Hello - I have a small 10g tank with six celestial pearl danios, three rosy loaches and one rili shrimp (we bought three, one died before arrival, and the other passed a couple of weeks ago we think of old age as she was fully grown when purchased).

The tank was cycled and then the animals have lived there for six months, they all appear happy. No issues except I think a normal amount of algae, and more recently noticing more biofilm buildup that I remove. The animals are fed every other day, a tiny amount of mini sinking pellets and one or half of a mini algae wafer. Some peas once a week as a treat. I do a 20-25% water change once a week with a general small tidy up of the tank.

The substrate is inert fine gravel. When we planted the tank before the fish arrived we used root tabs, and seeing as it had been six months since we did this I added some a couple of days ago. I used SwellUK Planted Aquarium Root Tabs. The plants grow ok but thought they could do with a boost, particularly dwarf hair grass I have struggled to grow.

This morning I turned the tank light on and noticed a thicker than usual layer of biofilm at the top, and a slight cloud to the water, that looked like the bacterial bloom we had when first setting up the tank. I removed the biofilm, then rinsed out the filter (Super Fish hang on filter 50) in some tank water. I also turned up the flow of the filter as I saw that bacterial blooms can reduce oxygen in the tank. Some large bubbles have been coming up from the substrate.

I haven't yet replaced the filter media since we got it as I've been nervous to as I know it's full of good bacteria. I have left the tank lights off, though the tank is in a naturally bright room.

I did strip tests this morning - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20ppm nitrate, PH and hardness at consistent levels

It's early afternoon now and I believe the water is getting cloudier.

my questions are

* is this water dangerous?

* do I need to make a (large) water change?

*do I need to fish out the root tabs? I can't remember exactly where I put them and well... our plants have generally proven themselves quite loose in the substrate and can be kicked up very easily... so I'd rather avoid it but will do anything for the little guys

thanks

bad photo attached of the tank at 2pm with everyone hiding because I'd just knelt down next to it

(edited for spelling mistake)

Got this new 13.3 gallon going, not sure what to put in it yet but excited about the plants

Looking for free plants

I got a new tank and i want it heavily planted, so i bought some anuabis. Can these be buried into the soil? Or do they have to be tied/superglued to a piece of driftwood. If so what should i do with them untill im able to get driftwood? Do i let them just float around or will they be fine to keep buried untill i can get some?

Is this snail damage on my anubias or something else? I apologize for the bad pictures this is a curved tank.

I know a 20 long is the ideal, but I was able to score a really good deal on a brand new 20 high, so I want to make the most of what I have. I’m going to fill it up with swords and vals, but I’m a fan of interesting hardscape as well and I’d like an idea for something that can reach up to the top levels without being too heavy or precarious. I like spider wood and dragonstone, but most of the pieces I find are long instead of tall. Anyone have suggestions? I’m planning on stocking some shrimp and little fish, ember tetras and pygmy cories probably. (Plus 2 giant snails I got when they were much smaller and have outgrown their 10 gallon, oops.) Thank you!

All plants have the same tones. Which plant would you complement to make it more exciting.

I have the following plants in my aquarium:

- Hydrocotyle tripartita

- Cryptocoryne parva

- Hygrophila angustifolia Rubra

- Cryptocoryne balansae

- Bucephalandra sp.

- Nymphoides hydrophylla 'Talwan

- VESICULARIA MONTAGNEI

I started this tank as a concept almost exactly two years ago and it's finally finished! Swipe to see the progression (all the way back to when the hardacape was originally planned for a 10 gallon). Current tank is 20 gallons.

I'm incredibly proud of this tank and myself for being able to keep it looking as nice as it does by not flaking on my weekly maintenance. This is the culmination of a lot of hard work and persistence. From plastic plants and a 5 gallon betta tank in 2020 (the last photo shows my very first tank) to this in 2026. I'm incredibly grateful to this hobby. Bonus photo of my cat, Penny, helping me contemplate the hardacape on the right side of the tank.

I'm using an Oase Thermo 100 canister filter. I run C02, have a Twinstar S series light and dose APT 3 daily. Lights run 8 hours. Current inhabitants are CPDs, Pgmy Corys, Pumpkin Shrimp and Ramshorn snails.

Plants are Elocharis belem (carpet), Hydrocotyle Tripartita, Ludwigia Repens, Rotala Rotundifolia, various kinda of anubius and buce, Java Fern Sunrise as well as Myriophyllum Mattogrossense, Mayaca Fluviatilis, Homalomena Broad Sekadau South, Lobelia Cardinalis Mini and Samolus Parviflorus Red (lysimachia parvifolia).

Ask me any questions!

Added this last weekend a healthy ozelot sword, 4 days later looks like this. Ive seen melt before in this tank on my ruben sword but didnt fully engulf the plant like this. Water params are normal, no co2 just root tabs and liquid fert

I've found 2 or 3 pieces of this big duckweed in my tank. Is it a different species or just a weird mutation?

Looking for some more ideas on plants I can grow above my tanks. Just the roots dangled in. But also open to letting plants grow up and out of the water. I have different sized tanks so all ideas welcome. I’m going to grow one of my swords up and out bc the huge swords look awesome when u do that. This guys on YouTube does it and it looks amazing. Looking for suggestions other than pothos and peace lily. Thanks!

this is the tank I just planted is my monte calro planted deep enough I just did it yesterday is there anything I should be doing today? how long till I have the lushest carpet in the league? I also got some glue marks during some trial and error will those go away?

