nabokovfan87

I have a bottle of the same thing. One of the main differences is that additives like that are easy to mess up. Let's say you add slightly too much or not enough, you have a bigger swing in parameters. Because it's resulting in PH swings, it could lead to stress and illness. The difference being that adding something like crushed coral is made of of minerals that just dissolve over time. It is white little rocks that you would add to the ground. If that isn't an option due to color preference then a product like PH up (liquid) or seachem alkalinity buffer exist (powder form). I'll look up the directions on the one you have and we can go from there. My next question is about maintenance and changing water. Right now you don't need to change water. But you should have a schedule for maintenance in mind. What is your plan? then we can discuss how it all works with the PH, KH, Additive (PH UP), and the health of the tank.

The only thing that looks poor to me is the KH and the PH being low. Those two values are related to one another and how stable the water is. Low PH like that can also have some cycling issues. @Guppysnail @Chick-In-Of-TheSea For snails what would you opt for in terms of KH? What is "enough"? The product you'd be looking for is called crushed coral.

Hey everyone, I am always wondering what the people I'm talking with on here have in their rooms as far as their tanks go. I'd like to get an idea of what everyone is working with, what's going on in your tanks (stocking, plants, tank sizes, etc). Please feel free to share what you wish! For me: -75G sitting in the hallway, will soon be setup Currently running: 29g#1: Black Corydoras, Otocinclus, Amano Shrimp, Black Swordtails (males), Clown Pleco in hiding. The tank has ghost wood, seiryu stone, Taiwan moss, hyrgophilia pinnatifida, Staurogyne Repens, Scarlet Temple, and some assorted anubias (a lot of nana petite) 29g#2: Panda Corydoras, Red-Tailed Black Shark, Black Swordtails (females), Clown pleco in hiding. The tank has El Nino Fern, assorted Anubias varieties, Taiwan moss. Mopani wood, Malaysian driftwood stump, and red lava rock 10G QT tank: Riddick the Black Corydoras and some moss

I'm very sorry. Their directions make me crosseyed. 😂 I forget where I've heard it first but there's two things going on here... Ammonia vs ammonium is one conversation and the other being whether plants want nitrates or ammonia as their food source. I've heard that ammonia is easier for the plants to use quickly compared to nitrates, but that's beyond my knowledge to try to explain all of that. On the ammonia vs. Ammonium debacle, the second one should be safe for the tank to dose in. I can't speak to which is higher concentration, but the darker bottle seems like the one to go with, if anything just dose in half the recommended dose. If you have a lot of stems, I'd lean towards darker bottle.

Keep the same duration would be my advice. Let the plants adjust. Even replacing the same tube with one that is newer you're going to have a difference in light intensity. Doesn't matter what light, one has age, one doesn't, and so that runtime will give you a bit if a difference when you do have to swap things out. I dropped my light intensity and duration a lot to deal with an algae issue and surprisingly the plants are doing much better and taking hold..... Finally. Once algae gets in there intensity mattered, but the duration of the lights was the biggest factor in fixing things. (I'd have to check my notes to verify that one, but I'm pretty certain that's what I said in the journal when I last changed things) Hm. Placement is a big one. Say you're at 8 hours. Going to 9 is probably fine, minimal issue. Let's say you go to 10 and see algae pop up, I'd tend to move anubias to the shadows before doing much of anything else. I do think they make bypass bulbs that allow you to run less and keep the circuit completed. I tried to find one, all I found was a website with some pretty detailed diagrams to wire it to bypass and ground differently. (Each bulb in series instead of parallel)

That's awesome, congratulations! It looks really beautiful. 🙂

First question is how deep do you plan the substrate. I'd say 3-4" is about optimal and would be good for root tabs on the glass, then add substrate. Common practice is to add half the substrate, add the tabs, then add the rest of the substrate. As for spacing, I tend to do them in a 2" grid, offset with how the plants are, let me see if I can make it make sense.... x * x * x * x * x * x * x * x * x * x * x * x * x * x * x * x * x ^^ Let's say this is your tank, looking at it from the top down to the bottom glass. * = Root tab location x = Plant location Spacing for the plants would be dependant on what you're planting, general 1-3" apart. tabs would be somewhere on that 2-3" grid across the substrate. This also works and is probably a way to guarantee no air bubble issues. I poke holes with a thumb tack in the end of all the tabs, both sides, or they are just too boyant for me.

To be fair. That texture is similar to their algae photo. Its not a great (as in perfect) resource, but it just said "yep that's similar". Try from the top down maybe. The angle is a bit difficult to get a good shot for the robot hivemind to do their thing. That back leaf has a better angle if you can get a good shot.

I would think a dremel or soldering iron. It's an acrylic material or very similar. Bansaw would be the "easiest" if you have one or know anyone who has one. You might also be able to just order a spare parts and get one in that way. I'd start there or just get a nano one. I have 3 siphons. Glad I do 🙂

*runs*

The dual outlet version of the ACO version 2 airpump (USB C) should give you a good amount of flow. It would also give you power backup in an emergency situation. That being said... I've used a LOT of pumps. The one I've settled on is the Tetra Pond AP150. They also have a 300 version, same thing, dual output. That being said I haven't tried the ACO one, but I have tried a few other brands. Fluval I liked, but it broke way too early. Aqueon I like a lot, design is great, but it breaks and you likely need a backup for it. Multiple is better for any air pump install for this amount of tanks. I would imagine two pumps and two gang valves. If you ever have to drop in meds, add an airstone, then you'd have ample room to add more drops of air into the tank. I like the above suggestion as well. I am using a tetra whisper pump for my QT tank and it's just fine. I don't think any air pump is perfect, and I plan to purchase the ACO ones when need be in future. 100%

