Just not loving it

[CassCats]

Looks much better. I still recommend getting some Anacharis for the back. (And 2 corners)

It really helps fill in the tank.

I'm opting for valisneria instead of anacharis, I've got anacharis in my 20 long in the background already, so want something different. The anacharis may clash texture-wise with the vals, as i want a dense wall of them. Plus they're my native vals from my local river which can grow over 5 feet if grown well so...

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I'm opting for valisneria instead of anacharis, I've got anacharis in my 20 long in the background already, so want something different. The anacharis may clash texture-wise with the vals, as i want a dense wall of them. Plus they're my native vals from my local river which can grow over 5 feet if grown well so...

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Be cautious about collecting plants from local streams... they may have bacteria and microscopic parasites. (Of course you may already know that... )

 

[mbsqw1d]

I'm opting for valisneria instead of anacharis, I've got anacharis in my 20 long in the background already, so want something different. The anacharis may clash texture-wise with the vals, as i want a dense wall of them. Plus they're my native vals from my local river which can grow over 5 feet if grown well so...

View attachment 110679

love it. what light is on there? i like how it seems to light up the first two thirds, is that intentional?

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I'm opting for valisneria instead of anacharis, I've got anacharis in my 20 long in the background already, so want something different. The anacharis may clash texture-wise with the vals, as i want a dense wall of them. Plus they're my native vals from my local river which can grow over 5 feet if grown well so...

View attachment 110679

Ooohh, I have serious tank envy for this one! I want this tank. I really need to keep looking for a 20 long, so perfect for aquascaping and a lot of the fish I like.

 

[CassCats]

I really like it! Think it looks much more natural, and will look amazing when all the plants are in there and filling out.
But more importantly - how are you feeling about the new scape? Do you like it more now?

I think everyone was right. I think this looks more natural.

I was going for a tree trunk type look, but just was a flop.

I like the balance of it way better now for sure. Waiting for the plants to fill in will be lots easier now that I'm feeling much more happy about the overall layout. Getting opinions here was a good call

Be cautious about collecting plants from local streams... they may have bacteria and microscopic parasites. (Of course you may already know that... )

Pssst. All of my anacharis has been collected from my local river. Same with all of my driftwood and rocks

I quarantine my plants in a container in a sunny window until I get around to bleach dipping them, then I rinse, then quarantine again for a day or so to be sure bleach killed any nasties.

It's a pain in the butt, but I am fortunate to live within walking distance to a huge river and lake system where plant gathering is free and easy, but the cleaning part of it is the downside.

I collected European frogbit too, and let me tell you, it does way better than my Amazon frogbit!

But yeah, good to note, don't just dump wild plants willy-nilly into your tanks! I cant tell you some of the nasties I've seen in quarantine. Ugh. Leeches and hydra are big ews for me. Fascinating, but not welcome in my tanks. Planaria either.

love it. what light is on there? i like how it seems to light up the first two thirds, is that intentional?

Both lights are just standard hood lights, Aqueon T8 bulbs, Or are you talking about the 20 gallon long posted last? If so, its the same light as the 55 gallon, except I didn't have a proper hood for this 20g. I resealed it and cleaned it up... was my neighbour's old reptile tank. So the lid on it is a metal screen. The light i had doesnt fit the full length of the tank, so i opted to keep the light where the plants were. Scaping it that way was intentional

Ooohh, I have serious tank envy for this one! I want this tank. I really need to keep looking for a 20 long, so perfect for aquascaping and a lot of the fish I like.

20g long nano community tank, mostly Asian except the pygmy cories lol

 

[seangee]

Ooohh, I have serious tank envy for this one! I want this tank. I really need to keep looking for a 20 long, so perfect for aquascaping and a lot of the fish I like.

I wanted a 20 long and really struggled to find any in the UK. Then I discovered Shirley Aquatics (think they are in Birmingham) sells Clearseal tanks in all shapes and sizes. Just plain glass boxes at a good price and seems well made. I ended up with a 36x12x12" tank which is 22G and 6" longer than a standard 20 long. Best if you can collect because if you order online (as I did) they put it on a pallet which turns it into a not so cheap option with shipping.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I wanted a 20 long and really struggled to find any in the UK. Then I discovered Shirley Aquatics (think they are in Birmingham) sells Clearseal tanks in all shapes and sizes. Just plain glass boxes at a good price and seems well made. I ended up with a 36x12x12" tank which is 22G and 6" longer than a standard 20 long. Best if you can collect because if you order online (as I did) they put it on a pallet which turns it into a not so cheap option with shipping.

oohh, thank you! I'll make a note of that. I also noticed that it was hard to get results for 20g long even when just googling for new ones to check what prices were like. What did you do about a hood or cover when you buy a lidless tank? I love the look of tanks without hoods, but worry about guppies jumping, and evaporation.
When the time comes, it would be worth the drive to get one, I understand why shipping is so expensive when a tank is both heavy and fragile. I have family in Birmingham so could make a day of it.

I was browsing Gumtree earlier for tanks, just seeing if anything good was there, especially since I'll need another either for the otos, or as a guppy grow out tank/new quarantine tank. Spotted a 23 gallon tank!
but they want £100 for it, which seems over priced to me.
Even more so when you consider that the trim and the hood is a hideous barbie pink... can't see that winning tank of the month

 

[seangee]

I just got a sheet of acrylic cut to size.

