The Amazing Aquarium Thread- Why is Fishy Sleeping Upside Down? - General

[t]https://i.imgur.com/r04YvFw.jpg[/t] You're not hiding, I can see you.

Went to grab a betta today and figured id pick up some java moss while I was there to cover the rocks in my tank. Store doesn't have any but the guy there just chucks me this little bag with a small amount of java moss citing its not enough to sell so I can just have it for free. Turns out the bag was an off-cut bag of random plants they had too few of so theres about 4 different types of plants in this thing. These lads certainly know how to keep my patronage there :ok:

I think I might get an Angel or too, anyone have experience with them and smaller peaceful fish like cories and loaches? Also have two gold barbs left, worried they might cause an issue.

yea those barbs will most likely find those angel fins appetizing. you could possibly find the barbs a new home. otherwise the cories and loaches should be fine in a community environment with the angels.

I always forget Red Tailed Sharks are aggressive until mine goes after someone for staring at their reflection.

[t]https://i.imgur.com/M7o1cNS.jpg[/t]

So it turns out Java Moss is -really- good at absorbing nitrates. My tank is currently 0-0-0

[QUOTE=archival;52780424]So it turns out Java Moss is -really- good at absorbing nitrates. My tank is currently 0-0-0[/QUOTE] If you're planning on putting other plants in there too, make sure you prune the hell out of that moss. You probably want to do that anyway so to promote healthy growth. Eventually it will soak up all of the nutrients it can, stall out in growth, and then get overtaken by algae. Regular trimmings will help prevent that.

I actually do have some other plants in there, the moss is only a small tuft on one of the rocks right now which I intend to keep small. I will need to monitor the other plants to be sure they don't become starved of resources (though I do dose an all in 1 fert so hopefully that won't happen with how small the moss is) but as long as they don't show any signs of that, ill hopefully keep it this big. Of course if the others do start to falter ill have to take more of the moss out, if all else fails I can always remove the moss in favor of more of the existing plants

[QUOTE=archival;52787102]I actually do have some other plants in there, the moss is only a small tuft on one of the rocks right now which I intend to keep small. I will need to monitor the other plants to be sure they don't become starved of resources (though I do dose an all in 1 fert so hopefully that won't happen with how small the moss is) but as long as they don't show any signs of that, ill hopefully keep it this big. Of course if the others do start to falter ill have to take more of the moss out, if all else fails I can always remove the moss in favor of more of the existing plants[/QUOTE] You probably won't have to remove it. Just don't be afraid to trim it down to almost nothing, because it will grow back with a fury. Also if you want to keep it contained, turn off your pumps/filter when you trim and net out/tweezer out all of your clippings. I have made the mistake of letting little bits get away from me and take over my scape. If you zero out again on your parameters, that's probably a good indicator that you can increase your fertilizing too.

I really need to give my plants a good trimming again, but last time I did it I got nipped at and I wasn't expecting it, and I destroyed like half a plant.

So my deadbeat uncle (don't ask) left behind 3 small terrarium/aquariums and I'm thinking of making each one a different aquascape. I can't use fish because I have a cat that will eat every last one of them so they are out of the question. I know I want a biolumen UV tank, a 'green field' tank (look like a park that's underwater, with benches and a path and everything), and some other tank I haven't thought of yet. Anyone know how I can go about doing this a cost effective way? Clearly I'm going to start with one and go from there. [editline]18th October 2017[/editline] I guess they're about this size, maybe a bit wider with the same depth and height. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv0x42x-r7Y[/media]

Left my blinds up for a few hours thismorning and I noticed all of my plants at the back have turned their heads and leaned forward to get some of the light coming in, looks kinda neat. Going to be trimming alot of the plants today though, theyre starting to spread a little too much [t]https://i.imgur.com/1xwGogi.jpg[/t]

[QUOTE=archival;52803589]Left my blinds up for a few hours thismorning and I noticed all of my plants at the back have turned their heads and leaned forward to get some of the light coming in, looks kinda neat. Going to be trimming alot of the plants today though, theyre starting to spread a little too much [/QUOTE] Wow, that looks really good, can I ask what the plants with the flower-like head are?

