Our first tank.

[Trevir]

Started researching fish keeping in 2015 when my wife and I got married, we lived in an apartment next to a fish tank installer and I realized there was a sufficient market in the world for such a thing and it blew my mind. Also started an itch that is not yet satisfied to some day get into some serious saltwater tank ideas, but that is for another day and a larger budget than I can justify. 
 

We currently have a 10gal planted tank with 5 neon tetras, 3 bandit corydoras, 2 (1currently) nerite snails, 1 flame gorami. 
 

we got a corner tank because it fits nicely in the corner of our kids room where the temperature stays nice and steady and I am able to control the amount of light that gets to the tank. The hang on back filter I followed some of the ideas from the filter boosting YouTube video that Cory posted and it is currently providing the aeration, which means there is a pleasant constant sound of water flowing that works as good as any noise machine for the kids to fall asleep to. 
 

threw in a piece of aquarium wood, a sunken battleship and a treasure chest, planted some cool plants around and this setup has been as close to no maintenance as any out there. I clean filters and do a 1 gal water change once per week and monitor the levels of chemical and haven’t had any significant hang ups. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/7/2023 at 10:24 PM, Trevir said:

Welcome to the forums 🙂

I like the setup you have going on there.  The plant on the right is my favorite in your tank.

[Schuyler]

On 1/7/2023 at 10:24 PM, Trevir said:

Started researching fish keeping in 2015 when my wife and I got married, we lived in an apartment next to a fish tank installer and I realized there was a sufficient market in the world for such a thing and it blew my mind. Also started an itch that is not yet satisfied to some day get into some serious saltwater tank ideas, but that is for another day and a larger budget than I can justify. 

Welcome! Salt water is one of those things that you look at and think "wow that's so cool" but then it's just so intimidating looking at all the stuff that goes into it. At least for me. I keep thinking "I still don't have freshwater figured out so I really want to make that more complicated?"

Being an aquarium installer sounds like it could be a cool job though

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Welcome to the forum! 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/8/2023 at 2:09 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

The plant on the right is my favorite in your tank.

That's nice, isn't it?  That is water sprite.  It looks very happy!

I like your tank @Trevir and welcome!  The marbling on that piece of driftwood is lovely and really adds to the habitat.

A few of the plants you have do not like to have their roots in the substrate and may suffer down the line.  They feed from the water column. Javafern windelov is one that doesn't like to have the roots or rhizome (rigid part near the roots) buried.  Same for anubias and regular java fern, if you can confirm those are the other plants you have in there.  Water column feeding plants can be kept in place by attaching them to rocks or driftwood.  Or you can put a plant weight around the bottom of the plant to keep it held down.  Here's a helpful video link --->  click

Edited January 11, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[jwcarlson]

I got a bunch of java fern and buried it in substrate.  I'm now about a year past doing that and I have dozens of baby java ferns all over the place because I stressed and killed their mother plants. 😄

Whoops.  They do much better glued to wood or rock.  Or the little ones seem to float around just fine.

Did the same with the anubias and I think one or two of those didn't do well, but once I got them out the ones that remained seemed to take right off.  Anubias is my kind of plant.  If it's not happy (in my experience) it just sits there an *remains alive* and then like a day after you make a positive change you rewards you with a nice new leaf. 😄

Edited January 11, 2023 by jwcarlson

[Tonyp814]

@TrevirI think your tank is amazing and in your kids room to boot. Do they enjoy watching the fish? My son has a Guppy tank and I think its great when he'd rather spend time with his fish and not his phone, Switch, or Xbox. Thank you for sharing.

[Trevir]

@Tonyp814 they love to help feed the fish and periodically they spend time watching. It helps that I have the fish set to their sleep schedule so the tank lights turn out just before bed time. They are 3 and 5, so everything is exciting. 
 

@jwcarlson that’s exactly how I got my java ferns so abundant. I thought I had a weird algae taking over until I realized it was a separate plant. So I started planting them in the gravel as they popped up and the rest is history. 

[Trevir]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea that is great to know! That’s probably why it grows fast puts up shoots and immediately roots up into the water, I’ve been fighting this since week 2. 
 

my water sprite died, really quickly, it grew so fast and looked so happy for about 3 months and then turned yellow and began burning back to the stocks. It went fast, was my favorite plant. I want to replace it but i dont want to kill another… I had the it in the easy planter and im worried it wasn’t happy in there. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/13/2023 at 12:44 AM, Trevir said:

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea that is great to know! That’s probably why it grows fast puts up shoots and immediately roots up into the water, I’ve been fighting this since week 2. 
 

my water sprite died, really quickly, it grew so fast and looked so happy for about 3 months and then turned yellow and began burning back to the stocks. It went fast, was my favorite plant. I want to replace it but i dont want to kill another… I had the it in the easy planter and im worried it wasn’t happy in there. 

I don’t know why but my water sprite didn’t like being planted. It loves being floated, and then it makes shoots off to the sides, kind of like a snowflake. This floating clump here is the water sprite, and the shrimp have made it their favorite hangout.

 

[Darax]

On 1/13/2023 at 2:51 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I don’t know why but my water sprite didn’t like being planted. It loves being floated, and then it makes shoots off to the sides, kind of like a snowflake. This floating clump here is the water sprite, and the shrimp have made it their favorite hangout.

Probably just lacking root tabs for the water sprite. Mine grows well either way. The fish definitely love it as a floating mass of veg. One of my siamese algae eaters is working on inventing a water sprite cot. He's tool cool to just sleep on a leaf. 

 

[Schuyler]

On 1/13/2023 at 2:51 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I don’t know why but my water sprite didn’t like being planted. It loves being floated, 

IIRC Cory said there were lots of plants that like that because they already mainly pull nutrients from the water column and being at the top gives them more access to CO2 and light

[Trevir]

My tank has high water movement due to cheap corner hob filter, so anything that floats gets sucked in. Would water movement effect the sprite negatively? 

[Schuyler]

On 1/13/2023 at 11:32 PM, Trevir said:

My tank has high water movement due to cheap corner hob filter, so anything that floats gets sucked in. Would water movement effect the sprite negatively? 

You may be put a sponge on the filter intake. The water sprite would probably be ok with the flow. @Chick-In-Of-TheSea did your tank have much flow?

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/15/2023 at 9:28 AM, Schuyler said:

You may be put a sponge on the filter intake. The water sprite would probably be ok with the flow. @Chick-In-Of-TheSea did your tank have much flow?

My 29g has a hob, and I have water sprite in there. The flow at the top keeps the sprite to one corner, for the most part. I do use a prefilter sponge, and I haven’t noticed the water sprite go that deep or get pushed under anyway.