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Tank update!

pollyandpear

pollyandpear

Member
Joined
16 Jan 2023
Messages
291
Location
London
So 10 months after I first got my tank, this is where we are at!

At the moment I am running:

Superfish Heater
Fluval u2 filter
Nicer pump + 2 airstones
Thermometer
Seachem ammonia and ph alert.
Lights come on about 10am and turn off about 8.30pm.

I have:

4 cory (3 baby added yesterday to keep my single one happy!)
2 adult molly
A lot of baby Molly, maybe 40?
Shrimp
Snails

The shrimp I added a few months ago and thought had died are thriving, we have some red shrimps appear too!

At this point, I change my tank water - normally about 20 litres ones to twice a week.

My Molly breed like mad so will be taking the male, possible the female and a load of fry back to the fish shop so I can have a stable school of females.

Once I have rehomed the Molly I may consider adding a school of little neon tetra or another pretty different colour fish.

Would also love to have one standout fish, but will have to see as don't want to overrun the tank.

Aquascape wise - I am planning at some point to do a rescape with some soil on the bottom and more plants but after the issues I had in the past no rush.

I do still have my bigger tank, I am looking to sell it but haven't had any luck so who knows, maybe one day I will set up the big one again but seeing as this tank is FINALLY thriving and seems relatively stable I am no rush to change.

*I know the top of the tank needs a good scrub and the water level is a little low, will top up in next few days.

42848a99-eed5-40e9-871c-9bbef548a580.jpg


Aw
 
Just another little update, overall all okay but one of the new cory died whilst I was away for a week. I had done a water change before and someone fed them once so I’m not sure what happened.

Today I took my male Molly and the majority of babies back to the fish shop as the female had another litter of babies since this post and I knew at the rate the two adults were breeding it couldn’t be sustained.

Unfortunately the filter has stopped working, it’s a fluval u2 and this is the third time I’ve noticed it’s stopped. I take out the media, rinse it in a bucket of water (from the tank when I do a water change) and I’ve checked the impeller and it will work again but not for long.

The light in the tank lid also stopped working so I’ve brought a full spectrum light to replace it.

Given these issues and the fact I feel the heater swings in temperature a bit more than I like I may look at replacing either the entire tank for an all in one, or just replace the filter and heater, I’ll decide when I sell my old larger tank.

I have whoever decided to do a little maintaince tomorrow which will involve moving the fish to a Bucket whilst I place a layer of aquatic compost beneath the sand before capping it with the old sand plus one new sand, as the plants keep up rooting
 
Hello @pollyandpear

Can you post an up-to-date picture, please?
 
Sure but it isn’t looking good as half the plants are up and the floor needs a hoover!

In fact it looks a state. I need to replant all the plants, trim a few the are bit overgrown and get the substrate correct. I lan on doing this tomorrow
 

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All good! (You should see my tank, "random plants and random fish". :)

Can I ask two questions:
  1. Why is the water only around 75%?
  2. What is your ultimate goal for your aquarium?
 
The water is lower as I took some out for the fish I took to the store today and haven’t topped it up, I also find a fair amount evaporates!

My goal is honestly a really green beautiful little ecosystem, I love the idea of a lush green tank full of life.

To be honest the more I do it the more I realise I’d love a salt water aquarium with corals but I’m way off that for both time reasons, experience and I want to make the tank I have a little paradise for my fish.

I want to look at my aquarium and feel proud, I want it to look really aesthetically pleasing and thriving!
 
pollyandpear said:
Unfortunately the filter has stopped working, it’s a fluval u2 and this is the third time I’ve noticed it’s stopped. I take out the media, rinse it in a bucket of water (from the tank when I do a water change) and I’ve checked the impeller and it will work again but not for long.
Click to expand...
Is it under warranty?
 
