Edit - Camera is OM TG-7 🤩

The view was terrible lol

D. pentazona

i was looking back at some older pictures and realized how far i had come with this tank and wanted to share. It's a 10.8 Gal Long Rimless tank with a custom internal sump that takes up about 1 gal of space. No CO2 or anything fancy and i don't know what i'm doing and i don't have a green thumb at all.

1st pic is from Aug 7 just after i finished the hardscape and put the tank in place waiting on an order of plants to come in.

2nd pic was Aug 13 when i put the plants in and starting adding ammonia to really try to get the cycle going.

3rd pic was Aug 31. Nitrate cycle was going good and just a few days before i would find bladder snails, ramshorn snails, scuds, and introduce a couple of nerite snails.

4th pic was this Morning. I gave up on the Monte Carlo carpet, probably too soon since i did add some clumps into my other tank and it's now starting to actually carpet. The Amazon sword leaves all melted away but there are new ones growing in. I moved one of the Java Ferns and they have split off several daughter plants that i've relocated to other tanks, other spots in this tank and for some I'm just letting nature be. The water wisteria has grown in way more than i realized considering i've trimmed it back a few times already. My favorite thing is how much the moss growth as just exploded. Even above the water line on the emerged rocks and grabbing onto stuff like the light mounts on the side of the tank.

I'm open to any suggestions or critiques, i know i have learned just enough to know that i don't know what I'm doing so I'm still trying to learn more. My main reason to post was just to share a real world newbie example vs all the professional stuff you see on youtube. It has been a constant reminder to be patient and a joy to watch the watch the shrimp and snails live. I'm toying with introducing to trumpet snails to stir up the substrate and thinking about some white cloud mountain minnows after the shrimp are well established and breeding (1 berried female was due to hatch her eggs this week so I'm impatiently watching for those babies and a 2nd berried female was about a week behind and i spotted a 3rd this morning and possibly a 4th last night but i didn't get a good look to see if 3 & 4 were the same girl)

Still growing out, hopefully will look great in a few months

20L low tech, going to be stocked with a single female Betta. (front) Needle leaf java fern, (mid) crypt wendtii, (back) java fern, and creeping fig

Sorry for the bad video quality.

This is a walstad tank, roughly 50 gallons, 120 x 40 x 40 cm.

Patiently waiting for Chili Rasboras, they are so rare from where I live, I think fish stores only get them once a year.

Tank is 3 months old in a week 😁

Livestock:

20 dwarf spotted rasboras, 6 phoenix rasboras

20 pygmy corydoras

20 CPDs

10 sparkling gouramis

7 Otocinclus

8 albino corydoras

Some neocaridina shrimps, and Amano

Any ideas on what to stock these tanks with? I’m so indecisive. I don’t want anything “basic.” Both tanks are currently stocked, but I’m looking for options for the future. I’m open to continuing to keep some of the current fish, but also open to completely switching it up eventually. Not open to fish that will only eat live food. I think I’m leaning towards a centerpiece fish with a school/shoal of fish. Not interested in another betta.

First one is a 29g planted tank, currently has 1 clown pleco, 1 l236 pleco, 1 male betta, 4 female guppies, 1 peppered corydoras, 1 habrosus corydoras, 2 Pygmy corydoras, a few mystery snails, a few nerite snails, and 6-8 Amano shrimp.

Second one is a 17g planted tank, currently has 3 cpds, 5-6 cpd/emerald dwarf hybrids, 8 least killifish, 2 left over female clown killifish, 2-3 kuhli loaches, 1 Otocinclus, 3 Amano shrimp, and some blue neocaridina.

I’m very aware that some of those fish need larger groups, which they did originally, but the rest died off over time and I decided not to get more at this point. No matter how many times I tried getting more, they just kept disappearing/dying. Not sure why, all of the parameters have been fine (ammonia/nitrite zero, nitrate 5.0 and under, ph 7.8, kh 2-4, gh 3-6, temps stable) and I feed the tanks every other day.

Also, the 17g was treated with panacur for planaria back in march of this year, when can I safely add nerite or mystery snails back into the tank?

I know I have duckweed but what are the other two?

In your opinion, what's the best way to add a background to an existing set up? What products do you prefer? What are the pros and cons of the types of backgrounds and application methods you have tried? What's upkeep/longevity like? Have you tried anything that you later regretted? Have you made mistakes that other people could lean from?

I thought keeping the background clear would look less dreary, but it just looks incomplete. Judging from the number of posts asking for people's opinions on which background looks best, I get the feeling this happens a lot. I thought we could talk about it and learn from each other's experiences.

I used aquarium vinyl on my last aquarium, but I struggled to squeegee all of the bubbles out. I used slightly soapy water and scraped at it until my arms were sore but I never could get it quite right. The little patch of bubbles in the corner of my tank made my brain itch until I eventually broke that aquarium down to move houses.

Anyone here with experience with the Apera PH pens? Did you find them reliable? I'm trying to have my ph be in a specific range and I'm unsure of what to trust. The API test kit reads a ph of 6 while the pen itself reads 6.8. The pen has gone through the 3 point calibration. Some readings are been funky and have made recalibrate all over again. Maybe its user error, idk? I've read the manual like a half dozen times and I think I've followed it well. Can you share if you've had a similar experience? Which reading would you trust? Thanks.

