sairving

I have new driftwood leaching tannins right now but I also have a small bag of aquasoil under pool filter sand. The water is being buffered a bit by the aquasoil for sure. I have heard that driftwood can help. Maybe it depends on the type and how much is in the tank?

The water will be tannin stained from the granules. Not sure if you like tannin stained water. If my water wasn't liquid rock, I'd attempt a blackwater tank.

Fluval peat granules generally drop my pH from 8.4 to around 8. It's not much but it helps.

Yeah, I tried acid buffer first. I didn't realize you have to add it everyday or water parameters may not stay stable. Then I read the directions and found out I needed the alkaline buffer too. If you read the alkaline buffer instructions, they only talk about adding it to tanks with RO water. Then it turns into a bit of an experiment trying to get the right mix. Even with both products, I could never get the ph to stabilize. Maybe someone else on the forum has been successful using both buffers in hard water. I had calcium deposits on top of the tank, down the sides and on the stand. I have to clean the 5 gallon and will probably need 5 gallons of vinegar lol.

The peat moss has to be changed way more than the internet says with hard water. I've used fluval peat granules before. Instructions say to change every 3 months but I had to change them every month.

My well water is stupidly hard as well. I will never keep tetras because of it. My Bettas have never had any issues. Like you, stem plants just don't grow. In fact, lots of plants melt on me. The most expensive plant that melted was bucephalandra. Moss is also a no go. Aquasoil only buffers a short time and peat kind of helps. I've tried seachem acid and alkaline buffer. That didn't work either. I usually throw in Indian almond leaves and adler cones. It helps a tiny bit. Rimmless tanks are a terrible idea when you have hard water. Mineral deposits end up everywhere. Its the main reason I moved my betta from a rimmless 5 gallon to a 10 gallon with a rim. What have I learned? Just go with it and experiment. Distilled water can also be helpful. I usually add some during a water change. My goal with the new tank is to create a planted tank using nothing but low light, hard water tolerant plants.

I may leave a few lilly pads to see if they flower. I just moved it into the new tank and used the same light from the 5 gallon. Now, I think the tank is more lowlight than medium light.

Louie's new tank is running well. The driftwood is leaching tannins. My water has a nice tannin stained color. If I didn't have liquid rock coming put of the faucet, I would actually attempt a blackwater tank. Alas, I can only replicate the look. Today, I made a major change to my lighting schedule. Normally, I leave the light on for a solid 8 hours. I have been reading multiple threads about lighting siestas and decided to give it a try. I'd like to enjoy my tank for a bit in the morning and later into the evening. Yesterday, I was plant shopping online because my lfs was out of anubias coffefolia and crypt wendtii. Marcus fish tanks is having a sale and shipping is reasonable. I ordered anubias, a pot of green c. wendtii, and 3 mystery crypts. I've struggled with crypts in the past but figured I'd give them another try.

I have a dwarf aquarium lily that only seems to send growth to the surface of the tank. All the leaves grow to the surface right away. The plant has plenty of light and nutrients. I don't mind a few lily pads but don't want them taking over the top of the tank. Should I be trimming them off? If I do that will it stop sending growth straight to the surface?

I moved stuff around today in the tank. I'm thinking about getting rid of the random hardscape in the middle. Also, I need to figure out where the anubias is going to go. The aponogeton is now in the back with the dwarf aquarium lily. I'm thinking the anubias will go on the left by the water sprite. More anubias for the right side and try some crypts again?

Louis's new tank has really started to clear up. My plan for this afternoon or evening is to rearrange some of the plants and rocks. I had to work at 4 am. I'm kind of tired right now. Need a nap first lol. Right away, I'm not really happy with the HOB. The Forza 5-15 would not sit properly on the rim. I switched it of for the finnex pure 7. I'm sure the finnex would fit perfectly on a rimless tank. Also, I had to use a sponge and baffle the output. The forza was quieter as well. After plants, the next thing on my list is a new filter. Not sure what filter I'll go with.

Today was tank upgrade day. My friend helped me this afternoon. It went faster than it world have gone if it was just me. I put the entire small bag of aquasoil on the bottom of the tank. That was capped with a lot of pool filter sand. Lesson learned from both previous tanks, make sure your substrate is deep enough. Pretty sure there's about 3 inches right now. I added some mermaid weed and corkscrew val. Not sure if they'll make it, but I'm going to try. The tank will probably be rearranged over the next 2 weeks and I need more plants. We'll see how things settle in over the next month. We rinsed the sand but it's still a little cloudy.

I'm so sorry for your loss. My grandma died about a month ago and it sucks. Sitting with her in hospice was the hardest thing I've ever done. Finding surprise fish tanks sounds like fun. Take it as a sign. What were your dad's favorite fish? Maybe a tank with his favorite fish?

People in my area are either on city water or a private well. My lfs will ask people if they have city water or well water. Depending on the answer, employees will then direct people towards or away from certain fish. The internet isn't always too going to say, "Neon tetras do not thrive in well water. Especially hard well water." Which, if you have well water around here, it's going to be hard.

I had a bit of free time this afternoon and decided look for a small bag of fluval stratum. Everyone is out of stock. Then I looked online, Amazon had the large bags only. I was able to find a small bag of Brightwell Aquatics planted substrate. It should be here Thursday. Even my LFS only had large bags. They were also out of the 1 liter bags of UNS controsoil. Pool filter sand was the next thing on my list to locate. I bought a 50 pound bag from Ace Hardware. Its being shipped to the store. Now comes the fun part, planning the scape.

Cost has been a big part of trying to figure out what to use for substrate. I used aquasoil in a 3 gallon tank because it was so small. The 5 gallon has flourite and its alright but the cost for a 10 gallon is more than I want to spend. The sand and a small bag of fluval stratum could work well. If I didn't need to get my fish in the tank on the same day, I would try a dirted tank.

Crypts have always died on me. Doesn't matter if they are in aquasoil or inert substrate.

After the last round of maintenance on my 5.5 gallon 'rimless" tank, I decided to make my life easier and buy a rimmed tank. I spend most of my time trying to remove hardwater deposits from the outside of the tank. I bought a 10 gallon this weekend, picked up a tank lid, and found a nice piece of driftwood at my LFS. The sponge filter and Aquatop forza 5-15 HOB will be transferred over to the new tank. I'm going to start running the tank with my finnex planted plus clip. We'll see how things go for a few months. If the tank needs a bigger filter or a different light, I'll switch them out then. I'm currently deciding what to use for substrate right now. The 5 gallon has seachem flourite red. I'm not super thrilled with it, but it's loaded with beneficial bacteria. I could mix it with Brightwell Aquatics FlorinVolcanit Rio Escuro-F or I could buy pfs. I'm not sure what I want to do yet. I would like to put most of my funds towards planting this tank as heavily as possible right from the start. This is why I'm leaving more towards pfs at the moment. I'm even mulling over getting a small clean-up crew. Maybe some pygmy corydoras. Louie the betta could care less about his nerite snail roomie. I'm hoping he'd be okay with a few bottom feeders.

Thanks! I just ordered a tank for curbside pickup. Now the only thing I have to hunt down is a 20 inch versa top. Everyone seems to be out of stock in the area. It's just the 20 inch size too. Maybe this is a good time to try a dyi lid.

Awesome! I didn't realize Aquarium Co-op sold this light. I went back to look to see if anyone with a 10 gallon or larger left reviews on Amazon. Which would be fine, if people actually left helpful reviews. I'll go take a look at the reviews. Nice! What are the tall plants?

Currently, I'm using a finnex planted plus clip on my 5.5 gallon tank. Within the next month or two, I will be upgrading to a 10 gallon. Just waiting for the next sale at Petco. I have a few plants the require medium light and worry that my current light won't provide enough light for a 10 gallon tank. My dream light is a Fluval Plant light but I really can't see spending that much on a light right now. Even the current price on Finnex lights seem high. The fluval aquasky and the Finnex Planted Plus HLC currently cost the same. Has anyone used a finnex planted plus clip on a 10 gallon? If i'm buying a new light, would a fluval Aquasky have a high enough par rating?

I'm pretty sure the color of tea has something to do with the oxidation process. https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1661-the-science-of-tea Do some research on blackwater tanks. You'll learn what aquarium safe botanicals are used. The other thing you can if you don't want to add botanicals to the tank, is boil Adler cones and other recommended botanicals. Scoop them out, let the water cool, then bottle the water. You'll can add tannins whenever you want then. Lucky

That's only if you use Earl Grey or English breakfast tea.

I try not to go on tea rants but sometimes they just happen lol.

That's what I'm leaning toward right now. If I need to get the next size-up HOB later, I can. I do have a finnex pure-7 as a backup HOB. It's a little bigger, but it has a tendency to be noisy.