Arcite

Yeah, I'm kind of disappointed by these results.. I'll try the needle trick that @mommygouramimentioned... I already planted them against the glass on the bottom, they can't go any deeper.

Yeah, I did dose Tropica Specialized Nutrition (the orange bottle). The tank was overstocked and it doesn't add nitrates.

Just added the Easy root tabs to my tank for the first time (I usually use seachem's) and now I have piles of white gunk in my tank. Should I be concerned?

I do Crypts and Amazon swords in a sand substrate with no issues, sure it's not nutrient rich but they still grow well. I add a root tab for each sword once a month but the crypts are on their own. Some pictures:

Ah! That's really smart, thanks for that pro tip. That's what I thought from the research I did but was just concerned by the amount the auto feeder dumped out. Yeah for sure, I've been using a bucket until I'm comfortable enough to put them over the tank. Yup, the instructions are quite clear on that. Even the small feeder door is way too much food. I think Rob's (and your) solution with the tape will be a good experiment to try next.

Finally set up my new Aquarium Co-Op auto feeder, and I'm impressed with the ease of the setup and mounting. However, even with the smallest "setting" on the sliding panel it feeds way too much when I use pellets. Should I be using flakes with the auto feeder? edit: I'm currently using Xtreme Nano in a freshwater 40-breeder and PE Mysis in a 140-gallon reef

In a Fluval Spec 16 I had a betta, clown pleco, and 6 khuli loaches. Everyone seemed to get along and the tank was thriving.

I chose not to use a background; my goal is always to have enough background plants and algae that you can't see through the back. The green algae that grows on the glass on the back makes for great good for my cherry shrimp. The downside of the background is that you might not be able to convert the tank into a peninsula later (depending on what you use to make the background).

My Dwarf Gourami was so mean... He bullied everyone and everything; I saw him fight a shrimp over an algae wafer once... He was also pretty easy to spook, if I walked up to the tank he would go hide. As much as I disliked him, I was pretty sad when he died 😕

I would start with more shrimp than that if you can. I started with 12 Cherry Shrimp of unknown gender and now I have too many to count. All you need is java moss and food and they'll breed. You can put in a wonder shell after a water change as well, I've seen my population spike after adding one. From my experience, water changes are the best way of triggering spawning.

I don't remember him mentioning this... he loves snails and enjoys them being in his tanks.

I would recommend switching to a `csv` file and treat each day of tests as a row. It will make it a lot easier to plot the data on graphs later. Check out this link and scroll down to "Writing CSV files Using csv.writer()" for a quick guide on how to do it. Then you can use `matplotlib` to make graphs or use pandas to do trend analysis. Let me know if you have any questions, I'm a full-stack developer and have been coding since middle school 🙂

The AquaIllumination Prime 16HD Freshwater lights have a great moonlight mode. I use them currently as a way to view my Khuli Loaches without staring into blue light. I highly recommend them!

As a Floridian, it's that sad time of the year where we lose all of our migratory birds and just have a bunch of White Ibis 😞 Nice pictures! If you see any orioles, please share!

If all you're doing is shrimp, you shouldn't need a heater unless your house is cooler than 68ish degrees Fahrenheit. The following comes to $50.72 with shipping included. If you can spend a little more, I also recommend the shrimp cave. Just make sure the tank has enough light since an aquarium light and substrate are outside your budget. Sponge filter Air stone Airline Tubing Nano Air Pump Check Valve Java Moss Food

Thanks! I use Tropica premium nutrition once a day and add Seachem Flourite root tabs once a month. The pink plant is Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini'.

Here are mine! My Siamese Algae Eater is so cute!

Thanks for asking this and for the answer, I'm moving my 2 smaller tanks into a 40-gallon breeder and wanted to throw in an apisto pair.

# On Quarantine Yeah, quarantine is pretty important when your average fish cost is around $100 😬 I appreciate the compliment, but I'm still pretty new to reef tanks, I wouldn't do what I do unless you want to learn from my mistakes first hand 🤣 # Tank Journal Forum Thanks for the advice on the tank journal, I will do a "build thread" for my new 40-breeder when I finally get around to combining my tanks (probably in early June). # Scarlet Badis You know, I'm not sure... At first I thought that I had a male and a female, but Ventress does have a little red (even though it's definitely not the bright red that Dooku has). I don't know if "she" is a male that is just not dominate or a female. They rarely fight or chase each other... Maybe I'll post some pictures and get some advice from this forum. If they are a male/female pair, I would like to try to breed them at some point. Thanks! I don't really do much for the crypts; I dose Tropica specialized nutrition (or premium? whichever one doesn't have nitrates and is orange) and add Seachem root tabs once a month. As for the names, I think a lot of people in this hobby lose sight of the fact that these animals are pets. Giving everyone a name builds the attachment to them and makes them feel more like family and less like an object 😃 I try to name every fish I get after it survives quarantine (but not before because it just makes deaths that much harder).

I actually didn't realize they didn't have a name until I made this post! 🤣 I'll have to think of something good and then I'll edit it. I like the Porgs or the Tusken Raiders.

No Bad Batch spoilers! Waiting until after work to watch it! Dave Filoni is the best thing to happen to Star Wars. Thanks for the compliments. Both my freshwater tanks have been neglected a bit, it's hard to trim plants and stuff when you're buying stuff for a new setup 😅

Welcome to the forum! Let's get some pictures of those fish! 🙂

I kept a goldfish as a child, and failed to keep fish just out of college. I've been keeping my current fish for about a year. I got a 3-gallon aquaponics kit and a betta (I pronounce it beta like a pleb and don't care) for my birthday. Captain Rex, my betta, upgraded his tanks multiple times before he passed. Currently, I have a 20-gallon long, a Fluval Spec 16, and a Waterbox Peninsula 6025 (which you can read about Mon Cala here). I have listed the inhabitants of my tanks at the end of this post! I bought a 40-breeder tank to act as a sump for our first reef, but because of some road bumps it went unused. Now I plan to combine my two tanks into this tank. I wish this forum had build threads so I could make a post similar to Mon Cala. Outside of fishkeeping I am an avid runner, play hockey in the summer, am a DM for 5E, and do my best to take care of the planet. I'm looking forward to become a better fish keeper with your help! --- 20-Gallon Long Fish The Meeseeks: 12 Harlequin rasbora Jan-Michael Vincent: 8 Green neon rasbora Michael (there was a Pichael; you can ask about the story): 1 Siamese algae eater A lot of cherry shrimp Plants Cryptocoryne parva Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica' Ludwigia repens 'Rubin' Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' Java fern Java moss # Fluval Spec 16 Fish Hondo: Clown Pleco The Jawas: 6 Khuli Loaches The Stormtroopers: 10 Exclamation point rasbora Zero the Hutt: Nerite Snail Dooku & Ventress: Scarlet Badis pair Plants Amazon Sword Compacta Anubias Nana Petit Anubias Nana Banana Plant