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Here is another annual update of the growth my tank has experienced using the Marineland Double-bright LED fixture. I'm sure there's even better LED technology available now, but as far as I'm concerned, these work fine for growing easy to moderate level plants. This tank contains Amazon...

My melon sword had tall green rounded oval-shaped leaves on long stems when I got it at the store. Looked pretty cool. After a few months, those leaves died off. The new crop of leaves coming was very dark, almost blackish purple, when they came up. Now they are a purplish-rose color and the...

Okay folks, I am posting pics almost exactly one year apart of how my tank looks after a year of the Marineland LED "Double-Bright" 48" hood on a 55 gallon tank. Obviously, there are some additional plants visible in the 2013 pic. Left to Right you will see an Anubias congensis variety, the...

My wife got one of those small 5 - 6 gallon desktop tanks as a gift. We set it up at her workplace with just two flame gouramis and a couple of live plants, might add some corys later. The filtration on it is surprisingly decent for a mini-tank: multi-stage with foam, carbon, phospate (I...

I have what is probably considered a "low light" (Marineland Double-bright LEDs) tank. I have Amazon and Melon sword, Java fern, two kinds of anubias, some hair grass, and an onion plant that are all doing pretty well. Oddly, my Windelov Java is not doing much at all. It is just kind of a...

My two anubias are growing well, but I've noticed that some of the leaves are speckled with what I am calling "spot" or "dot" algae...looks like lot of green specks like the plants have chicken pox or freckles? I have a couple of SAE in there who I guess aren't eating this stuff. Is it...

I just bought what is represented to be "Wisteria" from Petsmart in one of those little clear gel tubes. Out of four plant strands in the tube, 3 appeared viable and one I tossed because the root stock had turned brown and it looked wilty. I've seen pictures of Water Wisteria with long, pointy...

I rotate Sally's San Francisco Bay brand frozen brine cubes with flake food for my Rainbows and Congo tetras. They also sell this product called "Emerald Entree" which they represent as being ideal for tetras and rainbowfish because of the high vegetable content. But man, you put that stuff in...

I love Rainbowfish, but in my part of the US, there are only a few select locations where you can get some of more colorful varieties and they usually cost about $10 - $15 apiece. Usually you have to buy juveniles and raise `em up right to get fantastic specimens like the attached Millennium...

I have seen some folks doing freshwater plant set-ups with what appears to be sand or very fine gravel as the substrate. If you get an algae invasion and it starts covering the sand, how the heck do you clean that? Just scoop off the top layer and toss it out? I am envisioning big ugly...

I think I probably already know the answer to this, but I'll ask anyway: Does anybody know of any plants that can grow in low to moderate light that have a reddish tint to add a little variety? My understanding has always been that the more colorful plants require high light.

Here is my 55 gallon Rainbow and Congo Tetra tank. This is "lightly" planted with low-light plants, including java ferns, a large crypt, and two anubias. I'm using the Marineland double-bright LEDs on this one. I know there is some dispute on whether they are bright enough, but see for...

I started dosing Flourish Excel yesterday for the first time in my 55 gallon tank. I only used 3 capfuls. Today I was noticing some small white spots of what I guess is ich on the fins/tails of my Rainbows and Congo Tetras. It's possible this was already there and I hadn't noticed, or maybe...

Okay, I bought some Flourish at local store and some Excel online. Can anybody recommend how best to use these in conjunction? I have 55 gallon with double-bright LED set up. 2 anubias, 1 large crypt, two java ferns, and about 10 fish. I had been dosing the Flourish once a week, but now the...

Why do they sell those metal blade-style scrapers for glass tanks? I used one from the local pet chain and royally scratched the heck out of my glass 55 gallon. Then I tried these "plastic razor blades" I found at a hardware store. Amazingly, those scratched up the glass too! Plastic can...

I checked my 55 gal for the first time in quite awhile today with my "TetraTest Laborett." This is probably not the most scientific set up out there, but is likely better than those test strips. It has the little test vials and bottles of various reagents. Here's what I came up with...

Hmmmm....I'm starting to think I purchased a couple of "False Siamensis" instead of true Siamese Algae Eaters. The black stripe does not continue through the tail fin. :facepalm: To show how stupid I am (and apparently also the guy at the local pet store) I thought I was purchasing Otos. I...

I finally got some real Otos at the local fish store, having finally figured out the difference between chinese algae eater and true SAE. (I'm hoping they can help with some beard algae in the tank) I have a bit of that really tough green algae on the glass...the kind that feels rough to the...

This may be a dumb question, but I've seen some people recommend dosing with Flourish or products like that for helping with algae. Why would the fertilizer make algae go away? Wouldn't it just encourage algae growth along with the plants? It seems counter-intuitive...what am I missing here...

I have been in a long-term battle with what I guess is "beard algae," the tufty brownish-green stuff that covers driftwood and starts spreading to plants. I usually pull and throw away all leaves that start to get tufts on them on my crypt or java ferns. One thing I find myself doing is...

I have been having problems with brown beard algae and some green on the glass that the corys and single algae eater aren't handling. I was considering giving some Amano shrimp a shot a helping to clean the tank. The site I was looking at had 30 red cherry shrimp for $39.99 or ten white or...