CJs Aquatics

No experience here with this but I think that’s a great idea, I don’t really with my limited fish knowledge see why it wouldn’t work

Perhaps damage from fin nipping rather then actual fin rot? If it is fin rot the meds should prevent it from getting worse if your tank parameters are correct and properly maintenanced, perhaps do a search for some medicated food that helps with fin rot if your looking for more corrective results I’ve had great success with some of Dr. Bassleers foods with my livebearers I can’t speak for Acaras specifically…

Ok so first off, congrats on the awesome fish! sorry to hear they came in struggling, it happens so much in the trade these days. I shared with an individual probably a week ago my personal thoughts on this which are as follows: You are taking a proactive approach to insuring your fish are healthy and happy so I always like to start off by saying I don’t feel like there is a wrong answer in this scenario personally because you are actively taking a role in your fishes health and doing all you can to “try” on there behalf. if I were in your shoes and I have been, I would try to tackle one thing at a time, if the issues are they are skinny and possibly holding parasites or other illnesses I would medicate them fully first then concern myself with there weights after. it’s harder then it sounds because no one wants to see there fish look unhappy or like they are hungry and starving to death. I have personally with different loaches medicated and fed, medicated and water changed, as well as medicated and not fed and medicated and not water changed. What I do now is 2 things. Medication especially if they are Ill is a stressful experience to start with so my first goal is to minimize that stress. Less hours of light, more hides etc. add the appropriate amount of medication then I move on to step two which is monitor. I no longer change water when I run medication unless a necessary situation arises. I monitor the fish closely and if I feel like they need fed I feed live baby brine. It is my understanding live foods move through there systems easier as well as give them something to do and that full feeling. 7 days in I change water and assess my next steps. i also used medicated foods before but I wouldn’t say it’s the best idea with meds in the tank, I’m no expert or scientist but I shared hoping that you may take away something from this experience, I hope it helps and your situation improves. my thoughts are medicate your new fish then fatten them up, or feed live foods while medicating and monitor them and the tank conditions essentially

1st off, congrats on this plan coming together it sounds like it will be an amazing tank/ scape. as to your second question personally if it were me I wound not attach the moss to the dragon stone if I were going to to the wood. My reason is simple, both are seperate elements of the same scape. If you attach the moss to the stone it becomes a focal point over the stone, which nothing is wrong with that if you want the moss to be the focus, if you want the stone to be the focus I would leave it as is and accent it with plants. third question what plant to use on the tree: I used to buy and try literally everything nonstop because I want it all. What I’ve learned is everything grows differently for different people in some regards. Im a big proponent of unless your trying to see if a new plant grows using what you have and are versed in. All of the plants you listed would work and look great just depends on what you like personally the most. As far as some different ones to perhaps try to create that effect it would most likely have to be a floater or a rhizome or a moss(unless I’m not thinking creatively enough). Maybe you could try one of ACO’s carpet plants and get that to work that would be cool to see some crypt parva on top of that tree in my opinion. Maybe some S. Repens would work also. not sure I understand question 4, I’m guessing you mean the tree itself being heavy enough to stay put? If that’s a correct interpretation of the question I would say it couldn’t hurt to apply it to a heavy mat of some sort. question 5, that Ludwigia will definately work to create a cherry blossom effect, perhaps a white sand would help in that portion? Or a white backdrop for that part, but it will definately show any algae that develops, the cabomba will work in the background as well it grows bushy and tall, honestly could work on the tree too if u wanted it to I would imagine. question 6: dragon stone cave is kinda playing around with different formations on a counter top, then secure it once you have an iteration you like. It should be solid in the tank even with the cories but you can use the driftwood or bags or substrate behind it to hold it in place im so excited to see this project when your done, this was just my thoughts on it

@Simply Finno problem you as well

What’s up fish friends, CJ here…. I love these forums, they are informative, fun, and have taught me a lot. I was reading forums and thought maybe it might be fun to play tag. Posted in general discussion because if your anything like me, there’s something fishy on your mind most of the time, let’s talk about it. Tag someone to here something cool that happened with there fish hobby recently, or they are planning or anything. If your tagged and don’t want to participate that’s perfectly ok, not everyone will want to play, or if you read this and weren’t tagged feel free to participate, love hearing what everyone has going on in there fish rooms 🙂 I will start: Recently I acquired a bucket list fish for me (a dragon puffer). I’ve wanted one for years and it’s the first puffer I’ve ever kept. I named him Jabba bc I secretly love Star Wars but that’s another story. In preparation of him arriving, I set up a tank which became my favorite, and one I am most proud of, and has led me to want to redo many of my other tanks, a process which I have started. I’ve really enjoyed watching him he interacts with me almost like a pet dog or cat would. He’s made me want to be an even better fish keeper hence my plan to change almost every tank around (equipment as well). Basically has reinvigorated me in the hobby. With that being said I will tag @Cinnebuns , they have inspired me a lot lately with some of the content they have shared as well.

