Tanked

You might investigate whole treatment with hydrogen peroxide.

I don't clean the back of the tank. The outside is black and the algae on the inside is barely noticeable. Dependant on your choice of lids and lights, you can put a HOB filter on the side of the aquarium.

At feeding time my first common pleco would swim, inverted on the surface, It had no problem with belly rubs.

There is a fish fence(ceiling light grate) in the both tanks. The barbs will also eat any plant they can reach. They actively patrol along the fence hoping to snag a leaf. For now, The stock light is growing a tiny anubia and a small sword. The Wisteria grows there as well, but they dragged the whole plant through the grate again. Hornwort suffered the same fate. I'm looking into getting some lava rock boulders to add to one or both tanks. @Guppysnail@NOLANANO There hasn't been any changes. This is a long running problem and my brain scrambles every time I think about it. One possibility is to return to an early version of the 65 and put all of the plastic plants back in. The small fish seemed to enjoy chilling out behind the fish with the live plants. Another possibility is to throw the SDs in with the barbs, add some hiding places, and hope they adjust. On the bright side, the SDs are not as aggressive about hunting down plants that grow to close to the fence. The Hornwort seems to be safe, and that long running Duckweed experiment might finally be showing results. There is another option: move the Nano fish and plants from the planted 29 and put the SDs there.

Your tanks seem to be exceptionally clean. One answer would be: if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it; your aquarium looks great. The other answer would be: Skip the gravel vac. for a week or two and see what changes. Most of my fish seem to enjoy maintenance day. Some get in the way, some strike at the snail shells and other detritus in the tube, and some just keep their distance. There is always a reward afterword, so much like cats, they just tolerate the intrusion.

I'm guessing that either it wasn't a total blackout, or "about 4 days" wasn't long enough. It is a nice shade of green😉

That is definitely a consideration.

Increasing the speed will (should) increase the current along the bottom of the tank and help to eliminate the dead spot. The two rocks on the left might be also be blocking the flow and causing the dead spot. Unless you have your heart set on buying a cannister, I would try making adjustments to the equipment you have.

It appears that you have extended the intake as low as you can get it and added a sponge filter. Raising the intake will change the flow and might eliminate the dead spot. You could also realign and speed up the wavemaker to change the flow across the tank..

Like children, it doesn't hurt to spoil them a little bit. I've always read/been told that Bettas can be fragile, so you probably did not do anything wrong. As your aquarium matures, and your plants continue to grow, watch your parameters and enjoy the journey.👍

I'll repeat what @Lennie said "I would not worry about the GH reading myself. Keep the parameters you have stable." Your GH is not outrageous. My GH is always much higher. If the GH is too low Snelly will suffer. Again, I know nothing about bottled aquarium water, and probably will never use it. The purpose in suggesting RO water was solely to cut the GH levels, and you can still add some. RO water contains nothing but water, so If you use nothing but RO water, you would have to add everything that is missing. You could test your tap water. If you are using city water, and buying your fish locally, they may already being adapted to that water. Just be sure to use a conditioner/dechlorinator. If there is a reason for not using tap water, than bottled water for humans is an option. It is more important to maintain stable parameters, and not chase numbers. I think 20-25% weekly water changes are adequate. Because of the 50-30-30% water changes and cleaning the filter, you should keep an eye on the NitrAte and NitrIte levels. NitrAtes of 20-50 ppm are considered safe. Nitrites should be 0 ppm.

I have a 65 and a 75 gallon tank. The 65 was my large community, but is down to: 2 Silver Dollars, 2 SAEs and a marbled Angel. The 75 is my single species tank with 4 TFBs. They are the smaller variety and won’t exceed 8”. If I can find them I will add two more. The goal: a large planted community tank. Problem #1: Both tanks are devoid of plants except for whatever survives behind a protective fence. The TFBs have somehow managed to uproot and drag whole stem and floating plants through the grate. The Silver Dollars will also eat any plant or algae in the tank, but they don't seem to have a problem with the other fish. Problem #2: Due to its height, the 75 would be the better choice for plants, but I really like the empty look, with the schooling TFBs. Problem #3: The TFBs are normally very peaceful. The smallest fish is a bit of a problem child, and I don’t know if it is just an occasional bully or exhibiting mating behavior. It is interesting to watch them swim side by side a fins length apart. Problem #4: In the past I have seen one of the TFBs swimming with a small Bala shark protruding from its mouth. The small shark might have already been carrion. For that reason, I’m not positive that the barbs will leave the SAEs or the Angelfish alone, but the SAEs can easily swim pass the fence for now. Problem #5: This is the real problem. These are supposed to be peaceful community fish. I previously tried to move the SDs into the barb tank, and it did not go well. There are no hiding places in the barb tank. The SDs were attacked, and had to be removed within the hour. All of the fish are mature. So I am wondering if I should risk returning the SDs to the 75 and hope that they adjust to each other, or should I move the TFBs to the 65 and let the TFBs adjust to their new environment?

