Vexus

It kind of looks like "dust bunnies" when it starts. Sometimes I'll see it floating around the tank and the fish will bite it then spit it out, other times it just appears on a rock or plant in a thin layer that gets a little thicker after a day or so. I've also found chunks of it when I move rocks to clean under them, usually there is also remains of an algae wafer mixed in which is why I'm thinking its food related. It starts to float around really easy when I go to clean it, but my gravel vac is a basic one and doesn't always do the best job to suck it up for whatever reason (even the free-floating debris sometimes has issues). I've also tried using a net to sift it out but other than the large chunks the net can't pick up much else and what's left over just attracts to itself and makes a mess after the water settles. I just did a 50-75% water change last sat and I really don't want to do another one because of the bacteria drop it will cause. The only other thing I can think of without buying snails or maybe some shrimp is to use something like a turkey baster and try to get it out, but I don't think that will help with the Montecarlo or Water Sprite it wrapped itself around.

Whatever this is has been building up for a while, I’ll do a large water change and vac a lot of it up but once I refill the tank and everything settles it builds right back up a day or two later. It’s getting tangled in my plants and their to new for me to comfortably remove and attempt to clean them. It also sticks to the gravel so a lot of the time the gravel vac has issue cleaning it and I need to remove portions to clean before putting it back. My theory is it’s being caused by extra food waste from overfeeding (my wife does the night feeding and alot of the time overfeeds). If anyone can help figure this out I’d appreciate it.

Thank you for that answers. It’s exactly what I was wanting in an answer. Straight to the point. Seeing as I have no intention to sell these “hybrids” if they even are then I’ll leave them be. Now about the eggs themselves, can anyone confirm if those are Cory eggs? My biggest reason for asking is because where the eggs are, Iv never seen my Cory’s spend time at. Their always laying under rocks or driftwood. Never “on top” of the filter or top corners of the tank. Honestly I’m really hoping their loaches but as Iv never bread fish before I can’t be sure one way or the other.

So I think my Cory’s are cross breeding. Do to bad luck my 3 groups of Cory have dwindled down to 3 singles. An albino, emerald and bronze. Today I found what I think are eggs in several places in the tank, originally I thought maybe my hillstreams layed them but after searching fish eggs I’m thinking it was the Cory’s. Iv searched around a little on google and most people have the same reaction that honestly I don’t find helpful. So I’m going to ask the question and I just want a straight logical answers without the usual “don’t do it” response please. THIS IS NOT A TROLL QUESTION PLEASE DONT TREAT IT LIKE ONE. Why is it bad to let Cory’s crossbreed? Is it dangerous? Will they kill everything in the tank? Or is it just some kind of interracial hatred issue being projected onto fish for whatever reason? Please just give me a straight answer and not a simple “it’s bad and gross, don’t do it” reaction.

3-24-22 Todays post is a good one and concerning for me. The good part is I’ve been planning to get a trio of hillstream loaches (hopping to get 2 females) to deal with some brown algae that’s been growing on my plants and glass. What’s been stopping me the size of loaches at my lfs, there’s nothing wrong with them I was just concerned if they were to small the dwarf gourami might bully them. And the other lfs nearby sell them for $16-$22 as apposed to the $10 at my regular store. But with the slow increase of algae on my Anubis’s I decided to get my loaches. Obviously I was gonna go to my regular place but they were out (unlike every other week I go in lol) so I had to try other stores in the surrounding area. The others had some but at a 50-100% price increase there is no way I’d be comfortable with that. So I waited a week and called my lfs and guess what? They had a fresh delivery with good sized hillstreams at a preferable price. So here are my new additions getting drip acclimated. After a good 3 hours I dropped them in and they decided they wanna live behind the filter lol. It’s hard to see but I could only find one at the time of taking this pic. More good news is my red dwarf lilly Bulb has sprouted. I think that looks like a root, anyone else able to identify if it’s a root or stem? Now to the more concerning news. I think one of my fish may have a fungal infection. As far as I can tell it’s fungal but I’d like more opinions. As far as treatment, can I treat the entire tank or is a quarantine tank required?

