Mattlikesfish36

@jwcarlson here’s a photo I took of the box. I put the plywood over the top for some extra protection

@lefty o @Lots Of Loaches well I ended up taking the easy way out after seeing a sale at Home Depot. I bought these husky shelves that are rated at 1000 pounds per shelf. I’m feeling confident about the stand and it is up against an exterior wall perpendicular to the joists. The only thing is now I’m a little fearful about the narrow legs compared to the original plan I had for the DIY stand. Hoping it doesn’t go crashing through the floor.

@Lots Of Loachesthanks for all of this info! I like the idea of using the 2x6 pieces. Better to be on the side of overkill than risking things turning out flimsy. I’ll definitely post pictures once things are up and running

Thanks @lefty o and @Tanked for the feedback!

I am going to be upgrading to a 40 breeder for my shell dweller cichlids and I am planning on building my own stand from 2x4s. My question is, does the aquarium need to line up directly with the legs on the corners? Or can I build it wider than the tank and center it on the top? I would like to build a 5 foot wide stand to fill a space evenly against the wall where it will be going. I am also planning on having a variety of nano tanks on the bottom. Any advice would be much appreciated!

@nabokovfan87 thanks so much for all of this! Definitely gives me a lot to think about and has me leaning toward the bigger one @beastie this is a great looking aquarium! Thanks for sharing @TOtrees thanks for all of this! Definitely makes sense to be thinking about all of those things during setup rather than waiting @mynameisnobodyawesome thanks for this information! I like the idea of keeping them with live bearers as well.

I have a group of 6 neolamprologus similis in a 10 gallon aquarium and I am looking to upgrade now that they have started to breed. I’m hoping to use this as justification to my wife that it’s time for me to build a multi aquarium rack. Any suggestions on which size aquarium I could get that would make for interesting behavior and room to expand their colony? 40 breeder would be the biggest I could fit in my current room. Should I go big with a 40 or am I better off with something smaller like a 20 long?

@Guppysnail it has been a while… but here are some updated photos of the fry!

@nabokovfan87thanks for your reply! I just trimmed and replanted the stems and they were sending out aerial roots because they were horizontal across the top of the water. I’ll try some tabs a little more off to the side to see how that works. My water is very hard. Turns the gh marker magenta on the aquarium coop strips. I’ll have to test Kh again to see

I’ve had this plant for about a year and it does relatively well in my aquarium, but the roots keep coming up above the substrate. I have root tabs directly underneath them and I have added substrate around the base of the plant several times, but the roots keep coming up above the surface. I don’t have any fish that dig either so I’m stumped on why this keeps happening. Does this ever happen to anyone else?

@Shadow I can’t recommend them enough! Lots of personality and pretty easy to care for

@Guppysnail thank you! And yes I definitely will be sharing as the fry start to grow

Thanks! Macmasteri. Just moved them into my main tank after they produced fry in their breeding tank. They seem to be taking well to the heavily planted setup!

No photo edits needed for this big daddy

I have a pair of apisto fry that hatched two weeks ago. Only two survived but it’s my first time so I’m just happy that any made it. (And super excited). My breeding pair laid another batch of eggs today. Will my two week old fry eat the new eggs if they are in the same breeder box together? Or are they safe to be in close quarters? Any help would be so much appreciated!!

@JettsPapa awesome, thanks for the recommendation! I’ll check them out. I’ve had better luck with crypts in low light, do you think these would be alright under high light?

Hello everyone, I’m looking for recommendations on background plants for my rimless 17 gallon aquarium. I currently have the back loaded up with Rotala Orange Juice and they are beautiful when healthy and trimmed, but require a lot of upkeep/trimming/replanting. Any recommendations on something that would be lower maintenance but would still fill the background? My original thought was Amazon sword, but I think that would end up growing far too big for the aquarium and would end up shading out my mid and foreground plants. Any recommendations would be much appreciated! I am dosing EI, run high light Twinstar lights, and pressurized co2. (I realize that a high tech approach probably limits my low maintenance options, but I’m curious for suggestions). Thanks!

@nabokovfan87 cool thanks for the reply! I’ll check out the reverse respiration method. I’ve read up on it before but it has been a while and I’ve never tried it so maybe now is my chance

@Zac thanks for the idea! Just popped some tabs into the substrate and will see how it works

My dwarf sag has taken a nose dive out of nowhere after doing well for several months. I’m stumped on why it is melting all of a sudden and wanted to see if this is BBA or something else. The only thing I have changed is bumping up the co2 slightly. There is some BBA on my driftwood but it is more tuft-like. Any help would be much appreciated!

@Mmiller2001 definitely more confusing than EI dosing but I think if I can wrap my head around the TDS meter guiding water changes it could be a system that works well for me

@Mmiller2001 thanks for sharing the links! Oddly enough, I’m using those exact fertilizers from GLA but I have been dosing them based on their EI recommendations

@Mmiller2001 thanks for that suggestion. I’ll have to do some research on how that system works but it definitely seems worth exploring!

@Scapexghost thanks for the comment. That’s the part where I’m stuck and will probably have to experiment with dosing

I am currently running a high light co2 injected 17 gallon aquarium. Heavily planted with rotala, bacopa, baby tears, and working on a Monte Carlo carpet. My best estimate is that plants cover 80ish% of the substrate. I am dosing EI with dry salts alternating micros/macros with a weekly 50% water change. I am able to dedicate less and less time to the upkeep of my aquarium because my daughter is now a toddler and requires lots of time/energy so I’m looking for ways to reduce maintenance time. Can I cut dosing in half and perform a water change every other week instead of every week? Or is the math not as simple as that? Thanks for any feedback/suggestions!