New to planted tanks starting 33 long and 6 gallon iwagumi style tanks

[Mike&stef]

i also add 20mL of excel to each mix to prevent fungus from gowing in the bottles.

So I made two mixtures one macro and micro in 250ml bottles. I just used the recommended measurements for a 1000ml and divided by four. So instead of 5ml I will do 3ml and go from there; and the 6 gallon I will go drop per gallon so 6 drops of each.

If I add 20ml of excell to my mixture bottles will I still need to dose excell in my tank every other day?


I have very little green spot algae but have reduced photoperiod to 5hrs on in the morning 2hr lights out and 6 more hrs of light.

[Totenkampf]

If I add 20ml of excell to my mixture bottles will I still need to dose excell in my tank every other day?

Yes you will, in this case the excel is used as a fungicide. excel is only viable in the aquarium as a carbon source for about 12 hours so put it in first thing in the morning.

I have very little green spot algae but have reduced photoperiod to 5hrs on in the morning 2hr lights out and 6 more hrs of light.

i often use a split schedule like this on new tanks, as the tanks mature you can blast the heck out of them without algae blooms

see above

[Mike&stef]

Texsun hooked me up with a nice diverse set of plants and they are acclimating well to their new home. I have been adding the new fluval shrimp substrate a few scoops a day; so the tank plants and rocks have been covered in a fine silt. Now everything is settled and looking better. I ordered my 4 orders of marsilea crenata and a banna plant from bobs tropical plants on the 3rd, and today got a update saying they ran out and will be a week till they get more!! Would of have been nice to know ahead of time but what can you do.
Air bubbler is it necessary now sine I have more plants in the tank producing o2?? There is not much surface agitation besides the little whirl pool the lilly pipe makes..


There was a lot of white and brown gravel mixed in with the soil anyone have any good tips on getting it out besides hand picking them out? I would want a flat black soil

BONSAI!! tree is coming to life

fts not the best with a iphone camera

roots are growing like crazy... What should I do leave them alone or push the plant closer to the soil and let the new roots establish themselves???

Yellow shrimp on the prowl...


This endler male has been busy with 4 females I have fry everywhere will be selling some in a month or so possibly


Side shot


Cherry's settled in the 6 gallon edge

Future home to cardinals one day

Cherry full of eggs, the yellow shrimp I have not seen one berried... Is it possible to get all males haha

[mistahoo]

I would have removed the gravel before adding the dirt. Could've drained the tank and use a shop vac and just suck up all the gravel easily.

[Mike&stef]

The gravel was already mixed in with soil substrate I got it used

[mistahoo]

Not much you can do other than pick them out by hand unless you want to remove all of the substrate.

[TexSun]

Re: New to planted tanks starting 33 long and 6 gallon iwagumi style tanks

Hey sorry I didn't suggest this before... but you could've used the fluval stuff I gave you as an inexpensive filler, then get some nice looking stuff like: ADA, more Fluval, or brightwell ( Whatever your fancy) as a top dressing. You'd get tons of substrate depth w/out the initial cost.

[Totenkampf]

i dont use airstones at all during the day, these can drive off CO2 if you are injecting. when you get densely planted then you will want to run airstones or a powerhead at night since plants actually respirate through their roots at night. this assumes you have lots of animals in there, a sparse population of animals whould not require it at night.

you could have separated the soil via stratification before you put it in there, no easy way to do this now.

if you tuck the roots from the stem plants into the soil, new plants will grow from those nodes. it is an easy way to propogate.

[Mike&stef]

So the 6gallon edge tank is a tank of death... lost all cherrys. Water params are good the only thing I can think that is killing them off is where my tank is located at. I have it on our dresser in the bedroom right next to the perfume my gf uses every now and then. I have read that shrimp are sensitive, but can the perfume sprayed a few feet away diffuse in the room and settle back down in the tank water and poison the shrimp?? The oto and snails in the tank are all fine and I have kept tetras in there a few months back. We also spray febreese air spray in the other room. Thinking about tearing down the tank and moving it downstairs with the 33 gallon.

[Jozle]

There's a lot of factors that could be applied. Honestly, don't keep it near it is constantly exposed to high concentrations of possible dangerous chemicals. I don't spray anything in my room, I burn incense to keep the room smelling nice but that is more organic than chemical.

[mistahoo]

Re: New to planted tanks starting 33 long and 6 gallon iwagumi style tanks

As a precaution, I don't use any chemicals near any of my tanks. It's too risky. Especially scented sprays, cologne or perfume. I have an air freshener in my room but it's not a spray.

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.

[Mike&stef]

Yeah that's what I am thinking since the shrimps were living fine in the 33 gallon for over a month. Same temp and RO water for both tanks, just the sudden death in like a week for the shrimps.

[Mike&stef]

Got a gift in the mail today, did a trade with someone a few weeks back and he made me some lily intakes. It fit like a glove and now I dont have a huge green ehiem tube sticking in my tank.





Also got my plants in about a week ago and they are acclimating well

[TexSun]

Re: New to planted tanks starting 33 long and 6 gallon iwagumi style tanks

I like those lily pipes! Can the guy make outlet lilys?

[Mike&stef]

I believe so rob I will text you his info he lives in the pearland area and will ship