Seeking Aquarium and plant advice

[Yambino]

Hello all,

I just created this account as I am seeking advice from this community. First and foremost, I would like to extend my gratitude to Aquarium Co-op as there videos are fun and interesting to watch, so thank you for that. The reason I come to this forum though is I believe that I have a rather niche scenario and I am uncertain as to what video is most applicable to my niche case and I feel that it could not hurt to seek more knowledge.

Several months ago, I lost more goldfish in my cold water aquarium, as this was not the first time and this batch of fish was relatively new (less than 2 months old) I felt compelled to stop buying new fish until I do research into what I was doing wrong and this led me down a rabbit hole of research into PH, Nitrates, Nitrites and Ammonia, plants, lighting, feeding and substrates. After several weeks of watching Aquarium Co-Ops videos I felt  that I had just enough knowledge to lay down the foundations for what I needed for a brand new Aquarium set up and that I was going to "Go big or go home!".

This marked my first dive into real plants, it also marked my first dive into a heated aquarium as I honestly love the looks of the Betta fish and other tropical fish, which seem far more lively and interesting than cold water goldfish (this could be me though) and my goal is to turn the aquarium into something to be admired to those who gaze on it.

 

Over December I bought a bunch of new things and have been doing so by basically following this guide: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/cookie-cutter-for-10-gallon-aquarium 

- A heater: Fluval E Series 50 wHeater

- Rocks

- Plants (limnobium-laevigatum (aka Amazon frogbit), Java ferns,  Bacopa monnieri compact and Amazon Sword Plant)

- A brand new filter ( which I will be perfectly honest with you, I am not entirely happy with as the suction cups never stick to the aquarium and unsure if this would cause too much stress for Betta fish): Fluval U1 Underwater Filter 25

- Soil: JBL Manado 3l

- Gravel: Dorset Pea Gravel 5mm 5 kg

 

So this leads me to my questions:

- I live in Europe and certain products mentioned in the Aquarium Co-Op videos are not available, such as Easy green for non-US countries. Can anyone suggest a similar product that covers all the needs for plants?

- I have noticed that on the Amazon sword plant there seems to be this weird black stuff running the entire length of the spine of one leaf, it looks like it is fuzzy like some black algae, is this okay?

- I have noticed that after a month, while nothing seems to have died yet, I have noticed some varying degrees of molting, especially molting of Bacopa monnieri compact's stems, some stems are just transparent and this too me suggests some iron deficiency (as per: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/plant-nutrient-deficiencies) ?

- How long would it take (realistically) to confirm if things are actually going well for plant growth?

- I have noticed that my Amazon frogbit has started to develop holes, could this be a lighting issue or nutrient deficiency?

- The plants that I bought are considered to be low light and it was done on the following premises: 1: They were easy plants for a beginner and 2: Because it's low light, I shouldn't need to have the light on for 10 hours?

- How can I confirm prior to adding fish, if the plants are creating enough oxygen for the fish?

- As I work to introduce fish suggested in the "cookie cutter for 10 gallon aquarium" blog post. Is it better to buy a Betta fish first or last? is there a specific order in which the fish should be bought and introduced to the new aquarium to avoid stress, death etc.?

- PH, so for the past month, with the aquarium holding some plants I have noticed that after the introduction of rocks the PH level increased from 7.2 to 7.6. I have done a few readings with the API Master test kit on PH and noticed that since the rocks were introduced it seems to have settled at 7.6 which seems too high for tetras?

 

I know there is a lot of questions here, so I do appreciate the time anyone takes to assist me on the above

 

 

 

[MattyM]

Hi Yambino - can you please provide some pictures, and some readings for ammonia/nitrIte/nitrate (test strip readings)? Also what kind of light do you have, how long do you run it, and what temperature do you keep the tank at? When I was starting out my lights were way too bright - is your light dimmable? "Low light" refers to brightness, not time spent on. It sounds like you have some algae on your sword plant, which won't hurt anything but could become a nuisance. 

@TheSwissAquarist do you have any recommendations for an Easy Green like fertilizer in Europe? 

I don't know if you've seen this video before but it really helped me get going with planted tanks:

 

[Flumpweesel]

I think in one of Corys German store vids  he mentioned that Tropica premium nutrition is the nearest to easy green in Europe.

Not sure about root tabs. I have some JBL ones but I rarely add them so I'm not in a position to say if they are any good.

I love Dorset pea gravel can't grab it locally anymore used to be everywhere.

Pop a picture of the iffy plant in the plants thread someone might have seen it before.

We have no real way of checking O2  (with standard equipment) generally advice is to have an air line so you know there is always good  O2  surface agitation is the other option but Bettas aren't fans of strong currents.

Ask the shop what pH their water is see how much it differs from yours. The pH can change while you cycle but most rocks don't effect it what have you put in? (Again photo might help) I wouldn't expect 7.6 to be an issue with most fish.

What's your tank size in litres I only ask because it's easier for me to visualise and I'm guessing around a 40 litres.

Oh Betta last so it is less territorial when you add other things. 

I think I've covered most questions prompt me if I've missed one.

[Yambino]

Hi all, in regards to the water parameter readings, these readings were done via API Master test kit, it is possible that I 1; Misread, 2: Didn't properly do the test or 3:

11th Dec PH = 7.2, Ammonia = between 0, Nitrite = 0, Nitrates = n/a

18th Dec PH = 7.6 (introduction of rocks), Ammonia = 0, Nitrites = 0, Nitrates = 10 - 20 PPM

24th Dec PH = 7.6, Ammonia = 0, Nitrites = 0, Nitrates = 20 PPM.