Lol it’s great how everyone comments on the wood looking like something. My wife thinks its a bear and my mom thinks it’s a monster fish. It was such a pain to find it and it’s so big that it can’t be positioned any other way but I think It was a great find lol. Now I’m dealing with fish being brats, one of my gourami was staring at me for like 20 seconds then moved up to the Monte Carlo and just pulled a leaf off and spit it at me. I don’t think he likes it lol. I’ll try that suggestion with my next plant order. Luckily I’m able to plan for my deliveries so that work isn’t an issue but with the status updates being delayed and our mail gets delivered anywhere from 1-4pm makes to easy to miss if I’m not monitoring it constantly.

3-18-22 SECOND POST TIME!!!!!! So, I got in some new plants today, not happy with that but let me explain why. First of I'd like to say my.... less than happy reaction has NOTHING to do with aquarium co-ops quality or efficiency. Just like last time my shipment got here nice and fast (3 days from order to delivery, I think the first one was 2 days). No, what miffed me was the postal service. So quick info dump, I live in Las Vegas, in a nice non-gated housing area with communal mailboxes... in the desert.... in the early stages of spring.... on a 76+ degree day with no shade or overcast cause its, you know, a desert. I think you can all see where I'm going with this. Trust me that metal mailbox at the end of the street that spends every day in direct sunlight is not the most ideal place to put moist plants inside. BUT I'll admit I can't fully be mad at them on account they didn't actually know what they were delivering, but that doesn't change the fact that last time my plants were dropped off at my front door on my SHADED porch. Luckily, I had been keeping an eye on my shipment every hour or 2 for the past couple days but that doesn't change the fact that package felt like a pizza box sitting on my lap when grabbing some takeout. So here are my newest additions, Water Sprite, Monte Carlo, Dwarf and a Tiger Lotus bulb. Now the Sprite was in fairly good condition, a little banged up but I was expecting that so really no complaints. Tiger lotus lost a leaf but still happy, although I'm not sure if it suffered from the heat any. The Monte Carlo is what got me though, again nothing wrong on Co-Ops part, but I definitely could tell that it was suffering from that heat with some wilting. I'll be informing Co-Ops customer service INCASE it something goes wrong but I'm hoping for the best. Oh, and the dwarf lotus was.... well, it's a nut in a bag of dirt. I'd be amazed if the mail service managed to ruin that lol. So, like last time I prepped my plants and watched a few tutorials on how to plant these just to make sure I didn't mess up. Picked where I wanted each plant to go and here is the end result. Water got a little foggy from all the movement lol. So changes, my air stones have been bugging me with their placement lately so I took the opportunity to move them to the back row so they wont take away from the plants. The bulk of the Monte Carlo I planted on the front left with a few sprigs that fell off when cleaning it on the left side, assuming it grows well ill move clippings around for a nice carpet and also I may attach some to the driftwood for a possible cave curtain effect (the planting tutorial told me it can be attached to things and doesn't have to be in the substrate so I thought that would be a nice possibility). The sprite, I cut in half and planted left and right as well with one half in the background and the other middle. The left half was the more banged up and a stem was about 95% severed so I clipped that and will let it float around, like Cory suggests in one of his videos, and see if it does anything interesting. And the bulbs, you guessed it, left and right lol. The Dwarf is front left with the tiger lotus mid far right. On a side note, anyone with experience with bulb plants can you take a look at this and tell me if I planted them correctly? And for those of you with a good eye for detail, you may have noticed my Barteri is missing a leaf. Here's what happened with that, so I come home one day and notice one of its leaves has a big dark spot on it. I didn't know what it was so I let it be but kept an eye on it (should have taken a picture), a couple days later the entire leaf looks like it was boiled. No holes or dissolving or anything, it just looked like cooked spinach but kept its shape and it was the only leaf to do that, so I don't know if that counts as melting and the rhizome is still healthy. Any thoughts on that? I'm not 100% sure if I did it right, the dwarf said to just set it on top and the tiger about halfway into the gravel. I'm also not sure if I positioned the dwarf lotus correctly, does the round end go face up or the pointed (the rounded side on the tiger had the leaves growing out so I based it on that)? Everything planted today got a root tab under it (even the bulbs) and for the most part I think it's going to look good once it's all established. I'm really looking forward to the tiger lotus when it gets bigger, even with how small it is now I love the coloring on it. Oh, and before I forget the most important new addition to the tank. Murphy is now chillin on the left corner opposite my cardinal tetra lol. So, thoughts? Opinions? Did I cause bad feng shui with my placement?

