10 gallon planted tank

[sairving]

My cat also decided she was going to jump on top the tank when I was feeding Louie.  She fell part way in but didn't care.  Why? Sophie doesn't mind getting wet and wanted to drink tasty fish water.

Edited January 13, 2022 by sairving

[sairving]

At Christmas I received a gift card to the fish store. Sweet! With some free time this afternoon, I went to the fish store.  My list consisted of plants and bug bites. I bought some more crypts, anubias frazeri, and a red melon sword. I also bought some Christmas Moss. I've had no luck with java moss in the past.  Using some thread, I just tried it to the driftwood.  Easy removal if it melts. Yes, it looks weird. I'll fix it later.

Louie was crabby because I rearranged his house. Lol!

 

 

This is Sophie.  She's the trouble maker that ended up in the tank.

[sairving]

I lost all my anubias to rhizome rot again! Bought some new anubias from my local fish store, two weeks later, all the rhizomes were mushy.  When the weather improves, I will order some new anubias online. 

Last week, in order to keep the cat out of the tank, I bought some egg crate for the top of my tank. Its working, Sophie no longer knock the plastic piece off the back to get a drink. Instead, she wedges her head in the filter. 

The next major project for my tank this year, is to start injecting co2.  I spent a few days last week pricing co2 regulators and decided to diy my own.  I ordered a 2 stage Uniweld RHT 8013 off ebay for $50. Next, comes looking for the solenoid, bubble counter, and needle valve.  Some of the biggest pitfalls that have come up, parts lists from older posts may not have the same part number now. Just trying to find some of the recommendations in stock someplace is a challenge. I may be scouring ebay for a few weeks.  The information on building a diy regulator is available but its scattered. Most of the really informative threads are over on saltwater and planted tank forums.  I did start a build thread but I'll post updates here too. 

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by sairving

[sairving]

Well, it was an eventful week (putting it mildly). I was doing a water change when the  python clogged. My hand slipped while trying to remove the tube and my python knocked into the rim. It wasn't very hard either. The tank had 3 massive cracks from top to bottom.

Luckily, it did not immediately start leaking. I managed to get all the plants and fish removed. I ran to Petco and bought a new tank. I didn't reuse my substrate because the aquasoil sand same mixed when removing it. It was a muddy mess. Plus, I couldn't find bucket number 3 and scooped it into the bucket for house cleaning.  Good thing I had left over pool filter sand.

Petco was out of fluval stratum so now I'm using root tabs. The plan to start injecting CO2 will be delayed for a bit. My previously healthy crypts are melting but hopefully they will recover. I really dislike crypt melt but like crypts.

I scraped the tank slightly different and like how it turned out. Monday I received a really big, healthy anubias barteri from Aquarium co-op. Yes, I can buy them locally but they're never this size.

The tank now officially needs something. Not sure what yet. Louie the Betta and his roomies are fine. Louie is cranky as usual.

 

 

 

 

[sairving]

An update! 

Louie the betta and his roomies are doing good. Louie has turned into the worlds grumpiest fish. The plants are struggling.  My jungle vals and crypts all melted. Melon sword? Barely hanging in there. My Anubias is doing okay and the watersprite is growing like a weed. It does not matter how many root tabs I add to the substrate, root feeding plants just aren't thriving. 

I'm tired of my tank looking sad and ordered a new bag Rio Escuro. Step one of getting my tank looking good again is to redo the substrate. I'll leave a half inch of sand, add the aquasoil, and recap it. Maybe I'll get some fine gravel and add that over the sand. Makeover time for Louie's tank.

Edited March 29, 2022 by sairving

[sairving]

I solemnly swear I was up to no good Friday evening! 

The Brightwell aquasoil arrived on Thursday (which was exciting). I also needed more sand pool filter sand. Between the great tank catastrophe of 2022 and the small collection of house plants that needed sand added to the potting mix, I was out. My first plan was to buy a new bag of pool filter sand at Menards.  Menards pool filter sand has a really nice grain size but I wasn't quite happy with the color. It's also 2 mins away and I didn't feel like going to Lowes or Home Depot. 

The sand I've really wanted all this time is the caribsea torpedo beach sand. It always seems to be out of stock though. So I took a trip to my LFS and came home with a 25 pound bag of Estes Stoney River. Estes sells the coated sand that comes in different colors and a natural silica quartz sand that can be used in saltwater and freshwater tanks. I bought the uncoated sand. It has a really nice light tan color and the grain size is good too. 

Yesterday evening I removed all the plants and hardscape, removed my betta and his roomies, drained the tank, and scooped out all the sand. I put down about a half inch of sand to give to driftwood and rocks some support, added all the brightwell substrate, then capped it.  

I refilled that tank, put Louie and his roomies back in and went to do battle with the pest snails.

