Jungle Fan

@ChefConfit if you want something to keep in your tub during the summer that grows up out of it try Dwarf Papyrus, Red Dwarf Canna Lily, Cardinal Flower, or my favorite from when I used to keep deck ponds with White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Mosquito fish and Guppies, which is Black Gamecock Purple Louisiana Iris. Here is a link to a picture of the Iris: https://www.thepondguy.com/product/blue-gamecock?msclkid=f3b545e1ebc2134a732b25af639f945a&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=(ROI) Smart Shopping - Bing&utm_term=4583382956591086&utm_content=All Products

The advice @Mmiller2001gave you in regards to fast growing plants is really good, I'd recommend getting some Hornwort, at least until you get those water parameters under control. Hornwort is one of the fastest growers out there, and hard to kill. It doesn't need to get planted in the substrate to grow you can just let it float, and grow it will, several inches per day. If it gets to be too much you can always trim it, in fact you will have to, and either give it away, or dispose of it. The water changes are another good piece of advice, I'm doing 50% weekly water changes on my 75 gallon tank as well. It might seem a little daunting at first, but you'll soon develop a routine and it becomes easier, and before you'll know it it will seem like no big deal.

There are a variety of ways to approach this, some cheaper, some a little more expensive, the cheapest and easiest is to simply black out your tank for a few days when an algae bloom occurs, that should bring you back to clear water but as you already mentioned you've been on this see saw for a while and if you want to solve this permanently you'll need to get to the root cause, which is an abundance of nutrients and no one around to use them but algae. I would start by getting some water test kits and checking your tap, and tank water for levels of ammonia/ammonium, nitrites, nitrates, GH, and KH and start approaching it from there. While you have the problem you can increase water changes from one to multiple times a week, and depending on what you are currently doing increasing the percentage of tank water you exchange to up to 50%. After the blackout you could reduce your lighting hours referred to as an active photoperiod, generally 8 to 10 hours is enough for plants, if you only have Java fern you might even be able to get by with anywhere from 6 to 8 hours, at least for a while. Another option is to introduce more plants; Cryptocoryne, Sword plants, Anubias, and Bucephalandra are low light plants like Java fern and will do well in a lower light tank but usually grow slower, most stem plants like Ludwigia, Hornwort, and others generally want anywhere from low to medium light but grow faster and will therefore use more of the nutrients in the water and thereby outcompete the algae for nutrients causing it to decrease. You could also run a UV-filter which is probably the most expensive method. Applying the nomenclature of "filter" is actually a wrong term because it really isn't a filter but a UV-light that kills algae spores and waterborne bacteria, however just like the blackout the UV-filter is a temporary fix as it doesn't solve the underlying problem which in most cases is either water quality to begin with, or water quality as a result of overfeeding. Overfeeding is easy to fix by reducing the amount you feed daily but before you put your fishes on a diet you really should look at your water quality coming from your tap, and in your water with tests, so you don't have to work in the dark. Just as a tidbit in case you wonder, the way the algae gets into your tank is generally not in the water, or by being attached to decorations, algae spores are endemic to our air, so they basically get "blown" into your tank which is why fishkeepers around the world can easily compare notes because algae knows no borders. I hope this helps somewhat and at least points you into the direction of where to begin.

@Lifeisgoodit's going on 9 months now. I've had to aggressively trim back the Green Ocelot sword twice because it was about to grow out of the tank and it's lidded, and the Cryptocoryne wendtii Green Gecko I trim back about every 3 to 4 weeks so it doesn't get too dense for the fish to be able to swim comfortably among it.

@Betsydid you rinse the fluorite before pouring it in the tank? I remember from over a decade ago using fluorite, and laterite and how many times I had to rinse it to not have red dust. I can't imagine what the tank would have looked like without rinsing. Sounds like you are well on your way with this one, looking forward to see the pictures.

