[greenguppy]

This tank will be for blue dream shrimp, black mts, and red ramshorn snails. I would put blue ramshorns, but I already have 2 tanks full of them.

So far all I have in the tank is aquasoil, will be putting in a sand cap today. I am a bit hesitant about just dumping the sand on top? And also how would you form hills and shape the substrate with a cap? Does the aquasoil remain flat, and you just add extra sand In the areas that you want hills?

The plants this tank will have are: water wisteria, jungle val, crypt wendtii green, dwarf sag, elodea, giant duckweed, water spangles, and amazon frogbit.


I ordered the plants and they should be coming sometime next week.




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[Plinkploop]

I slope the Aquasoil in smaller set ups in larger set ups I used containers and crushed lava rock and hardscape to build substrate height. Most aquasoils will hold the form they are placed in, for the most part.

Sand dumped on aquasoil looks like this it'll hold like this. My nerite has been digging around it so you can see how it moved around a little but not bad.

 

[greenguppy]

The empty tank just finished the cap. The shelf this is on also has 2 small tanks with a ramshorn species in each.

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[greenguppy]

15 val's came in the mail today. Tanks a bit cloudy.

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[Plinkploop]

It'll take a few hours to clear, it's normal. Looking good so far!!

 

[greenguppy]

Got most of the plants in and all the floaters came. Really like the salvinia minima, might order more.

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[greenguppy]

Also, tested my water and it was ok, so I added some black mts that I got off e---

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[greenguppy]

So far so good. Snails are doing well. Tanks doing good too, but all floaters seem to be attracted to the sponge filter? I thought that they would be pushed away. Kinda wanted that 1/2 to remain open water......

And the val's are all brown but I see 2 runners.

I might add some of my guppy fry on the next update which will probably be sometime next week.

 

[Plinkploop]

You might have any issues with the sponge filter and floaters. It's just kind of a thing. Sponge filters and excess surface agitation kill most floaters. I've had okay luck with salvinia minima free floating. You can attempt to corral them away from the filter using hardscape or airline tubes.

 

[greenguppy]

How do I get rid of the brown stalks of the val's? Do I trim them or will they be eaten by the snails?

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[greenguppy]

?????

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[Plinkploop]

Been away from the interwebs for a couple days lol. Not sure on the val- I've never had much luck with them. I know my snails and goldfish made quick work of them lol they'd be gone by the next day.

 

[greenguppy]

Haven't updated in a while but I added dragon stone and bought wisteria. So far everything is growing in well especially the savinia minima. Still haven't added the shrimp looking for a show quality blue dream strain. But the problem is every listing says high grade??? Are they all, really high grade? Anyway these are some pics

 

[greenguppy]

Also any tips that would improve the tank?

 

[chrisg]

It looks good! Really like your hardscape choice and the val gives it a natural look. The Salvinia left unchecked is going to be a problem for all of the plants under it - I let the same thing happen on one of my tanks and it deteriorated pretty quickly, see the first 3 pictures here: Low Tech Tank Show-and-Tell (low tech can be lush, too! =). The browning on your Val is almost certainly from a lack of light - enough will still get through to view the tank, the floaters add a nice green shade to everything and the problem doesn't seem that apparent at first, but the plants are getting a slim percentage of what your light puts out. Given enough time, the rest of it will probably brown and you'll start seeing very anemic growth across the board (except for the floaters which will continue to thrive). I'd either move away from floaters and focus on the rest of the tank underneath, or set up a tubing barrier that keeps it on the margins and out of the way of your light.

 

[greenguppy]

Ya the salvinia is quite a problem. I am trying to sell it I the for sale section. I dunno if my prices are too high or what, but nobody pmd me? Me be I will do a raok

 

[Plinkploop]

Ya the salvinia is quite a problem. I am trying to sell it I the for sale section. I dunno if my prices are too high or what, but nobody pmd me? Me be I will do a raok

No lfs will give you store credit? It makes good compost- if you should find yourself completely overrun with it.

 

[Phil Edwards]

Don't be afraid to trash the Salvinia when it gets to be too much for you. As you've seen, it's a fast grower. Just make sure that it goes in the trash can that's headed to a landfill. A couple Salvinia species have been introduced to water bodies here in the US and have caused significant ecological damage.

Regards,
Phil

 

[greenguppy]

This tank is still not stocked as I went on vacation. I was going to do blue dream shrimp but now I feel like doing a type of fish. I was thinking either a pair of dragon guppies or my preferred choice, neolampragus multifasciatus. My only concern is whether the cichlid would destroy the plants?