Wackinator

I didnt know bristle nose plecos ate decomposing plant material but it is one of the fish I will get later on. Thanks

Sweet thats good news cuz I just put in 4 apple snails and will be putting in 2 more sometime this weekend. Thanks guys

I'm new to planted tanks and maybe cuz the tank is a newly establish one, but there are random decomposing pieces of plants or plant debris, I am planning on doing a 30% water change every 1.5-2 weeks so I should be able to siphon off most of that debris. But I was wondering if there were any fish/shrimp/snail ANYTHING that will eat that? I've heard ottos can but I don't see why they would eat the dead plant material? Like always thanks guys

Thanks snaggle and if you do find it I wouldnt mind giving it a read =]

Hey Balikiss I know there are others who can answer this question a lot better than me but Ill give it a try anyways. I just started a Planted tank a little over a week ago, I didnt have a fluorescent hood so I went to Canadian Tire and bought two 15 Watts GE 6500K bulbs and all my plants have been growing, I have two types of Hyrgophilia, some water sprite, and anubias and they all seem to be doing great. I think the main thing that matters is that the lightbulbs are 6500K. For reference heres the link of the lightbulbs I got. Hope I helped. http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/Green/EnergyConservation/CompactFluorescent/PRD~0525349P/GE%252B15W%252BDaylight%252BCompact%252BFluorescent%252BBulbs%25252C%252B2-Pk.jsp

really? Damn by the time I get to go Im pretty sure he'll be snatched >.> But thanks a lot for the notification lol

Thanks fishclubgirl I had hoped you would reply as bettas seem to be your field of expertise (no offense to anyone else as I know theres more than just her that are experts at bettas) I didnt even know there was an international betta congress but a steel blue female and a black male produce mostly black fry then? Thats pretty sweet Thanks

Hey Is it true that female black crowntails are infertile? or is it just black crowntails in general? Now Im curious how you breed black crowntails at all, like what kind of cross do you end up doing? Once again thanks guys.

First auction for me as well...did a really stupid thing and brought the wrong wallet >.> but I did buy an anubias which is now in my tank, a 3 gallon filter that is going in my 3 gallon tomorrow, 2 sets of fish magazines (3 in each set) I like reading magazines like that, and a couple of ivory and assorted snails off Austin. Would also like to thank T-Dawg for the ride back and it was really sweet to meet a couple of AA members for the first time, I saw werner and T-Dawg and also saw fishclubgirl. LOL i see myself in the first picture xD

Post pictures of the babies when you get the chance! but the dad looks very nice.

:welcome: What kind of fish? Pictures?

:welcome: Dont forget to post pictures when you get the chance

I just put it right into the tank and the CO2 starts bubbling in a few hours after the pressure in the bottle has built up. If you use warm water the yeast will start growing pretty quick. The bottle needs to be kept oxygen free for co2 production, so you need to keep your airline tube under water right from the start if you want to get it bubbling. I dont' really pay enough attention to worry about the co2 levels and fluctuations. I put my DIY bottle on the tank, let it do its thing and in a few weeks when it starts to taper off I replace the mixture. Fish are happy and the plants are growing, so it must be working I might say be a bit more careful monitoring if you were using canister CO2 but DIY is pretty fool proof. Thanks guys, both for your replies, and your recipes seem similar and yeah Ive read that some people put Baking Soda but I couldnt find any lol. Everything is set up and hopefully starts bubbling soon, any clue how long it takes for them to build up? Maybe next time Ill try leaving it for a night to help with the pressure buildup. Thanks

Thanks a lot for your quick reply. I am going to start the CO2 mixture soon, I just finished with the diffusion bell, its not much but I think it ll do for a little while. I should leave it out of the tank for a couple of hours right? Cuz Ive read that the CO2 peaks at that time and then it stabilizes? Do you do that? Thanks

