Dawn T

I did that, too. Had a crypt jungle that never got root tabs or ferts. It did great until I lost my light once. The tank went a few days with little but the ambient light from the room until my replacement light arrived. Had some serious melted, then it all bounced right back. Stayed that way until I broke the tank down to rescape it early this year. Here's how it looked before rescaping. It had been like this for a couple of years after the light fiasco. No root tabs or ferts of any kind. A single common pleco as the only tank occupant for at least that couple of years (he got to where he killed anything I put in the tank with him, so he remained alone for quite some time). I'm currently having Crypt melt, though, in my little 5g. I changed the light on the tank about a week or so ago, which increased the lighting from low to medium. The Crypt wendtii 'tropica' started melting by the next morning. Now that the 'tropica' has pretty much melted back, the Crypt parva in one section that it was shading is showing melt, too. (We won't even discuss what my Buce in there is doing.) Ack! I knew from past experience, of course, that depriving Crypts of light for a few days would cause that, but increasing it? I read a few articles online about Crypt melt. One of them basically said if you look at it wrong it'll melt. 😆 I'm sure it's not quite THAT bad, but you gotta wonder sometimes.... 😋

Well, the Crypt 'tropica' is in full meltdown. Ugh. Waiting to see if both melt back completely, or if they actually manage to keep a few leaves. The Buce is also losing a lot of leaves. I decided to leave the melting leaves alone for the shrimp and snails to pick at and clean up. I'm monitoring water parameters for any spikes that could result from the sudden decay of such a large amount of plants in such a small tank. This morning's test - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate. GH/KH/pH remain stable. The Anubias 'petite' appears to be doing fine. No changes in it. Same with the Crypt parva. I added a dwarf sagittaria to the back corner. Just plopped the pot in for now. So far, so good. I bought 2 - the other is in my quarantine tank, which is where I keep various overflow plants. When I get a new variety of plant to try, I generally buy 2 and put them in different tanks. On the upside, the Peace lily is doing well, as is the wandering Jew. The ember tetras are still happily exploring and begging for food regularly. 😁 They really seem to like their new location, despite the constant activity around my desk. Shrimp are very active and going about their business. I had to pull the water pump in the filter compartment yesterday morning. I haven't been able to figure out a way to keep it from getting clogged. If it's not tiny bits of debris that get past filter media, it's baby snails. I tried putting it into a media bag, but THAT gets covered and results in the same slow-down. Yesterday, I decided to try coarse sponge. Built an enclosure for the pump and put all of that in a larger media bag. We'll see how that goes. If I can go more than a month without having to pull the pump for a thorough cleaning, I'll consider it a success. Not easy to work with that pump, since the filter compartment is pretty tight. I have learned one thing about water pumps while working with this system. I WAY prefer powerheads like my AquaClear. I don't like these things with the little slits for water intake. Protecting them from snails and debris is a royal pain. SO much easier to work with an intake nozzle that an uplift tube can be connected to, like on the powerhead in my bigger tank. I wonder if I can find a small enough powerhead to replace the water pump that's in this tank....

Got the new light on this tank (Finnex Stingray clip on), and now the Buce has a couple of leaves that are melting. Ugh. I didn't even know Buces would melt. 🤨

I got the new light put on earlier this week - a Finnex Stingray clip-on I bought from AC - to increase the lighting in this tank from the one that came with the tank. The Finnex is noticeably brighter but not by a huge amount, so it shouldn't trigger any algae explosions. Now, my Crypt 'Tropica' is suddenly melting. I know they can melt sometimes without any apparent warning, though that's never happened to me before. I've had new ones melt, sure, but never established ones, except once when my tank light died and the tank went several days without lights before my new light arrived (I keep another light on hand now to prevent that happening again). Can a light increase trigger the same issue? No issues so far with the Crypt parva, but the Bucephalandra has a couple of leaves that appear to be doing a melting routine, too. Do Buce species melt? Yesterday, I finally transferred a small school of ember tetras into the tank from quarantine. They seem happy in there with the shrimp. Active, eating, and still nosy as can be, which is pretty fun to watch since they're on my desk now instead of in the bedroom. Water parameter check this morning - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, nitrate barely registers (not even 10). No changes in GH, KH, or pH from the norm for this tank. I gave the tank a light dose of Easy Green when I did all of my tank maintenance this morning.