If your fortunate enough to be able to grow moss well, I don’t think it will be a problem at all. It’s definately one of the more resilient plants hence it being used in aquascapes and different applications worldwide. I wouldn’t think it would be an issue, I have never done it that way before that I can remember but I’ve seen people do amazing things with moss with a little creative thinking…

Good luck!!!! Awesome name by the way, can’t wait to see some updates, love shrimp (not very good at keeping them, but love them) lol

Also have had terrible luck with Apistos, got a pair with an aquabid purchase they were amazing and i fell in love with them but they never breed then the female got sick and didn’t make it, bought 4 more females for the male to choose from and he just passed away randomly smh, I think they need caves, any caves will probably work, I don’t think they need R/O but I’m not positive, I also have very hard water, as I said never got mine to breed yet, but I’m not giving up yet eighter, I just had to chime in on your post to let you know your not alone out there with the Apisto bad luck lol

Generally speaking it’s hard to judge without seeing it, however that being said, to answer your question of can you? it sounds like it would work. What I would personally do in this situation though is wait. I’m a set and forget kind of guy so if these are just gonna grow in the QT tank your in no rush, let them establish till they are good and healthy then propagate, if they are going on display or scape then I would split them, set them, feed them and forget them and watch the magic happen lol if the rhizome is going in different directions I would let it do it’s thing and make a fuller healthier stronger plant to split later when it’s at its peak chance of survival…

Perhaps Blood parrots, convicts, or fire mouth cichlids of similar size I would say should work depending on the temperaments of the ones you already have. I am by no means a cichlid expert so take this advice with a grain of salt but given what I have kept and do know I think this could work if done properly, hope this helps…

Heater helps in my experience but I don’t think it’s necessary, as for your other question, it’s not so much the volume of water but rather the quality. I’ve grown many plants in 2 gallons, but you still need to make sure they have the proper nutrients/ light to grow, and although they will technically never stop trying to grow under the right conditions you might notice them slowing down at that volume once they have taken over, they really only grow based on how much space they have to put it simply… (some can grow up and over and out of tanks) hope this helps a little

Ok I’ll bite, I have a question… I’m redoing a tank for dojo loaches in the next few days, it’s a long overdue project. The way I’m going to set it up is with an undergravel filter, and a deeper sand bed with nutrient layers. Other applications of this have caused my plants to thrive. I’m going to attempt to try some different things to get these mature fish to breed. My question regarding the scape is, what should I plant in it? Lol I think I want this tank to be a single plant tank, possibly runners or rhizome to get a carpet effect of some sort. I’m to lazy to do more stems. They loved hornwort and liked to lay in it so the plant needs to get kind of tall for them to hide in/ play with and must be hardy bc they aren’t very gentle with plants. My initial thoughts are a pink flamingo forest, or perhaps lutea or parva carpet but I don’t think that will reach the height I need. I don’t want to do Val bc I have tanks with that effect but if it’s the winner I will do that, perhaps crypt spiralis instead, maybe red melon or red flame swords or yolo a bunch of tiger lotus or aquarium lilys lol Or if anyone knows something native to dojo loaches in the trade that might work too. Sorry for rambling let me dumb it down: - what single plant is hardy, perhaps from Asia, sends runners or spreads fast, gets pretty tall, and would make an awesome standalone aquarium jungle style aquascape that my loaches will love?

I’m toying around with an idea myself, I have an ugly 10 gallon tank I’m gonna redo… picture this ….sand substrate, tons of bamboo plants growing straight up out of the tank, I got a pack of 6ft bamboo shoots from hobby lobby for cheap I’m gonna cut and make natural caves out of them bc it’s bamboo and it’s hollow, and natural to litter the substrate… the fish will be my red lizard whiptails I think they are called and maybe I will try some shrimp again (I suck with shrimp) needs revision and more plants but since you shared I figured I would share a plan as well…

I’ve kept it and am toying around with the idea of doing a whole tank of it, best tips are sort of basic, root tabs, lighting, nutrients as well as fresh water etc. it did well for me planted in a clay pot within the aquarium the pot had soil in 3/4ths of it and capped with gravel… honestly I think it was beginners luck, when I get it again I’m going to plant it in a kitty litter/ laterite/ aquarium soil/ sand cap deep substrate and see how it does…

I remember that thread, gonna revisit it for reference 😉 truthfully this forum is the best and worse thing that’s ever happened to me lol I’m just starting to figure things out but the world of opportunities and ideas and projects and things I want that it’s inspired is endless…

I love this…….and it looks like I a lot of fun, if you end up doing any of these I would love to see your interpretation, I see mosses, I see different textures and color sands, I see a lot of diy, perhaps some pink flamingo crypts in one of them, perhaps some Snow White Anubias, so much potential…

There are some really cool ideas on this thread, thanks to everyone who shared I’m going to be implementing alot of them myself

I’m sorry to hear that, I’m glad you found out though so you can prevent it in the future as well as raise them more successfully. I’ve had that happen to me before, I changed too much water and actually wrecked my cycle, what a pain that is but a learning experience for sure…

Pull the sword out and dose it seperate from the tank perhaps

Ouch, that’s rough… it’s only fair to share, I just budgeted for 2 weeks to order plants I was looking for, similar situation, it wasn’t that they didn’t have what I wanted, I wanted it be better so it had the best chance of success, fast forward after spending money and making my purchase, (not from ACO) those plants are currently sitting in my water change bucket with a double dose of excel in an attempt (that I don’t think is going to be successful) to battle the BBA that I’m convinced they came with it or at least a start of it because I’ve never in my years seen it in this fish room only in pictures. At least I have the best aquascaped waterchange bucket in the hobby I guess… no plants in the tank lol

i know that feeling, I just can’t ever seem to decide bc I want it all

🤣🤣 I don’t think that hack is a thing, currently have been online plant browsing for a long time now lol

Greenhouse paneling from the hardware store cut to whatever size you want would be one suggestion, never tried on a 29 but some of my smaller tanks use craft mesh lol it’s not glass but it’s cheap, works and allows light in, doesn’t really help with evaporation though, perhaps floating plants and no top is an option depending on the species you keep, I’ve seen some pretty creative tank tops done nicely as well as affordable

I have never heard that one, hmm im actually actively trying to cultivate some green water for some fry tank top offs