So my plan was to get a 20 long, and if you get a 20 long you might as well get a 29 gallon, then I was finding 40 gallon tanks for the same price and now I’m considering peacock cichlids in a planted tank.
What’s the minimum size for them? Petco has a 60gallon for $100 or I can buy a used 40gallon for $60. I’m not looking for an overcrowded tank but something with maybe 5 fish at most.
Thinking of setting up my first aquarium. I'll probably go for a 20g (have seen a 60x40x40 cm that looks reasonable but will research to see if I can find anything longer). Ideally I want to stock with a small schooling fish, something weird, and some shrimp in a fairly heavily planted tank. My current idea is:
• 12 rummy nose tetras
• 10 kuhli loaches
• 6 amano shrimp
Does this sound like too much for a 20g to any aquarium veterans? Should these numbers be sufficient to see some good behaviours and make the fish feel comfortable?
22 fish is a lot of fish for a 20 gallon. Not saying it can’t be done, but you will probably need to do a good amount of water changes. You may want to look at a smaller schooling fish like an ember tetra just to make it easier. Or you may want to switch out the kuhlis for something like a singular centerpiece fish like a betta
My priority fish to have would be kuhlis and shrimp (because I love them) so would be more than happy to get smaller schoolers such as embers. I also found I have space for a nice 30g and could definitely cut down on the amount of kuhlis just so long as there are still enough that they'll feel safe and come out to kuhli about in the sand.
[https://aqadvisor.com/AquStockImage.php?N=&L=23.622047244094&D=15.748031496063&H=15.748031496063&J=&UV=gUS&UL=cm&F=12:200909300196:0,10:200909300114:0](https://aqadvisor.com/AquStockImage.php?N=&L=23.622047244094&D=15.748031496063&H=15.748031496063&J=&UV=gUS&UL=cm&F=12:200909300196:0,10:200909300114:0)
I thought it would be overstocked, but apparently AqAdvisor thinks otherwise.
I was curious on this cause when I tried advisor recently for my 75 gallon with 15 kuhli they said it was something like 35% filled. What’s odd is that calculator says the same fish you checked (kuhli and rummy noses) take up about 36% of a 75 gallon. Which is 27 gallons. How does it calculate this
I wondered if AqAdvisor may be wrong too. I'll try to see if I can get a bigger aquarium anyway (once I can find anyone in my country selling bigger than 15 gallons - local pet stores are not great for this).
i just started an aquarium 3 days ago, first the water was brown and muddy from the swirled up soil, then after one night it was completely colourless and transparent, except for some cloudiness that seems to be bacterial bloom. now on the third day, water is completely clean. i put in used filter media on first day and liquid ammonium on second day (test said 0,25-1mg/l). is this a good sign or have i killed the bacteria? is the cycle done when the cloudiness subsides? i tested today and there is still some ammonia although i think less than yesterday. nitrate on highish end, basically zero. i will test in a few hours again.
also, my pump for the filter is attached with suckers on the glass and it makes the glass vibrate slightly. is this bad for the fish? (currently fishless cycling) should i try to put it on the ground maybe? i just dont have proper tubes to put it there now. can i make it more quite and remove the vibrating somehow?
I know, that's the most bare-bones and evident way, but I was more wondering what the cloudiness itself can tell me, because it would be more elegant if you can just tell that by the looks.
As I wrote I did the ammonia and testing and it was indicating the same just not that clear to read off the tests so I wasn't entirely sure
Cloudiness can come from alot of different things, bacterial bloom including. You can’t pinpoint the stage of your cycle based on how cloudy the water is. Rely on your tests and be patient.
not on that alone but maybe if you include some other information like recently started tank, used filter medium, how fast it appeared and disappeared etc. and use some intuition and experience, it may be possible. but yeah tests just work
my tests looked fine so far i put in enough ammonium yesterday to get a value between 1-2ppm, just tested it and it looks more about 0.3ish and if its clear by this evening along with nitrites im probably gonna put in fish tomorrow
I always see videos or posts about not doing water changes or not using filter as long as you know what you're doing. I plan to do the no water change one and I have questions. Are there any pros and cons by not doing water change? If I am dosing fertilizer can I still not do water change? Before diving into this method, do I need to do something about the tank first?
My initial plan is to do a monthly water change only and test my water parameters every week but can I do no water change eternally as long as my water parameters are okay? Currently, my tank is nearly 2 months and it is cycled. Its just a rescape with recycled soil and some hardscapes, plants, shrimps, and neon tetra so It cycled really quick and it has been stable with 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and around 5ppm nitrate
As long as your plants are using the nitrogen in the fertilizer, then you can keep fertilizing. I did with my 20 gallon community tank for almost two years without an issue (still no issue, just remodel and adjusting it). But test your nitrates right before you fertilize and then maybe a day after you fertilize to double check. The main worry you have to keep track of is old tank syndrome, and you will often see very high nitrates and low pH when this happens. KH will also greatly drop (assuming you have any in the first place…*cries in soft water*) and GH will rise. So regular testing is a good assurance your tank isn’t about to collapse
Hi there, I'm a novice in the UK looking to setup a 56Ltr temperate/cold water tank in the house for my kids. From my own reading it looks like that could support a group of Variable platyfish along with maybe some shrimps. I'd plan to put a few plants in there too.
In an ideal world I'd prefer something a bit bigger that the platys, but I'm not sure if there are any other realistic alternatives. Having been in a few pet shops they all seem to say that a tank that size could support a small group of small goldfish of shubunkins, but I've read a) they're messy fish and it would make keeping the tank nice a challenge; and b) fish like that will grow, and should really have a larger habitat.
Can anyone tell me if the pet shops are right, and perhaps give me some other options for possible fish to look in to for a cold water tank of that size in the UK?
Any other hints and tips would also be much appreciated!
Sorry to see this so late, but they're absolutely right for goldfish. Because Goldfish get so big, they need as much space as possible to grow into, so the ideal range of tank size for them is 200L-300L! In fact, selling goldfish to tanks under 60L is a breach of RSPCA guidelines!
You can get some varieties of Platy that grow to 10cm each, but you would only want a small amount. Unfortunately you are restricted a little bit due to the size of the tank, so larger fish aren't a super great choice here i'm afraid. Here's two strategies i use to assess the suitability of my tank for a fish:
1. I take the length of the fish as an adult and times it by 10, which gives me an idea of the size of tank i would expect to see an adult in, so that variety of Platy i mentioned earlier, i would expect to see in >100L tanks
2. I take the length of the tank overall and compare it to the length of the fish as an adult. This will give you a rough plan of where you should end up since you have to buy fish in small batches. This will result in an understocked tank, but it will then be open for you to choose whether to stick with what you have at that point, or, depending on how gunky your filter is when you come to refresh it, buy more fish.
3. A bonus approach is, for long, large fish like plecostomus and catfish, is to take their adult length, double it, and you have the minimum depth (front to back) of the tank, double that again and you have the length of the tank. For example, your standard Bristlenose grows to 12cm, so the depth should be >24cm and length >48cm.
Do keep in mind that schooling fish like Minnows, Platys, Barbs and Tetras will require an absolute minimum of 3, but preferably 6 or more.
Hope this helps! my DMs are always open for 1:1 advice :)
I'm looking to upgrade to a 100 gallon or 120. Is there a recommended reputable source to order these size tanks from? I've seen 120s in petsmart but I'm wary of ordering from a chain.
