CalmedByFish

Yeah, but this takes some serious self-discipline for me. Half of me hates algae, and the other half of me wants to crank the light and make the fishies SHINY. Oooooh shiny fishies!

I happen to have this tab open. It might help.

The only thing I can think of is to see if you can add another air stone, just to make certain there's plenty oxygen in the water. For the same reason, it would probably help to lower the temp. Higher temps require more aeration than lower temps (though I don't remember the science behind it). I have endlers. I'd say to get them down to at least 74, but probably 72 is better.

Okay, so apparently we know what happened to my plants. Good. Thank you... But can we all just pause to see the "aiming for sustainable" in my signature, and roll our eyes together? 🙄 Ugh! The "size of the tank" is actually tupperware being used as pots, so I can easily put the plants in tubs of water when I move (which I thought would've happened by now, but looks months away). That means I can't just relocate them in the tank. After a good staring, I decided to leave the val. Since the repotting with too many root tabs, 3 of the 5 pots have made a baby val, so apparently something is going to survive. I can be okay with that. But the only sword looked worse than it did even just this morning. So I pulled it off the tabs, and am letting it float until I make a plan. I could only find 3 roots on it that truly look good. The longest of the 3 is about 1 1/2". Interestingly, on the sword and most vals, the roots have always been short. I'd say the average length is an inch. The vast majority of the roots, though not mushy, are kinda black. The coloring is similar to mildew or mold.

The pieces of your reply that I copied above stand out to me as big mistakes I made. The sword had 4 root tabs, a couple inches apart, on the floor. Then the roots spread out evenly on top the tabs, then 2 inches of gravel to hold it all in place. The vals were planted similarly. I also use Easy Green - though I haven't added any since adding this total of 19 root tabs to the tank, since adding them did increase the nitrate level in the water after a couple days. I only use those 2 ferts. No CO2. Most of the val leaves I cut were cut up near the top, just cutting off the brown/yellow ends. Regarding the part you put in bold, what I cut off was mostly yellow, but with some brown and translucent parts. So it sounds like I should've cut significantly less. Gosh. What now? I don't know if I should try to dig out the root tabs, or just stop messing with it and allow it to stabilize. I know plants always struggle when messed with, so I hesitate to continue pestering them.

Pretty tank! Welcome.

Interesting. It makes sense to me that a plant would show signs of deficiency prior to getting root tabs, but I'm baffled that mine did *after* getting root tabs. At the same time I replanted the sword and vals, I cut off as much as 1/4 of the leaves. They were specifically among the older ones, and had the yellowing (only) symptom. I wonder if the stress of the "wounds" is part of the problem? @Jungle Fan I still have your tab open that includes the concept of "amputating" parts of a plant. I wonder if you might know if my cutting off leaves could contribute to all the symptoms my plants suddenly have.

I wondered about melting, but it looks different from the melting that happened right after I bought them and initially put them in the tank. Did your melon show all of the same symptoms, or just a couple?

I recently replanted my sword and vals. I made sure their roots were directly on top of root tabs, just because the substrate is shallow. Now leaves are turning brown on the edges and tips, then the the brown creeps to the middle or base of the leaf before it dies. Other leaves have pinholes. Some turn clear (skeletal) on the edges. Some have dark "freckles." That sounds like a lot of nutrient deficiencies, but given all the root tabs, that's nearly impossible. Chemical burning of the roots is all I can think of. What would your guess be?

I know some species are inherently more aggressive than others, but I wonder to what extent stress makes a difference in aggression within a single species. It could even be something basic, that would stress out we humans too - like always feeling cold, or not having a decent bed (hiding place), or just being bored out of our mind. Just something I think of often because I have a bizarrely aggressive angelfish.

@Mmiller2001 I actually copied that into my document on algae. Thanks!

Are daphnia simply any microcrustaceans? (I had microcrustaceans of some kind in that tank, but the fish pig them down immediately.) If daphnia are something more specific, how do you get them?

