nabokovfan87

I would lean towards not using the root tabs right away. The substrate should have enough nutrients, at least initially, to ensure that you see growth. Maybe in a few months you'll need to add some. The idea being, some planted substrates are purely based on CEC, meaning their ability to absorb and hold nutrients, while others like stratum and Amazonia have those nutrients from day 1 already available. There is a few guides on substrate and finding that information isn't readily available on the packaging. I totally understand the frustration trying to really know what's marketing and what is in the bag. I'll send you one via DM, but hopefully some others can chime is as well on the topic!

And that's when the breeder that did that cataclysm talk, I think he's in Seattle region, but.... his phrase of "be the fish, try to be the fish" rings so true.

What mixture did you use when making it? Some fish will have a hard time eating it at the 2:1 ratio and 3:1 is a little easier to bite into. You can also try putting it on a stick or hardscape to try to get it higher up in the water column.

Yeah, I guess the big issue is trying to find out if my solution is purely the reagent or if it's premixed. I ran a test yesterday. I had some of the dennerle CO2 tests, expired, but it was just my way of randomly checking on things. I tested my tank water a few hours into the CO2 window, towards the end, and then I ran a test using the distilled water that's been sitting without any aeration compared to my tank that had CO2 dumped into it. Needless to say the randomly sitting there distilled water had the right PH/KH to show results while the tank still seems to have some balance issues. With the fish I have as well, I need to raise KH, but then use something to drop PH only. The wood in the tank is helping, but it's giving too much of a swing when I dose the tank with buffers. I will grab some new solution at your suggestion and give it a shot. I'll clean out the glass drop checker I have and go from there!

Yeah, that's one of my favorite reasons to challenge someone to sit in front of their tank for 15+ minutes. They take a few minutes, but they definitely will begin to ignore you as they have and that is a great bonus as a fishkeeper. I think you're also spot on, less activity on the tank means they are more comfortable to explore. They will always be a little hesitant, but big bushy plants like you have mean that they will feel a little bit more safety in the midwater regions. This also gives them more places to lay!

Perfectly normal. I have a tank or two in my time with lights on an angle. Cover the front right corner to get those plants right there and then back left to get those plants. All good. It'll work! If you want to, try that mod above as well. The double sided tape and what not. You can always remove it after as well.

Highly recommended when sipping coffee. 😂

Because you like green, what about kabutai Rasbora or Neon Green Tetras? There's also some smaller rainbows or emperor tetras the store might be able to order in for you. Talk to the manager of the fish section, usually easy to spot and very knowledgeable and can let you know if something cool will be coming soon. I would also look at something that contrasts really well with the bright colors and the green, chili rasbora for instance or.... Oh these are perfect. Forum favorite.... The silvertip tetras. Very cool! Nice choice 🙂

Saw this yesterday. Hot tip if you plan to freeze it! Obviously, please be careful with the plastic and hot water.

Can I just have 2 small tanks, one big one?

Sidenote. I just wanted to clarify that I updated the title to actually have the correct species. I will try to fix all the references if I've posted the wrong name elsewhere on here as well. It's a whole rabbit hole and I just found a new variety of "black corys" that are from Venezuela and look ridiculous. (Slate Corydoras) I added the 2nd dose of Expel-P, CO2 is on the tank now, off for the next 24 hours, and I've been running PH Tests / CO2 tests all day today to try to figure out if I am effectively buffering the water with the diffuser I have, checking bubble rates, etc. Long story short, KH, PH, and CO2 are kind of difficult to balance out when you're having to buffer your KH. I'll get there. Plants are doing good. Water parameters look good as well.

ACO one does the same thing 🙂

Whenever I get some, I'll let ya know. I'd love to trade you some 🙂 big storm tonight so fingers crossed. It'll be a while though.

You Corys look awesome. I'm excited for you. I think your breakdown is right. I was confused because that article referred to aenus and there's a discrepancy between the schultzei and aenus.

Pearlweed?

