AndreaW

@Widgets ~ Thanks for the added info! I was wondering if I should do some Root Tabs but I also have an UGF (with a lot of flow) so maybe save the root tabs for my 10G if I need them for the Crypts there. I'm excited about my Pogostemon and hope it grows like yours! I also got Scarlet Temple but I hear many people are having a hard time with it without high light and CO2 so I'll enjoy it for now but expect it to not last long. Of course all my plants could be destroyed by my Pleco, so...who knows?

What are you putting in the tank? I ask because people often get 10G tanks for Bettas, and some are better for them than others. ie: they like a lower flow water, warmer water, and humid air for their labyrinth organs to breathe. If you have built-in heater/filter, sometimes you have to modify them to work the way you want. Also, a cover is a good idea for a Betta because some jump and it holds in more humidity for them to breathe. I don't have either tank, so I can't tell you, but I know both are used/modified for Bettas. These are just my thoughts though.

@Widgets ~ Beautiful! Thanks for the pic and the list of plants. That helps me look at my own selection and see what things should look like in time. (I may swap my Scarlet Temple and Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus) It's good to hear they have customer support. That makes all the difference. I hope you get a setup that works for you. I haven't been able to try out a full light cycle so hopefully I can get it right.

@Kurt Brutting ~ Thanks. That will give me a starting point. I figured 10 hours would be too much since these are much brighter. I think I'll set them up with a sunrise/sunset and not do full intensity to start.

@Guppysnail ~ Ah, thank you! (I thought I read somewhere that you used this light, sorry!) How many hours siesta do you do?

I finally decided to work with this arrangement: I will do the tallest plants on the right, leaving the arches on the left mostly open. My light arrived Saturday. Plants came yesterday and I'm really excited about the Scarlet Temple. Some of the plants are already melting so I hope they will be okay. I picked up some J-B Weld WaterWeld to adhere the wood to the rock so it will be stable. It's potable tank safe and cures in 1 hour but I'll probably let it set overnight. It cures off-white, which should work with my rocks. I'll have some of my gravel on hand to press into it if there are any areas where it could be visible. I'm sure there will eventually be algae or moss that will cover the joints. Links to a couple threads I asked questions (I have too many questions!): Lastly, the Mystery snails laid their first clutch a few days ago. Dakota (my son) removed them from the wall and they are floating in a bowl in the quarantine tank which he has adopted to keep his bladder snails and trumpet snail since I won't let him put them in our other tanks. He wants to get a Bristlenose Pleco for the tank and has given me permission to re-home Gary, but I'm going to see how he does with the new set up but I know he eventually will need to be re-homed. If I can get the driftwood/rocks adhered tonight I might start the re-scape tomorrow. I was really anxious to get it going but now I'm a bit hesitant and feel like I still have so many questions. It really shouldn't be this nerve-wracking. I updated my planting plan:

Welcome! I love that your tank doesn't have a front/back. Pictures look great and I can't wait to see how it continues to grow!

Welcome! I can't wait to see all your tanks and set ups!

@Guppysnail or anyone else that uses the Hygger HG-957 aquarium light: What would be a good setting to begin with? I just got one to go on my 46G Bowfront that I will be adding these plants to: Vallisneria (background, low-med light, EG, RT) Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus (background, low-med light, EG, RT & Iron) Scarlet Temple (background, med light, EG) Java Fern (midground/background, low light, EG) "Windelov" Java Fern (midground/background, low light, EG) Red Melon Sword (midground, low light, EG, RT) Anubias Barteri (midground, low light, EG) Cryptocoryne Tropica (mid-foreground, low-med light, EG, RT, Iron) Anubias nana "Petite (foreground, low, EG) Cryptocoryne Lucens (carpeting, low light, EG, RT, Iron) I'm considering starting out with their standard mode, but I can do the custom mode as well. I also have heard the moonlight (blue) will cause algae growth so I was going to forgo that, right? Right now I have the standard full spectrum flourescent light that came with the tank and have it on a timer for 10 hours. I'm assuming 10 hours with this light might be too much light? I really have no idea. Thank you everyone, for your input!

Here is your original journal post if you want to tag this onto it: He's looking good! Very handsome and he knows it!

@Paul R ~ Could they be spores then? I thought spores formed in the middle of the underside of the leaf, not on the main vein...?

BBA will form on the top edges, closest to the light. Java Ferns will sprout new roots then leaves from the tip/edge of the leaves. Overall, I see nothing to worry about. They look very healthy.

I don't see the pictures, but that is normal when you have a sand substrate. I was looking through old aquarium photos last night and funnily enough, found this pic of one of my tanks with a burrowing Pleco (bottom right).

I typically do a fish-in cycle, with a light bio-load and let nature do it's thing. I do test and do water changes as needed. I also add Seachem Stability. Don't know if it really does what it says, but it can't hurt, right? When I set up my 10G Betta tank in January, I used seeded material from my well-established 46G aquarium and had no problem establishing my cycle. I don't really even know when it was cycled because it's heavily planted and they absorb the nitrates so efficiently.

