nabokovfan87

As far as scape, I think this works really well for the situation you're describing. I would not run substrate to make it easier to clean. In a 20L aquarium you could have two stacks like this and then add what plants you would like. I would suggest Anubias Nana Petite and some mosses. I wouldn't really worry about anything more than that because it's going to make care more difficult than you really need it to be. As far as fish, I think a lot of nano species would work. A Chili Rasbora might be a really nice contrast against the dark rocks. Neon Green Rasboras, Neon Tetras, White Clouds, etc. If they are enjoying the tank, at that point, I would add some corydoras. Even without substrate, they would do fine. I have a tank with them setup now without substrate (until we decide what to buy) and they are LOVING IT. I walked in to 20 of them swarming around the tank like a herd of nano fish. They are like little whales, I love it!

As you mentioned in your OP. The dwarf lily, and micro sword should be really good ones to start with as well.

Nothing. It's just an inert substrate. It just means what some types of plants will do better (water column feeders) compared to others that would feed mainly through the roots. Some plants might feed through both (I believe) but prefer one or the other. There's some cool tests I've seen on youtube about how much it helps to have certain brand of root tabs compared to others and they did a control with only water column dosing. Interesting stuff for sure. So the substrate is fine! I have my old sand tank in my journal if you want to check it out, 55/75G and it worked fine! Especially PSO (I'll screw up the spelling but) something like water sprite or pogostemon stellatus octopus should do very well with that substrate. Vallisnaria is another great one.

Oh they definitely don't mind. I've had them on imagitarium black sand, cribsea sand, and on seachem flourite dark and all were fine. You may have higher rates without the substrate because you can more easily gravel vac with a turkey baster or something.

Based on substrate, I'd stick to stems and rhizome as a focus. You can get away with some stuff mentioned like valisnaria and other plants that can propagate pretty easily with runners. I would have crypts up front, root tabs, and then val in the back.

I see! 🤔

@CinnebunsI feel like those plastic plants would definitely hurt some fish, but I do love the house itself! Nice.

She's definitely a crafty one. I can't even recommend a versatop because the glass is so thin 😞 . Difficult to decide this one on how to keep the kittens out. They should have velcro in the tape/adhesive section. Widest dimension you can is best. They do sell it industrially as halves, so you can buy just the hook side without having to pay for a portion you'll never use. I know how cats can be.... I'm just hoping the kitten and the fish don't get hurt accidentally. What a mess 😞 😞 😞

Although it's annoying, that's absolutely awesome the kitten finds enjoyment in the tank. I love that. Maybe some TV time with some fish would help to sway the attention? One way to keep them from the lids might be to stick some pile velcro (the rough half) on the lid. It won't harm them in any way, but will make the lid a place they don't really want to lay on. Well, the good news is you get to hand pick something, now the question is just what! In my main tank I have ghostwood from houston manzanita. I absolutely LOVE the shape of something like pacific drift wood. You can even just use rocks to provide the cover. Even just some pieces of slate across two pleco caves would be perfect. Don't ask me how I know. Pandas turn pleco caves into night clubs.

I am trying to find this piece of decor we had from decades ago. It was a white brick wall/castle wall (think, eastern style) and it had a very small cross section. The gap inside was only something like 1/2-3/4", but It was this white brick / wall shape and it had some sort of dragon-like creature on it. Back in the day, when I was a kid, it was the one piece of the tank I loved because it was where my favorite fish would hide. I would love to see it or find it again, but searching for "castle wall dragon decor" tends to offer a massive amount of results. This puts me towards a slightly fun question, what is your favorite piece of decor you remember, but may not have anymore? What is your oldest piece of decor you do own? For me, my oldest stuff is simply some pieces of mopani and red lava rocks.

Might be slightly easier to get a piece of mopani. You can even attach moss to it. (depending what the shape is) Corys tend to like "cover" so as long as they have a roof, something to be underneath, they are good to go. My panda herd is back in full force, so it's awesome to see them do their thing. I have two pieces of mopani in there, bare tank otherwise. I use two lava rocks to hold up the mopani. Awesome. Keep an eye on flow as a result of removing that. I don't know which of the two airpumps are hooked up, but more flow = better in general. How so? Maybe they have stuff on their paws and introduce it? Take a small hand towel and cover that back opening of the tank if need be 🙂 .

I'm watching some of my fish tonight and they generally have more behavior when it cools off it's darker, and they tend to explore a bit. I just added a skimmer on a timer to the tank. I had a thought that I could take a pumphead/skimmer and increase the flow in the tank for say.... 30-90 minutes every night (or some other time interval). Does anyone think this is something that could potentially trigger a spawn? Has anyone tried this before?

