#the java moss doesnt look great

[thefoodiecats]

New tank, who dis?

[wheremyscalesslither]

The Glowfish Adventure

In January 2016 my family decided to get a "low maintenance" pet for my nephew's 4-5th birthday... somehow they decided fish fit the bill. I rallied against it so hard because I knew inevitably no one would provide the care needed for a fish tank. Between the water changes, and feeding, and making sure the habitat was actually suitable for the inhabitants, I knew my family wouldn't keep up.

Literally a month later I was caring for the fish. My family wasnt willing to provide the care above, but also refused to get rid of them, so I bitterly took the lead. Bitterly, because fish were dumb and boring, amirite? But ESPECIALLY GLOWFISH.

No, not because they are "tattooed/dyed" (they are bred for their coloration) or because theyre GMO (the food you eat is GMO). But because in my head Glowfish were the pinnacle of gross capitalism: pushing the fad of owning a living animal for decoration.

Still yet, I was not going to let animals suffer.

TA-DA. The first fish tank. Okay actually the first fish tank had fake plants. Real plants were my first move as the caretaker. I went to the local aquarium shop and asked them to give me the easiest plants. They gave me:

water wisteria

Water sprite

Elodea anacharis

Echinodorus "red flame"

And at a random trip to petsmart I got an anubius nana for too much money 🤷‍♀️

And why yes, that is a grand total of 2 tetra glowfish in a 20 gallon because the other 4 died during what I learned was a "fish in cycle" 😬 I wasnt very fish savvy yet so I wasnt aware of what a cycle was let alone that you need constant water changes to not kill fish.

With a lot of help from @jayce-space and other great people (but mostly I bothered jayce-space) i started to slowly upgrade the tetra tank. Oh and the plants grew!!

Look at that healthy school of fish. And the questionably healthy plants. The only plants that survived the first tank were the wisteria, red flame sword, a sprig of elodea, and the anubias nana. Elodea died pretty quick afterward though, and the water Sprite became uprooted so my mom threw it out thinking it was garbage 😂 still one of the biggest WTF moments for me in animal keeping. "Mom you dont think twice about the tank why did you throw those plants away randomly" she still doesnt know hahaha

Onwards,

A year passed and I decided I *actually* enjoyed keeping aquariums, so much so that for my birthday I begged my parents to let me get the tetras a tank that was better suited for them.

And thusly the 40B gallon was born!

Oh man look at that aquascaping 👌👌👌 I branched out to more plants. I got 2 more swords (Echinodorus "ozelot" and Apongeton crispus), some dwarf sag, and planted the wisteria, anubias, and red flame sword into the 40B. those cholla were soooo aesthetically pleasing. Dont mind the rocks, they're weighing the driftwood down.

From January to September I added a ton more species of plants and more tetras: black skirt and white skirt- 2 more "normal" colors.

The new additions of plants are: Hydrocotyle leucocephala, Hygrophila corymbosa, Amazon swords

Eventually the cholla decompoosed too much and the bottom of the aquarium was ALWAYS dirty so I switched it out for some spider wood. One new plant species was added: staurogyne repens

Here is the tetra tank January 2018, 2 years into taking over the care of the tank.

By September 2018, someone gifted me a 55 gallon which was initially intended to be a salt water tank. After discovering just how much more careful and vigilant you have to be with salt water aquariums, as well as the hefty price tag, I made it into a bioactive enclosure for a snake. Which I got bored of and turned into an upgrade for the tetras 😊

Oh boy those plants look sparse in such a long tank. What survived, might you ask?? Not quite the variety I had hoped for, though some of the plants from my original purchase survived:

Echinodorus "red flame" *first plant 😃

Water wisteria *clones of the first plant!

Anubias nana *first plant!

Echinodorus "ozelot"

Amazon swords

Apongeton crispus (though it melted and has never been the same since)

Hydrophilia corymbosa

A sprig of dwarf sag

A sprig of staurogyne repens

I later added java moss to make moss "trees"

Adding pressurized co2 was game changer. Plants EXPLODED. I'm 10000% committed to using co2 in aquariums. Holy cow it makes a difference.

Sadly I dont have a comparison to this January In a photo, just a video.

But heres a photo from March!

Along the way I got water Sprite again and java ferns. I also had a brief interest in shrimp (actually I LOVE them) so I added amano and ghost shrimp. I have also added platies and my nephews' betta fish after watching very very closely. Honestly at this point, the fish tank is no longer a tetra tank. It's mostly a platy tank. And they've done an excellent job of stocking it for me 😑

More recently, I switched to a better diffuser and the plants got even crazier! Here's a photo from 1-2 days ago after 2 weeks on the new diffuser:

I was literally pulling plants out by the handful to fill in my dad's 57 gallon tank.

