xXInkedPhoenixX

Hi there @OrangeBlossom, welcome to the forum! We love stories and pictures here- we also enjoy to helping each other!

One of my Swords has been in the tank since I started it in 2020. It has its periods of massive growth then die back then repeat. I'm curious to see what my having just added root tabs will do for it.

Well that's the funny thing, I've never had less than 40 Nitrate in that tank (or any of my tanks really) plus that tank is technically overstocked (once had 60 Otos in it, now about 30 with several other inhabitants). So you would think I'd eventually get something going. I've recently started putting in root tabs to see how my Swords will react to them. They are only in large gravel and there's plenty of mulm in the back of the tank where they are planted. We shall see!

I've done tank moves in the same day. As long as you're using plenty of material from the last tank theoretically you should have ZERO issues. Personally I still dose Prime and test to make sure, and of course observe the inhabitants for any signs of stress. The only issue is maybe with the shrimp, but as long as there is plenty for them to eat and the water parameters are the same I don't see how it's going to be an issue. Maybe if you're concerned move the fish first and the shrimp in batches over the coming days. (I have never kept shrimp successfully, full disclosure) I've done this several times with fish, even did one this weekend!

I think that's pretty awesome. I have several swords and while they are pretty healthy I've yet to see them do this!

@dasaltemelosguy that's good to know. My bamboo roots are way less obnoxious than my Pothos. I'm actually considering removing it- it's growing well but it gets other growth (brown hair algae mostly) on it and generally not adding to the look of my tank. I'm also thinking of doing a small trim and braiding it like @Guppysnail mentioned, good thing I know how to 3 strand!

Welcome to the forum James! I'm sure you have a wealth of knowledge you can share not only in what you found success in before but also in mistakes. I tend to roll with Bob Ross on the "happy accidents" though they can often suck, we always learn something from them. To me, that's one of the coolest things about this hobby.

Looks like a really good comparison. Your Kessil looks like it has just a slight bluish tinge to the light where the ACO looks like a true white maybe leaning more towards yellow. At least from my armchair. Either light is good looking.

My Otos, as much as I love them. It was best put by my 12 year old nephew who was over and eagerly inspecting each of my 6 tanks. When he got to the tank where pretty much only Otos exist he said "I'm not convinced there are any fish in this tank." ....and just to prove their point I went and tried to get a pic for this post. Nope.

As @DaveO put it. Ever evolving. Agreed friend. I have pushed forward from my lovely Koianu's death and made his tank new again. I've had nothing but frustrations from the Flex in the last year as far as keeping it clean and making it look nice, filtering and etc, etc. So I'm actually glad I will be tearing down that tank in the near future. This weekend I started rescaping the Accidental Tank- it will no longer be a grow out as I've decided that if I got new Oto babies before I move to a larger, all-in-one community tank, any babies will stay (unless they are eaten!) This means it gets it's own style and look more like one of my permanent tanks. I loved the sculpture that I specifically bought for the Flex AND I'd recently bought a Fu Dog for Koianu's tank (though he passed before I could restyle it). Then I had a small epiphany- I will still use both and I needed another Fu Dog (they're not supposed to be solo anyway). Got some new larger gravel. Performed some Reverse Respiration thanks to @dasaltemelosguy, to make some of the anubias look better before placing them. And here is my new tank: Most of the hardscape from the Flex was used (the granite where I feed them in the front left and the "rock" cave to the right with anubias attached along with the sculpture in the middle as mentioned). I also of course included almost all the rock and plants from both tanks. Now I think it needs a new name. Whatcha think? Everyone seems happy, exploring the new home. Got pics of everyone but Kirby who is probably reclaiming the rock sculpture on the right of the tank. Here are the last remaining 2 Endlers (from my old group of 5): And then we have BFG who will joining Sergeant, Serious Black and Little Red: And last but not least rescue GloBetta, Serket: Who looks so much better in real tank lighting unlike in the Flex. Since the Flex is empty I decided that I was going to use it one last time briefly as a QT. I went to the LFS got 4 more Endler males and 1 Hillstream loach for the redesigned tank.....they only had 1 Hillstream in a 20 gallon tank with 3 Julii Corycats. Yes, I know Corys should be kept in groups of 6 or more - but this is all they had. Funny thing is if there were 6 I would have left them there. I cleaned out their tank. I'll get 3 more when I get them all out of QT. The Corys are intended for the Parent Tank which has basically become bottom feeder heaven. Anyway, here is everyone in QT: Then last mention is the Angry Man. My most planted tank and the least of my troubles when it comes to any of them. Not that any of my other tanks, besides the Flex, are really issues but truly I do so much less to that tank and have to tinker with my others so much more in comparison. It gets the "extra" Dwarf Water Lettuce from the Dragon Tank now and I throw out the excess from time to time. Other than recently throwing in some ACO root tabs and having to manually pull soome hair algae from the tallest java ferns this tank is everyone's favorite in this house (followed very closely by the Medieval tank recently): And of course ruler of that tank is my beloved Bolivian, Punk, who still is doing quite well:

