FishNasty Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Hey everyone, I’m new to the forum thing. I was looking for any input on my dirted tank. It’s a 40 gallon but it’s 4 feet long and 16 inches high by 12 inches deep. It’s been running for about 4 months now it houses 12 galaxy rasbora, roughly 40 blue dream shrimp. 1 otocinclus ( there was 3 but I believe two were unhealthy and died shortly after getting them home) and a bunch of snails that came from plants. There is diatom algae that my Otocinclus and snails keeps under control. But now I’m starting to see some green algae just starting around the upper glass and drift wood. I don’t see much for nitrates either on my test strips. Would you add more otocinclus? More plants? Less light? Any ideas are welcome and thanks to anyone who can help out! i have well water so it’s very hard, but I think the fish like the water quality. Plants all seem healthy aswell. I run the lights for 8 hours on timers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creedmoor Aquatics Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I would run more plants. Ideally for a dirted tank I want the tank to be full with plants, at least to the point where I couldn't meaningfully add more plants due to lack of space in the substrate. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishNasty Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 Thank you for your reply, that will be my next plan of attack then. Would you suggest any plants in particular? The rotala and dwarf Lilly really grew like crazy after everything settled in. I’ve been replanting the rotala in the back right corner to try and fill the space. My swords and valasaneria have taken awhile but are starting to grow well now after melting and coming back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube_Goldfish Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 On 2/5/2024 at 7:27 PM, FishNasty said: Thank you for your reply, that will be my next plan of attack then. Would you suggest any plants in particular? The rotala and dwarf Lilly really grew like crazy after everything settled in. I’ve been replanting the rotala in the back right corner to try and fill the space. My swords and valasaneria have taken awhile but are starting to grow well now after melting and coming back. The easy answer is more of what's working, so more rotala and dwarf lily, and it sounds like swords and vallisneria are doing well, too. The tightwad in me likes stems of all kinds because they are so easy to trim and replant. With a shallow tank like that 40 breeder you might have luck with some kind of easy carpet, even without injected carbon dioxide. And there are so many kinds of crypts, and they're so low maintenance, toss a whole bunch in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishNasty Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 Thanks rube_goldfish! I’m going to try some more stem plants for sure I like the crypts as-well. It’s very pricey for plants in Ontario. I paid 16.99 cad for 3 stems of bacopa carolinia at the big box store. I did have some Monte Carlo, I believe it was anyways. But it didn’t survive… I also used play sand which is very small grained, maybe that was the cause of death? I think it’s harder to get plants established. But it holds the dirt down very well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube_Goldfish Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Do you have any fish clubs near you? My local club has a monthly meeting with an auction, and it can be a great place to get plants at great prices. Alternately, if you have any other local hobbyists, you might be able to buy or trade with them, too. I've never successfully grown a carpet, truth be told. One of these days! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishNasty Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 It’s something I would have to look into. I don’t know of any fish clubs or that there was such a thing. That’s a great idea though. I have had luck on Kijiji buying local plants and shrimp. Definitely better prices, but it’s hard to find local people with a variety of plants. do you have a Dirted tank you were trying to carpet in? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube_Goldfish Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Oh no, I've never tried a dirted tank. Truth be told, I've only even dabbled with aquasoil. But I realized that I was talking about carpeting plants and thought that I ought to give the caveat that I've never successfully done it myself. ACO has a club finder thing on their website, so maybe that'll work for you? https://www.aquariumcoop.com/apps/store-locator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishNasty Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 Fair enough, maybe one day you will go for it! It seems to be a lot of work to achieve a carpet. I would much rather just have a jungle of plants at this point. Through the link you sent I do see some in the major cities. Like Toronto and Ottawa. I will look into them they are about a 2-3 hour travel from where I live but it may be worth it. thanks for all your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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