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otocinclus hands down

took about 4 weeks to get the pH within testing range on api high pH test. my water from the tap is 8.2 so i was able to add it by then. i cannot imagine how long it would take to get down to low 7s, lots of wasted water.

I used to dump the remainder of water bottles into my tank, until the day i tossed half a water bottle of VODKA into my freshwater tank. tank was cloudy for a week at least and the filters turned to slim/sludge but no fish death somehow

i love the green color of Brochis splendens (sold as emerald green cory) in black sand

did you wait 30min before pluggin it in?

nice tank. give the corys something to hide under. the emerald green especially seem to like shaded cover

i love aquaclears. 205+aquaclear would be great for 36g

floramax does not raise pH or carbonate hardness... not sure on ecocomplete i used a 20lbs bag of black for a 29g, and 40lbs for a 55g and both have 2" depth or less

^displacement is key. try using something like a pitcher and attach 2"+ diameter hose. watch the water disappear within minutes

Mine have always started back up on power failure. i do keep water level at or above rim line so I'd imagine that helps with start-up having to suck up less water.

large water change time

i have an abundance of these snails also, 60115

just using some fake plants to get an idea how to fill the space.

you could use slate rock and stack it to make a background. the tap water in my town is 8, after 2 weeks of daily water changes my background tank is still at 8.4. it was above 8.8 but i couldnt tell how much above because API high pH only goes to 8.8

I raised a healthy jack dempsey to 6" in a 55g... pH in town is 8 straight from the tap

thanks for suggestions.

if you are using concrete it will take 2-4weeks to leach out everything that raises ph present in the concrete. mine went above 9 (couldnt test any higher). thats 2-4weeks of everyday 100% water changes btw. you would have to do the leaching process before attempting to add the background to...

Thats my 29g FW setup I just finished with my first DIY background. Utilizing a Penguin150 (volume shrunk down to 20-21g). I need ideas for low light, no c02, no fert plants that would look best with small schooling tetras/equiv and corydoras. I have Tahitian moon sand as substrate. Pictured...

A pair of otocinclus will do the trick. Mine are always together, removing algae (i cannot get rid of the sunlight because I have houseplants that need high light)

55g - 4 juli cory, 5 emerald green (2 large female that love to lay eggs, 1 egg somehow survived without any intervention to juvenile size, so far) 2 yellow gourami, 1 albino algae eater, 1 RTBS 30g - cycling with 2 cherry barbs

New here but not to aquariums. Currently I'm running a 55g FW and 30g FW. Thanks to this site I just finished my DIY Background for the 30g, mostly to test before going big and doing the 55g. :fish2: