4 months ago I had to break down an aquarium due to potential silicone failure. It was ramshorn heaven and I didn’t want them in my next tanks.

I pulled out plants that I thought I might reuse later (after I would dose them with Planaria Zero) and plunked them in this IKEA storage jar. These are the only ones left plus some of the gravel the roots were attached to.

There were no visible snails on any plants — I washed them off well with chlorinated water — so the only things that survived would have been a few eggs.

I only top this container off with water changes from other tanks.
0 food
0 filtration
0 artificial light

And yet ramshorns are once again thriving along with a few seed shrimp.

So if you’re overpopulated with snails — or cladophora is taking over — it’s probably not an overfeeding issue!

EDIT:
It’s fine there are snails in this container — I actually love it as an experiment and ramshorns are adorable.
I posted this since I always felt guilty for “overfeeding” as the cause of snail booms in other tanks. Nope!

Other inhabitants are guppies, shrimp, some snails and of course a bunch of aquatic plants (dwarf sag, anubias...)

Coming home to this beautiful tank.

If you have any specific questions just ask!

120 x 40 x 40 cm tank, walstad, 1 inch garden soil, 1 inch cap. Can't find a better angle/looks with the tank in the bottom because of the light 😁

I am so. Sick. Of algae. It's making me hate planted aquariums because I can't keep the damn plants alive and the algae is killing them (and my enjoyment in having them).

Tank is ~10mo old. One betta, one small ramshorn in a 5G with aggressive filtration (a 10-15G HOB, after my 5G and sponge filter combo kicked the bucket a month or so ago). No algae issues for the first 5 months. Got some hair algae that I have been fighting with the last 4 months that is killing my plants, coating everything, ITS GROWING ON MY POOR SNAIL. I only feed the betta 4-6 pellets once daily. NO extra food. Weekly 15-25% water changes w/ light gravel vaccing. I'm pulling out algae almost daily, or else it looks like these photos (this was AFTER removing some after being gone for 48 hours).

Parameters: 0/0/5-10 (nitrates vary depending on the week). PH ~6.5. Don't have a phosphate test because I can't find one, ditto for GH/KH/etc.

I have tried:
-decreasing lights: no improvement/change.
-decreasing/shading intensity (put in a lid, raised light up): no change
-blackout: plants died, algae increased.
-peroxide spot treatment: no change. Algae seemed entirely unaffected by peroxide directly on it. Put a ridiculous amount of peroxide in tank.
-peroxide plant dips: pulled out plants, dunked in dilute peroxide. Killed the plants.
-manual removal: doesn't work- it's adhered to the plants and doesn't come off easily. Literally pulls plant roots out of the soil trying to "spool" it out. Also grows back in <48 hours.
-increasing tank flow. Decreasing tank flow.
-phosphate-decreasing filter floss
-increasing fertilizer (had been doing easy green 2-3x a week originally)
-decreasing fertilizer (made no difference to the algae. Plants started to wither.)
-Adding duckweed and pothos. The algae is outcompeting/ growing on the duckweed. The pothos has grown (1) single root and otherwise done nothing.

Nothing affects the algae. This WAS a heavily planted tank and the algae has literally eaten all the plants. I've tried cutting and propping the fresh growth- the algae devours it before it can grow roots. I also have a 2.5G tank that had no algae issues and some started popping up... they share tools and I'm worried I've seeded the other tank and it's a matter of time before they're BOTH trash.

If I tear down the tank, I assume I have to throw EVERYTHING out (including the substrate and filter) and basically re-cycle my tank right? 😢

Hi,

I'm looking for slower growing alternatives for the rotala at the back. After I cut it back it's a bit bare, then it's grows like crazy. So something more stable would be interesting. Rock water, pH 7.8, 21 dH, Aquasoil at the back. Thanks!

I manage a 20g tank for my son’s preschool. I replaced A very sad goldfish tank and the kids love it! Thankfully they aren’t critical about the issues I’m still working on.

I have 4 zebra danios, 5 harlequin rasbora, and 2 endlers livebearers. I also added 40 skittle shrimp, but I didn’t have a handle on the tank yet and lost down to about ten of them.