I would suggest somewhere in the line of 2.5-4" for your substrate, specifically with plants. Some stem plants go nuts and like thick substrate to have room for those big root structures. I think you'll do really well with some root tabs and what you have. Just make sure you pick out plants that thrive in that type of an environment (anubias and stems feed a lot from the WC and RTs, and plants that like RTs specifically will do fine) You can also pick one of these too and then cap it with what you have now.

How many tanks?

Tough week, tough day. Checking the playlist. Song by K. Michelle (can't say the name here) Next song is: Already Gone - Sleeping at Last

To give you an idea... after 1.3 days of CO2 (forgot to plug it back in) nitrates went from 30 --> 0

Yeah, that's the issue for me too it doesn't look like either one. The ones I have (black version of the bronze corys) Corydoras schultzei "Black". <---- Second link in my signature as well as photos below. So if there's a unique version of the bronze that's newer / different than the ones I have..... I'm confused and these have to be the insanely rare black version of the red sailfin venezualean's. One of the big differences for me is how the red fins alter. On yours it's right below the dorsal is the biggest identifier for me. If that red splotch is there under the dorsal it looks like the venezuelean to me as opposed to the schultzei/aenus/bronze where it's less on the body and more on the top of the fish. From what I'm seeing now (ignore me being confused, it's been one of those days. Ones I have: seen above, Corydoras Schultzei (Black version of Gold Flash Corys) Ones @Ken Burke has are the Corydoras Venezualean (Black version of Red Sailfin Corys) ---> EDIT: Found a decent photo of the darkened form. could just be dark substrate too. Ones in the OP: "black variant" of Corydoras Aenas (Black version of Bronze Corys) EDIT 2: These are from a listing of bronze corys, confirming the comments above by everyone, yay! That right? If someone has clear sentence for it, I'll add it to the quote below for my notes 😂 Clarification:

It's a variable to "play with" so to speak, but depending on the tank using an in-line diffuser or using a reactor is much more efficient. You can run 2 diffusers on the same tank for something larger as well. For me, it's very much worth it because it opens up a lot with regards to what you can keep in the tank for me. A lot of people have success without CO2, but obviously I'm not doing something right 😂. I'll eventually get it back and going. Moss is growing, took me over two years to get back to that. So I'm happy! In regards to your question though, it's worth it..... yes, absolutely! I would not mess with anything cheaper / more work than the full CO2 systems and I really don't recommend them at all for any hobbyist who wants to play with CO2. The Ocean Aquarium method is what I would suggest, but they still use a normal CO2 tank.

Well, I have had "some change" in coloration on my previous tank, but it looks like I really need to buy a better drop checker to get some quality results. This one I have only tells me to add X amount of drops of the liquid reagent and then I view the color. Because I'm looking at drops of liquid it's hard to see and I always feel like I want to add 2-3x the amount to make it easier to see. I am sure that affects the value too. 😞 OK SO.... I found this. It is from CO2Art and one of their blog articles. The one I purchased was just some random thing from amazon and I have been trying to find out if the liquid expires. That rabbit hole has let me to the following and wondering if the information on how to use these things properly is just escaping us. I've never heard of this or seen this before.

It always looks 100x worse when you try to take photos. Maybe I just need new glasses. Today is cleaning day, waiting for a box, but I think I'll have to use the toothbrush and give it a good clean. The CO2 seems to have helping to "soften" the algae if that makes sense. I feel like I'm dumping CO2 in there and I don't really see high levels of CO2 on the drop checker and I'm working through all that stuff now. I found a slightly helpful article and it's difficult to get things settled on the tank for me. I highly recommend the pecktec toothbrush cleaning method. Especially for this type of algae.

Very cool stuff! It's always nice to see nature, even when it's through others. Awesome photos, well done you two!

Yeah, the biggest difficulty is waiting for things to grow in. Here's mine.... Looks terrible but there's new growth happening, so that's progress! One day this algae will go away.