[Question about Finnex stingray]

@Keeg good to know, I’m sure I can convince her this is the right choice 🙂 she is way more into planted tanks than fish so hopefully this one works out 

[Question about Finnex stingray]

Hey there! My mom just caught the aquarium bug and I’m going to help her set up a nano shrimp tank 🙂. Has any one used the finnex lights on the coop website? If so do the lights have adjustable brightness? Im not sure if that’s a standard thing all lights have but she wants one that’s adjustable so I thought I would ask

[Greedy betta in community tank help]

Mini update: I think it’s a territorial thing. He has taken over my rock cave centerpiece. I usually feed on a flat part right outside his “house” . He goes for any and all food in that spot. 
I started feeding the bottom feeders in a glass dish 10” down the road and he hasn’t touched it. 

[What is causing Staghorn bloom]

@JoeQ thanks for sharing, I think I’m going to add an air stone or nano sponge filter, there just isn’t enough water flow with the baffle 

Thanks everyone for you help and advice, I will start with adding east carbon, adding an air stone and seeing where this goes 

@B7gwap beautiful tank! How do you get your dwarf grass looking so nice? Mine has been struggling from day 1. It’s finally rooted but the leaves are curly and definitely looks more like crab grass than lawn grass

[What is causing Staghorn bloom]

On 3/6/2022 at 3:24 PM, JoeQ said:

Math, i have an anglefish and struggled with staghorn as well because of my flow. My solution was pre sponge over the output which got aimed at the front of the tank, now I have nice gentle surface agitation with my plants slowly swaying. You might also benifit by adding an airstone, good luck! 

Would you mind posting a picture? I have a pre filter sponge over it too but I haven’t figured out how to direct water flow

[What is causing Staghorn bloom]

@JoeQ I usually clean it every 2 months. More if the prefilter is looking grody. 

you might have a point about flow. I’m using an aquaclear 20 at full power but I use a sponge over the outflow to make it betta friendly. 

@Mmiller2001 my tank is about 4 months old. How long does it usually take to establish a bio filter? I test my water weekly. Ammonia is consistently 0, but I might be leaving algae wafers in my tank to long. 

[What is causing Staghorn bloom]

I’m pretty sure I have a staghorn algae outbreak. However I’m not sure what’s causing it. Lights are on 80% for 10 hours. I use easy green and easy iron once a week.  Ammonia, nitrites 0 and nitrates < 5. 
it looks like only my dwarf hair grass and old leaves on a Java fern are affected. 

[Greedy betta in community tank help]

@Bunninose83 I think lucked out with my little piggy. But he only eats the little snails any thing bigger than .25cm he ignores 

[Greedy betta in community tank help]

@xXInkedPhoenixX good call feeding at night. I switched breakfast feeding to dinner and worked like a charm. I checked while lights were off. Betta was sleeping and otos were snacking 🙂 

@Guppysnail that would probably be good for enrichment, eating repashy blocks must get boring. 
Will any bamboo skewers do? I’m a little worried about accidentally introducing chemicals to my tank. I tried spreading on rocks a few weeks ago but the repashy fell off and made a mess 

[Greedy betta in community tank help]

@xXInkedPhoenixX good point! I always see the ottos out during the day, I forgot the were nocturnal. Honestly a little fiber probably would be such a bad idea. I had a rams horn snail problem, and in 2 days my greedy betta ate all of them. I should probably rename him Onaka.

[Greedy betta in community tank help]

Hey there, I recently added a betta named firecracker to my 10 gallon lightly stocked tank. Just 3 ottos and some shrimp. Unfortunately he developed a taste for repashy. I usually leave the repashy there for 8 hours to let everyone graze. I usually feed soilent green 2x a week. The other days I feed algae wafers. Firecracker also gets his own food 1x a day. On a side note he spends his days zipping around the tank and lurking in plants so exercise isn’t an issue.

Should I be worried about my bettas lack of self control? He seems quite happy in this tank and doesn’t bother any of the other residents. I would hate to move him. I’m just worried he will over eat. 

if this is an issue does anyone have any recommendations? 

[Help rams horn snails are taking over]

Update: I picked up a betta from my LFS, snail problem solved. He is also friendly with the shrimp and otos. 

[Help rams horn snails are taking over]

@Mmiller2001 thank you! Any recommendations for trapping them? I don’t think food is a problem, I use a feeding dish usually there aren’t any leftovers after 12hrs, I rotate feeding repashy and algae wafers 

[Help rams horn snails are taking over]

I dropped the ball and didn’t dip some new plants. Now my pristine aquarium is over run with rams horn snails. My water parameters are ammonia/nitrite = 0  nitrate < 5 and pH 6.5. I have crystal shrimp and 3 otos. How can I control the snail outbreak? Thank you! So far I have been picking them off with tweezers. I’m concerned since the water is some what acidic the snails will die and pollute the water 

[My first fish tank in 18 years]

On 1/22/2022 at 7:00 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I love my Otos too! I have about 50+ maybe more (impossible to get a count). They have super low bioload in my experiencce. I leave food in the tanks for them, Hikari Algae wafers and Repashy Soilent but they seem to like Repashy Super Green even more. I agree with prior statements, as long as the food is not fouling the water it's all good. I'm sure the shrimp eat some of the food. Usually the concern is UNDER feeding Otos! I think you're probably doing good!!

I was definitely worried about them not getting enough food after the ate all the algae. I put algae wafers and Repashy in their hang out spots, they figured out it was food after a day. They just alternate between grazing on plants and camping out on rock I dip in Repashy. 

Honestly I’ve never seen such round fish. 
 

How do you keep so many otos? They must be a riot during feeding time

On 1/22/2022 at 8:00 PM, Minanora said:

Also, Welcome back to the hobby! 😄 Your aquarium is amazing and you should be proud to have taken on the challenge of CRS right out of the gate. Bold! 😛 🙂

To be honest I thought all planting substrate was the same 😅 I was thinking guppies or a a school of tetras. After everything was planted and cycled I realised it’s best for CRS. 
 

I just add salty shrimp to RO water so far so good. I don’t have any berried shrimp but everyone is alive and molting

[My first fish tank in 18 years]

Thank you, huge shout out to aquarium coop they helped me pick out the plants. I have a 10 gallon, it started as a shrimp only but I am in love with otos, they are so fun to watch. Once these guys settle in and I have a feeding schedule figured out I might add in a few more. Do you have any recommends for slightly acidic soft water fish?

[My first fish tank in 18 years]

Hey there fellow Fish people. I had my first fish tank when I was 12 and loved it. Now I finally have some time to get back into the hobby after a long hiatus. It’s way more technician now days than I remember. I am going with a slightly acidic soft water tank. It wasn’t original plan but I made a newbie mistake and planted with fluval shrimp stratum. I didn’t realize it would keep the pH so low. Right now I have 16 red crystal shrimp and 3 fat otos, hopefully they are happy. I mostly have questions about feeding the otos. 
Is it possible to over feed them? They cleaned all the algae off my tank and I’ve been feeding them Repashy soilent green. I also dose the tank with a pinch of Bacter AE every day.