LittleNami
Aquarium Advice Activist
Hello hello everyone ^^ Been a bit since I lasted posted here, but now I am back in business with my tank. Some time ago, I had to do a but of an overhaul on my tank. My fish had all died, the bettas by some odd bloating which indicates to me bacteria in the tank and the otos by unknown means, not to mention the still rampant algae. It was finally a wake up call to me to do something serious about this tank.
I finally had the time and assistance to clean the bugger out, syphoning all the substrate, scraping clean the glass from algae, washing all the rotala indica and snipping away poor looking strands, and even cleaning out the entire filter. Needless to say, it looks much better now, but I know I want to do something more with this tank now. The rotala is growing fine, but it obviously is leaning towards my light source, which to me shows that the rest of the tank isn't getting enough light. I tried creating a reflective screen to cover the tank with while I was gone to see if that helped, but only a little. I am therefore thinking of getting new plants and giving my rotala out. I was looking at either Cabomba or Red Foxtail for the background, where there is a little less light and the rotala leans away from. Does anyone have experience with this plant that they would like to share, such as lighting needs and fertilizing and such?
I also plan to put a smaller higher light desiring carpeter in the foreground with some kind of centerpiece, maybe a cute Buddha statue, in the middle right side, sitting amidst the carpeter. Anyone have any good ideas what would replace rotala there?
As for fish, I've been looking around and here are some I've been interested in:
Black Diamond Dwarf Cory Cat
Licorice Gourami
Sparkling Gourami
Dwarf Puffer (without the intention of breeding them)
Tiger or Cherry Shrimp
All of these I am interested in because of their claimed small size. Anyone have experience on how these might do with the possible plant types above?
The site I am planning on buying these from is here:
http://www.azgardens.com/index.php
Are they a good site to buy from? Honest dealers? Good fish and plant stock?
I currently have all of this happening in a 12 gal tank, using distilled water since our city water is horrendous, fertilizing with Flourish, Flourish Excel, and Flourish Potassium as needed, although I do need to get a nitrate supplement now since that seems to bottom out from time to time. I also have 2 1 liter co2 bottles diffused by a ladder. Temperature stays around 80 degrees, but at times it might climb a little because I also have a heater in the room for the resident reptiles. If you guys need any other info to help you out in helping me, feel free to ask ^^
I finally had the time and assistance to clean the bugger out, syphoning all the substrate, scraping clean the glass from algae, washing all the rotala indica and snipping away poor looking strands, and even cleaning out the entire filter. Needless to say, it looks much better now, but I know I want to do something more with this tank now. The rotala is growing fine, but it obviously is leaning towards my light source, which to me shows that the rest of the tank isn't getting enough light. I tried creating a reflective screen to cover the tank with while I was gone to see if that helped, but only a little. I am therefore thinking of getting new plants and giving my rotala out. I was looking at either Cabomba or Red Foxtail for the background, where there is a little less light and the rotala leans away from. Does anyone have experience with this plant that they would like to share, such as lighting needs and fertilizing and such?
I also plan to put a smaller higher light desiring carpeter in the foreground with some kind of centerpiece, maybe a cute Buddha statue, in the middle right side, sitting amidst the carpeter. Anyone have any good ideas what would replace rotala there?
As for fish, I've been looking around and here are some I've been interested in:
Black Diamond Dwarf Cory Cat
Licorice Gourami
Sparkling Gourami
Dwarf Puffer (without the intention of breeding them)
Tiger or Cherry Shrimp
All of these I am interested in because of their claimed small size. Anyone have experience on how these might do with the possible plant types above?
The site I am planning on buying these from is here:
http://www.azgardens.com/index.php
Are they a good site to buy from? Honest dealers? Good fish and plant stock?
I currently have all of this happening in a 12 gal tank, using distilled water since our city water is horrendous, fertilizing with Flourish, Flourish Excel, and Flourish Potassium as needed, although I do need to get a nitrate supplement now since that seems to bottom out from time to time. I also have 2 1 liter co2 bottles diffused by a ladder. Temperature stays around 80 degrees, but at times it might climb a little because I also have a heater in the room for the resident reptiles. If you guys need any other info to help you out in helping me, feel free to ask ^^