Office Space

All calm today and thankfully no ammonia. Under lights it seemed apparent that my theory on sexing the gourami was off the mark, but TBH I have no idea :). I did see a little argy bargy between two of them shortly before lights out - but as they are new to me I have no idea whether they were...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Salty&Onion]

 

[WhistlingBadger]

That looks way better, NC. I like it!

I have a "natural aquarium" book (can't remember the author--I'll see if I can dig it out) that actually recommends gathering plants, substrate, and inverts from local waterways. Biodiversity, and all that. It sort of goes in with the Walstad way of doing things. There is a risk with collecting from nature, but life is messy. I kind of figure that, if one does it right and exercises due caution, the pathogens in the local pond are probably no worse--and possibly much preferred--than the ones from the local pet store.

 

[CassCats]

That looks way better, NC. I like it!

I have a "natural aquarium" book (can't remember the author--I'll see if I can dig it out) that actually recommends gathering plants, substrate, and inverts from local waterways. Biodiversity, and all that. It sort of goes in with the Walstad way of doing things. There is a risk with collecting from nature, but life is messy. I kind of figure that, if one does it right and exercises due caution, the pathogens in the local pond are probably no worse--and possibly much preferred--than the ones from the local pet store.

I've gotten my scud and daphnia cultures started from wild collection.

Some plants don't take the bleach process well. Some don't take acclimation into aquariums well. Guppy grass is one i melt every time. But vals and anacharis do fantastic. The vals actually do very well here. And easy to collect as they wash up allllll summer here.

Hornwort does not acclimate well at all. Just melts like no tomorrow lol

I'm lucky sometimes I find water hyacinth. I got my eye out for some of that more later this summer, I want some for my 46g the root systems on those are beautiful and they're a rather nice floater for an open top tank.

When letting it sit in QT, its fun to see all the microscopic critters naturally occurring in the wild. Knowing what's harmful and whats not is important as well. Stuff that won't hurt and are just fish food, i consider lucky and my fish may enjoy a treat. But some things are not good. Damselfly larvae, leeches, planaria, hydra... no good. Those get disposed of or released back (Damselfly).

Personally, I love finding scuds. I've got a culture started of those and man they're awesome little shrimps. Good live foods for adult fish.

Planaria are pretty cool to see and are fascinating worms, though not very welcome in the tank because I do keep shrimp... but theyre really interesting all the same.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Makes sense. I'm not sure about leeches...based on my fly fishing experience, I'd say that a lot of fish LOVE eating them!

It isn't just wild collected plants that can invite unintended creepy crawlies, either. When I set up a dirted tank, I usually let it run for several weeks to let the biology in the soil stabilize, and let the plants get well-established, before I add fish. My South America Flooded forest tank had an amazing assortment of invertebrates sliming around in there. Really fascinating stuff, like clam shrimp and some water column worms that I never could identify. We actually borrowed a microscope from my wife's aunt to look some of these things over. They all came in on plants from reputable sources.

Then I added angelfish and cories, and it took a couple days before I had no inverts and some very pleased-looking fish.

 

[CassCats]

My haul from the river today. Got the elm root boiled and bleach dipped the plants

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Pssst. All of my anacharis has been collected from my local river. Same with all of my driftwood and rocks

Wait wait wait... You also collect your own wood and rocks for tanks?

The elm root is really nice, and would make an awesome underwater 'tree' if you glued java moss to it...

I've so badly wanted to take wood and stones from nature and use them to scape. I'm getting into aquascaping, but driftwood and hardscape is soooo expensive at my LFS and online, which has really held me back. I've seen awesome branches and things that would look incredible, and I did look into how to make sure it was aquarium safe, but sources were torn on whether it was really safe or not, saying that some organisms or eggs might be able to survive boiling! And that bleaching wood could be dangerous too, since some woods could soak up the bleach into tiny crevices, and then leach out into your tank. Also different methods suggested to test whether a stone is inert or not, and that testing it by dropping vinegar I think it was not reliable.
So I chickened out.

Please please share how you do this! Do you need to identify what kind of tree the wood came from? Or what type of rock it is? How do you make a piece aquarium safe, just by boiling? My gut tells me that boiling it would be enough, and it would be incredibly rare and unlucky for anything to survive several boilings.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Wait wait wait... You also collect your own wood and rocks for tanks?

The elm root is really nice, and would make an awesome underwater 'tree' if you glued java moss to it...

I've so badly wanted to take wood and stones from nature and use them to scape. I'm getting into aquascaping, but driftwood and hardscape is soooo expensive at my LFS and online, which has really held me back. I've seen awesome branches and things that would look incredible, and I did look into how to make sure it was aquarium safe, but sources were torn on whether it was really safe or not, saying that some organisms or eggs might be able to survive boiling! And that bleaching wood could be dangerous too, since some woods could soak up the bleach into tiny crevices, and then leach out into your tank. Also different methods suggested to test whether a stone is inert or not, and that testing it by dropping vinegar I think it was not reliable.
So I chickened out.

Please please share how you do this! Do you need to identify what kind of tree the wood came from? Or what type of rock it is? How do you make a piece aquarium safe, just by boiling? My gut tells me that boiling it would be enough, and it would be incredibly rare and unlucky for anything to survive several boilings.

To test if a rock is safe, pour vinegar on it. If it fizzes it will raise the pH, if not it wont.

You need to make sure the wood is a hard wood, not a soft wood. And it needs to be FULLY dry and without bark