Some plants got transferred:

Echinodorus "red flame," (she is arguably my favorite plant) Not only has she survived this long, but she outgrew the 55 gallon to the extent her leaves were sprouting out of the water and dying. I moved her into my dad's ridiculously shaped 57 gallon. That's her standing proudly on the left:

java moss trees got moved. The height of this tank suits them better and looks less crowded

One of the 2 Amazon swords

I cloned my original java moss, and it is now 7 separate plants- 3 of the smaller ones are in this 57 gal.

A very large sprig of water wisteria and a large clump of water sprite

A few dwarf sag

The elodea came from a science project at school, and they gave me all the snails and elodea from it :)

I also had some duckweed introduced from the snails and elodea so RIP me.

And finally, the tetra tank today:

It got a nice old trim and pull of plants even after I took some for my dad's tank. Now I need to add the hardscaping back in. And I'm really itching to get new plants and more glowfish tetras!!

Heres the final attendance sheet:

Fauna:

glowfish tetra

Glowfish shark

Black skirt tetra

White skirt tetra

Blue platies

Rando Pond snails

One nerite snail

3 amano shrimp

1 ghost shrimp

Flora:

Echinodorus "ozelot"

Amazon sword

Anubias nana

Java fern

Water sprite

Water wisteria

Dwarf sag

Some reddish plant I forgot the name of 🤔

Bacopa caroliana

Some other bacopa species 🤷‍♀️

Its funny to think back to the first experiences I had with aquariums and realize how far I've come.

So what's next?

What's next is my uncle is building me a frame for the 135 gallon tank my parents bought. The tetra and platies will likely be going right in there with all the plants :)

wish me luck!

[mikoshrimp]

Planted Shrimp Tank Set ups

Hey all! It’s mikoshrimp with another tutorial requested by @ftwinny. Live plants are a great addition for shrimp tanks! Here’s some basics with how to set up a planted tank for shrimp.

Substrate is most important when it comes to a planted tank. It sets up what ph and whether it’s good for plants to root, or if its too loose to plant(which doesnt stop it from being a planted tank!) Buffering active substrates are great for planted tanks because they’re filled with nutrients and are light enough for rooted plants to not have suffocated rotting roots that cause ammonia spikes. however, its harder to plant being so light, so a thicker layer of substrate is needed. 

The soil I use is Controsoil, buffering low ph 6. I have around a minimum layer of 1.5 inch to 3in of substrate. (plants in the picture: Dwarf hair grass, Star grass in the back, and broken marimo moss ball glued on lava rock to form a small moss hill) In my opinion, the granules are too small for my taste but they give a nice look regardless. Buffering soil can keep both caridina and neocaridina which is what I prefer. Here are some links to other active substrates to use.

Controsoil

Fluval Stratum Plants and Shrimp 

Mr. Aqua

If you do not want a buffering substrate, sand is my next recommendation. I like sand because it holds plants down more and looks beautiful! However, cons are that it creates anaerobic air pockets which are toxic. But an occasional poke with a stick or malaysian trumpet snails will dig through and keep it aerated. Here are some sands I like to use.

Seachem Flourite Black Sand 

Carib Sea Tahitian Moon Sand 

National Geographic White Sand

Quikrete Play Sand

(my dwarf cray tank. This is Seachem black sand)

Remember this is inert substrate and all sands need to be washed well to prevent dusty cloudy tanks. Recommended for neo tanks or high ph caridinas. (ie: Tigers or acclimated Crystal shrimp) 

Now for the plants! My all time favorite, Dwarf Sagittaria 

Dwarf sagittaria is a great beginner plant and looks so lush with healthy root growth and propagates by sending runners under the substrate so it creates a sturdy medium height carpet.

Cryptocoryne is another plant I love. It has so many different shades of greens and reds and purple. A nice break from just green plants. It propagates with baby plants. Very easy to grow.

Another easy plant is Stargrass. Absolutely beautiful, and when leaves are damaged, they reveal a shiny blue hue.

Some plants dont need to be planted in the substrate, but prefer to be tied to something with texture.(Anubia, Ferns, Buce, moss)

JAVA FERN

Practically impossible to kill. Tie it on rocks, driftwood, on top of the gravel. It creates new plants by rhizomes. A sturdy plant overall and very lush. 

Heres a shrimp safe fertilizer too. Do not over dose or it will alter the water chemistry. It’s always safer to dose less than recommended to be safe.

THRIVE

LED lights are brighter and last longer than fluorescent lights. You want a strong light that produces 5000K+ 

I use this one. It produces 10000K but I’m using the 48inch light on two 10G tanks.

Full Spec Plant Marine light LED

Make sure you get a good light. It’s so important for plants to thrive and for the development of beneficial bacteria, algae, biofilm, microfaunas, and for the development of shrimp. 

If you have any questions let me know!

Your shrimp will thank you for live plants! 

ENJOY