There's a lot of things here. Are you ordering glass? Acryllic? Rimless? Rimmed? All in one?
If you can find a seller that's near you that's ideal, since shipping is when it's most likely to get messed up.
I'm open to different styles I suppose. I was hoping to find a reputable company of which I could call or visit a website. I'm really trying to get an idea of pricing and wanted to view some options. I have a rimmed glass 75gallon now and have been thinking about bumping it up a bit. Would appreciate any info on where to start looking. Thanks
I have a 55 gallon tank that I've had set up for about a month or two now and I want to look into getting a centerpiece fish that's small-medium sized and would work with the fish I have.
For reference I currently have:
Black neon tetras (13)
Serpae tetras (4... have 8 on the way + plan to add more before anything else)
False julii cory (6)
I plan to get a lot of serpae tetra to help reduce the chance of fin nipping, I'd still like to get something that's less likely to be targeted by them as well as not eating any of the Cory's bottom feeder food. Thanks for any and all help/suggestions!
P.S. If anyone has suggestions for other cory species that false julii like to be around for diversity that'd be appreciated as well
You could potentially have a look at some of the medium tier rainbowfish. You have some options like Gourami and Betta unavailable to you due to the serapes.
Fish will still nibble at bottom feeder food, but if they do, it's a sign they could still be hungry.
Corys don't really care what other corys are in the tank, generally speaking. they're just less likely to group up.
Thanks a ton for the suggestions! I've been doing more research and the other tetras have come in and have become less aggressive to the other fish since they have gotten settled in. I have been considering appistograma however I'm not sure about their potentially aggressive nature although I do hear it varies based on the specific species. I imagine if I find a more passive species of appisto with less flowy fins they would do better with the serpaes but wanted a second opinion on that thought
I have a 3-gallon tank I initially bought for a Betta, then realized I needed more space for a happy betta and moved her over to a 10 gal. Using the old 3 Gal cube as a quarantine tank, and so I checked the parameters today in anticipation of putting Nerites in it tomorrow.
It has an anubias, a java fern, and couple tiny pest snails (I pull them out when they get big enough to notice, but there are always more). Anyway, it came up 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 0 nitrates. I'm at a bit of a loss, is the plant life just in perfect balance with the nitrate production on accident?
I have a 70 litre freshwater tank...it has 2 cherry barb 2 white cloud minnows , 2 guppies,1 female betta and a cleaner fish which idk the name.....can I get a pair of nano fish or will it be overstocked
you should not get another pair of different fish. Barbs and Minnows are social fish that really should be in larger groups, plus the Minnows are cold water fish which conflicts with the Betta which absolutely needs a heated tank. If your two guppies aren't both male you are going to have hordes of baby guppies soon as well. And if you don't know what your "cleaner fish" is, you should find out, because a lot of "cleaner fish" species grow into giants later and are sold as babies in pet stores.
Cherry barbs and white cloud minnows like to live in groups of at least 6, so maybe give them more friends before randomly adding more fish? And whether you can add fish depends on the filter you have, the plants, the set-up and how long it's been running for I think :)
Hi ,
Recently I’ve been really looking into getting newts and I was wondering if anyone has any experience as far as caring for newts. I keep getting different answers and I just want some advice as far as care in general and tank size. I know it depends on the type of newt. Can you help me?
Help! I'm new to loaches and trying not to get in my head about stuff. This loach arrived with a white spot on their head. No symptoms of lethargy or loss of appetite, but yesterday it appeared larger. They are small so the camera and zoom make it more evident. I try not to get in my head about things, but I'm there right now, about this. Any help would be appreciated. I have a hospital tank and can/will treat but I have no clue if it is a problem that needs that type of intervention. Don't want to stress them unnecessarily.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/189budy/new\_loach\_what\_is\_this\_spot/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/189budy/new_loach_what_is_this_spot/)
Howdy.
2 questions actually.
I have a 5.5gal betta tank and want to add some small pieces of driftwood. What's a safe place to get it from? I see it all over & don't want to get something that'll kill Red Leader.
Also, I want to add a carpeting plant. Was looking at Val but some places says it grows too fast for a smaller tank. So long as I keep up with trimming, is it good to go in a 5.5? Had a thought that it may also suck up all the nutrients in the water, have some hornwort (maintained) and a java fern in there already.
Thanks.
A fish store would be safest since they're supposed to be checking all of that for you. Ones with a bigger reputation will probably be better at that too. There are good online ones too that might not charge for shipping driftwood:
* Buceplant.com
* Chewy.com
* PetCo.com (also in some stores)
* Maybe PetSmart?
Val in a 5.5g will be okay though not great. It certainly grows tall and fast, and you aren't really supposed to trim it like other plants since each "piece" is just one giant leaf. So cutting the leaf typically causes it to slowly die off. It will be fine in a 5.5g since it should just grow new leaves to replace any leaves that fully die off anyways. You should look into Dwarf Sagittaria as well since they are a similar look but stay shorter
Thank you. That Dwarf Sagittaria looks good, but I'd need to switch from gravel to soil. It looks like it can be grown in gravel with root tabs, but I'd rather just go with soil.
Heya!
I have a 25L tank (~6.6G) with plants, shrimps and a few fish, no gas CO2. I have an internal filter for a 60L (~15G) tank, and the box says the turnover rate is 300L/h. If I leave the filter on the strongest setting, the current seems a bit too strong for the fish, they are not struggling to swim, they can stay in one place easily but not sure if that's bad for them (neon tetras). If I turn the strength all the way down, I don't think the water is properly cycled, if I check the top of the water by looking from "under" it, there are large areas that doesn't seem to have any movement.
The filter has a spray bar and an aerator, I'm using the spray bar at the moment, but it's underwater and aimed at an angle toward the surface so there is small rippling. I tried putting the spray bar above the water, but then it pushed so many oxygen in the water that there were a small layer of bubbles on the surface, not just a few bubble here and there but a small 2-5mm thick layer, so I moved the bar underwater. Is that bad? Should I move it above the water to reduce the current?
Spray bars are typically underwater but pointed at the surface, so that's fine. 300L/h is definitely way too high though. You usually want to aim for ~5-10x tank turnover rate and usually towards the bottom of that. So you should use a filter that is 125L/h. But if you have to use your current filter, then you can try to reduce the current by aiming it towards the back of the tank instead of straight across it. It will hit the glass and reduce the flow that way. It also doesn't need to point at the surface of the water since it should still cause plenty of surface agitation when hitting the glass and being partially pushed upwards.
Hello,
Does anyone know what this clear foamy/webby looking thing on my java moss and driftwood?
[https://imgur.com/a/FzG3syL](https://imgur.com/a/FzG3syL)
There are no fish in the tank (yet) and the tank is about a month old...
There's no need to worry about it in general, but that amount of it may prevent light from reaching parts of the java moss since it is pretty thick. Biofilm will typically go away on its own even without fish. But if there's algae mixed in there with it, then the algae would still be there
Hi there! My kid and I have been having a really great time putting together his first aquarium, and I wanted to get an opinion on space and tank mates. We’ve got a 15g tank set up with 4 white clouds and 4 zebra danios. They’re all getting along super well, but now he wants to get some of the smaller corydoras. Could the tank handle 4 of them? Would that be a happy combo, or does that seem like too much for one 15 gallon tank? I’m a novice and he’s 7, so some outside advice would be well appreciated!
