CalmedByFish

It's a super cute little tank! Considering that there's just one betta in there, I think the driftwood's size is fine. Fishy has room to swim. Does your lease limit tank size or tank number? (I'm just thinking it could be fun to go ahead and at least quarantine and grow plants for your upcoming bigger tank.) I did this just last night! I found a type of anubias about which the website claims the leaves can get 12" long, the whole plant as tall as 20", and I bought it already grown pretty big. (And certainly paid to do so - yikes.) It was listed as an "Anubias Heterophylla mother pot" - if you want to search it. I suppose you could pay less to get a smaller one and grow it out yourself.

I love that it's slow enough to actually see the colors. Beautiful!

I'm glad you at least got fry, since they probably will be hardier. Problems with guppies is why I switched to endlers. Truth is, I like the look of guppies much more, but it was a trade for peace of mind. With endler health going super well, I am considering those "Japan blue" guppy-endler hybrids though.

Don't know if it's true in this moment, but a few days ago, ACO Amazon Swords were the cheapest I'd seen them listed before. Just fyi, in case you already were wanting one. I wanted at least 2, so ordered 3. Two came about 8" tall, as I'd expect. The third pot was actually two tiny ones. Pros and cons about that third pot, I guess.

I'm so sorry some of the fish didn't make it. I'll be interested to see the re-do of the tank.

First time I've heard someone say that! People on this forum are a wide variety of interesting. 🙂

I'm new to plants, but my recent questions about them on here led me to learn that carpeting plants almost always need high light... which I guess would mean your taller plants would also need to be okay with high light, even if they don't need it. That's all I can offer, but it's something!

Already involved in everything on earth from sky to land to sea? Next up for you: helping to colonize Mars. 🤣 Welcome to the forum!

So maybe my idea above of using that one male platy ("Horndog") as a test fish might be worth trying?

Aagh. Grumble grumble. Okay, how about adult dwarf platies? Males are 1", females 1.5", and all are a chubby shape. What do you think? Edited to add: I have one male platy that's so obsessed with gettin' busy, I can't even let him share a tank with the other males. I might could put him in with the angel, and stand there watching with a net in hand in case he (or the angel 🙄) needs rescued. Maybe he could be a test fish.

I'm about ready to put my angel back into his big tank. (After moving.) But I've also been wanting to have endlers and platies in that tank. Previously, when I added them to "his" tank, he picked on them, killing many. What if I instead let the little livebearers get comfortable in the tank, then add the angel several days later? Might that prevent him from thinking the tank is his domain, and so prevent him from being as aggressive?

So true.

Need: A back-up plan in case something like The Texas Freeze happens where I live. (It was heartbreaking watching that via internet last year.) Want: About $200 of green plants. A bright blue fish. An aphrodisiac for my shrimp. (Seriously ya little weirdos, just get busy already.) Wish: An actual swimming pool of fish, so I can swim with them!

Right there with you!

Interesting. I've heard it can help to plant the pot, as is, into the substrate so the top of the pot is even with the top of the substrate. Then let it extend itself from there, without the original roots ever being disturbed. With a few of the species I bought, I might've had better results doing that. Not sure.

My only experience with cichlids is the one angel, but I'm guessing someone else on the forum would know. Things I know of to check: Whether the water parameters of all the species overlap. Whether the cichlid can eat fry and can not eat adults. And whether the type of cichlid you're looking at *needs* buddies, rather than buddies just being preferable.

I have one angelfish, so when fry get out of control, I net the tiny ones into his tank. I'm thinking that post-angelfish, I'll add a fry-muncher that's less ravenous, and it could live with the livebearers. I haven't thought it through (long live the angel), but I'm wondering about a short-finned betta or a dwarf gourami. Maybe you could add a fry-muncher to the tank, with a mouth small enough to leave the adults alone.

@Nik_n I know it's not the topic of the thread, but I'm interested in blue fish. Are your blue gouramis the "powder blue dwarf" type?

