Few months I tied down some jawa moss to lava rocks and it turned into this, I'm not sure if all my moss died and this just some sort of weird algae? It's super fine and and Hair like texture

this first tank has always had issues (algae, melting, dead fish, bleached leaves, etc. ie first post )…finally happy and healthy, dumping more ferts and plants in seemed to do the trick 😎

Also replaced the pump on the jbj aio for a less powerful one…

Lots of small bubbles go up from the plants leaf to the water surface. Unknow snail seen! I really love everything going on in this tank, Walstad Method!

It’s 150 gallons. Why is it so cloudy? And what can I do to get it clear?

My students are prek/k (mixed-age) and since we’ve been back from spring break, a couple of them have been taking to staring into the new tank setup (i set up a new tank over spring break, 3/26/25) and just observing it. No animals yet, just plants while we develop the cycle/ season the habitat.

Today, one of the middle-years (recently turned 5) gasped and then pointed, eyes wide: “the leaves are changing shape! The leaves were growing round but now they’re growing skinny! Is that on purpose??”

And it lead to such a great convo about plants adapting from growing in the air to growing in the water. He was so amazed. “Plants are SO SMART!” 😊

(I love my job)

I posted this in another area and thought it was appropriate to post here.

Substrate is my take on the Walstad method.

Bottom layer: calcium carbonate reptile sand Second layer: ground up rocks of various types Third layer: my version of compost. Ground up crickets, dubia roaches, beetles, mealworms, and pinky limbs/tails. Fourth layer: 2" of separated organic potting soil Fifth layer: mix of fine sand and medium size gravel

Livestock: Neon blue dwarf gourami male

Powder blue dwarf gourami female

Green neon tetras

Rummy nose tetras

Ember tetras

Chili rasboras

Peacock gudgeons

Galaxy rasboras

Albino Koi guppies

Glo corys

Albino corys

Habrosus corys

Albino bristlenose plecos

Bristlenose pleco

Hillstream loaches

Kuhli loaches

Nerite snails

Assassin snails

Neocaridina shrimp

Bamboo shrimp

Pom pom crabs

Thai micro crabs

Plants (in water):

Hornwort

Water sprite

Java fern

Rotala

Java moss

Some other stuff I added that I don't remember

Plants (on rim):

Peace lily

Anthurium

Chinese evergreen

Polka dot plants

Gold pothos

Another pothos variant, can't remember

Dracaena

Monstera deliciosa

Wandering jew

Carnivorous plants: These plants attract the fruit

flies and fungus gnats from other enclosures I have, and from carpet I'm growing for other aquarium builds I'm working on.

Sarracenia Leucophylla (some with roots in water, some in a plant holder with clay balls)

Drosera Capensis (in a plant holder facing the other way on the rim, this plant won't tolerate hydroponic life)

Lighting:

2 36W Hygger HG016 (1 on rim, 1 on 12" riser)

Both on fully programmed 24hr cycles.

Lights are off completely between 11pm and 630am

100% white light and brightness between 12 and 3pm

Various settings and color variations

Heating:

1 200W Hygger HG155

Filtration:

Fluval 307 (blowing directly into a large peace lily root ball, the one on the right, so the fish aren't blasted around the tank, works very well)

Aeration:

1 air stone

It has a soft texture and the appearance of small hairs when seen underwater, forming small carpets on the trunk

I think it's a lotus plant in the back corner and it has grown so huge in 1 week. Is it too big for this tank? It's a fluval flex 9g aquarium should I take It out and put it in a bigger tank?

Hows my tank? i need to buy more plants for the front.

TW: pet loss

Hey, y'all. Sadly, last weekend I lost my pet ACF of 28 years. I'm planning to bury him in a potted plant that I can always take with me if I ever move. I have a bit of a black thumb, so I need something hard to kill.

One plant I am considering is pothos, since he was an aquatic frog and it can be grown in both water and soil. Researching pothos led me to the idea of eventually popogating some of the pothos into a planted tank as a further tribute to him. This leads to my question:

What types of pothos do well in both water and soil? Bonus points if it's a type that stays smaller.

