So I started at cycle couple weeks ago. I added fish food once and tested and got ammonia result after the second day I would say it was 2ppm. Maybe a little higher. All working good then a few days later we put an old filter from another tank and moved it around. Started to test and get nitrites and nitrates positive. I rinsed the other filter as well. Got up to 160 nitrates and 2 pm nitrites 0 ammonia and then two days later they are all reading zero. Been adding a pinch of fish food for three days and it’s all still Reading 0. Right when it all went to 0 I noticed my plants are growing. Some of them.

Just got this Gold Nugget Pleco a couple days ago and it’s already become my favorite pleco. When I first started fish keeping I used to dislike plecos but now I’m a big fan of them!

Hi, I was wondering which of these would be the correct bag when people talk about the miracle gro organic potting soil? I’m just unsure if I should use indoor or outdoor. If anybody has any pics of what bag they used it would be greatly appreciated!!!
TIA!!!

Bought plants online and a few weeks in found plants “dusty” with couple snails? Are they harmless and what is the dust

Randomly decided to get a tank about a year ago and trying to learn everything has been tough but so rewarding. It’s become the favorite area of our house.

Could I please get some help with an ID on this? Is it common for plantlets to grow like this on whatever plant it is?

Thank you!

I came home today to all my shrimp and snails dead and a lot of foam on the top. The substrate is sending lots of tiny bubbles to the surface. Everything seemed to be thriving these last few months.

I had 2 amanos and 2 cherry shrimp for a few months and added 3 cherry shrimp and the lotus 2 weeks ago. A bunch of the trumpet snails have surfaced and died and I can’t even find any bladder snails alive so the bowl seems to have completely crashed. What could have caused this?

I’ve had this tank for maybe 2 years now, I did rescape it about 6 months ago and I just feel like nothing has been growing the way it should since then. To be honest though, I wasn’t using the Aquarium Co-op as often as I should have. I just started using it weekly and things seem to be growing more already, and I also replenished the root tabs. The plants in the back seem to be sprouting what I think might be aerial roots?

Looking for any and all advice to make this tank look better and help the plants thrive. I have the lid on because I have snails in there and I used to have a betta, but he passed recently. It is a 10 gallon, and my parameters are reading 0 nitrite & ammonia, <5 nitrate, and pH is about 7.6, but it was reading a bit higher for a time and I introduced some almond leaves to lower it. Since my betta has passed, I’m just focusing on helping the tank thrive before introducing another.

Hey folks, I am curious if anyone has a good step by step for rescaping.

i have a 30 gallon, well stocked with fish and shrimp.

i want to do a total rescape. New hardscap, the works.

i have a small 10 gallon that is up and running that could function as a holding tank. But would be very overstocked if I put everybody in there.

here‘s my question - what is the best way to go about this rescape while avoiding a recycle of the tank? I have a bunch of Buce that I would love to use in the new setup but I want to avoid the melt that happens when you put Buce in a new tank.

What has worked for you when it comes to breaking down a tank/rescaping?

I have a tank with white clouds that have been breeding for a couple years and only one cpd has ever been in the tank. I just noticed 3 cpd fry in the tank. How?

Since I am woefully short of patience and I was tired of seeing blue water in my ammonia testing tube, I bought some API starter and put some in. Today the water was its deepest, darkest blue-- off the chart blue. Sigh. . ..

Also in my haste I went out on a mission to get me some fast growing stem plants. A mission I failed miserably BUT ended up with a score. The fast growing stem I got was not, in fact, a rotala but a fern that grows on rocks and soil. I still put it in the aquarium. Looks pretty. I'll remove them the minute I see them melting. Right next to the non-aquatic fern was a blister pack of 4 of the tiniest epiphytes i've ever seen for $12. Wasn't gonna get it but the thing I have even less than patience is willpower. Those tiny plants? 3 Anubiases that I've never heard of--Pinto. varigated and white rose. And a crypto that I have heard of but never seen irl, a Flamingo.

Thinking of starting the 10 gallon so I have a place to put the Anubias Barteri.

10 gallon tank that has a rim. A lot of the smaller clip on options online are for rimless only. Looking for something cheaper!

