Tarsas

@Biotope Biologist So effectively dwarf sag probably would do too well submerged, I take it? It’s going to only probably be SG 1.008 or so for the puffer. That’s the magic number I’m reading everywhere.

@OnlyGenusCaps Yeah, it also gets pretty tall. I definitely would start with a single plant and experiment and see if it can really be controlled. My choices are somewhat limited because the plant has to be able to grow at least partially submerged at all times and the particular grass I went for will grow well in lower marshlands where water is usually present throughout high and low tide. I suppose it would be prudent to see if it feeds solely from the roots or if it can feed from both. It’s a grass, though, so I’d wager the roots.

@Zenzo I certainly will. It’s a plant from where I grew up so it’s very nostalgic to see it. I definitely plan on trying it asap if I can find it tall enough to stick out above the waterline. I may have to grow it out in a pot or bucket at first if I end up with small, short plants. I read it can only be totally submerged for about 12 hours, so the leaves will need to be above the waterline at least partially. Good to know about the salt crystals. @Patrick_G I read a report that mentioned that Dwarf Sag is found naturally in certain brackish environments, so I figured I’d get that and acclimate it to salinity slowly and see if it makes it. It didn’t mention if it grows submerged or emerged in those environments, but it’s quite hardy so I’m betting it might take. I thought I might try Duckweed since it literally can’t be killed and Java ferns but I’m not holding my breath on that.

Hi Guys, Had an idea for adding Chordgrass to a brackish setup I am getting for my Figure 8 Puffer. I realize it grows quite tall, but that's not really an issue as long as it doesn't seize control of the entire tank. Anyone have any experience with this type of plant? It is salt tolerant and will do fine partially submerged.;

Oddly enough, the first of the tank dwellers to give birth were the blue Cherry Shrimp. Spotted a baby hiding out under all the rock work. I was worried about not having enough cover but I guess we’re doing fine.

6 pumps per day of carbon sounds like a lot. Carbon actually decreases key nutrients in plants (which is why C02 high tech tanks need lots of nutrients and ferts). I believe this is because it increases the amount of nutrients they need because they grow much faster. When I first got in the hobby, I thought Seachem Flourish Excel (carbon additive) was an all-in-one and I was dosing it to my tank daily thinking it would stimulate plant growth. My plants actually started looking very unhealthy and dying back, which I believe was because I was basically increasing carbon, which causes deficiencies of key nutrients. Go easy on the carbon and see if the plants stop dying. Good source: https://cfaes.osu.edu/news/articles/higher-carbon-dioxide-levels-prompt-more-plant-growth-fewer-nutrients

So a dual stage is the way to avoid dumping too much gas in the event of an equipment malfunction or an end of bottle dump. Got it. Thank you!

So the regulator can’t fail and dump the gas abruptly regardless Of tank fill? I don’t mind changing my tanks before there’s an issue

Hey guys, I have been looking at CO2 to get that nice professional “carpet” look and be able to grow things like Monte Carlo better and I’ve seen many threads on many forums where the regulator fails and dumps everything in the tank gassing the fish. This would obviously be very bad and I would feel terrible over killing a living creature in such a gruesome way as I try to treat my fish in the most humane way possible. I’m looking for an emergency shut off type valve that can automatically shut off the line if a certain amount of CO2 starts to go through it over a certain set threshold. Does anyone know of anything like this? Or perhaps there’s an alternative method someone knows of that I’m not aware of to safeguard against this?

I really haven't had an issue. I do have some tannis I think because my water is tinted brown, but Missouri water is ridiculously hard (like 50.8 MG/L dissolved calcium and 391 MG/L TDS) and comes out of the tap at like 8.8 PH, so a little tannis softening it definitely isn't hurting anything. I used potting soil mixed with compost which I was somewhat worried about because of the excess decaying waste, but it seems like that helped me out a lot because it jumpstarted the bacteria I was adding and I had the nitrogen cycle going in no time at all. I think it just kinda depends on which soil you use. I actually have seen some air pockets in the substrate but I've never had any issues with the dreaded anaerobic bacteria pockets. Those bacteria are vital in nature for breaking down nitrites/nitrates.