@FlyingFishKeeper the benefit to introducing the bulk of your plants right away, over planting over time is the reduction in nutrients through the plants which, providing they get enough light, will as soon as they acclimate and root get into competition with the algae. Plants can help cut down the length of any diatom, or green algae phase in a new tank, usually they will go away over time by themselves as the water parameters become more stable. Fluval Stratum has added nutrients which generally is a good thing but if there are no plants then algae will use them since its spores are endemic in the air. Having plants decreases availability of nutrients to algae, the more plants the less availability to algae, that is after the plants root, and get over the initial stress.

Hopefully next month I'll get to go take pictures of these guys again at Alamosa, CO when they return from Bosque Del Apache, NM where they winter. They stop in Alamosa to pair up if they're young, for established pairs it is just a rest stop before they finally disperse throughout the Rockies for the summer. I love that Pine warbler shot!

I took the clip with my phone, so I had to hold it sort of at an angle to keep the Kessils from producing too much glare on the glass of the phone. I don't usually do video, I'm much better at stills. I've got 35 Cardinal Tetras, 12 Rummynose Tetras, 6 Bolivian Rams, and 9 Otocinlus, plus Amanos and Blue Vevet shrimp in there, and as you can see by the white dots on the wood Nerite snails and military helmet snails. The Bolivian Rams and Rummynose Tetras generally like to hang out in the plants and diverse caves in the wood until it is feeding time. Getting pictures of them is like being out on photo safari, you have to stalk them, sit, and be quiet. PS: the noise in the background is the room air purifier, not the Kessils.

@Fish Folkonce again I'm ORD otherwise I would've clicked like. Here's the list: Plants: -Echinodorus Red Flame -Echinodorus Rubin -Echinodorus Ozelot Green -Pogostemon erectus -Ludwigia repens -Lobelia cardinalis -Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus) -Anubias afzelli -Anubias nana -Anubias nana petite -Cryptocoryne wendtii Green Gecko -Cryptocoryne willisii -Cryptocoryne parva -Bucephalandra wavy green -Bucephalandra biblis blue -Bucephalandra Kedagang -Staurogyne repens -Christmas moss (Vesicularia montagnei)

I think I finally figured out how to do this with YouTube, not quite a minute, but hey it's my first try and I'm a photographer, not a videographer. Also just found out my Amanos seem to love my Pogostemon erectus just a bit too much, ...nom, nom, nom.

Nothing to worry about @CT_unless you notice the loner not eating, losing weight, or displaying some other bizarre behavior. I've got a group of 35 cardinal tetras in my 75 gallon tank and one, or two always like to hang out by themselves, they're not sick, just like to do their own thing. I'd worry when someone walks up to the tank too fast and they wouldn't join the others for schooling behavior at that moment, but mine do and your "weirdo" probably will join the others in that moment too. Long as they're coming to get food, don't lose weight, and seem normal in all other aspects except their preference to hang out by themself I wouldn't worry.

@HobbitBuce takes a while sometimes. I've got some buce that looked for about six months like it couldn't make up its mind whether it wanted to grow or just stay the same, now it's actually growing. Definitely slower than Anubias nana petite but it grows way faster than Cryptocoryne parva.

@Sal, Nice selection! The more you can afford to plant right away, the better, especially with Fluval Stratum since it has additives; the more you plant the less you'll have algae problems while cycling. I would've added Cryptocoryne wendtii, Cryptocoryne wendtii green, Bacopa caroliniana, and Anubias nana petite.

@Aquarius AquaticsYour tank doesn't look bad, and if you can keep Madagascar lace thriving you definitely don't have a problem growing plants. You'll fill in the tank in no time. I think your tank looks very nice, and I like your Pearl Gouramis.

Shot of my plants and tank. Mostly epiphytes like Anubias, Bucephalandra, and Java fern, Ludwigia, crypts, and swords.