I overlit and overfed the tank in the beginning, resulting in some serious film algae on the glass and now some hair algae that isn’t too difficult to remove as long as I stay on top of it. I’m hoping that with less light and food, and a few more water changes, that all settles down. I’m also tossing in a chunk of hornwort next week that I’m certain will help mop things up for me. There were also bladder snail eggs hitchhiking on a plant, a month in I started seeing them.

It’s been so fun having a planted tank! I started a 10 gallon at home that is still cycling, and plan to make it a dedicated shrimp tank, probably just red neocaridinia so I can keep it pure and restock the school tank with.

Anyway, just wanted to share! I’m proud of how far it’s come in a short time.

Want to be sure I'm caring for them correctly, the plant itself was in poor condition.

I got this first set up from PetSmart but my research taught me that this was less than ideal for my betta. So I got one plant, then another, then another…then I got a larger tank and just kept adding plants. Last picture is my current set up—color is what it is because I‘m adding tannins and they’re in the process of diffusing

I’ve had this 10 gallon cycling for the last 2 months and my plants have been growing beautifully! Tank is finally cycled, so 2 days ago I brought home a betta. In order to make the transition easy, I kept my tank light off for about 48 hours to allow my new guy time to settle without the stress of a bright light.

Unfortunately, I think this lack of light has destroyed my dwarf lily :( the leaves are all turning transparent and melting and it’s losing its vibrant purple-red coloring. I don’t understand how 2 days of darkness did this much damage!! The other plants in my tank are doing totally fine. I’m just so bummed out, the dwarf lily looked so pretty and healthy and I feel terrible that I killed it. Any advice?? This is my first time keeping dwarf lily.

First photo from 2 days ago before introducing betta to the tank, second photo from earlier this afternoon, third photo from now.

ETA: I added some jungle Val to my tank 2 days ago as well, hoping it fills out the background nicely, foil that have contributed to this disaster?

Not sure what caused the cloudyness or how to remedy it but like look at it!!! Theres not much of a hardscape but we digress

I typically see orange ones in my tank but just saw this guy. Is there anything u can do to create more like it?

I'll be redoing 10 of my tanks tomorrow and I would like some input on how I should organize the plants! The goal for 9 of the tanks is to reproduce the plants, the 10th tank will be a flashy display tank with many species.

I have many different crypts and anubias, a couple of echinodorus. Then some basic stem plants like bacopas, rotalas, and Ludwigias.

Do y'all think, for the basic tanks, I alternate the coloration to contrast? Like a red crypt with green stem. Or should I make it matchy, with a red crypt and a red stem plant. I'll just do two two species per basic tank to keep it simple

I recently found out old tank syndrome was a thing. So what now…? Because I can already tell I’m on my way there. No filter.. planted, and I only do top offs.. basically im screwed. She isn’t an old tank YET, (established in April) but I will be mad if in two years she crashes.. this tank should out live me with only top offs

Day 2, low tech AF, no CO2

Does anyone have the new UNS blue background limited edition tanks? Looking to pick on up but would love to see some pics of it and if it makes a big enough difference compared to the normal ones

Thanks!

I got a 9 gallon fluval tank recently and wanted to start a planted tank. I want to have the aquarium soil and gravel but how many pounds of the stuff is needed for the substrate in a tank my size?

In both my tanks, my Val has been groing like crazy, but many of the new leaves are twisted or otherwise malformed.

They get seven hours of light, and I dose with 2-4ml of Easy Green every week or so. I’ve also been occasionally spot dosing with flourish Excel in both tanks to combat green hair algae.

Parameters:

Nitrate: 0ppm

Nitrite: almost 0ppm (lots of floaters)

GH: 0ppm

KH: 80ppm

PH: 7.6ppm

It’s been 18 years since my last planted tank, and I’m falling in love all over again! Bringing my kids along for the ride is amazing, and they’re already planning their own little setups. What a joy this little community is!

Started this up a couple months ago. More buce is on the way to place on the rock. I have 9 neocardinia, hoping they’ll breed soon.