Clarifying questions: I've heard that when people intentionally try to grow green water, adding Easy Green helps. Would reducing the ppm of ammonia help reduce green water, *regardless* of how much Easy Green is available? Does "improve filter turnover rates" refer to increasing biological filtration in order to reduce ammonia?

I have a 20 gallon, about 1/2 full of healthy hornwort to combat and prevent green water. But I currently have green water. Been 2 weeks. I'm keeping the light off for now, except a couple hours of very dim per day to help the fish find their food. I've decreased the adult's feeding from 2x to 1x per day, though I shouldn't fast them since about half are preggy, and I can't reduce the feeding for the tiniest fry. The tank is bare-bottom, with a ton of MTS, so no food is getting lost. (I also watch to make sure the filter doesn't grab it.) In the next few days, I'll put a few of my extra neocaridina in there, since they'll help re-process the MTS poo. My current question: Nitrate is ~5. Do I add Easy Green to help the hornwort, or leave nitrates low to starve the green water?

If it does turn out to be fish-safe, this would be great, even just because it provides a lot more water volume than an actual rock. Good luck. I hope it works!

Here's the only advice I'm confident of. Regardless of the species you buy, or how many species, only buy 1 of each for now. There's no way to know what will or won't live in your parameters/lighting/etc until you try it. If something croaks, you didn't waste money on 2 of it. If something thrives, you can buy more. I've tried about 13 species of plants, 5 of which have turned out to be stable in my water, and only 3 of those do I truly enjoy. 3 out of 13! Try a variety. One of each. More happens later. (Unless you're secretly a zillionaire, and the local food pantry is already well-stocked. 🙂 )

Definitely put plants to work. I know we talk a lot about plants for nitrates here, but if I remember right, plants only take the nitrate after they've run out of yummy ammonia. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.) As for how toxic ammonia is, it gets worse with higher pH. If your pH is low, .5 ammonia might be okay. But if your pH is high, probably not. Also, test your tap water for ammonia. If it turns out to have much, then at least you'll know what the problem is.

Found it. There are other colors. https://www.amazon.com/Pisces-Pearl-Aquarium-Gravel-Small/dp/B075P16JL2

A couple days ago on here, I learned that there's a gravel that's only 2-4 mm in diameter. To me, it looks *right* on the edge of being sand. It might be worth considering as a compromise between what you want and what the plants want. Not sure. Just a thought.

I'll always suggest stopping to think and feel about what type of fish make you feel happy and/or peaceful. Unsure? Hunt down some videos of the species you're drawn to, where you can just watch them swim for a few minutes, and see what it feels like. Also try to match species with the water parameters you have out of the tap. Less work to fix parameters means less stress long-term. As far as breeding is concerned, consider fish that would merely breed enough to replace themselves. (Many species will chow down the vast majority of their fry, particularly if you stop feeding the adults when you see fry. Or other species might eat the eggs.) If you're sure you'd like to have a certain species long-term, this is a great way to continue having them without having to bother with quarantining new ones. (My solution is simply to have 1 angelfish. He's delighted to help keep babies in check. Maybe you could have 1 fish in your community tank that would do the same job, but again, stop to make sure you'll enjoy the species before you get it.)

I just searched for this thread, and put the product you recommended in my Amazon cart. I have a few more natural tricks I want to try before I give up and buy it, but I'm sick of the unconquerable pea soup, and need the back-up plan. Thank you for the recommendation. Maybe what I try will work, but having this as an option will give peace of mind while I waaait to find out.

The speed at which you've gained knowledge and made progress is truly impressive. Well done. And Happy Birthday! I was in my late 30's when I found out bettas shouldn't be in a bowl. The internet is astonishing. So helpful!

"What is right is not always popular. What is popular is not always right." ~ a poster on the wall in one of my 8th grade classrooms

I had no idea there are freshwater sponges. This is so cool!

I actually spent a while last night, trying to find a good net online. The only decent options I could find were $20+ per net. Bleck.