First Tank: 29 Gallon Planted Community

[nerdelish]

I'll check them out. Thanks!

One more thing. I will be out of town for five days. My girlfriend is going to look after the fish for me (aka feed them). She is very uninterested in the fish so I want to make the whole thing as simple as possible.

My co2 isn't automatic yet. Would my tank be okay without co2 for 5 days? I feel more comfortable leaving it off than risking her forgetting to turn it off and causing a pH swing.

I'll perform my water change the day I leave.

Anything else I should do to prep for my departure?

 

[fishenthusiast]

I'll check them out. Thanks!

One more thing. I will be out of town for five days. My girlfriend is going to look after the fish for me (aka feed them). She is very uninterested in the fish so I want to make the whole thing as simple as possible.

My co2 isn't automatic yet. Would my tank be okay without co2 for 5 days? I feel more comfortable leaving it off than risking her forgetting to turn it off and causing a pH swing.

I'll perform my water change the day I leave.

Anything else I should do to prep for my departure?

If you feel uncomfortable running the CO2 while you are away, just lower the photoperiod. You can dose some ferts and liquid carbon before you leave if you want, and that water change should help. Do a water change when you get back and slowly ease everything back to its normal routine.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[nerdelish]

Liquid carbon is a great idea. I have some for my five gallon that I can use. Thanks for the tip.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[nerdelish]

Well...I think I've got algae. Would help explain the recent snail explosion.

Any idea what kind? I only have my phone to take pictures.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Doh! It's just a little bit great to hear you had some pearling going on.


Caleb

 

[nerdelish]

Well, I just performed an 80% water change. I moved half my decor and scrubbed as much algae as I could off the glass. I'll try to post pics later, once the water is less cloudy.

Every time I clean the tank I end up with a slightly new configuration of rocks on the right side of my tank.

I'm still not loving what I have going on on my right side plant wise.

Fish seem to be happy.

 

[nerdelish]

Caleb was right that Alternanthera reineckii is hard to keep red. I got some new plants in the tank tonight (thanks PoppaRyno!) and moved things around. I moved the Reineckii to the left side of the tank and added some Bacopa (old and new) to the right side. I think this may let the Reineckii access more light?

I also like the new placement aesthetically. It is nice to break up the reds in the tank (previously the Reineckii was behind the Ludwigia repens) and I think it also balances the density of plant growth out a little bit. I'm still a newbie at this so I could be wrong.

Speaking of being a newbie, I made a major mistake with my water sprite. I was trimming it and accidentally hacked a big chunk out of the middle. It's what's keeping me from posting new pics. It looks pretty bad. At least it grows quickly...

I'm adding the rest of the plants from Poppa to my 5 gallon and new 10 gallon