You want to start as flat as possible with as little external factors influencing your tank as you can manage. It’s just easier that way. And yes like everyone else has mentioned, use something like a colander to add water. Otherwise you will disturb your substrate. Any filter or anything you use with a high flow, make sure you have a rock or something there to protect the sand.

Here’s a few of my observations. My 55 is dirted and it has worked out well so far. You kinda have to use sand, because you need a solid cap for the potting soil. None of it can be openly exposed to the water or it will clump and float around your tank. It’s clay based for the most part. Here’s what worked for me. 1). Make sure you use ORGANIC POTTING SOIL. You don’t want to introduce excess nitrates into the system by using regular potting soil. It appears you did that, but I just wanted to reiterate that for people who may read this thread in the future. 2). I did a two and a half inch potting soil bed and a one and a half inch sand bed. In hindsight, I wish I would’ve done about three inches of soil and two inches of sand to get the “deep sand bed” effect that, if done correctly, can make an aquarium use all of its own waste products, with oxygen being the end game. I haven’t noticed any issues with soil suffocating but I will certainly notify if I do. I planted an Amazon Sword and it greened up in like a week once it’s roots found that soil and it’s growing nicely. 3). You aren’t really able to gravel vac something like this because you don’t want to break up the sand cap too much. You’ll mix it all up and have a soil-y mess, so if you’re heavy on aesthetics, this may not be the substrate for you. 4). Don’t dig into the sand cap too much. Push plants down into it with planting tweezers or your hands for bigger plants. You really don’t have to worry too much about disturbing the cap if you’re careful and you have a deep enough sand layer. Just don’t dig it out to put a rock down in it or something. Make sure you are pushing anything you put in down into the sand so it compacts that layer and keeps the soil in place. 5). As for mixing, you have to have the sand as the layer directly above the soil. Gravel isn’t going to cap it. If you layer the sand on the soil and then do whatever you want above that, you won’t have any issues. You could experiment with a gravel layer between the soil and sand but you have to have a lot of sand to cap that. I literally just used play sand from Lowe’s and Miracle Grow Organic Potting soil. It cost me $20 to do a 55 gallon and I had substrate left over. In terms of value, I am of the opinion that dirted substrate for planted tanks is the best possible option. I rely on the plants for my aesthetic more than the substrate though.

Sorry to hear that! Been following this thread. Perhaps you can temporarily move the fry to another container and use a fish in the container that will voraciously eat the hydra? I raise Mollies and let's just say you never have to worry about any other pests than snails in a tank with mollies. They love some good hydra. On a side note, I'm pretty sure my largest molly has developed a taste for snail because I cannot figure out who is emptying the contents of the pest snail shells in my tank.

Thought it was interesting the way this plant attached itself. I rooted it initially, but I think someone (like a Molly) broke it off, and now it’s just floating, anchored by this one root which it has in the sand. This tank is kind of a “let nature go” tank, rather than an attempt at Aquascaping.