So due to popular opinion it looks like I should go with a more traditional pressurized system. If that's the better option then I'm happy to take the advice, it's just possibly going to take a little longer to get everything. So, time to list what I'll need... 1. Regulator/Solenoid 2. Diffuser 3. Check valve 4. CO2 tank (I assume 5lb would be best?) I know the forum guidelines say not to "discuss other aquarium related companies both positively or negatively" but links to other sites like amazon and such ARE allowed so I assume that means I'm allowed to ask for reasonable brands/suggestions on what equipment I should buy (honestly, I think I know what they mean by discussing companies, but I don't want to assume and be wrong). So, if anyone has a suggestion for good quality at a not so high ($100+ per item) price, I'm open to hearing them. I've looked at a few regulators so far but it's hard to tell with reviews seeing as for every couple people that say it's great, there some that say those people are nuts and it's a horrible purchase.

So finally, after planning and saving constantly hearing "the tank looks crappy" (love you wife!!!). I have taken the final step into starting my planted tank. I decided to post this mostly as a way for me to look back on what I've done right, wrong and completely crash and burned with my attempts at something I have never done before. Also, I figured "hey maybe other people might be interested to see how it's going in my new "official" hobby.", so ya there's that lol. I'm actually starting this a little late as I began this slow process a while back so it's going to have some backlog. ANYWAY, ITS PICTURE TIME!!So here we have my original setup, standard big name pet store style (I'm sure you've all been there lol). Unrealistic plants, big fake rock with attached bubbler unnatural looking gravel. Prety basic lol. Oh, also please don't take offence to anyone how has a setup with similarities, these comments only refer to how I see MY tanks original look. Now, some time has passed, I've seen what my tank COULD be and decided to make a change. I like to call this "The Wasteland". As you can see, I already made some noticeable changes. Fancy new internal filter, new gravel better suited for planting, no more blue plants, that big ugly rock is gone, a nice black painted background and you can't really see it in the picture but that big ugly hood is gone and replaced with a nice glass top (took 4-5 months for that top to arrive in the mail, to anyone else who gets a glass top for a 36 bow front, I hope you have a better time than I did getting it) and a fancy Bluetooth plant light that normally costs $150+ that I got for $50 unopened in the box (very proud for finding that deal). You'll also notice we have some new additions to the neighborhood as well as others who "moved out" unfortunately. And once more time moves on and the new era has begun in the tank. With the addition of my overpriced grapewood that took SOOOOO long to get to sink due to how thick it was, a couple new rocks from the same people who sold me that grapewood and 2 healthy Anubias from our friends at aquarium co-op. The only had 2 types in stock at the time of purchase so I got a nice big Barteri on the left and a happy little Gold Coin on the right (feel free to point out if I got them mixed up). Thats really everything summed up so far. I don't know if I'm supposed to add a new reply to this topic or just edit the original post with updates. I've never actually "blogged" before now lol. But I'll be adding something later on when the next notable development happens lol.

Out of curiosity, was there a reason you were directed to a pressurized system instead? I've been watching a few videos and stuff about the DIY and it looks like if I use the baking soda and citric acid recipe it counts as "pressurized". I'm just asking in case there was some negative info I missed about this.

So here is my dilemma... I'm looking to get a CO2 system for my tank now that I have started adding plants (it will be more than 2, the others are on the way lol) but I'm not sure what size to buy. I'm currently looking at a DIY system (I guess I'd call it a "hybrid DIY system"). I'm sure most of you have seen them, a tank with all the parts needed for a CO2 but you add the ingredients instead of getting them charged. Anyway, my options are a 2.5-liter tank or a 4-liter tank. I know obviously the 4 would be best due to how long it would last but, because of money I was wondering if the 2.5 would be adequate for my 36-bow front without having to constantly refill it after a couple weeks or so? If anyone has any experience with this situation or knowledge id appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Pure RO, it's funny you mentioned that because I've been researching to change my tank over to a planted and am hoping to add shrimp to it, but today while reading posts and watching a few new videos such online I learned it's good to mix RO and treated tap to keep the minerals.