I mean. I would prefer an external filter from an aesthetics point of view, so I am going to make a decision tomorrow when I sort the substrate and plants out :)
 
😂
 
Hi, just something to consider, when you add in a layer of fresh substrate that potentially contains nutrients, things may go sideways for a bit. I recently decided I wanted increased substrate depth in my tank and didn’t think it through first and used more Aqua soil, as that’s what I used originally. Many of these are initially pretty potent and I had some issues with algae which I hadn’t anticipated. I hope it goes smoothly for you but just maybe double check with yourself that this will definitely be a one off adjustment to get it ‘right’ for you aesthetically and for the plants, and that you are happy to deal with the possible side effects that may happen for a while afterwards. Having had a coral tank, while I miss it, planted tanks are in my humble opinion so much more forgiving of our mistakes and so much cheaper to set up and run. Just my experience but you have to be able to shrug off quite expensive disasters, frequently not of your making, with saltwater tanks!
 
Haha no worries.

I don't want to mess up the balance but my substrate is not holding many of the plants in at all and they keep floating and I really want them to have something to anchor into.

My plan is - fill a bucket with the tank water, add the fish and the air stones. I have a 25 litre bucket so I figured I fill this.

Remove the plants and carefully order them, trim any dead bits off.

Then drain tank , suck up the sand that is in there - save that.

Add my aqua soil (shown below), cap with the new sand and the old sand, replant and then add the bucket with fish and previous tank water, and top up with dechlorinated water.

im aquatic pond soil
 

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pollyandpear said:
To be honest the more I do it the more I realise I’d love a salt water aquarium with corals but I’m way off that for both time reasons, experience and I want to make the tank I have a little paradise for my fish.

I want to look at my aquarium and feel proud, I want it to look really aesthetically pleasing and thriving!
Click to expand...

I kept a reef for many years but closed it down about a decade ago for reasons beyond my control. I’ve just got back into aquatics (having not had a freshwater tank for about 15 years!) and I’m glad I’m not keeping a reef anymore. The price of equipment has doubled and the price of corals is unreal now.

You spend a lot of time fighting nutrients and avoiding expensive water changes with a reef. Protein skimmers, calcium reactors, algae scrubbers, dosing pumps, ozone, reverse osmosis water, wave makers, reef controllers… you can just spend so much money. And when you make a mistake, it’s usually destructive and very expensive.

That said, I loved my reef and they are beautiful and if you do go for it, best of luck to you!
 
pollyandpear said:
Haha no worries.

I don't want to mess up the balance but my substrate is not holding many of the plants in at all and they keep floating and I really want them to have something to anchor into.

My plan is - fill a bucket with the tank water, add the fish and the air stones. I have a 25 litre bucket so I figured I fill this.

Remove the plants and carefully order them, trim any dead bits off.

Then drain tank , suck up the sand that is in there - save that.

Add my aqua soil (shown below), cap with the new sand and the old sand, replant and then add the bucket with fish and previous tank water, and top up with dechlorinated water.

im aquatic pond soil
Click to expand...
I’ve used that aquatic soil in my pond for planting. It’s quite “composty” with lots of wee bits of gravel and which is great in pond baskets but it turned my water brown for days in the pond. I think it will work great in your tank but I’d avoid disturbing it once you’re set up to avoid clouding up the water.
 
Hi there,
Is the reason your plants aren't anchoring due to insufficient depth of substrate? Looking at the photos it appears to be around ½ an inch all over.
Why don't you do as you have suggested removing water, fish & plants. Then give the sand a gentle vacuum to remove surface debris & simply top up with fresh sand to a decent depth & replant.
Save you being concerned about an ammonia spike as you are returning the fish straight away.
I have a tank with a thin layer of soil under sand & I found I needed to be very gentle when uprooting & moving plants, I've caused the water to cloud several times by being too rough!
The other thing I would recommend is a pair of straight planting tweezers. They are especially useful when planting a group of stems, the angled ones tend to catch & uproot the whole lot when I've used them!
Hope everything goes smoothly & you end up with the tank looking great! 😊
 
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