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Jennifer V

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Everything posted by Jennifer V

  1. Jennifer V
    I think your WC schedule depends on your parameters and what's best for your fish rather than for your plants, although plants do need nitrates around at least 20 ppm. What are your water parameters?
  2. Jennifer V
    If you buy your plants from ACO they also sell glue. You can get everything you need in one package!
  3. Jennifer V
    Well that's troubling! I guess I'll have to keep an eye on my little ecosystem.
  4. Jennifer V
    I'm not sure about shrimp and scud coexistence other than competition for food. My guess is if you have algae, you don't have a large scud population so competition might not be an issue. I have had pea puffers for almost two years and have learned that successfully keeping shrimp with peas almost entirely depends on Magoo's personality. It could work. I recently accidentally added a neo to my pea tank and they could care less about him. From what I understand, that's not the norm, especially in smaller tanks. You might need a backup plan in case you need to remove the Amano shrimp or be ok with the shrimp potentially getting eaten.
  5. Jennifer V
    Java ferns are water column feeders so you don't need root tabs for them. I would just continue to monitor the windelov and try to be patient with it. It might just be going through an ugly stage even though the other regular Java fern isn't. Plants are tricky. They kind of have their own minds just like the fish do.
  6. Jennifer V
    Yes! She's doing really well all of the sudden.
  7. Jennifer V
    My most recent mini adventure is I found a neo in my pea puffer tank alive and well. I have no idea how he got there, but to my amazement, the peas left him alone so I added more and everyone is coexisting in complete harmony. Totally baffled by the whole thing, but very much enjoying it.
  8. Jennifer V
    Happy Thanksgiving! I wouldn't enjoy my pea puffer sanctuary nearly as much as I do without all of you lovely Nerms.
  9. Jennifer V
    The first Java fern I bought went through a really ugly stage to the point where I thought I'd have to yank it out but it eventually came back and is doing really well now. One thing to note that I did learn is Java ferns are huge potassium hogs so you may want to eventually invest in something like Easy Green or Seachem potassium. 🌱
  10. Jennifer V
    You might find this article helpful: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/easy-aquarium-plants As @TOtreesmentioned, you'll have to do some trial and error. Try not to get frustrated. I've tried a bunch of "easy" plants and failed miserably but I've also had a lot of luck with a few. Mostly epiphytes like anubias, bucephalandra and java fern as well as some susswassertang and Christmas moss.
  11. Jennifer V
    Agreed! I love how much you appreciate algae!
  12. Jennifer V
    What are your nitrates in the tank? They ideally need to be at least 20 ppm for plant growth. Also, I may be wrong, but I think leaf curling can also be a sign of potassium deficiency.
  13. Jennifer V
    Looking great so far! Love the choice of hardscape and its placement. I'm a huge fan of having a few really incredible pieces and letting the plants do the rest. Excited to see it all come together. Well done!
  14. Jennifer V
    I'm in the camp that thinks green algae is pretty. It may be a camp of one. Ha! We see all of these photos of pristine tanks because we love Google but tanks don't always look like that in real life. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to have a perfect tank. I'm going through this myself after being away from my tanks for five weeks. When I returned, I looked at the algae, dead or dying plants and cloudy water and nearly had a meltdown. But one foot in front of the other right? Are the inhabitants healthy? I'm sure they are which means the problem is aesthetic and totally fixable. And adding some Amano shrimp could be really fun and breathe life into the situation as you see them clear the algae. Don't try to be a superhuman. You're already a human who's super. 😊
  15. Jennifer V
    This is purely anecdotal, but I have a couple swords in one of my tanks and have forgotten to put root tabs in for several months. They're growing beautifully and I don't seem to have any issues, but I have gravel-topped Eco Complete in my tank.
  16. Jennifer V
    Thank you so much for all of your help!
  17. Jennifer V
    I'm thinking of adding some to my other tank because I have so many now. What's the best way to catch and transfer them?
  18. Jennifer V
    What a fun read! I'm new to shrimp myself. I've only had mine for six months but I adore them. Congrats! You have an amazing setup!
  19. Jennifer V
    Ok perfect! I'll go get some fresh baking soda and add a pinch at a time. After a few days with the crushed coral, the ph and kh haven't really risen at all even though I added more this time than the last time I added it a few months ago. How frequently do I need to add baking soda? Just every time the ph drops, which hopefully doesn't keep happening. Oh my! Reason 1,000 why I need to get the AC test strips!
  20. Jennifer V
    Do you know how much baking soda to add to a 5g? Do I just throw it in or do I mix it with tank water first?
  21. Jennifer V
    Right now I'm feeding them a variety of foods -- different kind each day including a tiny amount of bacter AE once a week. Just a fourth of an eighth teaspoon because it's such a small tank. The others are hikari shrimp cuisine, fluval bug bites shrimp formula, sera shrimp food and dennerle shrimp king color. Should I replace one of those with repashy? Is it cleaner? @Minanora? Turning off the filter is a great idea! I only have a small sponge filter in there now. I don't really know anything about other kinds of filters. Can you send me a link to the one you use? Or should I upgrade to a larger sponge? Admittedly, I haven't cleaned the one I have in quite awhile. I always forget to do it! Maybe that's part of the problem too?
  22. Jennifer V
    I added the crushed coral day before yesterday but I forgot the baking soda. Can I still add it? The ph has gone up slightly but the kh is the same. The nitrite is back to normal though. Yay!
  23. Jennifer V
    Thank you so much for the suggestions! I think I am overfeeding. There are so many shrimp in there that I'm not really sure how much to feed them. I try to add just enough so they'll have it cleaned up within an hour or two but I have been a little heavy handed since I got back. It was just such a shock to see that many shrimp in such a small tank! They literally swim to the surface and steal the food before it even sinks. They're everywhere! Would these issues cause the cloudy water as well? It's been cloudy for about two weeks.
  24. Jennifer V
    Thank you for the suggestion! I guess my thinking was backwards. Ha!
  25. Jennifer V
    Hi All! I went out of town for five weeks while my wife kept an eye on my 5g neo shrimp and snail tank. I came back to a cloudy tank completely out of whack so I don't know what to start on first. I did a ~30 percent WC yesterday without checking the parameters. Rookie move but I'm glad I did it. Checked today and something kicked the tank out of cycle. It's been running for one year and eight months. Shrimp added six months ago. Current parameters: Ph: 6.6 (was 7.6 when I left) Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: .25 Nitrates: ~40 Kh: 2 (was 3) Gh: 12 Temp: 74 I'm thinking replace my crushed coral to get the ph and kh up again. Do WCs until the nitrite disappears and test the water every day. Is that right? Do I focus on getting the nitrite down first and worry about the crushed coral after? How large do my WCs need to be? All inhabitants seem fine and are breeding like crazy. It's kind of unsettling to see how many shrimp are now in there to be honest. Thoughts?
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