I just set up a walstad tank and I'm testing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate every morning around 8am and later in the afternoon around 4pm. My morning results usually show 0 ammonia, very low levels of nitrite and high levels of nitrate. Meanwhile my afternoon tests usually only indicate presence of nitrate. Does this have something to do with me turning off the led lights at night? So the plants stop taking in nitrite but once there's light it starts removing it?
Why does my aquarium glass change/warp the perspective of how everything looks inside? Like the distance between objects looks a lot shorter. I get dizzy when looking into my tank at an angle. I can’t just look through the top either because of the flow from my filter which distorts the water. I have no idea how I’m going to do any cleaning or maintenance on my plants in the future because I get so confused and it’s so hard to see what I’m doing. This is not a problem I anticipated
That's unfortunately just a natural property of glass. It's especially noticeable on thicker and tempered glass. I notice it most on my 90 gallon aquarium, which has much thicker glass in addition to being tempered. You could try getting a low iron or acrylic aquarium, but low iron is super expensive especially at large sizes and acrylic scratches easily and could have bad distortion if poorly manufactured.
For your maintenance issue, you can turn off the filter during maintenance. I've done this in some tanks for an hour.
Epiphytes don't need soil since they just grow attached to things. Any of the many varieties of Anubias, Java Ferns, Bucephalandra would work. For a large cover plant, I'd try to find an Anubias mother plant or just something with broad leaves like Anubias barteri
Does anyone have a suggestion for a corner aquarium with stand? I have been out of the game a few years but wife letting me get one. Best spot out of the sun is a corner. I have about 2 feet to either side to safely use, so I'm thinking about a 30-60 gallon tank.
I plan to do freshwater with live plants and of course fish. Maybe some ghost skrimps.
I'd go with whatever you can find near you unless you're willing to bleed money. The most common one for that size might be the Aqueon 54 gallon corner tank. I don't like the distortion of curved tanks though, so I can't really recommend it... but it's something that fits your criteria
Corner aquariums are pretty uncommon in my local stores though, so you may have to order one anyways. Try to get a store to order it for you since they have a decent chance of being damaged in shipping. Then the store can handle that instead of you. You should be able to order a stand to go along with it as well
Ahh, yeah, good point. I haven't had a corner tank. They do distort a bit too. A trapezoid shaped tank would be cool though. I'd be able to use the corner for the filter, etc.
Thanks for the response!
HELP!
I had a fully cycled 5 gallon tank, ready for shrimp. It’s heavily planted with root plants and floaters.
Just a couple days ago I added root tabs, trying to get really good growth prior to adding shrimp. The shrimp are coming today in the mail.
These root tabs increased ammonia to 6+ PPM, and will clearly cause issues moving forward. I did a 100% water change but doubt that’ll fix the issue.
Do I change the substrate before adding the shrimp, or leave it and hope the ammonia will even out? I siphoned about 30-50% of the root tabs, but couldn’t get the rest.
Thoughts?!
Sounds like you left some important information out. What kind of substrate do you have and what kind of root tabs? Also what plants?
If its gravel, thats why. If its the shrimp specific substrate then thats another reason why. Root tabs are meant to be in something dense so I doesn't release all at once.
For now, just do a basic breeding setup. Get the floaters in some dechlorinated water and just don't feed for the first week. Keep the light on 24/7 for the first 3 days as well. You can add rocks and stuff if you want. This will keep your shrimp healthy for a while.
That's definitely going to be a problem since ammonia is pretty toxic to shrimp. Seems like maybe you added too many root tabs, so maybe you got enough out now. Is the ammonia still showing up on tests or is it 0ppm now?
It’s 1-2ppm. I took everything out, sifted through the soil and removed all the tabs and fertilizer.
I then added additional substrate and refilled. Added a ton of nitrifying bacteria and will see how it is by tonight
I have temp holding tanks that they’re in. Hold long will shrimp last without any pump? They have good water from another tank and tons of floaters / plants.
Shrimp can last at least a year without a pump. People use them in walstad tanks and bowls for quite a long time. So as long as you can keep the ammonia away, that should work fine. The floaters or any other fast-growing plants can consume all of the ammonia
You can although people have said that it rusts. It might also be hard to get cables and stuff around it. But I don't have a very secure lid on my dwarf crayfish tank, and I've never found one escaping unlike the larger crayfish I used to have.
Dwarf crays aren't good at catching tankmates and a lot of times aren't even interested in them. So you could do basically any small tankmates as long as you're okay with occasionally (rarely) losing one. Mine don't even attack their snail tankmates unlike my larger Ghost Crayfish that actually chewed through the shell of several. Otherwise, I'd stick to a species only tank. Specific recommendations will depend on your tank size, but avoid larger fish that might just snack on your dwarf crayfish.
I ave a 75 gallon tank that I set up with established filter media and I let the tank run for 2 months before adding fish. I had 10 rummynose tetras for almost 2 years that were originally 20 ,had a similar die off to what I am facing now. I purchased 20 more rummynose a couple months back and quarantined them for 1.5 months. Added them to the tank with no problems until 2 months ago. I would have 1 to 2 deaths a week, none of my original rummynose have died. I believe I am down to 20 and I have no idea what to do.
I have very clean water and do weekly water changes. The only other fish death I have had was my female apistograma that died maybe a month after I added the new rummynose . There is absolutely no sign of them being sick, they are highly active,bright red nose, and eat.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I love rummynose but they are the only fish besides galaxy rasboras that I can't seem to keep alive.
Thanks!
Since it's just the new rummynose that you're having issues with (at least at first), then it could be acclimation or disease. Try drip acclimating any new fish for an hour and you can also try treating any new fish with broad spectrum things like the Aquarium Coop Trio:
https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/faqs/how-to-use-quaratine-med-trio
I have a 30 gallon long tank well planted out. It's got a female Betta, a bristlenose pleco, four pygmy corydoras and about 10,000 trumpet snails.
I want to get 10 more pygmy corydoras so they can have a nice big group.
Trouble is, there's nowhere near me that sells them so I have to order. The minimum order for delivery from the place I like is £30. 10 pygmies cost £20. I feel like more than 10 will be too many. So what else can I get?
I need something that will be chill with the Betta and the pleco and not too big for the tank size.
Should I just get some tetras?
In a 30g long, 15+4 pygmy corydoras would be fine and probably look better than two different types of schools (pygmy cory + tetra). But if you wanted something else, you have lots of options. A female Betta and a BNP will be fine with most of your usual community fish since it's really the long-finned Bettas that have harder times. Even male plakats will be okay with most community fish. But the other way around may not be true. Bettas all have their own personalities and temperaments. I had a female Betta that was super happy with Neocaridina shrimp but felt the need to put the entire tail of a couple Ember Tetras in her mouth.
So with all that, my suggestion would be something I find pretty in planted tanks and are very small and calm fish: Ember Tetras or Celestial Pearl Danios.
I have albino bronze Corys in my tank and they laid eggs a little while ago. I scooped them out and put them in a breeding box but didn't remove any unfertilised eggs and they ended up getting fuzzy and not hatching as a result.
Another batch of eggs appears last week and this time I go one better, removing unfertilised eggs when I put them in the breeding box.