Hey Guys, I’m Aaron from Kansas City, and this is my 55 Gallon tank! I started this tank as a live breeder/community tank. I actually bought the tank and stand used from FB marketplace. It came with hoods and lights but those no longer worked, so I went with the Nicrew lights off of Amazon for now. Down the road, I want to get the Fluval one Aquarium Co Op sells. The tank and stand were both from the early 2000s so I resealed the tank as an extra precaution even though I don’t think it was leaking. It’s definitely built very sturdy though with very thick glass, which I think a lot of older tanks were. I am a few months in on this hobby and I enjoyed my 20 a lot but it quickly ran out of space for what I wanted to do, so I decided to jump to a 55. It’s large enough that I have some room to breed and keep what I want in the numbers I want. I enjoy live breeders a lot. They are easy to keep, very active, come in some great colors, and I greatly enjoy watching them interact with their environment, especially my voracious mollies, one of which I am 70% certain has taken a liking to pest snails. My largest Molly used to be in my 20 gallon tank, which had a decent sized adolescent pest snail in it. The next day, I came and found the shell of said snail on the substrate entirely empty. Anyways, I also have a Blue Swordtail Guppy trio for breeding. If I get some good fry, I may sell them to local pet stores. I have a breeder box for isolation but at this stage, I am not too worried about saving fry. I like to use nature to “self regulate” my aquariums as much as possible, which is why I enjoy heavily planted tanks. I personally prefer natural looking tanks without decorations or plastic plants for my own setups. I like to mimic real aquatic environments, within reason. Obviously if this were a real river bed, it wouldn’t have the rocks stacked so nearly, but I think it still looks reasonably natural. The community aspect of this tank will hopefully allow the adult fish to do population control on the fry so I won’t run into the issue of an overstocked tank and I will isolate a few fry for breeding purposes. Started her out with an organic potting soil base and capped it with play sand. Spent $20 at Lowe’s for a richly nutritious substrate with a natural looking cap material. Added some Fritz Turbostart and let the filter run for a few days. The first inhabitants were actually my three 24K White Cloud Minnows, which came from my friend’s shrimp tank. He was having some water issues and wanted to thin out his inhabitants to reign in the problem. I still need to get a couple more to form a proper school. Added my large Black Molly female next, and went and bought her some friends the next day. I’m up to four females and two males to keep the harassment down (though they tend to favor the largest female). Then, I added my Blue Swordtail Guppies (2 females and one male). I have an Albino Cory cat that I inherited from a new fishkeeper that bought one too many fish for his 10 gallon. His friend died spontaneously so I probably need to go get a few more albinos, but I’m not adding additional fish until I am sure everything is running smoothly, cycle wise. I’m in the process of growing a guppy grass hideout for fry and shrimp among the rocks. I have one Green Jade Neocardinia that ended up here because I accidentally poured him outside in the grass during a water change when I was trying to catch my molly for transfer (lesson learned on moving driftwood and moss into a bucket carelessly). I frantically picked him up and impulse tossed him into the 55. I’ve seen him one time, so I know he’s still alive. Shrimp are great at hiding. I will be adding some strong, good color Blue Velvet Shrimp I am buying from a local hobbyist this weekend. I’m going to avoid snails for now, since I am pretty sure the 55 is already getting pest snails from the plants and I may decide to introduce an Assassin later (because really I just think they are the coolest thing, I realize you can control pest snails without them and pest snails can even be beneficial as Cory said in various videos, but this is a snail that eats snails, how cool is that?). He’d definitely make a snack out of any Nerite I put in the 55. I expect the guppies and mollies to breed like rabbits and I expect to see some breeding action from the shrimp once my plant cover grows to the jungle-esque levels I like. I am new at this, but I have read a lot and believe that I can use the tank inhabitants to manage their own populations. I am not concerned if the guppies mass breed, because the mollies should theoretically handle the excess (and handle their own excess) and I will save the few fry I want to play around with. I am not too worried about Shrimp breeding out of control, as the fish will help maintain that balance and shrimp have a much lower bioload and act as tank cleaners, so I don’t think I will ever have to worry about an overpopulation there, but I’m still pretty new at this. Ignore the disorganized plants, I am still growing them up and getting them to the right size so I can “aquascape” them. The grasses and the hornwort and such will probably be rearranged. Not sure if I will be changing things often enough to have tons of interesting updates, but I will post some progress as the plants grow and I introduce new things. Can’t wait to see what fish come out of this live breeder experiment. I welcome any and all advice. (Ignore the brown leaves, I just like to give the plants a couple weeks to root and perk up from the shock of the initial planting/transfer from the store before I trim)