Chris2022

Hi Fam, I got back from vacation today and my plants and tank are covered in what I think is black beard algae... can someone confirm? Is there an easy method to deal with bba? Im going to start with easy carbon tonight, but was unsure if I should manually remove some of the plants and try to brush it off. Thanks in advance.

I tried blowing off what I thought was substrate dust with a pipet. I didnt work... i am unsure if its caked to the plant leaves or its something else.... The endlers are all male, so I don't expect having more. I generally like to wait 3 weeks before adding more fish. I will add some more plants next. Lots to digest and reading to do. Thanks for the resource. Gold Nugget of info. Thanks mate. I really appreciate that perspective.

The tank is 160 days old. I added the ottos in at ~3 & 4 mo when the tank was really full of algae on the glass and on the plants (brown diatoms everywhere). They still didn't survive except for one. I re-scaped the tank a couple of weeks ago, bc the flourite substrate wasn't working for me. Plus the sponge filter and the fake decor took up to much space and was difficult to clean. I made this alot more simple, and added more plants. There is still not enough algae to add more oto's however, I would be very hesitant too considering my past experience. How do you like that co2 system? Did you notice a significant difference in your plants? It's been in the back of my mind.

I would love to be at that point where my nitrates drop off so much.

Good, call. Current setup is half planted, still need to buy a lot more foreground plants.

Holy Crap! 70 oto in an 20 tall sounds nuts to me. Goes to show how much more experience I need to get.

Duh! I can't believe I didnt think of that lol

This site is awesome. TYVM for letting me know about this.

Hi Fam, The main tank (20L) is going well so far, except for a few thing. I added a carbon filter pad to help bring the water clarity up. I've noticed that several plants have the fluval stratum dust on their leaves... have people tried brushing the material away? The tank is currently stocked with 6 panda cory's, 5 endlers, 3 amano shrimp and 1 oto. We plan to add a betta but everything Ive read tells me to add it last. How do i know if my tank is overstocked? I know the single oto is sad, but we have been very unlucky keeping otos alive and I am afraid to try again. Thanks

Hi Fam, My myrio green is turning brown.... I looks like only the tops are green. The nutrient deficiency guide isnt clear on what to do with brown leaves/needles. Does anyone have any advice on what to do with this issue? I use an aqua soil, should I add root tabs? I dose easy green twice a week. Should I be trimming these? Any advice is welcomed. pH (7) NH3/NO2 (0 ppm) NO3 (0 ppm) KH/GH (2d) T (73.4 F) PS This is mostly a shrimp tank... is my KH/GH too low?

Welcome!

Looking more closely, there are 4 of them.... they probably came in the same batch as they are roughly the same size. I use a food bowl to supplement the shrimps diet and normally take it out after 24 hrs. I'm thinking about removing these guys by hand.

I ended up redoing the first tank do to the newbie issue I created for myself. I took everything out and used some fluval stratum (which I regret) and moved all my plants over. The swords behind the rock look to be in bad shape... I might place some root tabs next to them to help them out. The water is still not clear due to the stratum substrate, it has improved significantly since day 1 (looked like black tea). Im glad its settled out. I took the sponge filter out and replaced it with a seachem tidal 35. So far I am very happy with it. Ill need to start looking at some foreground plants soon, but this tank (or any of my tanks) has no co2. Current residents include 1x oto and 6x endlers. I don't want to get more otos since I have a really hard time keeping them alive. I thinking of little corys(5) and some amanos (4) might be a better choice for the bottom dwellers... any thoughts? The plan is to have a betta as our center fish once the bottom dwellers are in. Thanks again for your support and advice!

Hi Fam, I took the advice on the forum and picked up a hillstream loach. This little guy is fun to watch zoom across the glass, plus he has been busy cleaning the glass. I am surprised at the results, since its only been about a week. Also, their are shrimp babies floating around! I'll have to refrain from vacuuming the gravel for a bit, just in case. Lastly, I noticed a snail in the tank... maybe he came with one of the plants? Is this a pest issue I need to worry about and deal with now? or Did I score a free nerite? Intruder? Before loach 1 Week after loach (note, the shrimps rarely eat out of their food dish.) =( Shrimp Baby

Tank Update: Added a few more plants and a catappa leaf (that I tore up). There are currently shrimp babies floating around so I'll have to avoid vacuuming the gravel for a bit.... I am considering adding some crushed coral due recent water tests (4 dGH & 1 dKH).