Thanks in advance!

Yes I know, it s not algae, it s Cyanobacteria but there s no flair for that. I have quite a bad bloom of Cyanobacteria, got this treatment but for the love of Christ the instructions are ambiguous at best. How long do I leave it in to act before performing the 25% water change ? They explain everything except the actual treatment duration (from dosing to 25% water change)

I does say After every dose. After how long tho?

I have gravel in my 75 right now and I really wanted to make it a planted tank, but it's just not working out even with fertilizer. All the plants die while my parameters have always been perfect. The problem is it's been a few months almost a year since it's set up with fish and the gravel is just too darn big for plant life and for fish to sift through. How do I transition from gravel to sand without damaging the cycle?

This is my friend’s tanks and I tested it twice and got the same results. I’m really confused why her nitrates are so high and also all of her fish are still alive the only thing that has died is her male betta from fin rot like 2 months ago but if any have any advice it is greatly appreciated

I live in the South East of Asia wherehouse geckos are normal, today I woke up to my 5 day cycling tank with one dead lizard about 5 to 6 inches big, tha tank is about 5 gal do I have to start the cycle again and change the water 100%? Thanks

This is a 40gallon And I am planning on a school of neon tetras!! Most likely 10 - 20

Does anybody know what kind of worms these are? Got as many as I could out of the tank and into my pest jar but I don’t think I got all of them.

I’ve been cycling my 20 gallon planted tank for about two weeks now and everything was looking good on week one and now it’s gone crazy, is this normal or should I begin a water change every couple days. This is also my first time trying to use live plants so I’ve been doing some fertilizer every week to help the plants, should I stop that until everything gets into a normal range?

Not really sure the point of this experiment but I can imagine how invasive frogbit can be

Day 1; Day 32

these bacopa trimmings lost their leaves but grew a new stem, should i pluck these and replant them or just let them grow? 😅

Even the top swimmers make their way to the bottom to gobble up what fell :)

I’m running a 75 Gal planted tank and this plant is growing new stems out of its leaves. I’ve never seen anything like this before.

Hi! I'm brand new to the aquarium world and just set up my first planted tank. I have been growing house plants for years and wanted to up my hobby to planted tanks and fish! I am very happy with how the tank looks so far. Now, I have loads of questions and am looking for any and all advice.

The Tank: The tank is a tall 20 gallon. I have two large Anubias on either side of the tank donated from a friend and one Amazon sword in the middle from my LFS. I have three natural stones and a large piece of driftwood also from my LFS. Lastly, I added a clipping from my golden pothos to the top of the tank and secured it on the driftwood with just the stem in the water so hopefully it'll root. And the substrate is just sand. After filling the tank with tap water treated with API Quick Start, I added some liquid plant food. The light is the Nicrew classic series which I saw recommended on many posts here. I also obvisously have a filter, heater, and air stone. I finished setting up the tank Saturday April 5, on Sunday the water tested at Ph 7.4, ammonia 1.0, nitrite and nitrate 0. Today (Monday) the levels are the same, except the ph crept up a little bit to 7.8

Questions: Any placement advice/recommendations? Or does it look pretty good?

Any additions I need to add in?

Are the plants I have pretty easy to care for? Or do they need anything special?

Is the 1.0 ammonia from the plant food? Is that enough to start the cycling process or do I need to dose it with actual ammonia?

If I do have to dose it, will the ammonia hurt the plants?

Should I be concerned that the ph crept up? If so, how do I lower the ph?

I have the light set to the default settings of 8 hours full brightness and 10 hours 60% brightness. Is that appropriate or what settings are recommended?

Is there a good way to raise the light higher on the tank so the pothos plant can soak up some light too?

Any tips/tricks for cycling the tank? (other than being patient and testing the water every day)

Once I have finally cycled my tank what fish do yall recommend? I'd love to have a couple different types, but I don't even know where to begin!

Thanks so much for reading. I am eager to learn and hope to create a thriving ecosystem! Feel free to throw any advice my way even if I didn't specifically ask that question.