Schwack

I used to wear sunglasses when dealing with grow lights for this very reason. Those purple grow lights are rough on the eyes. I think he mentioned in another thread that there are no fish in the tank to be worried about. I'm a little curious to see how well grow lights work in an aquarium. Since they aren't intended to balance plant growth + fish health + viewer enjoyment it seems like they should grow plants like crazy, but algae seems inevitable with so many nutrients and so much light. I'd also be closely monitoring water temps with them, the ones I had experience with definitely put out some heat. Curious to see how the plants recover!

Is that glass piece actually part of the rim? I sort of assumed, based on the pictures, that it sat below the rim. If the rim is broken, that's a very different story than just bowing.

I noticed a bit growing on some dwarf sag in one tank and have managed to control it with reduced lighting. Dropping my photoperiod down to ~7 hours a day has stalled its growth for several months. Since nothing eats it, I can still see tiny bits of it, but I've grown to like the more natural look vs the squeaky-clean and more heavily curated tanks.

Tank designs account for bowing. The larger the volume, the more flex you're likely to notice. A bit of Googling will show lots of people with the same question you have, and lots of answers just like mine. My 40B flexes quite a bit in the center, but it's a large volume without any center bracing. Both 20s and 29s show a bit of flex in the center as well. I'm not sure I'd keep trying to press it back, as the pressure you're putting on the glass is uneven compared to the pressure exerted by the water.

I'd guess the fin tears are totally unrelated to hard water. Probably just caught on some decor in the tank. I've seen people add a small amount of salt (1tsp:gallon, if I recall correctly) to help speed healing and act as a mild anti-biotic. You're probably fine just monitoring her injuries and treating if you see anything specific. There are a wide variety of anubias to add if you like their look. I think petco typically carries a. barteri in their tubed plant section. I've had some fantastic success with their tubed plants. The sword I purchased on clearance from them has gotten absolutely massive in only a few weeks, so don't shy away from them if they're your easiest option. Crypts are also relatively easy to keep, even without root tabs. They'll grow slowly, but they will grow and consume minerals from your water in the process.

I'm still a bit confused by your concern at the readings you're getting. Your fish is currently healthy and behaving normally, yeah? If I were in your shoes I'd keep going with the water you've got readily available. Your water parameters might prevent you from keeping extra-sensitive fish but it doesn't sound like you've got any plans for that at the moment. Keep things simple, add lots of plants to consume the high mineral content in your water and maybe seek local, tank-bred fish, rather than wild caught specimens.

Either way oughta do it. So long as you aren't rinsing them in chlorinated water, I can't imagine you'll run into a problem. I typically rinse mine in old tank water so I don't end up making a bucket of dechlorinated water just to get it dirty.

Scrolled back a few months to make sure I'm not doubling up on a post, but as a fan of Allie Brosch AND as someone who has experienced this moment, I felt like I had to contribute this. Found on a local aquarist Facebook page.

The best way I can describe the smell of a healthy tank is like a damp forest, but not nearly as intense. Damp with an undertone of vegetation. To me, they all smell pleasant when things are running as they should. I managed to foul a tank's water early on by putting in a piece of broccoli for some shrimp and the difference in smell was immediately noticable. I'm fairly certain the slime is some kind of bacterial bloom which, in my experience, is harmless to your fish. It should clear up on its own within a week or two.

Looks like a normal bacterial bloom I've seen in just about every new tank I've started. It should settle out on its own. However, what do you mean by "smells funny"? Your tanks shouldn't smell like much if things are running normally. Odd smells shouldn't be ignored.

Getting rid of them is quite a process. You can try trapping them with snail traps/pieces of veggie at the bottom, pluck them out as you see them, etc. It's a lot easier to reduce their food supply and let their numbers naturally regulate. They typically boom in population and then die off to reach an equilibrium with their food supply. They do a fantastic job keeping the tank clean, once their numbers are under control, so many people choose to keep them on purpose.

I only blanche veggies that don't sink on their own. Broccoli stems are really popular among my snails but need to be cooked in order to sink before they start to smell.

I wouldn't bother adjusting your pH for the fish you're planning to keep. Bettas are extremely adaptable and can do very well in 8.0 pH water. It's what all mine are kept in, and I've seen at least one breeder keep them in the same parameter water. I've also successfully kept corys in that pH. Stability is more important than chasing a number and having to mess with RO water for every change turns an easy job into something you need to plan for.

My water is fairly hard and keeping neos has been a bit of an experience. When I introduce new shrimp, regardless of acclimation, I seem to lose 20-30% over the first two weeks to mystery ailments. The remaining shrimp all seem healthy and are breeding like rabbits. The shrimp bred in my tanks are bulletproof though. I'd second starting with some culls. People typically don't ask much for them, so you can buy a large colony to start with and absorb some losses. Last time I purchased shrimp I ended up buying close to 25 lost seven or eight over a few weeks and now many of them are berried with the first generation to live entirely in my water. I typically only feed them once a week, the rest of the time they get to scavenge fish food and plant detritus. I will occasionally put in a banquet block so they can get some minerals which may not be present in my water.

https://fishlab.com/fish-in-cycle/ That's a pretty good resource for a fish-in cycle. From my understanding of your situation, I'd want to get your fish into the larger volume containers as soon as possible. Clean up the gravel, if it's been without fish/fish waste for a week or so, and get everything rolling in your new 5 gallons. The added water volume gives you a lot more room to maneuver in terms of increasing ammonia/nitrite.

