IanB

Java ferns are looking great! I don't find them an "easy" category plant at all. I think, along with Bolbitis, they are better classified as a medium difficulty plant, as they are very easy not to kill but without really soft water and/or CO2 it is hard to get them looking amazing. So often, I think plants get categorized by "can they survive without CO2" and "do they need high lighting?". There are a lot of plants that can do well in low energy systems but are not easy to make look great. Oh and for everyone reading this thread looking to get started with CO2, the one big tip that I haven't seen yet (apologies if I missed it), is to wait 12 hours or, even better, a full day from when you bring your filled CO2 cylinder home and place it near your tank to when you hook it up. It may need hours for the cylinder to get to your exact room temp. If you hook it up before it has gotten to room temp, it will continue drift to room temp after being hooked up and, when metal changes temp, it changes size. So, if you don't let the cylinder come to full room temp before hooking it up, you can easily end up with a loose seal and dumping CO2 into your room pretty fast.

You might be able to, eventually, squeeze in something sturdy like a bristle nose pleco, since they are essentially armored and you have a community tank to relo them to if it doesn't work. That being said, I would try to look at this like an opportunity. Kribs are fascinating fish, females look amazing, unlike with many common aquarium species, and there are currently a ton of fairly accessible shallow tanks that would let you do small/fun stuff. In fact, I am planning to do something like this with (hopefully a pair, but just one if the pair doesn't work) kribs. I'm using an ADA 60f (2 feet wide, 1 foot deep, 8 inches high) but just about any similar shallow tanks would work. You can find the luxury ones from ADA and UNS but generic companies will make more affordable versions with similar dimensions. Im going to center a mound of rocks, covered in Anubias below water level, with a peace lily or monstera at the water line in the middle of the rocks growing above water (roots in water). I think any sort of a hardscape-heavy shallow planted aquarium would look great, give your little sociopath lots of stuff to interact with that she can't kill, and allow you to keep any larger tanks for fish that don't need a solo pad. Edit: This could also work with a bookshelf aquarium if you struggle to find the shallow.

I'd be shocked if it ran at a dangerous pressure given the massive liability issues that would cause but I have never used these so can't give advice.

Ah, I am afraid I have not used the diy CO2 systems (because they can't easily be shut on or off). I doubt it runs at a dangerous pressure, but don't take my word for it, please!

I can't tell you the name of the plant but I am pretty sure that you are right that it is not healthy and that they are wrong in saying that it is bolbitis. At least it doesn't look like any heudolotii or heterclita form of bolbitis that I have seen because of how far apart the "leaves" off of the stem are from each other. That being said, I've mostly avoided keeping them even though I love them because it is hard to find sustainably gathered/grown specimens, so I'll definitely defer to @Odd Duckhere. If it is bolbitis, you will probably need to keep it in a tank with CO2 to rehab it. While I have seen them grown in low tech tanks and they don't need a ton of light, most people have much more success with CO2 injection and somewhat softer water. It also has preference (like BBA unfortunately) for higher flow areas.

I generally agree with this. In particular, if you have the luxury of having discrete ferts available to you in addition to an all-in-one, I would start with just Potassium and micros. Then as it gets established, depending on your tap water, you can either switch to an all-in-one like easy green or just start adding N/P as well. To me, the most important thing you can do when starting a planted aquarium, though, is get a copy of your local water report, or get your LFS to test the water for N/P/K. Some places have lots of phosphorus, in particular, in the water. If that is the case, you really want to be careful with an all-in-one because you can easily develop algae issues due to excessive phosphorus (the entire ADA Fert system is built around avoiding excessive phosphates because of how they contribute to algae). If you are experienced and running advanced high energy tanks with difficult plants there are times you will want lots of phosphorus, but that is a relatively uncommon situation. If you have soft water, Easy Green is your best friend. If you have hard water with relatively balanced P/K it is still wonderful. If you have really high P and low K, though you may be better off dosing potassium, nitrates, and micros separately, annoying as that can be, if an algae free tank is your goal. I hope that isn't an incomprehensible mess-- short version, make sure your water doesn't have high phosphates (or some other outlier like pH, K, or N) before you commit to a fertilizer regime. If you have "weird" water (high in one area but not others) you may need to avoid all-in-ones and use more specialized ferts if you want to avoid algae. You can get your water parameters from your LFS or water company report without having to spend lots of time and money on test kits.