It doesn't look fuzzy or anything as far as I can tell, just looks like the scales are missing. And it's only the head that I'm seeing it. There are 3 dwarfs in the tank with a few various tetras, mollies and corys. (I forgot to mention it's a 36-gallon bowfront if that matters) One of the other gourami's just got over a case of fin rot a little over a month ago which was around the time I started using RO water for my changes instead of treated tap water.

So I just noticed this today, and he was fine yesterday when I did my weekly water change , as you can see in the picture his heads white and it kinda looks like the scales are missing and it looks like he may be developing fin rot. I have API melafix. But I’m not sure what the issue with the scales is if anyone could help me identify it. My known parameters are… ph 6.8-7 78 degrees Fahrenheit <0.02 ppm ammonia I but my water from a local fish store cause Nevada water is awful so it’s just neutral reverse osmosis water.

First off, I want to thank that all of you for your advice and suggestions. They were great and gave me some really good ideas. But after doing a little more research and talking it over with my wife, seeing as this is our first truly planted tank and first-time housing neocaridina shrimp (or any shrimp really), we have decided to pay the extra amount and go with CaribSea Eco-Complete red substrate (although the bag says eco-planted). I know completely left field on that decision lol. I'm surprised we came to that decision in the end myself. I may come back to a sand/dirt tank again in the future after i get a better feal of what I'm doing but i think this is the safest path for me as a first attempt. Again, I want to thank you guys for taking the time to make suggestions and give advice and seeing as this was my first thread on the forum, I'm glad to know if I ever need a little help I can ask and you all and others will be there to help. Now I'm off on my next adventure of finding a good co2 regulator that isn't too expensive but a high quality lol.

At this point I really think I'll go with the medium grade coal slag. It looks good, its cost effective and my wife likes it lol. As far as the dirt I'll use, it's a toss-up between a miracle grow organic dirt or just plain nothing special about it dirt and add some root tabs to it.

Thank you for the advice, that coal slag definitely looks nice, originally, I was avoiding a black or white cap option so fish waste wouldn't be so prominent, but I normally do weekly water changes (with the planted I imagine it'll be every other week at most if at all) so I could just make it a day to do a light skim over the rocks to get any excessive buildup that doesn't sink below. Making a natural looking tank is also very appealing to me (which is why I was considering the silica), so if I go with a natural look, would sandstone have the same issue with diatom? I know sandstone contains silica I just wanna double check to make sure if it's the same thing or juts looks similar due to a shared trait. And if so, would the plants be able to counteract the diatom like other algae? Also, as far as the bonsai lava gravel, I've been having trouble finding a supplier, everywhere I look they either don't have it, it's too big for what I'm looking for or it's not very cost effective ($14 for 2 lbs. is not ideal). As it stands the slag looks like the best option at $10 for a 50 lb bag at the tractor supply co. OH! I forgot to mention I'm also thinking of doing a dry start method for some carpeting plants to incase that also matters on what cap I use. I don't think it would though.... And in case it matters, my cleanup crew was going to involve corys, shrimp (ideally a self-sustaining cherry family with an amano or 2 added) and a few hillstream loaches. I'm on the fence about adding snails.

Hello, so I'm attempting my first planted tank and I'd like to do a combination of dirt with a coarse silica sand or maybe a bonsai lava grit cap over it. The tank I'm using is a 36-gal Topfin bowfront 30.7 in L x 15.7 in W x 22.2 in H (77.9 x 39.8 x 56.3 cm). My question is how much of each substrate should I use? I know the 1 Lb to 1 gal rule, as well as adding an extra inch for planted tanks but because I'm mixing 2 substrates, I was hoping to get a more precise ratio. Any advice from someone who has done something similar or just has more knowledge in general about this would be greatly appreciated.