Have the fish been in with the gravel/decorations/etc? If the fish have been living, and pooping, with that stuff, it's almost certainly got live bacteria on it. If it's been in water with no fish for more than a week or so, I'd give it a bit of a rinse and put it in the new tank when you add the fish. Some people swear by bottled bacteria, but my experience with multiple brands has not been positive. If you've already bought it, I'd definitely add it, but don't expect the tank to be cycled in a day. It's likely going to be a few weeks before you can dial the water changes back to once every few weeks or so.

If I had to guess, you've got some filter carts with a bunch of dead bacteria on 'em. Are the fish currently in smaller containers without filtration or an established cycle? If that's the case, I'd get them into the 5 gallon tanks ASAP. An uncycled 5 gallon at least gives some water volume for you to work with while cycling. I would discard the old filters and carts and just use sponges. Give the filter media a decent rinse as well, introducing lots of dead bacteria into your new tanks is a good way to get an immediate ammonia spike. You're basically starting from scratch with a fish-in cycle, but bettas are tough and will typically come through without issue. Keep your eyes on ammonia/nitrite levels and water change as neeeded. Something like 30%-50% when you see ammonia hit .5 ppm or nitrites at .25 ppm. You can probably go higher on those numbers, but 5 gallons are easy to water change.

Have the old filters been running water with fish waste in it or have they been out of use for more than a week or so?

Are they currently in cycled tanks or temporary containers? If they're in cycled tanks, but those tanks are too small to fit a sponge, then I would just make sure to swap the current, cycled filters into their new tanks for a few weeks. Running them alongside one another for a while gives your sponge a chance to grow some gunk to carry the load.

Honestly, you dont need eco complete to grow plants. It's totally inert. Some of my best growth comes from plain ol' aquarium gravel. Eco complete is kind of spendy, but if you like the look of it over other gravel, go for it. If you're dead-set on changing the substrate, I'd keep your fish in their current homes for now. Dealing with substrate and livestock at the same time always ends up being a bit of a mess for me, especially if you don't get the eco complete nice and clean. The one tank I run it in dusted up pretty badly after I got lazy cleaning, but since it was otherwise empty it didn't really cause any issues. So, here's how I'd handle your swap: Put sponge filters in current tanks alongside your cart filters. Let them run together until your new tanks are ready. Once you've gotten your hands on the substrate you want, fill the new tanks and move everything over you want to keep. Plants, decor, etc. This is when you'd move both the cart filters and the sponge filters. If you're swapping substrate, it may be a good idea to bring over some handfuls of old substrate at this point. I'd suggest a bag, or just a tupperware container, to keep things separated. This is also where I'd add the bottled bacteria if you're going to use it. Move your fish. If you're moving over bunches of items from already cycled tanks, you should be good to go immediately. Feed lightly for a few days just to make sure. Maybe skip every other feeding for a week. You will likely need to do water changes. However, with a single fish in 5 gallons of water, you'll almost certainly be able to space them out a bit. My bettas in 10 gallons get a water change every so often, and it's probably more than they need. Mostly it's to clean up snail poop. My bettas seem to enjoy plants they can swim through. Elodea is great, propagates like crazy and can create a neat "kelp forest" effect that one of my bettas spends a lot of time swimming through. Hornwort is similar, but more difficult to keep planted. Crypts work great all over the aquarium, but until they get nice and big your fish is unlikely to interact with them. They can provide nice places for shrimp to hide, however. Java ferns are another nice option with a lot of variety. Really, any plants you like the look of will work for a betta, just make sure you have the lighting and ferts they need.

Petco carries a few types of mesh bags for aquariums. I think they run 3-5 dollars a piece. They come in handy from time to time.

If it were me, I'd get the new substrate in first. Adding substrate to a tank with fish doesn't sound all that thrilling, especially in such a small area. I'd get the new tanks setup with substrate etc. Maybe swish your filter carts in them once or twice to get some gunk going. While you wait to move fish, you can run the sponges in your currently cycled tanks, alongside your cart filters, to help them get rolling. Once you're all ready to move the fish, swap em over and bring the sponge and your cartridge filter with them. Run them both in tandem for a few weeks and things should be good to go. You could also get a mesh bag from a big box PetX store to bring your old substrate over. If you get the fine mesh you can just load em with your old substrate, drop the bags in your new tanks and wait a few weeks before removing them. Make sure you bring any plants, floaters too, from your old tanks. I've had good luck cycling tanks with nothing but plants from established tanks. Good luck!

I'm a big fan of 20 longs and 40 breeders. They're both really versatile. If you're into smaller fish, however, the 10 gallons really can't be beat. I was gifted a tank from the 70s that I believe is ~38 gallons. It's the same length as a 40 breeder but taller and skinnier (36x19x12.75). Seems like it could be a cool tank, aside from the woodgrain plastic, but I'm just too paranoid to trust 50 year old silicone.

Do you have the needle valve open so the CO2 remaining in the regulator has somewhere to go? Your working pressure gauge should drop to 0 once it runs through the gas left in the regulator.

This seems like the sort of thing an entrepreneur with a 3D printer could whip up. A 3d printed hinge would let you custom size the opening too. All you'd need to supply is the glass/plexi and maybe a bit of glue to make sure things stay together nice and tight.