Hi there! I'm growing pothos, bamboo and dracaena....the roots are getting kind of ugly and unruly....any of you ever trim your roots? If so, what effect does it have on your emersed growth? @dasaltemelosguy @Guppysnail @Odd Duck (tagging those I can remember who have them...)

Pretty much yes. Often build thread just become tank threads. Either way it's a great place to start!

So, interestingly, I've learned something in my Bonsai keeping that helps with these stem plants as the same principal seems to apply in most of them. With my pomegranate tree I learned to trim between an area on a stem that has 2 leaves on it that are even with each other. The result this will get you is the plant splitting into 2 different areas and doing the process all over again. Trimming when it's just on one side does not get the same result. You want this for a bushier canopy. This works for Bacopa Caroliniana, I haven't tried it on my repens yet. Crappy drawing for illustration:

What would happen when not planting deep enough? I presume uprooting but just curious if it's something else

Very interesting! I have my Repens but because it's in a low tech tank it's not super fast growing despite Easy Green so I've not yet had a chance to trim it (ok by me). My instinct is that the stem would need at least a couple of leaves for the photosynthesis in our tanks especially just going by what I know of plants.

If you look at my Angry Man shot on the right side of the tank there is a coconut house attached by a suction cup to the side of the tank. I've had it since Oct 2021. It sheds lightly but it is still very much intact. So, they last quite a long while!

Yep! You should be good soon. I run my tanks about 40ppm Nitrate and my fish do well!

You might think it would be boring but not to us fish nerds. Personally I like the everyday antics of a regular fish tank. You'd be surpised. Plus it's good for you to keep track of your own progress! Hint: We also like pictures!

@Flipper Thanks! That tank is called The Angry Man everyone who saw it thought he looked mad, or severely ill. I know I get angry when I throw up so Angry Man it was! The tank was entirely inspired by the resin sculpture.

WHOA! How friggin cool is that?! What do they eat?

I was more talking about their work more than yours LOL but yes that too!

All that work and 2 fry hahaha! Is there a chance more will hatch?

Speaking only from my own personal armchair. I don't think there's anything wrong with a TopFin aquarium. I think for most people is TopFin is only sold really through Petsmart, while Aqueon is an industry-wide brand- this would matter to some people with availability and maybe they don't want to support or even have Petsmart. While you can get some Topfin items on sites like Amazon (accessories only) you can get Aqueon generally anywhere, including Petsmart. I have Aqueon tanks, and other than my low iron glass Aquatops I prefer Aqueon because there are several manufactured options when it comes to lids and tank items specifically made in the Aqueon line- also a lot of aftermarket stuff is geared towards a standard Aqueon rimmed tank.

Hi @Ronnie! I'll preface this by saying I've never dosed ammonia, only used things like Stability and bottled bacteria to start my tanks. And I've done fish in cycling- which I probably wouldn't do with this little fish you have since he's clearly been through enough! I'm wondering if you added some fish food to the tank? All you need is for that nitrite to go away (though nitrate is definitely high so that's gotta go down- easily done with a water change though, when you are ready). Does this tank have plants? Generally you don't need to dose ammonia with cycled material, just use it and you're ready to go within a week. In the cycled material case, I just keep a close eye on parameters when I add the fish and test every day. Dosing Prime whenever I see a spike after small water changes.

Absolutely beautiful tanks @Ninjoma! Lovin the little crabs for sure!