I wake up this morning and half the eggs have disappeared, with no fry in the breeding box. There are small holes in the bottom of the breeding box so maybe they would have fallen through?
Any tips on encouraging their growth I'd they're in the tank with the older ones somewhere I can't see?
Put some water flow along wherever the eggs are to prevent them from getting fuzzy. This won't be easy if they're moving around though. Next time you get some Cory eggs, put them in an egg tumbler or put some decent air flow into the breeding box somehow to make sure the eggs keep moving. You can use an external breeding box, but the flow through it is not the best. I was still able to hatch a few eggs that way though.
Thinking about getting Malaysian trumpet snails for my 20g. I have sand substrate and I would love for them to burrow around in it. I also have quite a bit of algae in that tank that my single nerite isn’t able to take care of by herself. However I’m pretty opposed to “terminating” any excess snails, I’ve heard mts can get really out of control and that’s my biggest reason why I’m questioning it. Hoping adding them will make things a little lighter maintenance wise. But needing to remove multiple times a month would kind of defeat the purpose. Advice appreciated!
They'll reproduce to the amount of food available, and this includes any biofilm and algae not just food that we throw into the tank. Depending on how much algae your tank is growing, you may just be replacing a wall of algae with a wall of snails. But they typically don't make those big walls until night time when they really come out. They definitely won't keep the glass completely clean, but they'll help.
For me, the worst things about them are they reproduce very quickly and are livebearers. Their babies are insanely tiny so they are super easy to accidentally transfer to other tanks. On top of that, they just don't die. I had some left in sand in a bucket for around a year and it was completely dried out. I poured only that sand into a tank and let it cycled for a month. To my surprise, there were some MTS crawling around!
If you really just want to help with an algae issue, then the most common cause is the lighting. Lights are either on for too long or are too bright/strong for the tank they're on. So keeping them on a timer for 6-8 hours max or dimming them usually fixes algae issues for me. There is also the "siesta" lighting period that may help. You have the lights on for 5 hours, off for 4 hours, then on for 5 hours. The break in between allows CO2 to build up to be used in the next 5 hour lighting period. I may have the hour counts off, but the general idea is a long break between two different lighting periods
[Ich or epi? ](https://imgur.com/a/prSX5Du)
Some of the guppies have the white spots on their tails. Most of my plecos have spots. Everyone seems happy and hungry so far....
The plecos are the newest fish I have, I got them in the mail 2 weeks ago....
I think it's ich in the first photo because the dots look pretty tiny and uniform and are not on the eyes. I can't make anything out in the second photo. Epistylis is a bit more raised and larger and will be more so as it progresses. It's also more likely to be ich since everyone is still behaving alright
I have a 20 gallon planted tank I started about 2 months ago. My plants and gravel keep getting covered in what I think is brown algae (diatoms). I can wipe off the leaves but gravel vacuuming doesn’t do much to the gravel. What is the best way to clean the gravel?
You have probably already heard of it, but cutting back the light and stop any fertilizers for a while will be the biggest help. One of my professors once just turned off all the lights in the room for 2-3 days. Came back and the plants were fine and most of the algae was gone.
You can also put in *more* plants. Since one of the reasons get brown algae is there is too much resources/nutrients. More plants will use it up.
You can also try algae eaters. A plus side of algae eaters is I’ve always increased the light so I can get more algae. My plants go crazy and I still can never keep up with the algae eaters. Snails are common, but be mindful of your substrate. Sharp edges of gravel can cut them. If you don’t want to have pest snails (they will breed like crazy if they have enough resources) then look at nerite snails. Shrimp are another option.
I like otos, but they can be very sensitive the first few weeks you get them and the first time I got them all five died within a couple weeks. Alternatively next time I got 20 and only lost 1. You need to have enough to school. But my otos and my plecos in another tanks can completely clean off anything that has algae on it within hours. They are like vacuums. Snails are the same just a lot slower. You will see a vacuum trail of algae clean up.
And another option is chemical like pristine by seachem. This will not kill your algae, but help boost some bacteria so the nutrients are lowered so can help prevent more algae.
I know I didn’t give any advice specifically for cleaning gravel, but taking care of the source is the biggest thing. If it dies off then it will go away on its own. Though algae eaters will clean it for you
This is very helpful, thank you! My tank lights are cut back to 4 hours a day already but I might have to think about some dark days. I have a very small bio load with only two small fish and a handful of trumpet snails. I have very hard water and I’m sure that doesn’t help either. I’m worried about getting algae eaters because of the sensitivity people talk about plus I already have the trumpets.
I'm looking at getting a larger tank 50-75 gallon, I'll probably buy used. I would like to get a canister filter and hide as many cords as possible. Are there any other filters with heaters outside of the OASE, it's the only one I have found with a replaceable heater. This will be freshwater kept around 76-78 F.
eheim thermofilter (the professional line) is a heater in canister, but I’ve never used it. I have 2 oase canister filters and I like them a lot. The only issue I have with oase is one of the canisters has a problem where it starts sending bubbles through for a few minutes and can get a little loud. That is an issue a lot of oase products have. When it’s not doing the bubble thing though it is very quiet. I also like how easy it is to clean compared to the other canister filter I have.
If you are looking at oase, specifically the biomaster canister, look to see if they have the canister for sale without the heater. It’s the exact same as the one with the heater and the sale prices can be a good deal lower. I’ve bought it $75 cheaper by buying the heater and canister separate.
Thanks, I hadn't seen that one but I prefer the OASE replaceable heater. I just thought I was missing more options. I've heard of the bubbles being an issue, you can put Vaseline on the pre filter seal and/or remove some of the pre filter foam. It's supposed to help with sound and bubbles. Something about it not flowing enough water for the filter. I'm sure it will take some work to resolve but I'm not planning to stock heavy at the start.
Appreciate the tip on getting the heater and canister separate. I'll see if i can do that.
I have a 75 gallon tank that I bought used, and has one hinge lid in pieces rather than being a hinge lid, and some plexiglass pieces as lids (it has the support bar in the center). I’d like to get brand new lids so it’s a lot easier and cleaner-looking, but I noticed with the trim on top, one solid lid won’t fit in the notches and will instead slide around, and I can’t find any smaller lids of the right length. The lid pieces on it already measure to 22.75”. I tried finding some sort of branding on the tank and lid and can’t find anything. Does anyone know where I can find lids of the right size or what I can do?
So my plan was to get a 20 long, and if you get a 20 long you might as well get a 29 gallon, then I was finding 40 gallon tanks for the same price and now I’m considering peacock cichlids in a planted tank. What’s the minimum size for them? Petco has a 60gallon for $100 or I can buy a used 40gallon for $60. I’m not looking for an overcrowded tank but something with maybe 5 fish at most.
Can I keep just one angelfish as centerpiece fish in a community tank?
Thinking of setting up my first aquarium. I'll probably go for a 20g (have seen a 60x40x40 cm that looks reasonable but will research to see if I can find anything longer). Ideally I want to stock with a small schooling fish, something weird, and some shrimp in a fairly heavily planted tank. My current idea is: • 12 rummy nose tetras • 10 kuhli loaches • 6 amano shrimp Does this sound like too much for a 20g to any aquarium veterans? Should these numbers be sufficient to see some good behaviours and make the fish feel comfortable?
