Jennifer V

You can trim some of the moss. How long are your lights on?

What do you do if it's just on the glass? Do you treat the whole tank in the water column?

Oh my! Ok well, @eatyourpeasmight have some insight. They are actually trying to grow BBA.

Interesting. I thought BBA only turns white when it dies? @Animalcrossing can you get a clear close-up photo of any of them? I'm so curious!

Love the music just as much as the fish!

Do they coil back when you touch them? It's hard to tell but at first glance they don't look like hydra. Hydra have a kind of tube-like stalk with tentacles on the end.

So true! I had some die off when I first put in in my tank but all it took was a couple tiny leaves and now it's everywhere. Hooray for Nerm glitter! ✨

This is so exciting! You're such a gem for doing this for your friend.

@Cinnebuns love threads like these so thank you for posting! Excited to see what everyone says. I've received quite a bit of useful advice from the lovely members here that has saved my sanity and helped me enjoy my tanks so much more. Things like be patient, sit back and watch, don't take on too much at once, plant as many plants as you possibly can and start with less fish. The thread below is one I posted a little over a year ago that I go back to frequently. Hope it's ok to share. I don't want to hijack your thread in any way. I just think you might enjoy it as well.

Welcome! Love to see pics of your fish too!

@Blaha @Streetwise what's the magic number as far as substrate depth? I know sand is about one inch but what about soil/gravel?

I do the same thing. I only have two tanks, but I think it's a safe practice.

@Zenzo thank you so much for the reminder! @Torrey same! I have a love/hate relationship with social media so I love the forum search option and the blog posts.

I just watched quite a few videos from ACO and @Irene about cycling a tank using live plants. I can't find the specific one I watched from Cory but here is Irene's. Basically, you know the tank is cycled when the plants are growing and you have algae present. It's better to watch the tank rather than water parameters because you may not see ammonia because the plants are consuming it. You can add liquid fertilizer and root tabs now. Just keep in mind that it'll add nitrates to your tank. A tip with root tabs is to stick a pin in the root tab to release the air and then add it. That'll keep it from floating up out of the substrate. I think the testing becomes imperative once you add your Betta to make sure you don't have any ammonia or nitrite and your nitrates stay down under 40 ppm. As far as pH, I'm not familiar with what Bettas need, but I think as long as it's stable, it's not a problem. I had great results cycling both my tanks with plants only and no added ammonia. I packed as many plants as I could in both tanks. You have plenty of room in your 10g to add more plants like anubias or Java fern you can attach to your driftwood and rocks so something to think about. The more plants, the more ability the tank has to absorb anything harmful to the fish, like ammonia. Once the algae was present in my tanks, I added snails to help with that before I added the fish. I waited another month before I added my fish and all has been well. In total, it took about 8 weeks. I may have been a tad conservative but better to be patient and safe than adding too quickly.

Yes! I knew the genius sake cup trick was out there in Nermlandia somewhere but I forgot where. Thank you! @JoeQ oh I know you love algae and I feel the same way. I wish I could figure out how to grow the pretty fluffy green that popped up in one of my tanks. The other tank, sadly, has the long stringy stuff that I just trim back.

Cool! So do you just make kind of a semi circle and add the sand on top? Are there any sharp edges? I didn't know that! I tend to research ad nauseam at times, which usually just lands me in total confusion. Ha!

@Guppysnail you're the first person I thought of! @JoeQ but we love algae! 😆

I know I've seen some lovely people on here use pots and other nifty items in their tanks to plant and do things like hide crushed coral but I forgot to save the info and my thyroid brain doesn't retain info very well. I'm wondering if that's a better option in a cory tank because they love to root around in the substrate. What kinds of planters and common items are safe that you use in addition to the ACO planters? What do you plant in them? I know ACO recommends the following for their planters: Anubias Ferns Cryptocoryne plants Grass-like plants (like dwarf sagittaria and vallisneria) Bulb plants Pics would be great also! Thank you so much! I appreciate you Nerms!

Hi All! For my next tank (20 gallon long), I'd love to have a sand beach for my cories surrounded by another substrate. Thinking eco complete and maybe some gravel. What kinds of dividers have you used to keep the sand separate from the other substrate as best you can? Pictures of your setups would help too!

ORD looks beautiful! 😊

ORD 😊 Same! Mine is a long way off too but sometimes the planning is just as fun.

I'm right there with you as far as planning my next tank, which will also be a 20 long. I'm planning for panda cories, maybe pygmy cories, shrimp and snails, so I'm excited to see how your journey goes. I'll probably learn a lot about what I should and shouldn't do. Thank you for starting this!

You should! And then report back. 😊

I was about to say the exact same thing! 😆 @Guppysnail your cord management may not be perfect but your testing setup is so great!

One of my favorite times is actually hiding and watching my tank from afar, as odd as that sounds. I have pea puffers who are like water dogs so if I get anywhere even remotely close to the tank, they start saying hello and begging for food. Skulking around is the only way I can see them shoal and act natural. Ha! But I do love when they greet me and follow my fingers as well. Little cuties.