40 gallons were to leak on the floor, there isn't anything that would get ruined, even if the drain didn't do anything. The main takeaway for me...Aqueon is very responsive and helpful, and I'm a bit of an anxious person (but I knew that anyway).

I am considering buying my next batch of Amano shrimp and some CPDs from Aqua Huna. I saw that the acclimation process he outlines is different than what others say and do. He specializes in shipping fish and must have reasons for his process, but it does seem like it might not be ideal. My notes in brackets [like this]. Acclamation AQUAHUNA.COM Acclimation Proclamation FACT: Fish are 99% water. Water has an enormous effect (good or bad) on all fish. FACT: Fish are quite resilient. They can tolerate gradual changes, and can adapt to a variety of living... #1- Float all new arrivals in your tanks for up to 15 minutes. This helps the water in the sealed bags slowly equalize in temperature (become the same as) the surrounding aquarium water. [others say NOT to float these gas permeable bags] #2- After 15 minutes, make a cut in the bag just below the clip. Be careful not to cut off the “tail” (the portion of the bag above and including the clip), you will need that later. Open the “new Hole” you have created with your fingers and dip the bag down into the tank, thereby adding an inch or two of aquarium water in the bag. Use the tail of the bag to anchor it at the surface of the tank by closing the lid of the tank on it. [Others say this will cause toxic ammonia levels. The ammonia in the bag is high, but the pH is very low which reduces toxicity. When you add new water the pH goes up and that ammonia now becomes far more toxic.] #3- Wait 15 minutes- repeat step #2 (adding tank water to the bag) at least twice, more if time allows. By mixing “tank water” into the “bag water” you help your fish acclimate (adjust) to their new environment. [This might make the toxicity worse and exposure time higher] #4- Finally, pour the fish with the water from the bags into the tank. Make sure the water from the bag is poured directly into the tank, even if the water is discolored. The fish NEED this water in order for them to adjust to their new home. [I'm not sure how 500mL of water in a tank of any size will make that much of a difference. Not to mention how so many say not to pour the new water into the tank...especially with so much ammonia.]

Thanks. I tend towards hyper vigilant and can see all sorts of risks others wouldn’t think twice about.

This is a new tank (40b) but has been leak tested for 72 hours. It doesn’t leak but I do now notice these bubbles. Internet searches give answers from “cosmetic and normal” to “this is how Covid started” (maybe not but you get the idea). It is in the bottom corner on the side panel. ive called Aqueon and she wasn’t too alarmed but asked to see photos. I’m waiting to hear back. Part of me says to exchange it. But then another tank might just do the same and I’m worrying unnecessarily.

That make sense. I will give that stuff a try next time I have any issues. I'm setting up a 40g and hope to avoid the mistakes I made this time on the 20.

In case anyone else has the same issue, it seems that the diatom bloom is over. It seems to have stopped a week ago (new growth) and just as the bacterial bloom started. I'd say the diatoms did die off and create the food for the bacteria which then bloomed. Today water was much cleared and the evidence of diatoms is much less than it used to be. The nerites work wonders too. Now if only I could train them to keep my annubias leaves clean!

I just got a 40 breeder that I will use for a planted tank. I will have low to medium light plants, no CO2, easy fish (white cloud minows, amano shrimp, nerite snails, maybe some local minnows from the creek, and hopefully some CPDs). I have a 36" Plant 3.0 light so light won't be an issue. I'm just not sure about the right substrate. I like the darker look. Seachem flourite Dark seems like it would work, but CarobSea Eco Complete (Black) might be better for the plants. I might just use the Eco Complete in areas I want rooted plants, and the flourite where I want ryzome and other water column feeders. Are there other substrates I should look at? ANy reason either of these not a good option? Or just use root tabs and whatever substrate with the right color, size, and texture?

I'm glad I didn't get the Aquasky. I got a Plant 3.0 NIB from someone and definitely prefer it. The light just looks better and the customization options are more useful. Not that the Aquasky customization isn't good, the Plant is just better. Is it worth 2x as much? For my needs and my opinion, no. But I got a decent deal so the cost was not much more.

It isn't the diatoms in the water, I'm pretty sure of that. With the Diatom bloom seemingly over I wonder if that organic matter is now creating a bacterial bloom. I got 3 Nerite snails yesterday to help with the diatoms, and wow...they do a great job in no time. There are already patches of glass cleaned off. Slow and steady, they get it done.