Can you provide photos? I would preemptively treat for parasites as a precaution. Salt may also be enough to work, so that might be the "best course" to start off treatment. The behavior you're talking about is called "flashing" and it usually happens normally. There might be a piece of substrate, debris, something that the fish wants off of them. You stimulate their slime coat and it might remove the irritation they have. If they open up a sore, you're looking at treating for bacterial as well, again, as a precaution. If you have sharp hardscape, they may have accidentally opened up a cut or something that that is what is bothering them as well. Double check your decor just for very sharp corners or something that would result in an accident. Also, welcome to the forums!

Best of luck, enjoy it.

There could be dust/particulate from the litter which may cause some contamination. Especially with the cats pawing it over time. Rare, but theoretically possible. Moving the HoBB to the rear should let you set the cover on all the way? The way I usually would handle it with something like this, difficult for this situation because of the snails, is to "deep clean" and to take everything I can out of the tank and cleaning it at the hose or sink. Drain the tank entirely because you have no substrate, move the filters to a bucket with the fish for an hour or so, clean it, and then rinse everything. Wash the inside/outside of the lid. This should "reset" everything and you can start to track everything and figure out what is going on. Visually I don't see anything critical which would cause issues like you're experiencing. An aerosol, something might be causing issues with the snails? Something external getting into the water. I would revisit the "sterile" nature of the tank, add wood or something for the snails to graze on. Something to generate aufwuchs. Repashy Soilent Green has the same result. If the snails are eating and things balance out, maybe that's all it was?

You are basically just going to be increasing the % of water you need to change. Plants, fish, all are going to contribute to the load in the tank and lead to OTS if you don't change enough. So let's say you add the others, I would bump it to 50% WC instead of 30 just to avoid any issues.

This is the AQAdvisor for your tank as it stands. I don't think you *need* to add 5. I would add 4, but! you do have room to do so. Temp and everything is perfect for them as well. Edit: With 5 Corys it puts you at 63%, so you have room for 3 or so additional fish. Maybe 3 Gourami? I wouldn't try to push it to 100% obv. because you're going to have shrimp, guppy fry, cory fry.

First thing I would say is to add 2-3 more corycats. You'll likely have more due to breeding, but whatever species you have, they like to have at least 3+ in their little herd. You'll also see some different behavior. Second thing, is going to be what temp you're running things at, what species of cory do you have, are they cooler or warmer, etc. It's likely not an issue, but just a matter of what you might be able to add to that community.

Agreed @Patrick_G I have also seen "red kelp forests". Amazing little section of the Pacific waters I'd love to visit one day. I am watching this video again, I see their background and it reminds me of a Suss or Moss wall. So depending on which is used, that's definitely the route I want to take to "start" this scape. I am thinking something like what we saw at Ocean Aquarium in SF but just slightly more trimmed to the wall of the tank. Then inside of the swimming space, having that tall, slender, specific texture from something on nano branches or from a specific stem species. Difficult to say, and you'd definitely have to get the right moss/suss for the job. The one I keep staring at is pointed spear moss.

I think the "best" is going to be the Xtreme betta food or something like frozen foods to supplement.

The Trader portion isn't working yet I don't think @Uttjrt3. It was asked about in the Trader section / announcement post.

Are you by chance dosing iron for red plants?

I posted a lot of stuff in my journal and I posted some details in the fluval 3.0 schedule thread. I ended up having to go from a 24" light (20" led strip) to a 36" light (30" LED strip) on my 29G aquarium to be able to give the plants more PAR at depth. I am still trying to get it to take hold.... I had it in a sand substrate tank and it worked so nicely! Now that I have better substrate for the plant, more difficult, LOL. What is your setup, schedule and all that? You can see mine in the latest post on the fluval thread and/or in my journal with a video of what my plants have done over time. I don't know if it helps, but at least it's something. Sorry, I totally missed the CO2 in the OP. 😕

What is the lighting on the tank, lighting schedule, and the substrate? I had a lot of similar issues with mine and I think a lot of the times it's down to nitrates over 20, dirty filters/substrate holding too many nutrients, and lighting. Because of this specific type, you're going to have to manually remove it as best you can. An old toothbrush helps a lot or a new dish sponge for larger surfaces. Just make sure neither have any cleaners on them.

Question. How long does the solution last. Monthly for in the checker (usually) but the bottle itself. When do I need to go and just buy more / dispose of the old bottle? I added mine to my tank, CO2 will be there soon. And I have 2 Dennerle CO2 tests to verify results of the checker once I add it.