Thanks for the reassurance @StevesFishTanks @Brandon p @Patrick_G & @lefty o Specifications do say the weight of the tank is 550 pounds when filled. That's a lot of pressure overall on the bottom glass, so I suppose 15 lbs. shouldn't be a big deal if it's distributed. I'm just trying to make sure it has a very stable base so it can't possibly tip and hit the back wall. I've been cutting and sanding grooves into the bottom of the wood to match the rock and still plan on adhering it well. My son has a tendency to stick his hands in the tank and even though I've told him he's not allowed to move anything in the tank I never know what his impulsive ADHD brain will allow him to remember.

It's a 46G bowfront tank by All-Glass (bought by Aqueon). I don't know the thickness of the glass, but the bottom is tempered and there is a support bar front to back in the middle of the tank. The white paper in the pic above is a template of the tank and shows approx. where the rock will be placed in the tank.

Remember this driftwood setup? I was sanding the pieces to fit them together and I began wondering if it would weigh too much. Under the big rock on the right, I will have 15 lbs. pressure. It's spread out over 6" x 3" flat bottom that will rest on gravel, on top of an UGF grid. The other end (low end, at the middle) will have 4.5 lbs. and I plan on resting it on a flat river rock to distribute and support it. Should I be worried about the 15 lbs? The rock alone is over 7 lbs.

maybe.... https://youtu.be/qCgLcrla-4A

I also hold the tubes away from the white background to allow light to pass through the solution. Another thing I do is hold them up in front of my monitor in a white area. I do this for nitrates which are sometimes the hardest for me to read when they are higher. The other thing I do is place a white paper towel behind my test tubes in their holder. Sorry for the sideways pic. We are having issues today, I guess.

Love the new scape, and I'm glad Hiu and his friends like it too!

Originally I bought the Flourish (advised by the LFS), but then I read that Java Fern need more Potassium so I got the Leaf Zone. If I use Easy Green, I won't need the Flourish or Leaf Zone, right?

Okay, so whether or not you *do* take penicillin for the heck of it -- *should* you take penicillin for the heck of it? Probably not... One of the problems with medicating when its not needed is that you add stress to the fish when you add medication, and you can potentially be creating a more resistant bacteria that will be harder to treat when you really need to. I know plenty of people that medicate new fish in quarantine to make sure they are free from unwanted diseases or problems, but they don't go on medicating after the quarantine period is done. (Anti-parasitics are a bit different matter though, IMO.) Usually, its the addition of new, stressed fish to your tank that bring the problems in. I haven't had to medicate any fish in many, many years so I don't even have any medications on hand (they all expired long ago) and I've been pretty lucky that the fish that I've brought in haven't brought anything with them. However, usually I am the person to have a supply on hand so I can treat at the first sign of a problem.

I've only had these Java Fern plants since the end of January so they are still adjusting (dark spots on original leaves). However, I'm seeing quite a bit of new growth (roots and new leaflets growing from the tips) so I added some fertilizer: 3/5 .7mL Flourish 3/8 5mL Leaf Zone A few days after adding the fertilizer, I noticed the young leaf tips on my Javas were beginning to darken. I haven't fertilized since then and have been watching the new growth, which has continued to darken at the tips. I finally got my Easy Green fertilizer, so I was going to switch over to that, but wanted advice before I add any more. Here are my current tank parameters: 10 Gallon corner tank with original LED lights built into lid (12 white & 3 blue LEDs) all in a row, and water lettuce shading most of the tank surface. Lights are on a schedule 11am-7pm and it does get natural light in the morning and about 20 minutes of direct sunlight that hits the front corner of the tank. pH 7.6 KH 7° (125ppm) GH 16° (286.4ppm) Ammonia 0ppm Nitrites 0ppm Nitrates <5ppm Phosphate .5ppm Temp 79°F Plants in the tank: Java Fern, "Windelov" Java Fern, and some other unknown plants that might be Anubias, Crypt & Sword? All other plants are beginning to put out new growth and I think are doing fine so far. Sorry, some of the pics are sideways and I can't get them right-side-up. I'm assuming I need to add more fertilizer since my Nitrate/Phosphate is are low, but when the tips started turning dark I worried I might have overdone it. I've tried researching but some people say it's typical Java growth and others say its a nutrient deficiency. If this was a houseplant, I would think I over-fertilized or over-watered it! Can you over-fertilize aquatic plants? I would assume you would just grow algae at that point since the plant only absorbs what it needs, right?

@gardenman ~ Thanks. Of course it makes sense now that I make the correlation.

Here is a planting guide for Crypts: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/faqs/how-to-plant-crypts?_pos=2&_sid=9d20286e9&_ss=r