Long version: If you are simply talking about the aquaria Neo Co2 diffusor that goes from a regulator to the tank, it should not be a huge deal to disconnect it under pressure if you have to, though I am having trouble imagining a scenario where you would have to? You can simply turn off the solenoid on your regulator, or if it doesn't have one, close the canister connection to the regulator. Then open the needle valve all the way and it will quickly bleed off the small amount of CO2 in the line from the regulator to diffuser. Then you are fine to remove the diffuser without it being at a high pressure. The most potentially dangerous pressure with a CO2 system, however, is between the tank and the regulator, not at the diffusor. The regulator's purpose is to step down the high pressure of the canister (needed to keep the CO2 liquid and compact) to a "working pressure" that is safe for you to work with (often around 30 psi... think of a car tire). TL;Dr: You shouldn't have to. Simply close the source CO2 (at the canister or regulator via solenoid), then open the needle valve to bleed off excess pressure (if you have a very small tank and are worried about a CO2 dump, you can lift diffuser out of water for this, though if you open the needle valve all the way the bubbles will be so big the amount of CO2 left in the line won't change the water chemistry significantly). Once the diffuser stops spitting out bubbles, you know it isn't under high pressure anymore, and can do whatever you like with it. Also, unsolicited but cool tip I saw from Jurjs Jutjatevs, a German aquascaper, is that the small aquario Neo diffuser fits inside the new aquario flow lily pipes, so that you can set it up as, effectively, an inline diffuser (not to be confused with a reactor-- you will still see the bubbles).

No one can help me improve fish selections here?! I feel like the paludarium plan, as a whole, and the stocking of the 60 cm shallow are uninspired/unfinished.

@anewbieMine were wild-caught leopoldi. I have, however, only kept six of them and, in my experience, and as you suggest, angelfish have very individual temperaments and personalities. I have one clearly dominant male angel, but none of the others challenge him at all. He periodically makes little "charges" toward the other leopoldi but never makes contact and they dart off. My tank is only a 75g but it is *very* heavily planted to the point that fish can hide for days without being seen in the back half, with the front mostly open for swimming. I have found that, contrary to my research, they do really well with large diamond tetras who laugh off the leopoldi's aggression, getting them to seemingly leave everyone else alone. The leopoldis did eat every amano shrimp of a group of 40 I put in (all small--my expensive error) but have been fine with tetras as small as embers and horned nerite snails. I could just have gotten lucky with this group, though. Given your experience, scalare might be the safer option, since so many people have success with them and the leopoldi are just less known.

This has not been my experience (or in line with most of my research). While they don't like hard water, they are actually quite tolerant of almost all tropical temps, rather than needing to be in the 80s. In addition, my experience (again, this is just me) is that you want either 1 leopoldi or a small school (5-6+). If you just get two leopoldi the dominant one will focus aggression on the other (unless you happen to get a bonded mated pair). With more (I have 6), any aggression is spread out and no single fish is targeted repeatedly. I tend to agree with seriouslyfish.com (https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/pterophyllum-leopoldi/) that leopoldi are actually the angels most suited to a community tank. That being said, everyone has their own experience and does their own research, so perhaps @anwebie's experience will be more in line with what you are looking for.

Hi All, I split my time between North Carolina and Louisiana. In North Carolina, I have a 75 gallon high-tech "Amazon-inspired" dwarf angelfish community aquarium full of a wide variety of swords/other echinodoruses. In Louisiana, I have less space, so tend towards small or even nano aquariums. For my new place there I have decided to limit myself to three small set-ups, two sharing a 120 cm stand, and one on a 60 cm stand. I have some general ideas about what I might want to do with each, but would love feedback from anyone! 60 cm stand ADA 60f aquarium (a shallow tank-- 2 feet by 1 foot by 8 inches tall) with a central rock feature that elevates a peace lily or monstera plant so that only the roots are in the water/soil (and hidden) with bolbitis (if I can source it ethically) growing emersed on top of the rocks and small Anubis varieties (nana petite and golden) on the rocks below water. Sand substrate. I am trying to decide between a pair of gold ocellatus shell dwellers OR staying with softer water that would be better for the monstera/peace lily and doing a pair of kribs. This tank would be low tech, no injected CO2, with lighting provided by a suspended/pendant full-spectrum grow light focused on the monstera/peace lily, with the Anubias living off what filters through. Filter would be a small Oase Filtosmart Thermo 100 that I have kicking around so that I wouldn't need a heater in the shallow tank. Would also have a small atomizer to keep the surface and bolbitis humid/covered in mist. 120 cm stand with two set-ups: Setup 1: Loosely SEA inspired "nurse log" scape in a 45 cm cube Scape would center on a "log" type piece of drift wood set diagonally across the cube, with the top sticking out above the water. It would be covered in epiphytes, mostly farmed kedagang and other buces, along with moss. Substrate would be aqua soil with Rotala H'Ra behind the "log" for color contrast and fast growth to soak up nitrates. Carpet of marsilea crenata. Crpyt parva clustered around base of log at substrate level. Fish could either be a Burma-inspired crew of Sabwa resplendens, CPD's, plus cleanup crew of amano shrimp, otos, clithon corona OR similar cleanup crew with a ton of chili rasboras to be more of a Borneo thing to fit with the Buce. Lighting would be 1-2 ONF Flat Nanos that I have around. Filtration would be an Oasé Biomaster 350 Thermo, again to keep heater out. Would have injected CO2. Setup 2: 60 cm UNS paludarium Paludarium back wall would be covered in moss with various types of hyrdroctyle climbing up and down. Sand substrate. Some epiphytes on rocks below in water section. Atomizer to keep all misted. Fish could be either a single pea puffer or a small school of true nano fish (toucano or jellybean tetras are two that I enjoy). No need for CO2 or super powerful light. Filtration would be a very small canister plumbed through the bulkheads in the paludarium. Note: this set-up is the least thought-out, but having seen the new UNS paludariums, I really want to play around with them. Anyway, any thoughts on other alternatives? Ways to improve these planned setups?