 

For the aquarium size I seem to have forgotten to include that detail, it is a 50 Ltr aquarium, just above the 10 gallon mark which is why I used the cookie cutter 10 gallon tank blog post as it seemed to be the closest thing without going overboard.

 

As for lights, I am not sure what light bulb it is. The aquarium has been used for close to 15 - 20 years at this point and I don't think there has been any change or work done on this light bulb, however hopefully the photo below may offer some clear indication of its brightness. I can categorically say though that it is not an LED / fluvial light. The Light is attached to a large black aquarium lid and most certainly came with the lid. This is one of the reasons why I have not jumped at the chance of getting a really fancy (and expensive) light as I am uncertain if a replacement is even feasible for the lid. It may also be helpful to understand that this aquarium sits in between the kitchen and dining room so it is a particularly busy area, the lid is helpful so as to avoid clumsy household members from dropping stuff into the aquarium.

The light cannot be dimmed. I also have a smart plug which automatically turns the light on at 18:30 and turns it off at 23:45 every night. As it was mentioned in some of the videos that consistent timing of the lights is a wise move.

 

I have included two photo's of the aquarium the second photo is probably the best of the two so I've marked down a few observations here which are numbered in the photo

1: Are the amazon sword plants leafs which are black spots, possibly phosphate deficiency?

2: This is the Bacopa, it isn't easy to see this from the photo but there used to be a leaf at the top, two in fact. However now they seem to have molted? and are somewhat transparent

3: Is once again the Amazon sword plant and is once again difficult to make out, the first image may or may not offer more insight, but the spine of what i consider to be the largest leaf seems furry? it is dark in color but works its way to the top of the leaf along its spine.

 

I hope that this is certainly more helpful than the original post to offer insight and hopefully can, in turn allow the community to provide more of their knowledge.

Thanks in advance

[Yambino]

On 1/7/2023 at 9:37 PM, MattyM said:

Hi Yambino - can you please provide some pictures, and some readings for ammonia/nitrIte/nitrate (test strip readings)? Also what kind of light do you have, how long do you run it, and what temperature do you keep the tank at? When I was starting out my lights were way too bright - is your light dimmable? "Low light" refers to brightness, not time spent on. It sounds like you have some algae on your sword plant, which won't hurt anything but could become a nuisance. 

@TheSwissAquarist do you have any recommendations for an Easy Green like fertilizer in Europe? 

I don't know if you've seen this video before but it really helped me get going with planted tanks:

 

Hi Matty,

My apologize for the delayed response. Honestly I think I saw the video and forgot it, so thank you for referring me back to it again. In regards to your queries about dimmable lights, no my light is not dimmable and honestly I am not even sure what type of brand of light it is.

I spent some time today since I was off work to go around to pet stores in my local area and admittedly wasn't really sure either. It seems to be some fluorescent light tube T8 (unsure what that means) and with mostly unreadable writing on it besides "Daylight". So my strong suspicion is that the light tube is certainly not a plant light and most certainly not LED.

The Aquarium which I am using came as a kit and I believe that the black lid with the light back as one. From my online research into the lights, most of the lights like Finnex Stingray suggested by Aquarium Co-Op (which is described as bright) ( https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/finnex-stingray-led-lights?variant=17546663108 ) would be unsuitable unless I intended on getting rid of the black lid and spending more money on a new lid.

My research actually drew my attention to this https://fluvalaquatics.com/ca/aquasky/ which seems to have included fittings for T8 (still not sure what this is, but seems to match what is wrote on the inside of my Aquarium lid) however this seems particularly expensive as well and I am not 100% convinced that the length of the light would be suitable for my aquarium, I think I measured the Light tube to be between 18 - 18.5 inches in length?

 

To further add, I noticed Flumpweesels post and the following was mentioned "Tropica premium nutrition" so I bought some of this while in stores.

If light source is the only thing remaining, I would need to get some advice on this too as I have noticed that on the Aquarium Co-Ops blog post for lighting recommendation is " -- " i.e. blank. So uncertain if should spend 150 + euros on a light that may be unsuitable.

if I can get assistance on this matter it would once again be greatly appreciated.

 

 

[MattyM]

I think T8 is the kind of bulb, like a fluorescent shop light, which you can certainly grow plants with. Folks used to do it all the time. Maybe search this forum for T8 lights, and perhaps a fresh post is in order that focuses attention on your light - I bet you can make it work, but I've only had LEDs. 

Good luck 👍

[Yambino]

On 1/9/2023 at 9:56 PM, MattyM said:

I think T8 is the kind of bulb, like a fluorescent shop light, which you can certainly grow plants with. Folks used to do it all the time. Maybe search this forum for T8 lights, and perhaps a fresh post is in order that focuses attention on your light - I bet you can make it work, but I've only had LEDs. 

Good luck 👍

Thanks for your help Matty and also to you too @Flumpweesel

[Flumpweesel]

You can get LED replacements that fit into the fluorescent fittings. I've got them in my fluval tank.

The bulb that it is in will generally have it's size and type in it then just do a search for LED equivalent.  Some shops carry them just measure your length to get the right one (maybe go metric there or both)

I can't remember what make mine are they are pretty basic but plants grow and fish look pretty. I think they were from Amazon due to lock down. Aside from a timer on the plug I can't play with them if I can trace what they are I'll update you.