Hi everyone! Looking for feedback on my 10-gallon planted tank (home to Alfonso the betta and some shrimp). 

Current Plants:
Thriving: Red Myrio (back), Cryptocoryne wendtii (center), Red Tiger Lotus, and floating Süsswassertang. 
Struggling: Green Cabomba and Red/Green Ludwigia. They’re leggy, sparse, dropping leaves, and just not looking great. 

Questions:
1. Plant Swaps: Should I ditch the Cabomba and Ludwigia? What easy, full-looking plants would be better replacements? 
2. Placement: Should I glue anything (like Anubias or Buce) directly onto the Mopani arch? Where should I move existing plants to improve depth? 

I noticed that the right side near the co2 diffuser and where the outflow is pointed to has better growth and pearls significantly more as compared to the left side.

Is this sign of bad flow? My filter is already on thr lowest flow settings and even that is strong for this 30cm 11.2L tank (30x17x22 cm)

All my Java ferns end up like this with this weird hair like growth on them.

My fledgling 10 gallon tank is now up and running with 2 amano shrimp, 1 rabbit snail, and 10 galaxy rasbora / celestial pearl danio. I rasbora-danios today. The shrimp and snail are mostly keeping the algae in check, but I was thinking about adding 1 or 2 more of the shrimp to cut it back a little further. Good idea or bad idea? My main concern is overpopulating the tank.

G. monticola G. cornusaccus

I just started my first shrimp tank. Only kept neon tetras in a planted tank for 3 years so far, so I’m a noob to a planted shrimp tank. Went to Petco & they sold me some cherry shrimp. All the rest were orange but this one looks different than the rest & im scared it could kill the actual cherry shrimp & snails. Anyone know what this guy is? I’m hoping if is the ghost fish I can just move it to my neon tetra tank. Praying it’s not a whisker & send me luck catching him if I have to. Thanks for any help/advice!

Medium-to-heavily planted tank. My nitrates sit around 30-50 ppm and my phosphate is 0.5-1.0 ppm. Lately I’ve been having green spot algae develop after refreshing my tank. I use Easy Green all-in-one fertilizer as well as Seachem liquid potassium and phosphorus as an occasional booster to keep my pickier plants happy. I keep my lights on for 8h a day though the tank does receive some direct sunlight in the fall and winter.

Should I adhere to the recommended 10:1 nitrate:phosphate ratio even though my nitrates are so high? That would be like 3-5 ppm of phosphate which seems too high. Would it help get rid of the green spot algae?

It’s not bad yet but slowly growing. It’s in the one spot of the glass the light gets to. Light is on 24 hour day cycle.

How can I clean this and also prevent it from returning? I don’t know if my plants will be happy with less light

Just got 8 peppered Cory cats and 4 platies, anything else I should get in my next trip to the store?

I recently made a post asking for help identifying 17 fish I found in a bucket near a dumpster.

I have absolutely no idea how or why they ended up there, but they're living with us now! They're currently in a temporary tub while I figure out a proper setup.

From what I've been told, they're topmouth gudgeons (stone moroko), an invasive species, so releasing them into a river, stream, or pond isn't an option. I also don't have the heart to euthanize them, so I'd rather give them the best home I can.

My goal is to build a beautiful, heavily planted freshwater aquarium that functions as a balanced, natural ecosystem with as little maintenance as reasonably possible.

I'd really appreciate recommendations on everything:

• Tank size for 17 of these fish
• Substrate and gravel (soil, sand, or a combination?)
• Suitable aquatic plants
• Filtration (canister filter vs. a more natural, filterless approach)
• Aeration and oxygen requirements
• Lighting, water parameters, and anything else I might be overlooking

I've kept fish before, but never a fully planted aquarium. I've also been reading about the Walstad method and would love to know whether something like that would be realistic for these particular fish.

I want to do this properly from the beginning rather than waste money on the wrong equipment or, worse, put the fish at risk.

Any advice, suggestions, or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Hi! This is my first planted tank and I plan on putting a beta fish in it. I’ve had the plants about two weeks now but they’re starting to yellow. The LFS I got them from grew them submerged so I don’t think they’re trying to grow new leaves suited for water and I’ve been doing water quality checks near daily.
The past four weeks this five gallon has stayed around 7.4 ph, 80 degrees, and no nitrates, nitrites, or ammonia. I tried the seachem flourish before I realized it didn’t have enough nutrients for plants without using other seachem products, so I switched to easy-green by aquarium co-op. I dosed it yesterday and waited twelve hours to do a water test—no nitrate improvement. I tested the water today and still no change. I thought I read where you should see changes in your parameters within a couple to 24 hours of application but maybe the plants just need it super bad and are absorbing it instantly. I have three kinds of Anubis, duckweed, and some dwarf hair grass. When I glued them to the centerpiece I made sure to only do it in one or two spots, use very little plant super glue, and try to keep as much of the plant free to grow as I could.
This being my first tank I’m super nervous and don’t want them to melt and have to start all over again. I know I’ll probably lose a few leaves off each plant but if there’s any tips or tricks I could try please lmk! I’m open to using things like root tabs and have read that liquid co2 doesn’t do much for the plant so besides the tabs I’m at a loss.

UPDATE: Nitrates after shaking the bottle tested at 20. I feel dumb for not trying that first but will for sure still take recommendations on tank care and maintenance!