I wish I had your problem.🙂 It looks like most of he plants tend to be in the front. You aren't a fan of floating plants, so you need to eliminate those long naked stems. You could trim the remaining taller plants, or better yet move them to the back of the tank and move some of the hardscape forward. Mounding up extra substrate to add elevation might also be worth considering, and it may help showcase some of your shorter broadleaved plants. A small plant free zone somewhere in the foreground might be worth considering.. Whichever route you take, the tallest plants will benefit from a regular trim.

Before the Coop light became available, as an experiment, I used three separate lights that would shut off 3-5 minutes apart in sequence. As darkness moved across the aquarium, the fish always moved into the light.

I agree. After I lined up my accumulated API and other test vials, I found that there seems to be some disagreement as to where 5ml. is. Over the years, the fill line has moved on some of the vials. I used two different pipettes to measure 5ml. of water to be tested. If the pipette is accurate, than the line on the API vial is much to low. If the line on the API vial is accurate, than you must be sure that the bottom of the U shaped meniscus is on top of the line. I don't have any sensitive animals so, considering all of the other "ifs" I prefer the test strips and completing all of my testing in under ten minutes.

The API kits have a higher degree of precision, that most of us don't actually need. My problem with the API kits is that the slightest variation in testing procedure throws the results. A slightly larger or smaller droplet of reagent, or an extra drop of water in the test vial changes everything. I test once a week, using the strips. " looks the same as it always has " is generally the results I get. I can distinguish between subtle changes in color, but ultimately, I only know that they are lower than one number and higher than that other number, so I have to pick a random number. Other than nitrates, there is no noteworthy differences in the readings. Years of data indicate that my parameters are boringly stable. I must be doing something wrong, so yeah, I feel the stress.

When the lights are off, your already stressed fish can see shadows, movements and reflections that you don't notice; both in the aquarium and in the room where you are standing. When you turn the aquarium lights on, their world shrinks to the bright area that is mostly inside the aquarium. Compare this to how you would feel standing on a totally dark street, or standing under the street lamp with friends. As soon a you can afford it, add at least 2 or 3 more neons, and some other small fish. They are often referred to as "dither" fish. Their job is to swim at mid and upper levels and make the shy fish feel safer. Zebra Danios would be a good choice. They are hardy and cheap.

I'll second the window theory. The olive oil photo appears to show a window across the room from the aquarium. The algae doesn't require direct sun, just bright natural light. I have the same issue in one small corner of one of my tanks. That corner gets a few minutes of bright indirect light each morning.

The blue light is very good for growing algae.

The others have this covered. Your fish measure safety by how many other fish are swimming around and how many hiding places are available. When you approach during the daylight, they see you as a predator. Another possibility: if they "are swimming along the glass as fast as they can" closest to you, than they may be expecting to be fed. They might not be hungry, but if you feed them they will come. All of the behavior you mentioned is normal.

Sorry to hear about Sushi. there is very little chance that it was your fault; fish do that. My first thought is that you have crashed your cycle when you changed and cleaned everything. When you get your test strips, post your parameters here, along with a current photo. TTBOMK, Catappa leaves do not lower GH significantly . Additional leaves can add nitrates (fertilizer) to the water as they break down. Plant tabs usually last a month or more. Are you adding a plant fertilizer in addition to root tabs? Combining with 10 hours of light would help explain the algae issue. The Frogbit was trying to use all of that extra food. Start doing the water changes. I know nothing about bottled aquarium water, so I can't even guess why the GH "skyrocketed" When you get your test strips, I would also test the bottled Aquarium water that you are using straight from the bottle. If you want to cut the GH you could buy bottled RO filtered water from the grocery. I use Aquafina.

I guess it depends on how much activity you are looking for. I hear that Ember Tetras are lazy fish that just hang out. Mine are fairly active, but what about one of the larger shrimp varieties or dwarf frogs?

Looking a little more like eagles.

Many people use DIY lights. My 10 gallon is growing Anubia, PSO, Wisteria and some swords under an LED flashlight, running 16 hours a day. PAR is one reason that it is far from ideal, but it works. Short term, you can use a daylight LED lightbulb on the side of the tank, until you get your new one. I've done it. The downside is that there may not be enough PAR on the opposite side of the tank, and you risk sun burning (bleaching) the plants closest to the glass, so be careful!

I allowed Cyano to grow in my project tank for a few weeks. It tended to trap gases from the substrate and dying algae, and grew as a solid continuous carpet that also extended down into the substrate. If you disturbed it it would come up in chunks. I don't see that in your pictures.