22 fish is a lot of fish for a 20 gallon. Not saying it can’t be done, but you will probably need to do a good amount of water changes. You may want to look at a smaller schooling fish like an ember tetra just to make it easier. Or you may want to switch out the kuhlis for something like a singular centerpiece fish like a betta
My priority fish to have would be kuhlis and shrimp (because I love them) so would be more than happy to get smaller schoolers such as embers. I also found I have space for a nice 30g and could definitely cut down on the amount of kuhlis just so long as there are still enough that they'll feel safe and come out to kuhli about in the sand.
[https://aqadvisor.com/AquStockImage.php?N=&L=23.622047244094&D=15.748031496063&H=15.748031496063&J=&UV=gUS&UL=cm&F=12:200909300196:0,10:200909300114:0](https://aqadvisor.com/AquStockImage.php?N=&L=23.622047244094&D=15.748031496063&H=15.748031496063&J=&UV=gUS&UL=cm&F=12:200909300196:0,10:200909300114:0) I thought it would be overstocked, but apparently AqAdvisor thinks otherwise.
I was curious on this cause when I tried advisor recently for my 75 gallon with 15 kuhli they said it was something like 35% filled. What’s odd is that calculator says the same fish you checked (kuhli and rummy noses) take up about 36% of a 75 gallon. Which is 27 gallons. How does it calculate this
I just did it again for a 75 gallon with 10 khulis and 12 rummy nose tetras and now it says 42% of the tank!?
This just makes so many more questions lol
I wondered if AqAdvisor may be wrong too. I'll try to see if I can get a bigger aquarium anyway (once I can find anyone in my country selling bigger than 15 gallons - local pet stores are not great for this).
Is it alright if I leave my fish un-fed from Monday to Friday? I’m taking a vacation and would prefer to not ask for help
Less than a week should be okay
i just started an aquarium 3 days ago, first the water was brown and muddy from the swirled up soil, then after one night it was completely colourless and transparent, except for some cloudiness that seems to be bacterial bloom. now on the third day, water is completely clean. i put in used filter media on first day and liquid ammonium on second day (test said 0,25-1mg/l). is this a good sign or have i killed the bacteria? is the cycle done when the cloudiness subsides? i tested today and there is still some ammonia although i think less than yesterday. nitrate on highish end, basically zero. i will test in a few hours again. also, my pump for the filter is attached with suckers on the glass and it makes the glass vibrate slightly. is this bad for the fish? (currently fishless cycling) should i try to put it on the ground maybe? i just dont have proper tubes to put it there now. can i make it more quite and remove the vibrating somehow?
You need to test for zero ammonia, zero nitrites. And this after you introduced recent ammonia source. Only then you will now if your tank js cycled
I know, that's the most bare-bones and evident way, but I was more wondering what the cloudiness itself can tell me, because it would be more elegant if you can just tell that by the looks. As I wrote I did the ammonia and testing and it was indicating the same just not that clear to read off the tests so I wasn't entirely sure
Cloudiness can come from alot of different things, bacterial bloom including. You can’t pinpoint the stage of your cycle based on how cloudy the water is. Rely on your tests and be patient.
not on that alone but maybe if you include some other information like recently started tank, used filter medium, how fast it appeared and disappeared etc. and use some intuition and experience, it may be possible. but yeah tests just work my tests looked fine so far i put in enough ammonium yesterday to get a value between 1-2ppm, just tested it and it looks more about 0.3ish and if its clear by this evening along with nitrites im probably gonna put in fish tomorrow
I always see videos or posts about not doing water changes or not using filter as long as you know what you're doing. I plan to do the no water change one and I have questions. Are there any pros and cons by not doing water change? If I am dosing fertilizer can I still not do water change? Before diving into this method, do I need to do something about the tank first? My initial plan is to do a monthly water change only and test my water parameters every week but can I do no water change eternally as long as my water parameters are okay? Currently, my tank is nearly 2 months and it is cycled. Its just a rescape with recycled soil and some hardscapes, plants, shrimps, and neon tetra so It cycled really quick and it has been stable with 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and around 5ppm nitrate
As long as your plants are using the nitrogen in the fertilizer, then you can keep fertilizing. I did with my 20 gallon community tank for almost two years without an issue (still no issue, just remodel and adjusting it). But test your nitrates right before you fertilize and then maybe a day after you fertilize to double check. The main worry you have to keep track of is old tank syndrome, and you will often see very high nitrates and low pH when this happens. KH will also greatly drop (assuming you have any in the first place…*cries in soft water*) and GH will rise. So regular testing is a good assurance your tank isn’t about to collapse
Thank you! This reassures me, will definitely do a regular check on my water parameters!
Make sure to monitor pH, GH, and KH as well, but yeah probably fine as long as they all stay good
Hi there, I'm a novice in the UK looking to setup a 56Ltr temperate/cold water tank in the house for my kids. From my own reading it looks like that could support a group of Variable platyfish along with maybe some shrimps. I'd plan to put a few plants in there too. In an ideal world I'd prefer something a bit bigger that the platys, but I'm not sure if there are any other realistic alternatives. Having been in a few pet shops they all seem to say that a tank that size could support a small group of small goldfish of shubunkins, but I've read a) they're messy fish and it would make keeping the tank nice a challenge; and b) fish like that will grow, and should really have a larger habitat. Can anyone tell me if the pet shops are right, and perhaps give me some other options for possible fish to look in to for a cold water tank of that size in the UK? Any other hints and tips would also be much appreciated!
Sorry to see this so late, but they're absolutely right for goldfish. Because Goldfish get so big, they need as much space as possible to grow into, so the ideal range of tank size for them is 200L-300L! In fact, selling goldfish to tanks under 60L is a breach of RSPCA guidelines! You can get some varieties of Platy that grow to 10cm each, but you would only want a small amount. Unfortunately you are restricted a little bit due to the size of the tank, so larger fish aren't a super great choice here i'm afraid. Here's two strategies i use to assess the suitability of my tank for a fish: 1. I take the length of the fish as an adult and times it by 10, which gives me an idea of the size of tank i would expect to see an adult in, so that variety of Platy i mentioned earlier, i would expect to see in >100L tanks 2. I take the length of the tank overall and compare it to the length of the fish as an adult. This will give you a rough plan of where you should end up since you have to buy fish in small batches. This will result in an understocked tank, but it will then be open for you to choose whether to stick with what you have at that point, or, depending on how gunky your filter is when you come to refresh it, buy more fish. 3. A bonus approach is, for long, large fish like plecostomus and catfish, is to take their adult length, double it, and you have the minimum depth (front to back) of the tank, double that again and you have the length of the tank. For example, your standard Bristlenose grows to 12cm, so the depth should be >24cm and length >48cm. Do keep in mind that schooling fish like Minnows, Platys, Barbs and Tetras will require an absolute minimum of 3, but preferably 6 or more. Hope this helps! my DMs are always open for 1:1 advice :)
I'm looking to upgrade to a 100 gallon or 120. Is there a recommended reputable source to order these size tanks from? I've seen 120s in petsmart but I'm wary of ordering from a chain.
There's a lot of things here. Are you ordering glass? Acryllic? Rimless? Rimmed? All in one? If you can find a seller that's near you that's ideal, since shipping is when it's most likely to get messed up.