I've been trying to search up for a 20 gallon recipe online but people cant seem to agree on a specific recipe, some say go with 591mL bottle, others say 1L, and some say 2L. Its my first time doing CO2 so I am extremely confused, I've read that fish will die within an hour or so if its too strong and I definitely dont want that. Can someone tell me the perfect recipe to use? or something that works for them and please mention how long it lasts as well. I have 591 mL and 2L bottles so which one is better? I am also planning to diffuse them using a DIY co2 diffusing bell. Hoping people can reply within a couple of hours as I want to have the mixture by the evening and let it stable till tmr morning then put it in the tank. Its not densely planted yet though I hope they fill in nicely. Thanks guys

So Ive never gone to any auctions or anything of the sort and would really like to, just trying to see if anyone from NE or NW is gonna be going and has space in their car. I live in the community of Thorncliffe by the intersection of Center street and 64 avenue, or if Deerfoot outlet mall rings a bell for you then Im 5 minutes from there. So if anybody would be able to pick me up that would be great. And please dont bother if you end up going totally out of your way just to pick me up as that would be too much trouble for you, if its not too far or unreasonable please PM or reply. Thanks

You really want to cram that tank as full as possible from the get-go (I realize it's a little late - sorry. ). As plants begin to grow, they'll be out-competing algae. You can trim as they grow in, and once established, you can swap out the ones you don't want for other plants that grow slower or look nicer. Again, in all my years, I've tried everything I can to keep things as simple as possible. Planting heavily with fast-growing plants (even if I don't necessarily want them in the end) from the start is the fastest way to have a lush tank with happy fish. Thanks jvision and no its not too late as school work has been keeping me away from my tanks, and blood donation got me feeling sick but yeah I was gonna fill it with as much as I can, even if I didnt want the plant I was planning on just letting them float at the top as they will be easier to remove then. I was super disappointed when I figured out I needed to lower the light but I guess Ill start on it soon maybe just start out around tuesday. Thanks

Thank you Just wanted to get a confirmation so Going back to Canadian Tire to get the other bulbs. Thanks again

Ive had to change and lower the lighting to 30 watts so that gives me 1.5 watts per gallon. It was either that or leave the planted idea behind for another couple of months or something. I really hope thats enough lighting for the plants Ive posted. Thanks

PLEASE DELETE Found alternative. Thanks

Hmmm good point, another night of reading online made me realize that but I found another way to stop an initial algae attack, I can just leave a lot of plants for the first week or so floating around, and it ll help with algae, and then remove them later. But thanks! Hey Fleshgear Thanks for that and yeah Im planning to fill my plant 60-70% with plants and then maybe have a couple of floaters just to help me fight the algae, Ill look up sil9 cuz Its the natural look I really really want. Ive made a list of all the fish I want in there and Im probably going to post that once I get the tank in shape so people can edit it out for me cuz it looks like it will also go way over an inch per gallon. Ill also look around for a better filter. Thanks again!

Just add some more gravel to the required depth. People use soil under plain gravel in a new tank to give it a higher cation exchange capacity (the ability to hold nutrients for the plants). Since your tank is not new, you have already been increasing the CEC in the substrate via the mulm/detritus/crud. There's really no need to dig around and make a huge mess in there when you already have the necessary components. Besides, the transition period involved in submerging soils in the tank can take months; it's not so simple as just dumping some gravel on top of dirt and adding water. Have a read of this article: Substrates for Aquarium Plants. "Under conditions of low or moderate lighting intensity, the aquarist may have success using the natural nutrients which accumulate from keeping fish." I'm always a fan of the KISS* principle... *Keep It Simple, Stupid Lol thanks werner I personally like your kiss principle but I really really want to change my gravel into something darker so that it compliments some of the fish (tetras) that I put in. Maybe Ill just stick with gravel and buy a couple bags of black gravel. though a lot of people have told me to put some sand and then cover it with gravel so Ill see but thanks for your explanation. And thanks a lot for the link, just skimmed it and planning to read it in the next half an hour or so. Thanks

Hey fishclubgirl, Sorry for my ignorance but I have no clue what detritus is, I tried searching it up thinking it was plants but the best I get is that its dead skin, their waste and left over food. Could you please explain what thats about? Thanks

