d6veteran

Oh, I have 15 Nerite snails. Could those be snail eggs? I did not think they produced in freshwater.

If it ain't broke don't fix it ... Anyway yesterday morning I decided to fiddle with my CO2 and accidentally dumped some into the tank. CO2 is back to where it was ... But since then I have noticed two things, unrelated, but the tank is not the same. 18 Danios (mix of Zebra and Kyathit) are now hiding. They are usually very active, swimming through all the terrain ... in the past 24 hours only about 6 came out to feed. They are not in the sump, but must be hiding down in the plants and rocks. Very unusual for Danios not to come out in a frenzy for feeding. But I've tried two feedings and very litter reaction, and at this moment, I cannot find any of them. However, the 10 Corys and 2 Plecos are active. There is a group of white egg looking things on my glass. See pic. Just noticed this today while looking for the Danios.

ChefConfit, great advice. Thanks for that. All the science is fun, but yes, I am spending a large amount of time on the tank vs enjoying it.

In the chart above. What is the units for KH? My test kit uses ppm and I am at like 70 ppm.

Super helpful! I have a couple days off this week (in a row) and will try this out. But I just realized a MAJOR typo. pH readings should be 6.8 and 6.6!! So that means I am at 30ppm right?

Thanks for the link! This is super informative and helpful.

Thanks for the detailed reply Mmiller. Would you recommend I start by increasing the CO2 first (to say 5bps)? Watch and measure for a couple days? Then move on to other items? I will read up on how to bump up the Nitrates. Does this mean ... that the plants are not utilizing the available light with a lack of CO2 and nutrients, so the algae is stepping in? I have two AI Freshwater Prime (https://www.aquaillumination.com/products/prime-freshwater). About 2 weeks ago I adjust the light profile down a bit to the following schedule. Third image shows the intensity during peak.

Hi everyone. I recently got back into the hobby after 20 years and so much has changed. I feel like I am re-learning everything (and trying live plants for the first time). I have a bunch of questions and am looking for advice on next steps for my new tank. // By the way. How lucky am I to live 30 minutes from Aquarium Co-op?? Best fish store, staff and community ever. Setup Waterbox 64g All in One Sump has 4 filter socks, bio balls on mid-left chamber, bio max in mid-right chamber Variable water pump (Hydor Seltz) exchanging between 250-500 gph. Most often set to around 350 gph. CO2 Art dual regulator set at 3-4 bps (runs during lighting) AI Freshwater LED running about 50% for 10 hours I used sand, which I regret, but am locked in now lol. Stock Slowly added the following over last 5 weeks 20 nerites 2 small plecos 10 Zebra Danios 8 Kyathit Danios 10 Cory Pandas 20 Java ferns (various types) 6 Buce Maintenance 50% water water change 1x/week (Saturday), add general fertilizer and potassium 20% water change 1x/week (Wednesday, add general fertilizer and potassium Water Composition pH: 6.8 before lighting/CO2, 6.6 end of lighting/CO2 GH/KH ~80ppm Ammonia/Nitrite: 0 pre/post water change (too low to measure?) Nitrate: 5 pre water changes, 0 post water change Phosphate: 0-.2 (several tests, not exactly sure but below .2) Questions/Advice Fish are active - showing healthy behavior. Plecos munching on driftwood, Danios schooling, playing in the current and 3 females appear to be full of eggs. Plants brown a bit after being added, but new growth starts from roots after 1-2 weeks. I have had algae for about 5 weeks now. Never gets too bad. Snails are eating down the white hair algae, and both snails, corys and plecos are eating green algae off plants/glass. How to feed plants? About 3 weeks ago Nitrates went to 0. They are barely getting up to 3-5 right before water changes. Do my plants need more Nitrates? I am using fertilizer 2x/week as instructed (both a general and potassium). How do I know if this is the right does/schedule? What signals should I be looking for? The algae is consistently growing on plants. It isn't getting out of control, seems to be plateaued the past 2-3 weeks, but is there a way to reduce it while feeding the plants? I cannot tell if I have too much / too little light. When I first added plants I was getting a lot of pearling, but lately a lot less. But I have not changed anything other than adding fish and plants. Do I need more CO2? More light? More nutrients? Can I keep adding fish? Using a variety of fish stock calculators I have room for about 10 more Danios. Which I'd like to do since they look super cool schooling through the plants. Am I ready to add all 10 more? Or do I need to stabilize longer?

I got the CO2 art setup. The upfront investment is steep, but the dual stage regulator and ability to run it on a timer is amazing once you get it setup.

Those do pearl nicely!!

Starting to get some great pearling with chains of bubbles in my 2 month old planted setup. https://youtu.be/Smfw1Xz67TU Brown algae bloom from initial setup is almost under control <crossing fingers>.