Marnol D

@Streetwise Ive never thought to look in the reptile section for scaping supplies. They usually have a ton of fake rocks that would look great in tanks.

Im pro snail. Also if you let them breed up you can crush them for your betta to eat or start keeping small puffer fish.

@Samanthabea currently just black sand that’s super fine.

I’ve noticed the substrate in my 20 long isn’t as deep as I thought it was/want it to be and it’s hard to keep rooted plants rooted and to insert root tabs. So I have three questions. 1. Should I add more black sand or add black gravel (I want to make it easy for the rooted plants to spread.) 2. Will the addition of new substrate cause any changes to the tanks parameter such as TDS, ph (it’s just normal black gravel or sand) or any other parameters I may over look? Since it’s my shrimp tank I don’t want to do anything that will cause a mass molting. (The most important question) 3. Will adding ~10 root tabs into the substrate mess with the water parameters or should I add them in slowly over time?

Also gen 1 is always the worst gen. Gen 2 and onwards are healthier and better equipped to survive in your tank.

i feed xtreme shrimp formula, hikari crab cuisine, biofilm from IALs. Blood worms for more protien and then kale and broccoli for calcium

I dont do water changes in shrimp tanks just top offs aswell. Water stability is almost the #1 priority in a shrimp tank, so aslong as your parameters stay the same or change slowly they should be fine. As @Patrick_G stated you could always add wondershells, or equilibirum, or another form of shrimp mineral to the water and just use a tds meter during top off to determine if you need to add more.

@Streetwise I find it useful in a tank and it does amazing things for plants. I just have black sand so the light brown contrasts with it awful and it’s such a fine powder it won’t sink under the sand.

Thank you all for the suggestion!

I have a tank that has a ton of mulm build up on the top level of sand (i dont gravel vacuum as the tank has rooted plants and grasses that run everywhere). I usually dont mind the mulm (as it used to be hidden) but I just rescaped the tank and the mulm has gone everywhere. Is there a gravel vacuum or some product/idea that would let me cycle the mulm off the top layer of sand and water (as the filter does) and strain the mulm out of the water and return the water back to the tank as I vacuum the mulm out? Or since the substrate of sand is only an inch deep should I just add more sand over the mulm to hide it? I guess I could take a fine mesh/strainer and hold it over the tank as I use a siphon pump to cycle the water and catch the mulm in the strainer. But is there any product like this that may be easier to use/ not make a mess when I inevitably shoot water all over the place. I would rather not pump a ton of water out and then add new water in as I tend to have a mass shrimp die off whenever I do a traditional water change instead of just topping the evaporation off and re-mineralizing the water. The tank is heavily planted in most areas with root plants and now a massive bundle of low growing wisteria java fern being the center piece and duck weed at the top so nitrate isnt an issue >5 ppm and the tank reads 0 for ammonia and nitrite along with co2 being pumped into the tank. As for filtration I run two sponge filters (a coarse coop one and a finer one ,this one stays off during the day for co2 to run) along with a power head with a coarse sponge on it to cycle the water. The inhabitants of the tank do not kick the mulm up so it stays put on the substrate. Shrimp/snails/ two peapuffers/neon tetras and guppies.

It would be better to take mulm or media from the cycle tank and move it to the unicycled tank. Water doesn’t carry that much bacteria unless it’s mulmy

Is there a certain fish food/vitamin/mineral that will enhance yellows in fish (specifically guppies). I currently feed xtreme krill flakes and frozen foods (blood worms) along with BUGBites tropicial food and then live daphinia and seed shrimp (naturally occuring in the tank and they have started hunting them). The male guppies have a yellow body with bluey/teal lines that flash through it while the females jsut have yellowy bodies and yellow and black tails.

@JettsPapa Thank you, that was what i was looking for. I can use them to hide sponge filters.

its currently in a 55 gallon... what do i do with it? its runner growing out of the top of the tank. Do i cut it off and ram it into the substrate to replant or do i need to let it mature more? and i pulled back my old order from the coop its a red flame sword is all it can be from what ive ordered.

Hello, I bought this plant awhile back and can’t remember what it is. Maybe it’s a red flame sword. Also what is the massive arm growing off of it? Is it a rhizome or a flower growing and what do I do with it? *since this photo it has now grown out of the top of the tank.

Hello, So glofish have been in the hobby for awhile now with bettas being introduced recently. At what time do you think we will start seeing glow shrimp and snails or glow bottom feeders like Cory cats? I am not the biggest fans of glofish but that’s due to the fact that I haven’t really seen one that sparks my interest or looks better than the normal ones. Do y’all think the gloinverts are in the works or it’s something no one is working on?

@CT_ I havent noticed a change since i usually only add two tabs at a time.

I use the mint tums and my snails and shrimp both eat off of them. I have been doing this for almost a year now with no negative side effects. ( I would suggest putting the tums on a flat rock or feeding dish as not to powder coat the substrate). My plecos and other fish will also nip and feed on them.

i have a 20 long that is ran off of sponge filters. I just boost the CO2 out put and added a power head to help the flow of the tank. You are usually adding the CO2 diffuser to the opposite side of the tank than your filter so you should be fine. I use CO2 just to boost plant growth to help better offset nitrates, ive learned if i use CO2 my tanks dont build nitrates and all i have to do is prune/remove plants that i then can give away to new/young hobbyist that may not be able to go buy a ton of plants at one time. If i cant give the plants away they make for good compost, or dry them out and use them as fish food or snail/shrimp food. You could if you are worried about surface agitation change your airpump out for a powerhead and that will filter your tank fine with less surface agitation.

Did you notice anything different about the guppies as they died? Were they bloated (could be organ failure due to lack of minerals in the water)? Did they lose their color. Did they shimmy/shake? Or did they hang out at the top of the tank occasionally breaking the top of the water. Also what is the water temperature? Guppies enjoy minerals in the water. Since you have a planted tank I would recommend a wondershell being added over adding salts.

Possibly could be Fontinalis antipyretica or possibly christmas moss

Hello, I recently put a power head in my tank to help circulate the water and CO2 at the moment i have a real solid prefilter on it and it gets clogged quickly. The whole it needs to fit on for the inlet may only be about an inch so would the Mini Pre Filter fit on the inlet? I just want something coarser to stop floating plants from getting sucked into the inlet and smaller fry. Thank you,

Thank you! Thats what I aming for is more bushier plants to fill in some spots.

Hello, I was wondering on how to prune/cut back moneywort and Sagittaria. I have a tall tank and the money wort has reached the top (maybe two and a half feet). Do I need to cut it down at the base? Or just somewhere in the middle of the stem (only one of the stems actually have roots growing from it)? Also with the Sag do I just mow it down or do I just cut it near the end of the grass arms? Thank you,

I currently user (for my 20Long) the two bottle DIY setup with the pressure gauges form amazon that were like 20$ (i have two of them one works great by itself the other needed a closeoff valve for help) I run my setup off of Dr. Pepper bottles (they seem to be thicker than other brands) and ive changed them out every so often (usually if i get my hands on 2 more bottles and its time to remix the mixture) I have had the bottles hold over 20PSI (according to the gauges) and be fine. I use 1 to 1 baking soda to water mix the is fed by a 1 to 3 mix of citric acid and water. I close the valves nightly. You can also "halt" the mix by moving the feeding tube from the solution of the citric acid bottle so it doesnt feed the baking soda bottle.