No questions are ever stupid. How do you get the answers you are looking for if you don't ask? Keep these questions coming because we learn something new each time also. :thumbs: I am currently using top soil with play ground sand in my 90 gallon tank (2.5 watts at 8 hrs each day on a timer with 2 x DIY co2). I also have all of those plants you named and they grow really well. I do dose fertilizers into the water column every so often (depends on plant growth and observation). My advice: - If you are looking for cheap, this would be the way to go since you already have the top soil. Make sure you sift/screen it and remove any sticks. Read the package on the topsoil and watch out that it isn't just cow dung as that will do absolutely nothing for your tank. lol - Your light is pretty good. Many people use the same light setup on 10 gallon tanks. 6 hrs a day is good to start with (you don't want an algae invasion). Only increase the lighting interval if it is necessary. I dont' think you need to as all those plants are low light. - You should purchase a timer for $10 at Home Depot/Rona/Canadian Tire/Walmart). Set it for the evening hours, so if you go to bed at 10 PM then have it turn on at 4PM. - It doesn't matter what sand you use as long as you like the color. Playground sand is $7 at Totem. Clean the sand really well. The easiest way is to dump it into a bucket and run it under the tap. Just keep the water running until it runs clear. Then turn the water off and sift through the sand. Repeat with the water rinsing. - For CO2 use either 'Seachem Excel $6 for 100ml at Big Als' following the directions on the bottle or use a DIY CO2 setup ($5 for tubing and check valve, then raid your moms fridge). This will depend on the amount of plants you have in your tank. Don't use DIY CO2 if you don't have many plants. You will definitely get an algae invasion. - I wouldn't worry about dosing any fertilizers until you start to notice a deficiency in the new leaves of your plants. This will take some time to understand. - My only negative with soil is that it gets messy. PM me if you are interested in some plants. Your welcome to come take a look at my tank. This applies to anyone (located in Calgary). Good luck! lol thank you but as a couple of people on AA found out as soon as I joined it that Im always full of questions. Though everyone here is really helpful and I almost always find what I need to know =] I am planning to do my best to get one bag of fluroite and mix it with sand and just a handful of topsoil, its a recommendation Ive been hearing a lot lately lol. Im planning on doing a DIY co2 using some of the links found here on AA as they seemed really helpful and yeah a timer is a must as I had a lot of trouble without it. and good warning with the cow dung, I had a friend try a nano except he accidentally picked up a bag of sheep manure instead. Good thing we caught it in time lol. Ill keep you in mind as I will be looking for plants really soon as you ll be hearing from me in a couple of days probably lol. Thanks for all your help though!

Hey jvision, thanks a lot for that step by step instructions, they are going to help me a lot. And from the general consensus on this form it seems like a good plan to follow to so thanks again. I am planning to do diy co2 so no worries about that, I was up late last night searching about that and found a couple of good links so as soon as I find them again, Ill start of that as well. My only question is that if I only covered around 70% of the footprint would that create too much problems? Cuz some of the plants I want to let grow in so I have to leave some space for them. Yeah I do like the look of sessiliflora so I have planned to switch those two though I did have good luck with it last time. I am not too worried about Algae cuz I am planning on adding shrimps snails and fishes that should make a snack out of it lol. As for plants, I normally dont end up to auctions as I dont normally have a ride lol though I would really like to go see but Ill look around here on the forums and I found cheap plants online ($1-$2) the only reason I havent bought them yet is cuz I dont have any way of paying online lol, no credit card or paypal yet. Now I just need to figure out all this carbon stuff and Ill feel ready enough to start lol. But thanks again! Hey, thanks for that and yeah Im going with his instructions, he seems to know what hes talking about, not that others arent, but its really straight forward and makes sense. Im going with a DIY co2 too as I cant afford the pressurized cylinders and all that, soon enough Ill add a schwack of plants and hope for the same luck as yours lol. Thanks again Fromone plant geek to another potential plant geek. This is the step by step way to go. Lol thank you, I am not a plant geek yet, will be soon hopefully but this is the way I'll go. Thanks again