Apart from the experienced keepers here, please be sure to check out the Aquarium Adventures channel. Fun youtuber and he's been around forever, focused on discus. Jack Watley is also a great resource for technique and information. Best of luck with a solution moving forward. I've used erythromycin, Kanaplex, and a variety of other meds including the trio (and salt) at least 2-3 dozen times. I've NEVER had a cycle crash on me or even get slowed. I can't say it isn't a possibility or something that contributed to the issue. I would review filtration and specifically look at having the types of surfaces that help foster strong biological colonies. If you want to keep a barebottom tank, consider something like tumbled lava rock or a bag of ceramic media in the corner next to a flow source. There's easy ways to add a lot of biological so you have more than enough if a portion of your bacteria takes a hit. I have a QT tank I setup not but 3-4 weeks ago, filter wasn't cycled, I didn't use anything in a bottle, dosed in meds, didn't and haven't had an issue. Bioload is small. If you add a lot of bioload to a new tank, that's asking for trouble as well. How is it setup? This could simply be due to temp and how that affects water oxygenation. Definitely not a great situation! 😞

Electricity + Water don't mix. 😞

I need one of these for a RTBS! That's awesome you can make them. I'm going to have to get her some PVC or something if she's unhappy in the new setup.

Let me double check on salt. If kanaplex isn't working, there is another one you can try. Salt looks fine. How long has salt been at this level? The other med you can try is called Neoplex. Please post photos of what you're seeing. When I first treated fin rot what I thought was further rot was actually the fin healing.

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea The post at the top is related to some of the behavior you've seen with Geppetto. I just wanted to share it in case it's helpful at all. PSO is definitely one that grows fast and large! I don't know if all Pogos are that feisty but octopus sure is. Can you show us the Val? How is the ol' lad doing? How is the fin looking? He's come such a long way.

I apologize if this was answered already. I didn't see it in the OP. What are the substrate layers you're using?

They are going full horde on you. At least there was some good from the storm. 🙂

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

You'd want to check GH and KH. Both indicate hardness and what minerals are in the water. Most shrimpkeepers use TDS, but testing both GH+KH is a better idea. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh

That's just PSO being PSO. 😂 Do yo have PSO in the back center as well? I see what looks like erectus, but next to that is more octopus?

I get that, but for science!!!!???!!!! Does it? a lot of people pull the pads apart and use just 1/2 thickness or a few layers at a time to make sure it doesn't choke out filtration too bad. The one you have is more of a mat style and I am unsure how easily that one pulls apart.

Looking a the base of the vial it looks yellow to me (any tinge of green would indicate ammonia). Let's say at best it's 0, small stocking and this does make some sense. But, if we start dumping in food then you're going to see that creep up pretty quickly. I think at worst case the test you're looking at is somewhere in the 0 up to 0.1 range. This result is difficult to see. If you can please re-test this one and then send us a photo. We'd want to see the test without any sort of shadow on the color. The camera focus on the strip essentially. I understand you were trying to show the scale as well. 🙂 Seeing the pads next to the nitrite/nitrate ranges would help us to see. It's a really soft coloration that's all. Not your fault at all. ........... Alright, so we know the tank had an issue of ich. There's a few things here to mention. One of the common ways to treat Ich is with meds in addition to salt. Because the tank has a snail, you'd want to avoid using salt as it is toxic. There's a medication that aquarium co-op sells called Ich-X (by hikari) and it's highly recommended to purchase some if you do run into this issue in future. One bottle would be plenty and last you a long time. Another option would be to have a tub or QT container where you can move the salt in the instance that you do want to treat any fish that present diseases. This is common for hobbyists with snails and it is an extra step. You can also resolve this over time. There are no fish in the tank, so the ich will naturally perish in time. https://lifeoffish.com/can-snails-get-ich-or-do-they-spread-ich-find-the-answer-in-5-minutes/#How_to_prevent_Ich_in_snails_from_infecting_your_fish I would opt for light feeding every 2-3 days for the snail and then just let the tank do it's thing. Focus on good quality water and verify those parameters with testing. Just give the tank time to develop, let the plants grow, and let the snail acclimate to it's new surroundings. This is called biofilm. It's a bacteria film. This is probably what the snail is eating and perfectly healthy for them!

Similar tank, similar issue (circulation) and eventually I ended up with this. With your corner filter, bar across the back, it might alleviate a lot of equipment and improve everything. Make it easier to maintain as well and remove all of the stuff on that right side. I used the x07 spraybar kit from fluval and some vinyl tubing and zip ties.

I would lean towards a sump/matten pump setup over a canister or HoB or anything. If all you can do is the pumphead, that's fine, just add a hole through the matten with the output pipe and then a spraybar out. I would lean towards aquarium salt, try to kill off some of the pathogens before going right into UV. If UV is a good option and easier, then it could be a stand in for the pump head in the matten filter to add that movement. I don't recall how output looks like on the green machine ones but that's a place to start. Look up the sicce syncra pumps. Either a shelf above the aquarium or something and you could use that to feed a small filter tub in the spirit of a sump. Depending which syncra fits it should be gentle enough, but also be small enough to get that movement. Give the foams a good clean, clean everything and just let the tank try to right itself with water changes, salt, botanicals, and clean water. You've got the pumps on the right, pushing around the CO2 it looks like. Maybe by modifying things a bit you can remove one of these to behind the matten filter and improve overall circulation in the tank. I see the airstone, which was my other idea to improve things.