Normally, I don't mind some pest snails but in this case, there were too many pest snails. Before putting the plants back in the tank, I did a bleach dip. The watersprite is a little unhappy looking today but hopefully it will recover. 

Pictures will be coming soon. I need to tie the anubias nana petite to the driftwood and remove some of the rocks. I'm going to order new crypts this weekend too..    

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by sairving

[sairving]

Here's how the tank looks currently. I'll be removing some of the rocks, adding more plants, attaching the anubias. 

[sairving]

 

Pardon the crooked picture. My original piece of driftwood while cool, falls over and up roots plants easily. So I picked up a piece of mopani wood. I like the color so much, I plan on getting a few small pieces and replacing my rocks. 

The wood will release lots of tannins too. Sweat! I like tannins. More plants are on my list too.

 

 

[sairving]

I ordered some crypts, a mystery buce, and another piece of driftwood. Crypts are all over the tank now, the water sprite is growing like crazy and I have growth on the melon sword (finally). 

Now it needs time to grow in. Hopefully the nice won't melt. 

 

[sairving]

Spring finally decided to make an appearance. Then we went straight to July for a bit followed by more spring. My tank was a little neglected for a bit. We weeded flower beds, mulched all the flower beds, planted new flowers, and I expanded the butterfly garden. 

Yesterday, I finally had time to do a water change and order new fish food. There are certain brands I like but I'm always willing to try new foods. Especially if I find some that is high quality. Normally I rotate between NLS, Northfin, and bug bites. My betta does not like Xtreme betta pellets or krill flakes. Northfin is out of betta bits (small bags).

I decided to try Ultra Fresh-Betta Pro Shrimp patties (the ingredients seem to be high quality) and Invert Aquatics Betta bits (black worm based formula).

I'll post ingredients, pictures, and if the fish likes it this weekend.

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by sairving

[Guppysnail]

On 5/20/2022 at 12:19 AM, sairving said:

Ultra Fresh

I have tried things from this company. My fish/shrimp/snails and I liked most of it. I don’t remember any me or my fish disliked. I think I had the wafer, royal guppy, tropical nano granules and fry food.  I still actually have some left I rotate in the rest was eagerly eaten up. 
 

The new wood looks phenomenal! Mopani is my all time favorite tank wood. 

[sairving]

On 5/20/2022 at 8:06 AM, Guppysnail said:

The new wood looks phenomenal! Mopani is my all time favorite tank wood. 

Thanks, I really love the Mopani wood too. Best part? I rinsed to wood, put it in the tank and waited for the tannins.  I'll have to post some new pictures later. The buce and anubias have been growing well.

The java fern rhizome has even managed to grow a leaf. 

[sairving]

I solemnly swear I was up to no good yesterday, aka I went to the fish store.

Some major changes happened to the tank. Why? The weather has been really nice and I've been outside a lot lately. I would forget to fertilize the plants then make up for it two days later. I also forgot a water change. The tank became unbalanced and staghorn algae took over my watersprite. Treating it was not working.

So I went to the fish store and what did they have? Dwarf aquarium lily bulbs. I've always wanted a dwarf aquarium lily. I also bought some red root floaters (they sell them for a good price), and a crypt affinsis red. 

After another water change, I added my new plants. I'm so excited about the lily! 

They also had pygmy corys in stock but I didn't buy any. The fish came from a local breeder and were tanked raised, all good things. Unfortunately, it was $10 a fish. I'll keep looking.

 

Edited June 4, 2022 by sairving

[sairving]

I've noticed that my crypts had been stunted since I initially planted them. Came to the conclusion that the sand I bought a few months back was compacted. After debating for several days and all the pool filter sand being out of stock, I ordered caribsea torpedo beach sand. 

Removed as much of the old stuff as possible, added the new sand, rescaped. There was a problem at the substrate level. The smell was awful. 

Right after adding the new sand.

 

Next, I threw on my black background but then I saw the Serene Background kit from Current USA. I may have decided it was the coolest looking thing ever but did not want to spend $50 on a light, programed remote, and opaque backing. So I did the most logical nothing I could think of, went on YouTube looking for a diy version. Now I have a backlit tank for under $20.

 

[sairving]

Why did I decide to try and backlight my tank? One it looks awesome and two, I saw the Serene Background kit from CurrentUSA. It looks really amazing but I couldn't see spending the money on an led and opaque strip. The ADA backlight is outrageously expensive.

I went on YouTube in search of ideas. A few people had alternatives.

Step one head over to local big box store for led tape lights. I bought mine from Menards for $5. They come with a cheap remote. I chose them because they are water resistant. Some tape lights can be cut. 

