Mmiller2001

Only to breed. With a slow transition down to brackish waters I assume. I'll fall back on 0dGH. Have to have it for osmo regulation. Might also check on just how much potassium chloride is going into the water. Do you dechlorinate your water?

Don't know, they don't list the ingredients. And think of it as a vitamin supplement. The water needs GH And there's your salt source. Pretty sure that's swapping Ca and Mg with Na.

And to be doubly sure, do you have a water softener on your house?

Okay, I'm going with the others. Need to raise GH. I'm surprised the fish aren't dead at 0dGH. I would imagine the Snails are kept, at the store, with much more GH. You plop them in and they can't handle the degree change in GH. Wonder Shell isn't going to cut it. GH is both Calcium and magnesium, not just calcium. When you raise GH, don't lift it more than 1.5 degrees in 24 hours. I would shoot for 5 degrees.

Some boil them a few minutes. Shouldn't effect pH that much. PH is not something I worry about. Keep the right GH and KH and all will be fine.

Are the tanks new?

What's the substrate and how old is it?

Enough ambient lighting can be troublesome. If possible, try to shade the tank as much as you can. I ramp up in 30 minutes and ramp down in 30 minutes. My CO2 is on 2 hours prior to lights on and off 1 hour prior to lights off.

Your photo period is too short. With CO2 injection, 8 hours is pretty standard. Those plants are struggling and that's most likely the cause of the BBA. See how the healthy new growth is algae free? The plants are pumping all it's limited energy into new growth. All these constant changes are are causing instability. Make a change to 1 thing, maybe 2 and stick with it. Watch only the new growth, the old growth will not recover as the plant will reprogram to the new conditions and shed old growth. This is true for slow growing plants also. Slow growing plants should be placed in shade from the higher light plants. It can be difficult to grow both when higher light is needed. But it can be done. Increase water changes to 50% weekly. Stop deep gravel vacuuming and try to get water turnover up to 5x to 10x water volume. Nutrients do not cause algae, so make sure you have enough. This includes micros. Don't rely on NO3 as an indicator, know NPK and Fe. Know the ppm you are dosing. This helps alot so you can emulate what others are doing. I would discourage the use of Glut, hydrogen peroxide is safer and can be targeted or used as a dip. How do you measure CO2? What's the GH and KH of the tank? Using tap water? Do you test TDS? To answer a question above; what is poor water quality? I define this by saying, it's everything in the water that I didn't put there. It is not NO3 levels. NO3 is nothing more than a nutrient. It's soluble and insoluble organics; byproducts from nitrification and waste from metabolism. The only way to remove this stuff is mechanically. 1 example would be...water changes. I've recently read a forum post that's changed my whole thinking and I encourage you to take a minute and read it. Some top notch planted tank guys here. My best advice, don't fight the BBA, get the plants healthy and plant more of them. I guess links to other forums and information is a no go here. I can PM it too you at your request.

I run one, definitely helps keep water clearer. If it zaps a few bugs, bonus.

I would use their pool filter sand. Just swapped mine. My light makes it a bit more pink per my settings, but it not actually that pinkish

I'll do a minimum of 50% water changes and they will be done every 7th day. I'm going to front load Macros starting next week. I definitely want this to be less work. I pulled out the CO2 reactor, they are great but it dropped head pressure a bit. I also dropped CO2 in half and dropped light by 40%. Outside of ramp up and ramp down, peak hours are pretty close to white light.

I was thinking he staggered Trident and mini Trident to build the effect. Never saw that log once 😂.

Attach wood parallel to the back wall or have the wood perpendicular or just protruding at some angle?

100%, PM me the details.

I have my eye on an African Water Fern.

I'm here to inspire needless money spending! 😆 Okay, I'm not crazy then. Yeah, just had a subtle sint. All the fish don't seem phased, so all seems good. I rinsed very lightly.

Any thoughts on how he got the overhang? Some kind of perch or moss wall attachment?

I've been thinking about what I want to dose for this tank and I think I will go with: 15N 4P 15K .4Fe However, I'm also going to raise KH to 1 degree. So, with the products I have, it's going to look like: 15N 4P 25K .2Fe (CSM+B) .2Fe (DTPA 11%) 1dKH (K2CO3) I may also raise GH to 5dGH @ 3:1 Ca:Mg

I have a weird smeller since COVID, could be just me. It may just be the sand smell, that to me, smells weird.

Plants arrived and attached a few. Have some attached to the floating wood upside down. Hope this wood saturates quickly. I'm going to have to redo the moss wall, going to attach most of the Trident to it. The Trident you see is just a resting spot till next week. And yeah, need more plants.....

I'm changing the direction of the tank in an attempt to recreate this look. See picture. I'm use the Ace Hardware brand of pool filter sand. They have several options with varying colors. 1153

Thank you.

If I have long pieces of epiphyte rhizome, can I cut them into sections and the middle section will grow?

No deaths 😆. And I guess that Ember was playing possum, because he's out and about!