@Dawn TBoth of Peter Hiscocks books are chock full of good info, although some of the plant info is more complete in Christel Kasselmann's books. It's funny because just when I saw your post I had taken a picture of some of the books in my library to send to a friend in Adelaide, Australia who had asked about his books in regards to biotopes. While his book on "Aquarium Designs" captures the essence of biotope inspired tanks, with the plant selection they are not strict biotopes such as in Heiko Bleher's "Bleher's Biotopes". I try to study a habitat for my tanks but strict biotopes with the limitation they put on plants often look somewhat bleak for my taste so I like the habitat inspired version. "The Complete Aquarium" also had some biotope inspired aquarium designs in it, but on a somewhat simpler level than "Aquarium Designs". I also like the book by Horst Linke and Dr, Wolfgang Staeck "American Cichlids 1 Dwatf Cichlids" because it describes the respective habitats as well. The "Mini-Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants" is just an abbreviated smaller version of Hiscock's encyclopedia for handier every day use. "The Art of Aquascaping" by James Findley is along the lines of George Farmer. I've been collecting aquarium books for a long time, and my library now has English, German, French, and Dutch titles and while much is the same there is always something new, some little tidbit, shortcut, method, or equipment to build to learn. I also take notes but mine do get added to a log I keep and I place colored markers for plant, fish, equipment, food, health, or water chemistry on the pages. I keep telling myself that sooner, or later I'll transfer them on my computer and will make it easier to find, ...lots of good intentions... I had gotten the book by David Baruchowitz on "The Balanced Aquarium" because I thought it would be in line with Walstad but I prefer her book. One book I really enjoyed, although technically a children's book is "Amazon Adventure" by Sy Montgomery which describes Project Piaba where my cardinals and rummynoses originate from.

The Blue Velvet shrimp love hanging out in the moss and they actually clean out anything that turns brown in the moss because it is so close to the light.

A couple more shots of the Cardinals, and the Christmas moss, Java fern, Anubias nana petite, and a few Bucephalandras are really getting to grow together on the wood now for the natural look I wanted.

@OceanTruthThat is a nice clump of Bucephalandra in the picture with the Amano, do you have it attached to a rock? @Streetwise is right I could totally see your tank with a nice piece of driftwood, some Ludwigia repens beside it, and maybe some Helanthium quadricostus added in. It's a very nice looking tank!

@quirkylemon103 6-7 is about the minimum I would buy, they really tend to do better in larger groups, since in the wild they can sometimes be observed in groups of hundreds, I would try to get a group of at least 9 if you can. 12 was the magic minimum number for me. The reason I asked about the substrate was that their tiny barbels get damaged easily, sometimes while they are being netted and sometimes by the substrate, they love to dig in soft sand, or soil. Once the barbels are damaged they are open to disease, and if they are in a new environment in smaller groups than they are used to the stress level is higher and their immune system takes a hit. That's why I always try to go with larger groups, even if it decreases variety in the tank, it helps create health stability.

Check out these videos, they might answer some of your questions:

@quirkylemon103how big were the two groups, and what type of substrate do you have in the tank? When I kept Corydoras pygmaeus I fed them bloodworms, spirulina wafers, and they also loved the 1mm size sinking cichlid pellets, left over food was never an issue with the tiny dozen, they even challenged the Rams for them.

Happy Birthday @Betsy! Looks like it's going to be a real nice tank. Once again ORD 🙂

I like the 75 gallon because it has enough depth and length to allow larger groups of tetras to display their normal schooling behavior, and with its depth and height it allows to accommodate somewhat larger plants, and assembled pieces of driftwood to be combined to create caves and hiding places for dwarf cichlids and similar fish.

@Streetwise it's a trade off, I usually went with open tanks when I used floaters over the convenience not to have to do top offs in a lidded tank, they just do so much better without the lids. That said I enjoy not having to do top offs with my current tank, although a tank with some Amazon frogbit, the driftwood roots sticking out the tank and some peace lilies as added above the surface foliage would have been tempting if it had not been for the center brace of the frame.