[QUOTE=Fuxed;52805779]Wow, that looks really good, can I ask what the plants with the flower-like head are?[/QUOTE] I believe they are part of the Cabombaceae family but im not entirely sure their exact name, the only really identifying feature they have over others is how their sections of 'leafs' are seperated [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabombaceae[/url] They act very much like you would expect a flower to, closing at night and moving their heads around to the light which in turn reflects the light a bit causing it to become this really vivid green. Its neat. I really want to do a proper scaped aquarium now that I've learned the ropes of tropical aquariums, maybe someday

Some fish really hates my new plant, they keep pulling it up :frown:

I really wanna try dwarf cuttlefish but damn it's expensive tbh maybe I should learn how to DIY tanks Also the fact that aging smashes them like a truck when they're a little over a year old sucks. 'Tis the way of cephalopods though

[T]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/270887533431226368/374916092688334848/20171019_211328.jpg?width=1168&height=657[/T][T]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/270887533431226368/374916006054854656/20171019_211249.jpg?width=1168&height=657[/T][T]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/270887533431226368/374915942272073728/20171019_211240.jpg?width=1168&height=657[/T] Couldn't get any decent pictures of the fishes themselves, but I've got 6 cardinal tetras (was 8, 2 of them got stuck behind the filter recently) 5 gold barbs, a siamese algae eater, bushymouth catfish and a bigger bottom feeder guy who often hides out behind the leftmost piece of wood (next to filter) and my aquarium has lately been healthier than ever before, though I feel I could improve it somehow.

Is it the lighting or is it a little cloudy? I found out how effecient Angelfish are at removing babies though, I had a pregnant guppy and she popped over night, woke up to no babies.

[QUOTE=FlakTheMighty;52844200]Is it the lighting or is it a little cloudy? I found out how effecient Angelfish are at removing babies though, I had a pregnant guppy and she popped over night, woke up to no babies.[/QUOTE] Probably both, my filter adds air bubbles to the water which makes it seem [I]very[/I] slightly cloudier but I feel that at the same time it looks cleaner. But most of it is from lighting, it's very clear when you look at it with bare eyes.

That is a beautiful aquarium, very well scaped Bord. Is a bit of turbidity good for some fish? I would almost wonder if some species might prefer having lower visibility. If this turbidity is due to your filter disturbing the substrate you might try putting a large rock or other hard object under the filter intake. This also facilitates not disturbing the water when you do a tank change. Baffles and spray bars are cheap and effective as well. Anyone ever keep a blackwater aquarium?

Some fish definitely prefer lower visibility, it's pretty common in brackish fish as far as I'm aware.

Yo lads I have a question regarding heat removal. Its hitting summer time here now and with me out at work all day im having to consider a few different avenues for managing the heat in the tank, It generally sits at 25c but when its gone above that, the tank mirrors the room temperature. Giving evaporative cooling a shot today but save for that and putting a frozen bottle into the tank im not really sure what else I can do, despite my best efforts the room itself will always get hot due to air flow from the rest of the house and the brick walls getting hot from the sun outside so all I can do is try and manage the tank itself.

You could always try a chiller, although those are expensive as fuck to buy and run.

Alright, I got a 75 gallon tank and I want to do cichilids, I'd like some convicts, what are some good tank mates? [t]https://i.imgur.com/Haw6GzL.jpg[/t] I'm going to get the rest of my rocks soon (probably Thursday), then I'll need some plants and driftwood, and also water.

Got myself a little double fan mount from ebay australia, the thing came with a US power plug and a cheap $2 travel adapter :v:

Guess it would have made sense to post this here first [QUOTE=FlakTheMighty;52925325][url=https://imgur.com/a/RKhxG]75 gallons and I wish I had more space[/url] [t]https://i.imgur.com/Kpbco1n.jpg[/t][/QUOTE]

The only cichlid I ever owned killed all it's tank mates except for a pleco who was bigger than it. Convicts should be a bit more friendly, though. Here he is ruling over his 120 gallon domain. He's the black figure hiding under the rock. His albino Pleco buddy can be seen under a rock to the right. [img_thumb]https://i.imgur.com/FYyI5mN.jpg[/img_thumb] He was a naughty boy.

I changed my mind and I'm going with Africans, no Convicts for me (also they're apparently not as great as I thought)

[QUOTE=FlakTheMighty;52926682]I changed my mind and I'm going with Africans, no Convicts for me (also they're apparently not as great as I thought)[/QUOTE] Post some pics when you can, cichlids are something I considered for a larger tank once Im not in a sharehouse so im interested to see how things go