That's about what my tap water is (7.6 here). I don't bother with adjusting it. I've found the pH in planted tanks tends to lower a bit over time, especially since I don't do much in the water changes (if nitrates don't go up from week to week, the water gets topped off with none removed). Mine have stabilized around 7.2-7.4, depending on the tank. Definitely nothing to worry about, unless you're dealing with fish or shrimp that NEED neutral or more acidic water. Since folks I know in my area have successfully kept the same species you have (as well as the ones I've kept), 7.5 shouldn't be a problem. That sudden spike upward wasn't cool, though. A sudden change like that can cause issues in the short term, but it should stabilize.

Hm... NEED - Nothing really. If I need it, I'm in a position pretty much to buy it, so I get what I need as I need it. Oh, wait... I keep forgetting to order more Community Crave. I better order that before I run out! WANT - more plants! I keep running across more species I want to try. Same with fish. Which leads to... WISH - more room for more tanks! I'd LOVE to get a bigger tank again (min. 55g), because there are species of fish I'd love to try that I've never had plus a few I've had before I'd like to get again. Also, I'd LOVE to get a tank at least 100g, so I can have an oscar again.

I kept a piece of 1/2" PVC (what I had on hand at the time) next to the tank. I'd lean it against the inside edge when I worked in the tank. All I had to was wave it in front of him and he'd back off, but that was the only way I could keep him from biting at me. I can only assume he was being territorial and protecting his mate. They were a pair, though they never produced any offspring. The female was easy to manage, but he was sure a pistol. His name was Wrangler. Maybe I should've given him a different name. LOL

Years ago, I had an oscar who was determined to take a chunk out of me. The other oscar in the tank wasn't like that AT ALL, but him? Hubby used to laugh at me, as I'd mentally prepare for battle when opening the tank to do maintenance, water changes, and such.

I've only had a 10g on our kitchen counter, but I think it could handle one a bit bigger. I made sure it was setup directly over the vertical bracing underneath, though. I'd probably reinforce the braces under the counter for one much larger though.

That's why I didn't bother buying a TDS meter and learned, instead, which "stuff" you want in the water for shrimp and which you don't. What Cory said in that video made total sense to me, once he explained what a TDS meter actually does. It's like being told there are chemicals in your tap water without being told what those chemicals are. So not helpful. LOL Cory's vid.

Your bloodfins are truly gorgeous! It's one of the species I've seen in pet stores off and on over the years but never taken much interest in. They looked so bland, and they look that way in most of the photographs I've seen in books. But seeing them in full color in your tank is making me rethink them. Nothing bland about them! I'm finding the same thing watching aquarium videos on YouTube. Some fish are far more colorful than books and even photos on many websites make them appear. Great, just what I need. More species on my "I WANT" list. 😆

@Bev C Totally hear you. Some things, I have no problem growing. Crypts. Pogostemon. Hygrophila. Anubias. Bacopa. No issues. Others....? Java Ferns does so-so, nothing to write home about, no matter what tank it's in or what the lighting or ferts routine. Water sprite? Total flop. Died a slow death. Ludwigia? No go. Died a rapid death. Now the Java Moss that's barely holding on. Pearl Weed? A WEED! Supposed to grow so fast even in medium light conditions as to be almost unmanageable. Grows so slowly for me as to look like it's not growing at all. On the upside, it's not threatening to take over my tanks as others have reported online. It's beautiful and green and looks healthy, but growth is REALLY slow. As long as it's healthy, I've decided I can live with that. Not that I have much choice but to accept it. 😁 Oh, and let's not forget the poor sprigs of Ammania that are languishing in one of my tanks and have died in the other. I'm sure it would do better if I removed the Pogostemon that's keeping it too shaded and has to be hacked back every couple of weeks. So at least I know what that ones issue probably is. LOL

@Brandon p I bought one of the other timers suggested above, which allows for 15-minute increments around the clock, and it's working perfectly. I've got it set to turn on for 15 minutes, off for 30 minutes, and repeat throughout the whole 24 hour period. No hiccups or issues. I wish the Kasa allowed for slow brightening and dimming of lights like my current timers. It'd be perfect then, and I'd get them for all my lights. At least, everything I've seen on the product so far says it can't do that. If anyone knows different, I'd love to know about it. Then I wouldn't have to resist time on timers like I do when we have power outages. My current timers hold the programmed schedules with no issue when power goes out, but they reset to midnight for the current time. That means I have to reset the time on them any time there's a power hiccup or outage.