1st pic: current photo of my tank
2nd pic: other tank i have no issues with
3rd: middle point between current and my old tank
4th pic: when i set the tank up

sorry for the confusing layout.. wasn’t sure how to put it

anyways, i’ve been actually so upset with my tank. it’s a 10 gal currently in some type of bacteria bloom(water parameters have been tested and are normal) but over the past year i guess that i’ve had this tank set up, plants would die, i’d take them out.. put more in. i woke up this morning after putting an algae tablet in for my other snail/kuhlis and it bloomed weirdly with white stuff on the ground..(mostly guessing i had a buildup of duckweed that stilled the current of the sponge filter).. but honestly i have no clue what is going on. i’ve used root tabs, flourish, the only plant that has never fully died is the duckweed, even my water lettuce and red root floaters died. my betta will eat shrimp so i can’t add those. i have no issues with my other tank, the plants grow amazing and look vibrant and i use the exact same things for each tank. i don’t have a co2 system if that matters.

i guess im just wondering what the next steps can be.. just very disappointing for not making this work i want to have this tank thriving fr. however i dont want to keep on funneling money into things that wont work. any advice is appreciated!!

I set up a new 75 gallon dirted tank with the intent to slowly move the plants and fish over from my established 29 gallon tank and then take it down. I ordered some plants and transferred a few from my established tank. Yesterday morning, I look in the new tank and there are at least a dozen fry swimming around. I really want to know what they will grow up to be so now I'm stuck waiting until they grow enough not to become a snack for my other fish. I wish I knew if the eggs came from my tank or hitched a ride in from the plants I ordered.

My water parameters are 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, 5.0ppm nitrate GH is 12 and KH is 1. Temperature is 31.6 degrees throughout the day. I’ve been dosing seachem potassium and seachem advanced to see if it helps. I know the temperature is far from ideal and I can’t help it as it’s way too expensive to buy a chiller($1000+), but I did grow them last time in the same temperatures so I’m not sure why the leaves just die like that. Also I have some trident fern in there and I have seen practically no growth at all and some of the tips were darkish brown. I googled it and it said it might be due to strong lighting? The trident ferns are directly below my lights but I’m thinking it’s also due to the temperature? Basically I just wanna know if it’s the temperature causing this issues like browning leafs tip on the Cyperus helfrei and if it’s meant to grow that slow and for the hydrophilic pinnatifida(pic 4 and 5) why its leaves keep melting even though in pic 5 you can see it propagating to the side(trimmed off the melting leaves and new ones appear within a week). Picture 6 and 7 are bucephalandra and again I’m not sure why they are yellowing even though I have other types of bucephalandra(kedagang) not yellowing at the moment and they were introduced the same time. Sorry for the long post, let me know if any additional info is needed.

I suspect that the first one that I already planted is a giant amazon sword? Or maybe a semi-aquatic plant? I'm not sure what the rest are, though. Any guesses are appreciated !

Also, I have a layer of aqua soil underneath my gravel, I'm not planting it in plain gravel. :)

Was labled flame, but it’s not looking like my other flame moss. Second pic is flame moss I have in my aquarium, first pic is what I was sold as flame moss. Looks christmasy…

Found this little guy eating diatoms on my plant in a 5 day old tank. Second picture is around 24 hours after with almost all diatoms cleaned. I have always wondered how to get rid of diatoms before the cycle is complete so I can put otos in. Maybe limpets are the answer? Too bad no one sells them. I think I'll keep this guy for now.

My tank survived the first month 😁🙏🏻

hello, i have this 80 litres long tank with a pretty strong flow, a lot of java moss a red tiger lotus and an intricate system of limnophila sessiliflora that just took control of all land inside, i have 30 schooling fish and A LOT of shrimps and i'm thinking of removing completely the red root floaters i have because they just don't survive well enough anymore in my tank due to the flow even tho i tried to slow it down as much as possible, i'd also like to add another kind of floater with longer roots to make a nice safe spot for shrimps, which floaters should i look for?

My tank survived the first month 😁🙏🏻

Hallo Freunde,

in meinem Aquarium leben nur Garnelen und 7 Ohrgitter-Harnischwelse, die vor ca. 4 Wochen mit 3 neuen Pflanzen eingezogen sind.

Eben habe ich einen Fisch in meinem Becken entdeckt, weiß jemand was für eine Art das sein könnte? Er kann ja nur über die neuen Pflanzen mit ins Becken gekommen sein.

After dosing the chemiclean Red Cyanobacteria solution twice, I can finally say it's all gone. I considered doing a water change to get sludge out, but there is no left over dead material at all. I think my snails got it take care of.

Also I can't do a water change yet anyway cause it would spike my phosphates and GH/KH.

This might be a tank where I only have to do a water change every few months, so far the high plant count and filter have it taken care of. Stocking will be generally low bioload too since it's all low bioload animals.

So far I've got Least Killifish (Heterandia Fermosa), Blue Dream Shrimp, and a lot of pest snails that I added on purpose like Trumpet, Bladder, and Ramshorns.

I'm planning to add Zipper Kuhli Loaches (Dwarf species), and Pygmy Corydoras. This will be a 3 species community tank for my 20 gallon.

Going 'minimal' this time.

Scape: seiryu stone, JBL white sand, salvinia, rotala hra and an unknown moss I found outside

Inhabitants: 1 honey gourami, 3 sparkling gourami, 1 stiphodon goby, many cherry shrimp, 2 clithon, 1 nerite, limpets & mini ramshorn

Equipment: fluval canister filter,