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

Theres a few things you can do to minimise algae, I have white sand and it flat out never has algae grow on it like what flak just posted. Your best bet is having a way to ensure theres no nutrients in the water. Java moss is fantastic for that because the second there is more than its currently using the stuff will just grow and grow. Having a dedicated algae area also works, like a plastic box hidden at the back with a light in it to cultivate it inside (videos on youtube about that stuff) Also bias alert but I would definitely recommend cory cats for starter fish because those boys are tough af. My tank at the moment is 6 corydoras and a male betta + a bunch of trumpet snails (that were accidentally introduced), the cory's hang around the bottom schooling together and my anger boy sits at the top looking all pretty (seriously betta's can have some gorgeous colours) If you go for having a decent amount of plants i'd 11/10 recommend ghost shrimp (All shrimp are good but ghosts are cheap) assuming you don't get fish that will eat them. If you do get ghosts (you wont have this issue with cherry reds) make 10000% sure they actually are ghost shrimp and not the other ones (forget the name) that people confuse them with, most stores that don't specialise in just fish will fuck up and get the wrong ones, those being ones with actual claws that will attack fish.

Amano are the ones that get mixed up with Ghosts.

wtf lmao it looks fine, I was imagining a macro style discolouration making it all go brownish. Looks good man.

You'll need something to hold plants down in sand for sure, sand isn't the greatest for growing. Also it looks fine because I cleaned it a week ago and there's only five small fish in there contributing to the bioload.

Ah i see. What do you think of the aqua one 600 clearview hangon filter? All it has is a wool/carbon cartridge filter, then an all plastic "bio grid". Looks kinda like a plastic heat sink. I may upgrade to a canister later though

I use Aqua Clears for my filters, I have a variation of it in every tank because I'm too lazy to do canisters.

Canister is life

What's so hard about canisters?

The UV in the sunsuns doesn't have enough power output or enough contact time with the water stream to really sterilize much of anything. Sunsuns aren't bad overall. They're somewhat disposable, so be prepared to order a replacement in the future.

It's not that they're hard it's that I already have a HOB established in every tank and don't want to deal with switching them out. I used a Sunsun and it cleared this mess up in less than a week. (clearly an old image because it still has gravel) https://i.imgur.com/0LfPa9d.jpg

Fluval 4 life https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/1861/7178ad4e-6d03-486c-be86-6897b2f426ad/IMG_20180505_143614.jpg (Overkill setup)

Tetras are really fragile initially, but once they've been in there for a while they're hardy.

This scares me. It would be a nightmare if it leaked. I see a lot of 1 star reviews about fragility and leaks for all canister filters. Is there a water proof box i can buy to put it in?

Shove it in a plastic storage container if it worries you.

Yeah might be overkill but i got some water sensors, going to put one on the ground and one in the box. Better safe than sorry though, especially because I'm renting. Thanks for all the advice though guys!

Sorry to spam the thread, but if I go with a white substrate that's inert and has no minerals or nutrients for a planted tank, I'm going to need root tabs, anyone got experience with stuffing osmocote under the substrate every 6 ish months? I'd be using THIS. Or would you recommend a small layer of aquarium soil underneath?

I've had good luck with the penn plax cascade line on amazon. I just use polyfill for my fine filter media and then use lava rock rubble for all of my biological media. That's a pretty easy way to cut costs. I've used osomocote plus consistently and had no problems with it. You may or may not need to dose ferts based on the water profile in your area and also based on what plants you intend to keep.

Found some sweet looking driftwood at a beach a couple hours away, going to cycle boil it and then soak, hopefully it works good !

Alright, got pool filter sand substrate (will be seiving out large and fine sand) got a 122cm fluval fresh and plant 2.0, my master test kit and water conditioners plus tank cleaners. Hopefully next week ill be filling it up and getting this cycling!

Two things, firstly are you intending on using Co2 injection? If not there are some good videos on no Co2 tanks that will give you a list of plants that will grow well without it. Secondly I would not recommend cycling the tank with plants already in it. When I set up my first tank I did that and it took around 4 months for the tank to actually cycle because the plants are also trying to absorb nutrients, i'd assume if you take that into account and dose slightly more ammonia/quickstart it shouldn't be a problem but just keep it in mind if you do put plants in right from the getgo.

im going to be using a grid layout of root tabs and heavily plant, thanks for the tip about cycling, though

so I'm redesigning my website, and at the same time discovered Microsoft's fish emojis. https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/1860/278fb984-2d6d-4dee-9a26-68ed1306cdf3/image.png It's perfect.

Can we make this the banner in the OP please?

alright so i havent even put substrate in and i dropped glass and chipped the glass cover fuck

IMO your better off using a plastic cover, glass covers are heavy and just ask to be dropped. I use the kind of plastic sheeting you'd find in glasshouse planters, two layers of plastic with strips running down the inside to create air pockets. Holds heat in -really- well.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I got them! https://i.imgur.com/alu6diQ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/oba1xjr.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ad9kPUN.jpg

Any ideas on decoration? Colour styles, rocks, wood etc I should put in? Also, what's a good amount of substrate for pool filter sand (0.45mm - 0.9mm) Here's some pics of it so far, substrate kinda looks like raw sugar. was tempted to eat some just to make sure https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/244344/d052ef1b-c872-4499-8ff8-1ddf198fa0f6/IMAG1236.jpg https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/244344/be7d6aeb-63fb-4451-93b9-0170af0f233f/IMAG1235.jpg

Make it look natural, lots of driftwood, rocks, and real plants

Sand colour a yay or nay? I can grab some other coloured PFS cheap locally, which is closer to white with Would look like this: https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/244344/76ad4357-c8f2-491c-9d3b-0819d105bf4e/image.png

Do yourself a solid and put that power board on the side or somewhere that the cords hand down before going back up to the board. If you don't I can guarantee you water will run down those cords and fuck your entire setup or kill you when you go to do something with it.