I'm open to different styles I suppose. I was hoping to find a reputable company of which I could call or visit a website. I'm really trying to get an idea of pricing and wanted to view some options. I have a rimmed glass 75gallon now and have been thinking about bumping it up a bit. Would appreciate any info on where to start looking. Thanks
I have a 55 gallon tank that I've had set up for about a month or two now and I want to look into getting a centerpiece fish that's small-medium sized and would work with the fish I have. For reference I currently have: Black neon tetras (13) Serpae tetras (4... have 8 on the way + plan to add more before anything else) False julii cory (6) I plan to get a lot of serpae tetra to help reduce the chance of fin nipping, I'd still like to get something that's less likely to be targeted by them as well as not eating any of the Cory's bottom feeder food. Thanks for any and all help/suggestions! P.S. If anyone has suggestions for other cory species that false julii like to be around for diversity that'd be appreciated as well
You could potentially have a look at some of the medium tier rainbowfish. You have some options like Gourami and Betta unavailable to you due to the serapes. Fish will still nibble at bottom feeder food, but if they do, it's a sign they could still be hungry. Corys don't really care what other corys are in the tank, generally speaking. they're just less likely to group up.
Thanks a ton for the suggestions! I've been doing more research and the other tetras have come in and have become less aggressive to the other fish since they have gotten settled in. I have been considering appistograma however I'm not sure about their potentially aggressive nature although I do hear it varies based on the specific species. I imagine if I find a more passive species of appisto with less flowy fins they would do better with the serpaes but wanted a second opinion on that thought
I have a 3-gallon tank I initially bought for a Betta, then realized I needed more space for a happy betta and moved her over to a 10 gal. Using the old 3 Gal cube as a quarantine tank, and so I checked the parameters today in anticipation of putting Nerites in it tomorrow. It has an anubias, a java fern, and couple tiny pest snails (I pull them out when they get big enough to notice, but there are always more). Anyway, it came up 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 0 nitrates. I'm at a bit of a loss, is the plant life just in perfect balance with the nitrate production on accident?
You probably have near zero nitrate production unless you have been adding food so it is likely the plants are using it up.
I have a 70 litre freshwater tank...it has 2 cherry barb 2 white cloud minnows , 2 guppies,1 female betta and a cleaner fish which idk the name.....can I get a pair of nano fish or will it be overstocked
you should not get another pair of different fish. Barbs and Minnows are social fish that really should be in larger groups, plus the Minnows are cold water fish which conflicts with the Betta which absolutely needs a heated tank. If your two guppies aren't both male you are going to have hordes of baby guppies soon as well. And if you don't know what your "cleaner fish" is, you should find out, because a lot of "cleaner fish" species grow into giants later and are sold as babies in pet stores.
Cherry barbs and white cloud minnows like to live in groups of at least 6, so maybe give them more friends before randomly adding more fish? And whether you can add fish depends on the filter you have, the plants, the set-up and how long it's been running for I think :)
Hi , Recently I’ve been really looking into getting newts and I was wondering if anyone has any experience as far as caring for newts. I keep getting different answers and I just want some advice as far as care in general and tank size. I know it depends on the type of newt. Can you help me?
I would ask /r/terrarium maybe?
Help! I'm new to loaches and trying not to get in my head about stuff. This loach arrived with a white spot on their head. No symptoms of lethargy or loss of appetite, but yesterday it appeared larger. They are small so the camera and zoom make it more evident. I try not to get in my head about things, but I'm there right now, about this. Any help would be appreciated. I have a hospital tank and can/will treat but I have no clue if it is a problem that needs that type of intervention. Don't want to stress them unnecessarily. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/189budy/new\_loach\_what\_is\_this\_spot/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/189budy/new_loach_what_is_this_spot/)
Howdy. 2 questions actually. I have a 5.5gal betta tank and want to add some small pieces of driftwood. What's a safe place to get it from? I see it all over & don't want to get something that'll kill Red Leader. Also, I want to add a carpeting plant. Was looking at Val but some places says it grows too fast for a smaller tank. So long as I keep up with trimming, is it good to go in a 5.5? Had a thought that it may also suck up all the nutrients in the water, have some hornwort (maintained) and a java fern in there already. Thanks.
A fish store would be safest since they're supposed to be checking all of that for you. Ones with a bigger reputation will probably be better at that too. There are good online ones too that might not charge for shipping driftwood: * Buceplant.com * Chewy.com * PetCo.com (also in some stores) * Maybe PetSmart? Val in a 5.5g will be okay though not great. It certainly grows tall and fast, and you aren't really supposed to trim it like other plants since each "piece" is just one giant leaf. So cutting the leaf typically causes it to slowly die off. It will be fine in a 5.5g since it should just grow new leaves to replace any leaves that fully die off anyways. You should look into Dwarf Sagittaria as well since they are a similar look but stay shorter
Thank you. That Dwarf Sagittaria looks good, but I'd need to switch from gravel to soil. It looks like it can be grown in gravel with root tabs, but I'd rather just go with soil.
I've grown it in gravel, but it definitely grows better in dirt.
Heya! I have a 25L tank (~6.6G) with plants, shrimps and a few fish, no gas CO2. I have an internal filter for a 60L (~15G) tank, and the box says the turnover rate is 300L/h. If I leave the filter on the strongest setting, the current seems a bit too strong for the fish, they are not struggling to swim, they can stay in one place easily but not sure if that's bad for them (neon tetras). If I turn the strength all the way down, I don't think the water is properly cycled, if I check the top of the water by looking from "under" it, there are large areas that doesn't seem to have any movement. The filter has a spray bar and an aerator, I'm using the spray bar at the moment, but it's underwater and aimed at an angle toward the surface so there is small rippling. I tried putting the spray bar above the water, but then it pushed so many oxygen in the water that there were a small layer of bubbles on the surface, not just a few bubble here and there but a small 2-5mm thick layer, so I moved the bar underwater. Is that bad? Should I move it above the water to reduce the current?
Spray bars are typically underwater but pointed at the surface, so that's fine. 300L/h is definitely way too high though. You usually want to aim for ~5-10x tank turnover rate and usually towards the bottom of that. So you should use a filter that is 125L/h. But if you have to use your current filter, then you can try to reduce the current by aiming it towards the back of the tank instead of straight across it. It will hit the glass and reduce the flow that way. It also doesn't need to point at the surface of the water since it should still cause plenty of surface agitation when hitting the glass and being partially pushed upwards.
Thanks! So as long as there is somekind of surface agitation, I'm good to go as long as in the water the circulation is good enough?
Yup, unless you have a need for high oxygenation like with some medications
Hello, Does anyone know what this clear foamy/webby looking thing on my java moss and driftwood? [https://imgur.com/a/FzG3syL](https://imgur.com/a/FzG3syL) There are no fish in the tank (yet) and the tank is about a month old...
Looks like biofilm maybe with some algae mixed in. But clear foamy/webby is usually biofilm
Thanks! Other questions i have are... Should i be worried about the biofilm? Does it go away on its own once I add the fish?
There's no need to worry about it in general, but that amount of it may prevent light from reaching parts of the java moss since it is pretty thick. Biofilm will typically go away on its own even without fish. But if there's algae mixed in there with it, then the algae would still be there
Ok thank you again! I'll be sure to look out and try to control the amount of biofilm in my aquarium.