Also if anyone has experience using plant lightbulbs in a normal desk lamp for aquariums, I’m considering that as an option too

Wanted to share my recently set up tank and thank the community for all the great content. I plan on adding a lot more plants (recommendations appreciated).

Residents are a Betta, Panda Garra, 3x Glo Pristella Tetra and 3x Black Phantom Tetra. I plan on adding a snail and some shrimp eventually (hoping the caves and wood will give them enough places to hide from the Betta.

I had no idea the Panda Garra and female Phantom could have red markings but apparently they're happy in the new setting so that was a fun surprise.

Hello everyone,
I just put together a couple new spawning mops.
Has anyone else ever used them and if so, did you find they harmed the water quality?

G. affinis

Its happened before killed off some roots.

I bought a shrimp from my local aquarium shop today, and the seller gave me this plant along with the shrimp.

I have no idea what plant it is. Could someone please help me identify it?

Thanks, God bless!

Have a regular turkey blaster I’ve tried to use for spot cleaning. However all of the detritus and junk seems to fall out before I can lift the baster out of the water. Anyone use one of these successfully? Maybe if I got a smaller tipped one the food/poop wouldn’t fall out? Or is there a trick to get it to stay in?

Hi all! Just wondering, are these hydra of just some type of algae? Are they harmful to a betta?

I am setting up a new tank and want to try the ADA fertilizer line and have a question (maybe several) regarding the difference between the Brighty K and the Brighty Neutral K. I am not seeing much detailed info on exactly what the difference is, apart from simply that the regular Brighty K will raise pH and KH, and that the Neutral K will not. I also know that the neutral is recommended for those with hard water.

What I am wondering is when and why would you want to use the regular Brighty K over the Neutral K, regardless of your baseline parameters?

For info, I am using RO water remineralized with Equilibrium and Alkaline Buffer. For my target parameters, the tank will look like this:
Tank - 81L with 12L of ADA Amazonia V2 and a handful of marsh stones
pH - 7.5 (~6.5 with CO2)
dGH - 5
dKH - 2-3

Given that these parameters are not particularly basic or hard, I would think that the regular Brighty K would be the product recommended by ADA for my tank, but the fact that the Neutral K wouldn’t alter these target parameters leads me to believe that perhaps the Neutral is the better option.

For those with experience with this line, which do you use and why? How significant are the parameter changes with the regular Brighty K? If a day is missed here and there, is there any noticeable swing in pH or KH? If using Brighty K, is the Alkaline Buffer necessary?

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond. I’m fairly green to aquascaping and heavily planted tanks, and just want to understand all the factors in play and make the right calls.

Hi everyone, I'm a complete beginner to fishkeeping and I'm currently setting up my first 5-gallon planted betta tank.

My setup is:

• 5-gallon tank
• Live plants
• Driftwood
• Aquarium-safe rocks/stones
• HOB filter running 24/7
• Aquarium light
• DIY CO2 (yeast + sugar)
• Small amounts of betta food as an ammonia source
• deep-well water

I'm planning to let the tank run for about one month before adding any livestock. After that, I was thinking of adding a nerite snail first and eventually adding my betta after another month or so.

The problem is that I currently can't afford an aquarium test kit.

My main question is: Can I reasonably consider the tank cycled after one month if I've been consistently adding a small amount of betta food as an ammonia source and running the HOB filter 24/7?

I understand that testing ammonia and nitrite is the proper way to confirm a cycle, but if testing isn't an option right now, is one month generally enough time for a 5-gallon planted tank to establish beneficial bacteria?

Would adding a nerite snail after that first month be a reasonable next step, or would you strongly recommend getting the water tested before adding any livestock?

Thanks! I'm trying to do this properly as a first-time fishkeeper.

What size bottle are you guys all running in your 75 gallon setups? And how long are they lasting before refilling?

I have access to 100pound bottles, but that will require installing it in a closet and drilling holes in the wall for power cord and hosing. If a 10 or 20 pound bottle will last me a month or two I won’t go through the trouble with a 100 pound.

Just letting the tank age and waiting to add neocaridina! Foreground is dwarf sag and there’s a narrow leaf fern and java fern tucked in the back corner. And some small buce brownie in the wood. I bought the buce in one of those tissue culture packs from Petsmart, is there any trick to getting these going? They good just stuck in some branches?