Hello from Little Rock.

[Rebecca M]

I’m new to the Forum, although I’ve been an Aquarium Co-op customer for a few years and have kept planted aquariums for more than 40 years. I have a low-tech, densely planted 30-gallon cube. It’s been running for 4 years, although we moved house 4 months ago, and of course the crypts hated that. So we are in re-growth mode now. I have cardinal and ruby  tetras, three scarlet badis, a hillstream loach, three clown plecos, and large breeding colonies of cherry shrimp and scuds. I have had most of these fishes for three or four years, and I sell 50 cherry shrimp or so each month to my LFS out of this tank. The back wall of my tank is covered in susswassertang, which helps some shrimplets survive in the tank full of predators. 
The first photo below is a front view, the second is from the side, and the third photo shows some ruby tetras flashing around  😊

Edited August 16, 2022 by Rebecca M

[Patrick_G]

Welcome! I love the susswassertang wall. Is it hard to keep trimmed? 

[Rebecca M]

Hi Patrick. It’s not hard to keep trimmed; I just pull wads off. There’s no cutting involved. The worst thing about it is that it tries to start little colonies of itself all over the tank, and you have to pull it out. But it’s the best thing I’ve found for giving the infant shrimp shelter and for letting me keep fish like the scarlet badis, which really only want to eat live food. I made this susswassertang wall 4 years ago, when I set this tank up. It is made of rigid black plastic canvas, like for needlepoint, then I spread wads of susswassertang all over it, stretched nylon hairnets over it, and sewed the hairnet to the canvas with monofilament fishing line. The canvas is attached to the aquarium glass with suction cups. Of course, none of the fish I keep bother the shrimp once they’re half grown. 
That is a beautifully planted tank you have. What size is it?

Edited August 17, 2022 by Rebecca M

[Patrick_G]

On 8/16/2022 at 4:58 PM, Rebecca M said:

That is a beautifully planted tank you have. What size is it?

Thanks, It’s a 75 gallon with various community fish. 

[John Henry]

Glad to have you in the forum @Rebecca M, absolutely beautiful tank!  Great example of what can be accomplished with low tech skill and experience.  Crypts look very happy now, send us a photo once they are out of "re-growth mode".  Willing to share your lighting and fert regimen?

[David Retired LEO]

Welcome Rebecca! Those are some beautiful pictures. I have 3 Hillstream Loaches with my Goldies.

[Rebecca M]

@Patrick_G

@John Henry
Very nice balance, Patrick, and I love the lilies in the front. 
John Henry, I am afflicted with two agile cats. I have a sturdy, full glass canopy, with three of these Nicrew strip lights sitting directly on the glass. Then on top of the lights is a metal baker’s cooling grid, and then a 20-lb book on top of the rack. 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01C84SLRO?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I run the lights 8 hrs a day when I’m in town to dose ferts. If I’m out of town, I cut the photoperiod in half. I don’t have anyone feed the tank unless I’m gone for more than a month. 
I don’t use pressurized CO2, and all my plants are easy ones that don’t require frequent trimming. We have very soft water here in Little Rock. I use Seachem root tabs (because they are heavy and don’t float up out of the Fluval Stratum), and I dose EasyGreen and Seachem Excel daily in the water column. I also dose EasyIron a couple of times a week. I adjust the amounts according to the plant mass. Because there are so many shrimp in the tank, I also have to use Wonder Shells or similar calcium supplements — if the pest snails start looking pale and transparent, I know I’ve forgotten to do that. The picture below shows this tank before the recent move and crypt melt. They have not been replanted since then; they are just regrowing from their old roots. It was quite the messy jungle, to be honest, but the fish and crustaceans like it that way.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Rebecca M

[Rebecca M]

@David Retired LEO
David, your goldfish and hillstream loaches look very happy. They are fishes with lots of personality, aren’t they? I should have mentioned earlier, I run my tank on the cool side, as I’m sure you do as well. I keep it at 73 degrees F. 

Edited August 17, 2022 by Rebecca M

[David Retired LEO]

Yep, I'm at 74. I've only had the loaches for 2 months or so. When I got them they hid under the sponge filters. I thought they were afraid of the goldfish. After about 2 weeks I started see them out and about, more and more. Now I think that they were starving when I got them and just munching continuously on the sponges. The are fun to watch now

[Rebecca M]

@David Retired LEO, I have had my hillstream loach for  about 4 years. If you aren’t already, I recommend you consider feeding them those Xtreme sinking algae wafers, or Hikari, or similar. I don’t think they can get along on the tank algae alone. The goldfish will like them as well, I should think.😊