It was sold to me as "Bucephalandra Green Wavy". (I checked my invoice for that order.) The photos I've seen of that variety show no yellow markings, so that's what made me immediately lean toward some sort of deficiency. The way its yellowing is weird, though. I haven't seen that with any of my other plants in any tanks, when I HAVE run into nutrient deficiencies. It DOES remind me of photos I've seen of the "Bucephalandra Wavy Dark Green", which appears to be variegated rather than solid dark green. That has me wondering if I got that one instead of the other. The source I got mine from sells both, as well as a bunch of other varieties of Buce. If I ordered one and received the other, the fact their names are so close to each other wouldn't raise any red flag for me. It's a new genus for me. If this is a light issue, it'll be corrected soon enough, since I've got a new light in transit right now for that little tank. Ordered a small Finnex from AC to replace the one that came with the tank. I only rarely give this tank ferts, because the nitrates stay right around 10-25, and I don't want to hurt my shrimp in that tank. When I do dose, it's with Easy Green, and then only if nitrates drop to 0.

I hear you. I keep thinking, prune back and it gets thicker? Not in my case, for sure. Prune back and it just gets shorter. LOL

Not sure what that "strand" is you're talking about. I've never seen that with my snails. They leave little gel-like clusters on leaves, decorations, and the aquarium glass. That's the eggs. Snails typically only breed out of control when a tank is overfed. If you're feeding just enough for the fish in the tank, the snail population won't explode on you. If you're overfeeding, then you can have an explosion. Until I just added a bunch from a friend's overfed tank to my tank that contains assassin snails, my tanks were balanced. No snail explosions, though the snails have been there the whole time I've had my setups. They're just part of the occupants of my tanks. The only time they've suddenly proliferated, I was overfeeding. Stopped overfeeding and removed excess snails using a snail trap, and things returned to normal.

Maybe this will help: https://fishtankadvisor.com/freshwater-aquarium-snails/

Hard to see details, but that actually looks like a bladder/pond snail to me. They tend to come in on plants.

That's very good to know. For what I want to do, I definitely need the freedom to set 48 time points - 24 on, 24 off, alternating. Just checked that link. Looks like that works much like the one I have, only with 15 minute increments instead of 30. That'd be perfect for the usage I have in mind. That constant on-off definitely puts a twist on timer usage. LOL

That's a new one on me! I've seen them hang upside down, but never lying on their back like that. Really bizarre. Hopefully it's just the fish being a goof and not a sign of something bad going on.

Depending on the main species in a tank, you can get various snails and/or shrimp as a cleaning crew. It doesn't have to be fish like plecos or cories. Some species, you pretty much avoid anything but disposable "pest" snails. They'll eat anything. Hm... I guess that last statement applies equally to "some species" AND the snails. LOL You could even go with a schooling fish that doesn't always play well with other species. Tiger barbs have that kind of reputation, though I've usually kept them in community tanks without issue. You can have a nice sized school of fish about that size in a 29g tank. Get a small variety of pleco as the cleaning crew and you're set, given they basically sport body armor.

LOL I did the same thing. I didn't realize just how small a gallon of milk was either.

Talk about a big question. LOL There are so many options with a 29g tank, it'd be hard to make suggestions. What other types of fish do you like besides the platies and tetras? Anything caught your eye that maybe needs a species tank and would work in a 29g?

Well, a gallon of water weighs right at about 8.3 pounds, give or take depending on the container and how full it is. Sand and gravel, depends on the exact type, as some are more dense than others. The bags usually state the weight of the amount they contain. Doing calculations, yes, a cubic foot container would contain about 60 pounds. 1 ft x 1 ft x 1 ft - contains 7.47 gallons of water. 7.47 gallons x 8.3 pounds = 62 pounds. BTW, here's a good basic tool for figuring out the volume of water in a tank with known dimensions. http://landoffish.com/fish-tank-calculator/

Eesh. Yeah, you wouldn't want to open the door to give them the authority to take her phone, since it would be connected to this timer. The basic timer I currently have on my pump might work for your wife. It turns off during a power outage, but as soon as power comes back on, it goes right back to work. It won't be operating at the correct time until adjusted when your wife returns to her classroom, but at least it'd run and operate lights or whatever for the right amount of time. I bought it cheap at Walmart. I originally set it up for ON at 8:00, OFF at 8:30, ON at 9:30, OFF at 10:00, etc. Due to brief outage a couple of weeks ago, it's now coming on at about 8:15 instead of 8:00, so all the times are off by 15 minutes, but it's still on for 30 minutes, off for an hour, as set. I just haven't bothered to readjust the dial to the right times, since that doesn't matter so much for the purpose I'm using it for. Nothing digital to reset. BTW, readjusting it is super simple, since you just dial to the right time. I have the same kind of timer on a couple of tank lights. I just don't bother with them unless electricity has been off for more than about 30 minutes, then I dial to the correct time whenever I think about it. I'm not all that worried if lights come on from 8:35-4:35 instead of 8:00-4:00. LOL