Shoal & Stem
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Full Tank Log

· 33 entries
Update

Assassin snails really work fast.

All four assassin snails have been moved to the 20 gallon due to being way too good at their jobs. I don’t think there are more than 1-3 adult bladder snails left, while the other tank is infested with them. Thus, they were needed elsewhere.

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Milestone

Everything is pretty good here

Key moment
I thought I would post a couple of photos of Franziska in her new tank, she’s doing really well here. It’s hard to tell in this lighting but she’s actually got a bit of color developing. Her tail is very iridescent blue while she’s developing orange…
Solution

Mean little betta

I don’t know why I didn’t swap Franziska over here earlier, she’s happy as can be. I always intended her for the larger 20 gallon due to her shorter fins and better swimming ability than Shiranui. Unfortunately she’s also a very aggressive little fis…
Update

Upgraded lights and brand new stock

My old, very low tech lights were not quite keeping up with the rate of growth on this tank at all. With c02 and the fertilizer I was using, they were just not quite it. So I’ve been hunting for an affordable option for proper lights. Randomly during…
Milestone

The green slime has been defeated!

Key moment
I just did another final water change per the instructions for CyanoRX, all of the Cyanobacteria is gone. Totally gone! No snails, fish, plants, or water parameters harmed in the process either. I can’t recommend this stuff enough. It could not have…
Solution

Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria has done a number on all three of my tanks lately. This one was the vector and it was by far the worst. I tried spot treating for weeks but could not get all of it. So yesterday morning I dosed all three tanks with CyanoRX. I did an ear…
Update

Still with the duckweed.

Removed about seven nets full of duckweed again. This stuff really multiplies exponentially overnight. It’s incredible and slightly annoying. The fun of having multiple tanks is that while one is doing something weird that needs fixing, there’s at le…
Trim & reshape

Floaters

There is so much giant duckweed in this tank (and the other two) that I thought it had outcompeted the water wisteria. Turns out that isn’t true. I just found a huge patch of it hiding behind the HOB baffle. I’ve pulled it out and isolated it in a li…
Update

Added crushed eggshells.

Added a small amount of crushed and sterilized eggshell to the filter, attempting to buffer calcium and carbonate hardness. Will test later. Also changed reagent in c02 drop checker. Otherwise everything seems stable today.

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Milestone

Removing handfuls of duckweed

Key moment
Same old story, removing clumps of duckweed and hornwort during a water change. Have added fertilizers (1/4 dose NPK and 1 dose Flourish for micronutrients) plants are no longer languishing at all. In fact they have exploded in growth and vibrancy. I…
Milestone

Progress

Key moment
Man, I was VERY hesitant to reintroduce any of the Hygger NPK fertilizer after the disaster that happened the first time. I’ve added 1/4 the recommended dose over the last 3 days and every thing seems okay. That being said, slow and steady seems to b…
Milestone

Maybe better?

Key moment
Ok total amount of baking soda added was 1/2 teaspoon which is about right for a 10 gallon tank. KH is now throughly normal. The PH concerns me a bit due to how quickly it came back up, I added 1/4 teaspoon baking soda yesterday over a 4 hour period…
Update

KH again

Second 1/4 tsp of baking soda added. Total: 1/2 teaspoon per 10 gal. KH responding well.

Problem

KH issues

One dose of 1/4 teaspoon baking soda mixed with water added to HOB, waiting an hour and retesting the PH and KH.

Update

Updates

Currently still trying to dial in the cycle issues, I’m adding calcium to try and buffer ph and cutting back on both fertilizer and c02 until this is under control. Everything else seems good.

Solution

A resolution

The HOB filter was hopelessly clogged, that’s what was wrong. I cleaned it and put it back. All the movement and suction is normal. I replaced a bit of sponge with some additional media to help get the Cyanobacteria under control and cleaned and repl…
Solution

More Cyanobacteria

Ok, I’ve figured out my problem now. It’s being caused by low phosphate fertilizers and lack of water movement. Ive purchased a new NPK fertilizer for c02 systems and I’m updating my HOB in the hope of fixing some of my issues. Also removed a huge am…
Problem

Cyanobacteria

Still having serious Cyanobacteria issues. The constant fertilizer addition seems to help a lot but I think I need to up the dose. Will be doing a water change to clean up some of the Cyanobacteria.

Problem

Fertilizer problems

I think I’m going to start adding small doses of micronutrient fertilizer to the tank on a daily basis (recommended by another planted tank keeper) due to the huge Cyanobacteria bloom I’m getting. I believe there is a nutrient imbalance somewhere bet…
Milestone

C02

Key moment

Just changed my c02 cartridge for the very first time. Not bad for such tiny cartridges. It lasted over a month running at a very high rate.

Inspiration

Trimming plants

Removed some of the duckweed and plenty of the hornwort because it was a bit out of control. Everything else is coming in really well. I think the c02 made all the difference. Next stop: upgraded lighting. I like the current light bar just fine but a…
Trim & reshape

Trimmed plants

Removed copious quantities of giant duckweed and hornwort. Some algae growth present but mostly taken care of by bladder snails. The amount of bladder snails seems pretty in control at this point. Added fertilizer and some extra tannins. C02 going re…
Update

C02 diffusion

I sort of accidentally received a nano desktop c02 system recently, (specifically the “NovAbyss complete desktop c02 system), so I’m trialing this in my tank. No idea if I will keep it long term but I’m hoping for some serious plant growth in the mea…
Solution

Fertilizer

Added 3ml fertilizer due to plant curling.

Update

Fertilizer

Added fertilizer. I am considering doubling my fertilizer at this time as I am consistently having some issues with plants running low on nutrients. Curling leaves normally indicates a low amount of boron in the water. I may have exceeded my ability…
Update

Pothos!

Added new pothos plants to aquarium, courtesy of plant clips. Had to cut lid to fit. There are currently two of them but may move one to new tank when it’s a little more set up.

Update

Added fertilizer and tannins

Added Seachem Flourish and bottled Tannin tea

Trim & reshape

Trimming plants

Trimmed back hornwort and removed copious amounts of duckweed. Trimmed amazon swords and removed dead Amazon sword fern section. Added pre filter sponge to HOB. Added fertilizer and Prime.

Solution

PH swing

Note: I am fairly certain that the only reason my ph seems to higher today is due to using cheap test strips to test instead of the API freshwater master test kit I normally use. An overnight swing makes little sense otherwise when nothing else has b…
Solution

Rebuilt HOB filter.

Removed carbon filled cartridge and replaced with vast quantities of sponge and floss with some ceramic cones at the bottom. Carbon seemed to be leaching tannins from tank and was not needed long term.

Update

Cattapa leaves and alder cones

Added large whole Indian almond leaf and several alder cones to tank in order to add tannins.

Problem

Hornwort and duckweed

Need to trim back some of the hornwort soon. Duckweed is increasing as well. Lighting seems to be perking up most of the plants now that I have added a proper RGB lightbar. Need to trim back lid to accommodate HOB better.

Update

Plants

Added weekly complete fertilizer. Need to trim plants. Algae is finally reducing.