I picked up opaque shelf liner. It didn't give the effect I was looking for though. Vinyl privacy window clings are expensive locally. I'll have shelf liner for future use. 

Item number 3 was a pack of stick on Velcro. This hasn't been used yet but I'll have it just in case. 

The last thing I bought was a pack of white poster board. 

You may need a wooden dowel or something else to attach the lights to. We had wood scraps in that garage. I just cut a piece to the correct length.

Attach the lights to the wood, plug the lights into a USB block or connection on power strip. Add white poster board and diy backlight is complete. I spent $20 on the whole thing. 

[sairving]

Now that I've had a bit of time to stare at the back of my tank, the background needs some adjustments.  If you look at the top, the poster board is flat against the tank. None of the light reaches the top. 

 

The second picture is after I pulled the background away from the tank a bit. Now I see why some of the diy methods either angled the background or made a box. The HOB prevents making a box type thing for the back or angling it. I have more white poster board. Over the next few days, I'll play around and see what I can do.

[sairving]

What's been going on with 10 gallon tank the last month? Cyanobacteria with a side of cyanobacteria. I did everything I could think of. Tried cutting the lighting intensity down, dimmed most of the blue light on the Aquasky, cut back on fertilizer, physically removed it and did extra water changes. Nothing worked.

A few days ago, Louie the Betta suddenly became lethargic and bloated. I fasted him, moved him to quarantine and added aquarium salt. He sinks to the bottom and sits on a lilly pad up too. I went to my lfs and bought some antibiotics. 

After 2 days my tank no longer smells like cyanobacteria bacteria. Louie has improved a little bit. He still having problems though. the bubbles are from the next dose of antibiotics.

 

[sairving]

 I had a serious fracture in my shoulder that almost needed surgery. Tank maintenance was an occasional water change for almost 6 weeks. Once I came out of the sling 4 weeks back, my shoulder was frozen. Range of motion and strength are improving. The doctor said the fractures are officially healed.

My tank is a hot mess. Two days ago, I scrubbed the sides of the glass, vacuumed the substrate, broke down the HOB, and spent 10 mins removing hair algae. I visited the LFS for the first time in months yesterday and picked up a tiny bottle of prime and some Aqua Vitro Purfiltrum. I think it's the same thing as purigen (LFS was out of purigen). My plants are a sad melty looking mess and Louie has a tumor.

Hot mess

 

 

 

[Patrick_G]

Sorry about the shoulder, that sounds painful. The tank isn’t looking to bad. I'd just get a toothbrush in there to catch the remaining hair algae, and then get back on your regular routine. In a couple of months it'll be looking great again. 

[sairving]

On 10/20/2022 at 9:45 AM, Patrick_G said:

Sorry about the shoulder, that sounds painful. The tank isn’t looking to bad. I'd just get a toothbrush in there to catch the remaining hair algae, and then get back on your regular routine. In a couple of months it'll be looking great again. 

A tooth brush is a good idea. It looked worse two days ago before I had at it with the gravel vac and turkey baster.

[nabokovfan87]

Glad you're recovering, take it easy!!!

The tank will be ok. Hopefully it's slightly easy to use a python or something and change water one handed.

[sairving]

On 10/22/2022 at 2:46 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Glad you're recovering, take it easy!!!

The tank will be ok. Hopefully it's slightly easy to use a python or something and change water one handed.

It's not too bad using the python one handed. Everything was hard though because I'm left handed. Trying to do things right handed was a challenge. 

[sairving]

My Betta died yesterday afternoon. Honestly, I wasn't surprised and had been expecting it for a week or two now. 

After work, I decided to have some fun and visit my lfs. I looked at chili rasboras and ember tetras first. Then fell I in love with the white cloud mountain minnows. I bought 5 of those and a few pygmy corys. Plus, new food. 

 

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/23/2022 at 4:23 PM, sairving said:

It's not too bad using the python one handed. Everything was hard though because I'm left handed. Trying to do things right handed was a challenge. 

I totally understand. I broke my arm and had to eat a taco left handed. I could do it. But my brain literally was like "nope, this isn't right, not possible, can't do it" 😂. It was definitely a funny moment growing up trying to eat just staring at the plate and telling my mom. "I can't do it, my brain won't let me!"

Hopefully a swift recovery, glad things are ok, but yeah, I totally feel for you.

On 10/23/2022 at 4:29 PM, sairving said:

My Betta died yesterday afternoon. Honestly, I wasn't surprised and had been expecting it for a week or two now. 

Very unfortunate, my condolences.

[sairving]

@nabokovfan87 eating was hard. I spent more time getting food on myself lol.

I was expecting to find my Betta dead. My guess is sometimes the genetics of Betta splendens can cause problems. In this case it was a tumor. If my water was soft or I had rodi water, I would try keeping a wild betta species.