That was my mistake, I did a 25% water change with conditioned tap water not too long ago. I just performed another partial change and the water already looks better, thanks a ton! Also I noticed my biowheel and filter cartridge have some buildup, is this just bacteria colonizing?
Update: woke up and tank was a little cloudier today. Not too worried at all really just want an opinion on the aesthetic, my first planted tank and I’m still learning about aquascaping! I think the peacock gudgeons and corydoras will enjoy it hopefully.
Update. I removed about 75% of the gravel, added more river bed sand, an amazon sword, Java fern and an anubias. I want to cover the background more in plants as the mud and foreground are covered, any advice? Also picking up some frogbit later.
Also upon the substrate change, my water has...
Good point, I have used the Flourish Tabs already but now I really want to remove as much gravel as I can and pop a couple more pounds of sand in, probably going to keep the gravel to the side and back edges only and allow for more sand space all around.
Which brings me to removing a large portion of gravel from the tank and adding some more sand in. Probably do a large sand bank right down the middle of the tank and the gravel that remains is smooth enough that they should not get injured from
Yea I was thinking that as well for the corys, I just love the nice natural look of gravel with the plants, even without fish I find myself admiring it lol. I was thinking of making the middle of the tank more sand and removing some rock so at least they'll have some soft spaces to mingle in...
I'll add some small floating plants, I want to add some amazon swords to really bring the tank together as well, and thank you for the "silent cycle" tip! Also, I did not add ammonia, I am worried about my plants right now though, I have only done fake plant and décor tanks in the past and this...
Interesting. Most of the plants were hand picked by a friend of mine in the industry saying they’d do great in this tank. So far so good. I’ll look into those other plants
So far right now I have these in. I posted a picture of the tank from a week ago. I still can’t figure out how to fill space in the foreground and middle as I mentioned I’m picking up some caves and rocks to create some more hiding spaces. Not sure what other plants to add either or if I even...
When I phase the fish in, I think I'll start with the gudgeons and go with the 3-4 and hope it goes well. I'll be sure to message you in the future if I have any questions with them!
Believe me, I'm in no rush to add fish (Even though I did have thoughts of it before). I am following the cycling guidelines and want happy and healthy fish, I will dose some ammonia tonight. I too have seen so many sad new fish stories from not properly cycling, I am also planning on phasing...