Yeah, my aquarium is definitely technically "overstocked" by most rules of thumb/calculators, BUT because the fish complement each other, are mostly non-aggressive, and the tank is HEAVILY planted (providing both plenty of hiding spots/line of sight blocks and natural filtration) it is no issue at all. In fact, even though I fertilize my tank daily, it runs at 0 nitrates/0 nitrites constantly, and I am actually going to have to increase my fertilization (I do use lean/ADA-style ferts in the form of APT 0 for 24 hour aquarist... don't come after me, I use Easy Green for all my other tanks!). That being said, the acaras can get to be several inches, so I do have another tank they can move to when needed. Right now they are model community tank inhabitants, but I'm prepared if that changes. As Cory often says, overstocked doesn't mean anything in a vacuum... it is all about how you set up and maintain your tank. @asondhiJust saw that you have a Walstad tank... so you more than know what I am talking about!

One tank that I've always been interested in would be a Lake Inle or even just Burma-based tank. Inle is a shallow lake with a ton of vegetation, much like most planted aquariums. It also is home to one of my favorite community fish the sawbwa resplendent (often called the "Asian Rummynose") along with danio erythromicron (dwarf emerald rasbora) and close to the home of the Celestial Pearl Danio, which would also be at home in this aquarium. For bottom dwellers, rosy loaches would be perfect. All of these fish have bright, pleasing colors (except the female rosy loaches), fun behavior, and small size so they can be kept in large schools in a 40 breeder. They not only are ok in a planted tank, but love it there. The only caveat is that the CPD's and dwarf rasboras can be very shy, so you might want a dither in addition to the sawbaw resplendens. Either a handful of Lake Inle Danios if you want something larger and more active, or some pencil fish or hatchets if you aren't concerned about regional accuracy and want to stay small.

For your angels, I would take a long look at leopoldi (https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/pterophyllum-leopoldi/) rather than the common scalars or the (imo) too-large-for-a-75 altums. They are more active, in my experience than scalare, have stunning blue iridescence in their trailers and body, and stay significantly smaller than scalare so are a nice scale for a 75 gallon that will have other fish in there. They can be a little hard to come by, but there a few good online retailers that carry them regularly (pm me if you want names). They are the centerpiece of my own (loosely) Amazonian 75g. Mine is more "Amazon-inspired" than biotope, so I have clearwater and clithon corona/siamese algae eaters that are not region-appropriate to help the otos. Otherwise I stocked with 6 leopoldi, a large school of cardinals, and small schools of embers and diamond tetras. I have a pair of apistos and a half dozen cories patrolling the bottom (and a couple blue acaras hanging out until they move to another tank). Pics are just after setup with leopoldi and cardinals and more recently as plants, algae, and other fish have invaded.

I think, as others have hinted at, it is because most aquarium gear holds large quantities of water in the midst of our living spaces. I would happily buy things like sponge filters, surface skimmers, even lights second-hand. But, for an aquarium, an external filter, hoses, lily pipes, or anything that could dump water all of my house, I don't want to take the risk on equipment that may not have been properly maintained, may be nearing the end of its usable life, etc... Whereas, if you look at lots of other hobbies, equipment failure doesn't pose a major risk to a home you may have invested your life savings into.

