Opinions On My Tank/ Improvements

[blackers92]

Well I have finally stocked my tank,

I just want some advice as to what is either wrong or what should be different and a few questions aswell,

-my plants have grown quite fast and im wondering how or if and when i should prune them
-should i plant my tank heavier?
-I am feeding my fish a mixture of TetraColour Granules, flake and algae discs for my B/N
-I check the water stats twice a week
-I do a 25% change twice a week
-I want to put a black background in , what is the best way to go about this?
-I fertilize twice a week to the reccomended dose (to much or to less?)
-I leave the light on for about 8-10 hours a day (too long?)
-I generally feed the fish once a day, sometimes twice if my parents are interested in seeing the fish.
-I have fed my fish cucumber and peas, they showed interest in the peas but none towards the cucumber, any advice on this?


other then that i am open to suggestions about what you do or dont like and think i should improve

http/item.slide.com/r/1/160/i/7JnDTqcS0j9c_67NSKJ4GZug3vbs6ZIu/

i apologise for the terrible quality it was the best my iphone 3gs could take, and the tank is not as empty as it looks there a 5 danio, 5 yoyos and 1 b/n in there

any suggestions/advice would be appreciated

 

[Bebobb]

I can't answer all of your questions, but I can answer a few. For the black background, you could take a few black garbage bags and tape them to the back of the aquarium. For the cucumber, I think that only the Bristlenose should be interested in that. Feeding fish smaller ammounts multiple times a day is better than feeding them one big time. So you should be feeding them twice a day.

 

[blackers92]

I will try the black garbage bag as it sounds quite easy to do, aswell as feeding them twice a day in smaller amounts.

do you know anything about java moss, it would look good but I have read it may take over my tank.

thanks for the response

 

[fatheadminnow]

Trim the plants back when you think they are too big for your tank. What looks appealing to you.

-FHM

 

[ellena]

I think you could have loads more plants
If the tank is cycled and established, you can water change just once a week and check stats monthly or if there are any deaths etc.
If your plants are growing well, your ferts and light are prob. right.
To make a background look really good, you can get some stuff called seaview clear (which I suspect is just some sort of oil-baby oil/olive oil might do the same job) which you smear all over the background or bin liner and then smooth it onto the back of the tank with a credit card or similar. Looks so much better than just taped on

 

[blackers92]

yeh i think that is what i will do next, do you have any suggestions to what plants would look good, the olive oil is a good idea

thanks for the response

 

[Jenste]

as for the cucumbers...do you weigh them down or leave them to float? my BN showed no interest in them at all until I weighted them down with a fork. I left it in over night and in the morning nothing was left of the slices except some skin and seeds!

if you use a fork, I found it was best to stick the prongs in near the skin and not in the middle. the BN tend to latch on to the middle and work their ways outward in little circles

 

[Bebobb]

Java moss shouldn't really take over your tank. It is quite slow growing, and when it gets too large, just cut it and sell it, or give it away.