I'd definitely be getting a high quality snorkel and goggles involved. ❤️

All the plants I've tried so far have been pre-move, so the situation will be different. What I tried them in was probably low-moderate light - so that definitely could've been an issue. Temp ranged 72-78. Most were tried in a tank with a HOB waterfall of several inches, rather than any air stones. I'm sure I want to not use CO2, just to keep things simpler. But I can now increase light, I use air stones (sponge filters), and I can max the temp out in the mid-70's. Maybe that stuff will help. All good info. I bet light was too low, but I can fix that. I wish the need for CO2 was made more obvious on plant-buying websites. As for nutrients, I was using root tabs and Easy Green, holding nitrates at 20-30. The substrate I was using when I tried these plants was about the size of pea gravel. I'll now be using 2-4 mm gravel, which I'm guessing will work better for roots. Yeah? Nice species suggestions! I'll save this info to refer to. For the moment, I need to slow down the spending. (The new substrate is exactly what I want, but a pretty penny.) I keep a document on my computer for aquarium plant info. (Same for fish species, water parameters, blah blah.) I just copy-paste what I want, then I can open the document and hit "ctrl+F" when I need to search for a topic. It's an idea.

@Fish Folk It just occurred to me that the Bacopa Caroliniana I ordered yesterday might could be snipped and spread out like your Rotalla. Guess so?

Haha! This does kinda look fun. A few medaka should be good with the temp and size. Guppies actually need some warmth, but endlers are similar, smaller, and don't need *quite* as much warmth. And if you do go with endlers, consider a few males instead of any females, just because they're a lot smaller. (Males' colors would be easier to see through that glass than silver females anyway.) As for the animals' well-being, I'm thinking medaka, neocaridina, and snails might be your best bets.

@lindabee53 Good job with how you responded to the child, the neighbor, and the people commenting here. Well done. You've got my respect.

Space and tank size, up to now, have been unstable. I've known since summer that I'd be moving, so anything that needed substrate just got planted in tupperware with gravel and root tabs, and occasionally got relocated to a different container of water. Starting now: Main tank is 29 gallons - internal footprint about 33"x13". Substrate will be 2" of 2-4 mm size gravel, with root tabs. Water parameters out of the tap will be very similar to what I had before, so I think that won't have much affect on what plants will and won't live. (pH ~8, GH ~12) Critters in that tank: One angel. Endlers. Dwarf platies. Snails. I'm not trying to use the plants to keep fry alive. (I net them into another container for that.) I'm trying to let the adult endlers and platies feel safe from the angel, and let the girls get away from the boys. I got java moss months ago. It's succeeding in staying alive, but not really growing. Since posting this thread, I've been eyeballing monte carlo on the ACO site. I've tried dwarf baby tears before, which looks very similar. Although the baby tears gradually died off, I now see that it's listed as "skill level: hard," where monte carlo is listed as "medium." Soo... Maybe? In case this info is helpful: Staurogyne repens lost leaves persistently for months until I gave up on it. Micro sword absolutely would not stay in the gravel for the life of me... and I really don't like the "grass" look anyway. Dwarf sagittaria has done a good job of staying alive and in the gravel, but not spreading.

What I'd like it to look like: In a perfect world where I'm rich, the bottom would be covered in anubias nana petite, each glued to a small stone. 🙂 But let's go back to reality. It could be anywhere from 1-4 inches. Your rotalla concept might work, using pogostemon stellatus octopus. It's the only plan I have that could be cut into multiple pieces like you did with the rotalla. Edit: Really, my main goal is to provide a bunch of hiding places for little fish, and females trying to get away from males. I've been wondering if I should use broad-leafed anubias(es). I have a barteri that's wide and low, which is a great single patch of ground cover. I'd buy more, but it'd sure be cheaper to buy just 1-2 of something that spreads fast.