I'll try to grab a pic when I get home, but I have an Ozelot Red in my 75 gallon South American high tech and it is like most of the red swords in that the top of the leaves getting the most light will turn a deep red-copper while the underside of the leaves will be more of a lighter bronze-yellow. So you will see bits of yellow but mostly the red when it is in your aquarium. I would definitely not consider it a "yellow" plant more than any of these copper/red swords (think also of the more green-yellow leaves/pads that Tiger Lotuses sometimes put out). Edit: Red Ozelots will be totally fine at 80-82.

Just to sow some last minute confusion, one of my all time favorite tanks was a 10(fish) gallon bookshelf aquarium with 6 Honey Gouramis, a few amano shrimp, and a few cories. That might sound a little overstocked to some, but it had a large footprint (9 inches by 3 feet) and I had lots of filtration (Fluval 406). It was one of my favorite all-time tanks to watch. I will always push people to consider a shoal of Honey Gouramis! They are playful and interactive, without being aggressive with each other. There is always something going on, but they swim gracefully so it is still relaxing. Your mileage may vary, but mine had no issues with shrimp or small (clithon corona) snails. They really are anything but filler. I have since moved and had to give the tank and fish away but I am already planning to recreate a version of it, this time inspired by an amazing Oliver Knott 20 gallon cube with Honeys and Cobalt Gobies.

Echinodorus Yellow Sun is the one that comes to mind (unless of course you just want to starve your plants of N and/or Fe, then you can turn them all yellow). Even Yellow Sun is more of a green/yllow with a brown pattern than a vivid yellow. When I get home, I can try and remember to post a pic of the Echinodorus Yellow Sun grown in in my aquarium.

If you are a bit picky (as I am) about not having white sesame seed-looking nerite eggs all over your hardscape and want an algae eater that can get in more books and crannies than most, I suggest my favorite algae eater— the horned nerite snail (clithon corona). They are more popular in Europe and 5 years ago could be a bit tricky to find in North America but now lots of fish stores and online sellers carry them.

My algae-covered, in progress 75 g South American tank. EDIT: So sorry! I didn’t realize that I was weeks late! Congrats to @Mmiller2001 and everyone else who submitted on time lol!

Love this idea! I think once you have figured out all you want to with the nurse log, it would be cool to either add shrimp (as so many have suggested) OR add a couple wabi kusa balls which operate on sort of the same principle but would allow for stem plants and so on. It would effectively create flexible building blocks for aquascapes.

In my opinion, sponge filters and canister filters fulfill different, though overlapping, purposes. For some tanks either will do, for others one or the other is preferable. When you use sponge filters you get excellent biological filtration, a little water circulation (assuming airstone not powerhead), and good aeration. The potential downsides are (for many of us) the appearance in the aquarium, the (relatively) limited mechanical filtration (either you have a fine sponge with decent filtration requiring constant maintenance that may lower its bio capacity or you get a coop-style low maintenance coarser sponge with great longevity/ease of maintenance, but somewhat less mechanical filtration of finer particles), and no built-in capacity for chemical filtration. With a canister, you can get a much cleaner in-tank appearance with lily pipes or something similar, much stronger and more controllable flow, tons of space to customize your filtration (all bio? bio and tons of mechanical? bio, mech, and chem?), the potential for MUCH better mechanical filtration and water clarity (a sponge filter simply can't compete with a canister loaded with sponges and purigen for water clarity). On the downside, canisters are generally a pain to clean, bring the risk of leaks/water on the floor, are expensive to purchase, and more expensive than sponges to run. Both types of filters bring their own type of noise (burbling of water at surface with sponge filters, hum of motor for canisters) that will vary greatly by your exact model of filter and how you set it up. To me, there is no right answer for every tank. There isn't even always a right answer for each hobbyist (I run two big canisters on a 75g high tech display that has in-line co2 + heating, and I require absolutely clear water and as little visible equipment as possible; I also run co-op sponges on my outdoor aquaponics tanks and they are amazing for really anything where you don't mind seeing them in the tank and don't need absolutely clear water). At best, there is a right answer for one hobbyist working on one tank. Now if only I could convince Cory to make a canister... (the only "perfect" canister to me is the ADA Superjet and even that is missing a built-in heater... and has a price tag around $1500 making it impossible to access for most of us).

It will be partial sun. I’m worried that the temps will simply get too high for goldfish…

I wold probably go for 3-4 more pygmy cories, a small school (6-7) of Ember Tetras, and another small group (6 or so) Pygmy Hatchet Fish. The pymgy hatchets can be a little hard to come by but there are places online that pretty consistently carry them. I just now realized that this little setup is basically a combo of what posters above have suggested.

Red Honey Gouramis do exist but thick lipped gouramis are often sold in the trade under this name. Not sure that helps...