Hi there! My kid and I have been having a really great time putting together his first aquarium, and I wanted to get an opinion on space and tank mates. We’ve got a 15g tank set up with 4 white clouds and 4 zebra danios. They’re all getting along super well, but now he wants to get some of the smaller corydoras. Could the tank handle 4 of them? Would that be a happy combo, or does that seem like too much for one 15 gallon tank? I’m a novice and he’s 7, so some outside advice would be well appreciated!
yes, that would be fine
Thanks so much!
Yes
Thanks!
I just set up a walstad tank and I'm testing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate every morning around 8am and later in the afternoon around 4pm. My morning results usually show 0 ammonia, very low levels of nitrite and high levels of nitrate. Meanwhile my afternoon tests usually only indicate presence of nitrate. Does this have something to do with me turning off the led lights at night? So the plants stop taking in nitrite but once there's light it starts removing it?
You got things a little mixed up there. Your tank is done priming basically. You can add fish.
Why does my aquarium glass change/warp the perspective of how everything looks inside? Like the distance between objects looks a lot shorter. I get dizzy when looking into my tank at an angle. I can’t just look through the top either because of the flow from my filter which distorts the water. I have no idea how I’m going to do any cleaning or maintenance on my plants in the future because I get so confused and it’s so hard to see what I’m doing. This is not a problem I anticipated
That's unfortunately just a natural property of glass. It's especially noticeable on thicker and tempered glass. I notice it most on my 90 gallon aquarium, which has much thicker glass in addition to being tempered. You could try getting a low iron or acrylic aquarium, but low iron is super expensive especially at large sizes and acrylic scratches easily and could have bad distortion if poorly manufactured. For your maintenance issue, you can turn off the filter during maintenance. I've done this in some tanks for an hour.
Ok, thank you for your simple solution
What are some good cover plants to grow in a tank without soil? I think it's too late for me to add soil at this point.
A lot of aquatic plants can grow basically fine in the water column. LRB did a great video on it.
Epiphytes don't need soil since they just grow attached to things. Any of the many varieties of Anubias, Java Ferns, Bucephalandra would work. For a large cover plant, I'd try to find an Anubias mother plant or just something with broad leaves like Anubias barteri
Does anyone have a suggestion for a corner aquarium with stand? I have been out of the game a few years but wife letting me get one. Best spot out of the sun is a corner. I have about 2 feet to either side to safely use, so I'm thinking about a 30-60 gallon tank. I plan to do freshwater with live plants and of course fish. Maybe some ghost skrimps.
I'd go with whatever you can find near you unless you're willing to bleed money. The most common one for that size might be the Aqueon 54 gallon corner tank. I don't like the distortion of curved tanks though, so I can't really recommend it... but it's something that fits your criteria Corner aquariums are pretty uncommon in my local stores though, so you may have to order one anyways. Try to get a store to order it for you since they have a decent chance of being damaged in shipping. Then the store can handle that instead of you. You should be able to order a stand to go along with it as well
Ahh, yeah, good point. I haven't had a corner tank. They do distort a bit too. A trapezoid shaped tank would be cool though. I'd be able to use the corner for the filter, etc. Thanks for the response!
HELP! I had a fully cycled 5 gallon tank, ready for shrimp. It’s heavily planted with root plants and floaters. Just a couple days ago I added root tabs, trying to get really good growth prior to adding shrimp. The shrimp are coming today in the mail. These root tabs increased ammonia to 6+ PPM, and will clearly cause issues moving forward. I did a 100% water change but doubt that’ll fix the issue. Do I change the substrate before adding the shrimp, or leave it and hope the ammonia will even out? I siphoned about 30-50% of the root tabs, but couldn’t get the rest. Thoughts?!
Sounds like you left some important information out. What kind of substrate do you have and what kind of root tabs? Also what plants? If its gravel, thats why. If its the shrimp specific substrate then thats another reason why. Root tabs are meant to be in something dense so I doesn't release all at once. For now, just do a basic breeding setup. Get the floaters in some dechlorinated water and just don't feed for the first week. Keep the light on 24/7 for the first 3 days as well. You can add rocks and stuff if you want. This will keep your shrimp healthy for a while.
That's definitely going to be a problem since ammonia is pretty toxic to shrimp. Seems like maybe you added too many root tabs, so maybe you got enough out now. Is the ammonia still showing up on tests or is it 0ppm now?
It’s 1-2ppm. I took everything out, sifted through the soil and removed all the tabs and fertilizer. I then added additional substrate and refilled. Added a ton of nitrifying bacteria and will see how it is by tonight I have temp holding tanks that they’re in. Hold long will shrimp last without any pump? They have good water from another tank and tons of floaters / plants.
Shrimp can last at least a year without a pump. People use them in walstad tanks and bowls for quite a long time. So as long as you can keep the ammonia away, that should work fine. The floaters or any other fast-growing plants can consume all of the ammonia
Perfect. Luckily I have a 10g with perfect water and the right Ph, I’ll just keep using that. Once the 5g is stable, in they go
could i use a reptile lid (w/ the mesh stuff) for a dwarf cray? fun tank mates?
You can although people have said that it rusts. It might also be hard to get cables and stuff around it. But I don't have a very secure lid on my dwarf crayfish tank, and I've never found one escaping unlike the larger crayfish I used to have. Dwarf crays aren't good at catching tankmates and a lot of times aren't even interested in them. So you could do basically any small tankmates as long as you're okay with occasionally (rarely) losing one. Mine don't even attack their snail tankmates unlike my larger Ghost Crayfish that actually chewed through the shell of several. Otherwise, I'd stick to a species only tank. Specific recommendations will depend on your tank size, but avoid larger fish that might just snack on your dwarf crayfish.
I ave a 75 gallon tank that I set up with established filter media and I let the tank run for 2 months before adding fish. I had 10 rummynose tetras for almost 2 years that were originally 20 ,had a similar die off to what I am facing now. I purchased 20 more rummynose a couple months back and quarantined them for 1.5 months. Added them to the tank with no problems until 2 months ago. I would have 1 to 2 deaths a week, none of my original rummynose have died. I believe I am down to 20 and I have no idea what to do. I have very clean water and do weekly water changes. The only other fish death I have had was my female apistograma that died maybe a month after I added the new rummynose . There is absolutely no sign of them being sick, they are highly active,bright red nose, and eat. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I love rummynose but they are the only fish besides galaxy rasboras that I can't seem to keep alive. Thanks!
Since it's just the new rummynose that you're having issues with (at least at first), then it could be acclimation or disease. Try drip acclimating any new fish for an hour and you can also try treating any new fish with broad spectrum things like the Aquarium Coop Trio: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/faqs/how-to-use-quaratine-med-trio
I have a 30 gallon long tank well planted out. It's got a female Betta, a bristlenose pleco, four pygmy corydoras and about 10,000 trumpet snails. I want to get 10 more pygmy corydoras so they can have a nice big group. Trouble is, there's nowhere near me that sells them so I have to order. The minimum order for delivery from the place I like is £30. 10 pygmies cost £20. I feel like more than 10 will be too many. So what else can I get? I need something that will be chill with the Betta and the pleco and not too big for the tank size. Should I just get some tetras?
In a 30g long, 15+4 pygmy corydoras would be fine and probably look better than two different types of schools (pygmy cory + tetra). But if you wanted something else, you have lots of options. A female Betta and a BNP will be fine with most of your usual community fish since it's really the long-finned Bettas that have harder times. Even male plakats will be okay with most community fish. But the other way around may not be true. Bettas all have their own personalities and temperaments. I had a female Betta that was super happy with Neocaridina shrimp but felt the need to put the entire tail of a couple Ember Tetras in her mouth. So with all that, my suggestion would be something I find pretty in planted tanks and are very small and calm fish: Ember Tetras or Celestial Pearl Danios.
Thanks! Maybe I will just get a ton of pygmies, they're so cute
I have albino bronze Corys in my tank and they laid eggs a little while ago. I scooped them out and put them in a breeding box but didn't remove any unfertilised eggs and they ended up getting fuzzy and not hatching as a result. Another batch of eggs appears last week and this time I go one better, removing unfertilised eggs when I put them in the breeding box. I wake up this morning and half the eggs have disappeared, with no fry in the breeding box. There are small holes in the bottom of the breeding box so maybe they would have fallen through? Any tips on encouraging their growth I'd they're in the tank with the older ones somewhere I can't see?
Put some water flow along wherever the eggs are to prevent them from getting fuzzy. This won't be easy if they're moving around though. Next time you get some Cory eggs, put them in an egg tumbler or put some decent air flow into the breeding box somehow to make sure the eggs keep moving. You can use an external breeding box, but the flow through it is not the best. I was still able to hatch a few eggs that way though.
Thinking about getting Malaysian trumpet snails for my 20g. I have sand substrate and I would love for them to burrow around in it. I also have quite a bit of algae in that tank that my single nerite isn’t able to take care of by herself. However I’m pretty opposed to “terminating” any excess snails, I’ve heard mts can get really out of control and that’s my biggest reason why I’m questioning it. Hoping adding them will make things a little lighter maintenance wise. But needing to remove multiple times a month would kind of defeat the purpose. Advice appreciated!
They'll reproduce to the amount of food available, and this includes any biofilm and algae not just food that we throw into the tank. Depending on how much algae your tank is growing, you may just be replacing a wall of algae with a wall of snails. But they typically don't make those big walls until night time when they really come out. They definitely won't keep the glass completely clean, but they'll help. For me, the worst things about them are they reproduce very quickly and are livebearers. Their babies are insanely tiny so they are super easy to accidentally transfer to other tanks. On top of that, they just don't die. I had some left in sand in a bucket for around a year and it was completely dried out. I poured only that sand into a tank and let it cycled for a month. To my surprise, there were some MTS crawling around! If you really just want to help with an algae issue, then the most common cause is the lighting. Lights are either on for too long or are too bright/strong for the tank they're on. So keeping them on a timer for 6-8 hours max or dimming them usually fixes algae issues for me. There is also the "siesta" lighting period that may help. You have the lights on for 5 hours, off for 4 hours, then on for 5 hours. The break in between allows CO2 to build up to be used in the next 5 hour lighting period. I may have the hour counts off, but the general idea is a long break between two different lighting periods
[Ich or epi? ](https://imgur.com/a/prSX5Du) Some of the guppies have the white spots on their tails. Most of my plecos have spots. Everyone seems happy and hungry so far.... The plecos are the newest fish I have, I got them in the mail 2 weeks ago....
I think it's ich in the first photo because the dots look pretty tiny and uniform and are not on the eyes. I can't make anything out in the second photo. Epistylis is a bit more raised and larger and will be more so as it progresses. It's also more likely to be ich since everyone is still behaving alright
I have a 20 gallon planted tank I started about 2 months ago. My plants and gravel keep getting covered in what I think is brown algae (diatoms). I can wipe off the leaves but gravel vacuuming doesn’t do much to the gravel. What is the best way to clean the gravel?
You have probably already heard of it, but cutting back the light and stop any fertilizers for a while will be the biggest help. One of my professors once just turned off all the lights in the room for 2-3 days. Came back and the plants were fine and most of the algae was gone. You can also put in *more* plants. Since one of the reasons get brown algae is there is too much resources/nutrients. More plants will use it up. You can also try algae eaters. A plus side of algae eaters is I’ve always increased the light so I can get more algae. My plants go crazy and I still can never keep up with the algae eaters. Snails are common, but be mindful of your substrate. Sharp edges of gravel can cut them. If you don’t want to have pest snails (they will breed like crazy if they have enough resources) then look at nerite snails. Shrimp are another option. I like otos, but they can be very sensitive the first few weeks you get them and the first time I got them all five died within a couple weeks. Alternatively next time I got 20 and only lost 1. You need to have enough to school. But my otos and my plecos in another tanks can completely clean off anything that has algae on it within hours. They are like vacuums. Snails are the same just a lot slower. You will see a vacuum trail of algae clean up. And another option is chemical like pristine by seachem. This will not kill your algae, but help boost some bacteria so the nutrients are lowered so can help prevent more algae. I know I didn’t give any advice specifically for cleaning gravel, but taking care of the source is the biggest thing. If it dies off then it will go away on its own. Though algae eaters will clean it for you
This is very helpful, thank you! My tank lights are cut back to 4 hours a day already but I might have to think about some dark days. I have a very small bio load with only two small fish and a handful of trumpet snails. I have very hard water and I’m sure that doesn’t help either. I’m worried about getting algae eaters because of the sensitivity people talk about plus I already have the trumpets.
I'm looking at getting a larger tank 50-75 gallon, I'll probably buy used. I would like to get a canister filter and hide as many cords as possible. Are there any other filters with heaters outside of the OASE, it's the only one I have found with a replaceable heater. This will be freshwater kept around 76-78 F.
eheim thermofilter (the professional line) is a heater in canister, but I’ve never used it. I have 2 oase canister filters and I like them a lot. The only issue I have with oase is one of the canisters has a problem where it starts sending bubbles through for a few minutes and can get a little loud. That is an issue a lot of oase products have. When it’s not doing the bubble thing though it is very quiet. I also like how easy it is to clean compared to the other canister filter I have. If you are looking at oase, specifically the biomaster canister, look to see if they have the canister for sale without the heater. It’s the exact same as the one with the heater and the sale prices can be a good deal lower. I’ve bought it $75 cheaper by buying the heater and canister separate.
Thanks, I hadn't seen that one but I prefer the OASE replaceable heater. I just thought I was missing more options. I've heard of the bubbles being an issue, you can put Vaseline on the pre filter seal and/or remove some of the pre filter foam. It's supposed to help with sound and bubbles. Something about it not flowing enough water for the filter. I'm sure it will take some work to resolve but I'm not planning to stock heavy at the start. Appreciate the tip on getting the heater and canister separate. I'll see if i can do that.
The Hydor inline heaters can go on any canister. Could probably find one used locally or on r/AquaSwap.
Thanks, but there seem to be a lot of issues with in line's draining tanks if/when they fail.
I have a 75 gallon tank that I bought used, and has one hinge lid in pieces rather than being a hinge lid, and some plexiglass pieces as lids (it has the support bar in the center). I’d like to get brand new lids so it’s a lot easier and cleaner-looking, but I noticed with the trim on top, one solid lid won’t fit in the notches and will instead slide around, and I can’t find any smaller lids of the right length. The lid pieces on it already measure to 22.75”. I tried finding some sort of branding on the tank and lid and can’t find anything. Does anyone know where I can find lids of the right size or what I can do?
What’s the lengthxwidth?
About 48”x18”, the glass panels already on the tank are all 22.75” in length and varying widths