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Phish Tank
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Last reply · posted in Journals

Journal  Low and Slow

Finally a journal.

I’ll soon be setting up two new tanks, a UNS 90p and a 50c. (Not so!) Patiently awaiting tanks and stands delivery.

They will both be middle energy tanks. I have lengthy periods of busy time and travel that mean the tanks need to survive without human intervention here and there. So plenty of automation is needed, and slow and steady wins over high energy. Or in BBQ smoking terms: low and slow.

Plans:
  • Injected CO2, but less than 30ppm
  • Inert gravel
  • Tidal HOB filter and partial UGF plate.
  • Less than EI ferts, but more than PPS pro.
  • Tap water (my tap is 50 TDS and only 10ppm Ca) remineralized to 30ppm Ca and 3-4 dKH.
  • Lower light levels: Week aqua L on 90p and Chihiros wrgb 2 slim on 50c.
  • Easy slow growing plants, and a few fish. Thinking the 50c will be a shrimp tank.
  • Some hardscape but nothing crazy

My last tank has had a rough year. Hurricane Helene meant two weeks with no electricity, and much longer without decent water changes.

Then last summer the tank developed a slow leak while I was out of town (ugh!). Had to fly home for a week to triage. Fish and plants have been in temporary tanks. Plants are struggling. Photo is when they had already been in temporary bin for over 6 weeks, I was surprised it didn’t look like an algae infested swamp.

20250917_124052_Original.webp



Sooo ready for my new tanks! These are my first really nice tanks, I’ve only owned petco specials before.

For the new tanks I'm planning on over ordering plants since my surviving plants are clearly pretty weak at this point.
66 Replies · 6212 views
J
Last reply · posted in Fertilizing and Aquarium Chemistry
I'm looking to switch ferts I have a 20g low tech and 40g high tech both currently getting a mix of apt 1 and 3. I'm wanting to switch to pps pro using the gla salts (cheaper and gets my foot in the door with the dry ferts) for both tanks, but I've seen some recommend against it for low tech, I have no issues dosing daily, actually prefer it, and if I understand correctly, its actually better for the tank as far as stable nutrient levels. My question is, can this be done? Is it really that much of an issue to go pps pro on a low tech? I really want 1 solution (i.e. macro micro mixes) for both problems (the two tanks (obviously they'll need their own amounts as for as dose size)). I'm limited to 20 gallons of clean water at a time (remineralized with apt sky plus to 6 GH since I have neos, amanos and snails) due to space constraints so I can either do weekly 25% changes on the tanks or 50% changes every other week. Any and all input is welcome. TIA 🙂
6 Replies · 77 views
artandsoul
Last reply · posted in Do It Yourself (DIY)
Got on the tree build kick in past 2 weeks to make somthing I like for 36g freebie build to replace the huge tree turd #2 in there. I got 6 stumps ready today to get built for smaller tanks, 3 done today 3 waiting. Built the larger 17 tall 16 wide tree pics added other day to journal but gonna a build 2-3 more larger trees and the 6 smaller. Sell the ones off on eBay and etsy I don't want.
The larger stump 2nd post pic s 16" tall 15 wide plan to use in future scapes smaller. I've been using Amazon branch packs 15.00 for 25-35 pieces and amazon spiderwood 6-8" 5 for 12.00 for small trees. The large tree I made was a 10.99 piece I tore apart and used the 3 larger branches and built onto them to get the large tree in added pics cost me in end around 22.00 .... I have 10 pieces coming in mail Friday 5 large and 5 medium all spiderwood to make larger trees with this weekend.
Bought a ton of Amazon wood on Amazon lol 2 for 17.00 10-14" so I glued some of them together for larger usable pieces. some came out cool and well worth the 17.00 for the pieces glued together.The 1 has natural plant pots on top. The v shape last 2 pics 12" deep and 16" wide
After literally glueing a finger to a rock today Imao I quit! I ended up used all the accelerator I had anyway so Friday or sat before I can finish my smaller trees. will update as it goes, It will be a forest of trees when its done.
2 Replies · 12 views
Art
Art
Staff member I Donated 2026 Founding Member
Last reply · posted in Meet & Greet Forum
Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @Binnhim!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
2 Replies · 45 views
BenB
Rockstar
Last reply · posted in Specific Plant Discussions
I mention this plant on occasion, but no one ever comments. So I thought I'd make a post for others and me for future reference.
It is my favorite Erio. It is a darker green, doesn't get too big, and for me it has never sent up any seed stalks.

I find it easy to grow. I have high light but nothing crazy at 124PAR and high CO2, 50+ppm. It gets about max 3-4" and makes side daughter plants when large. I'm not sure my dosing scheme is. Sort of an EI daily dosing kind of thing.

What gets me is every autumn, it starts to melt. I'm not sure how it knows it's autumn with consistent light and a heater, but it must get a little cooler in the tank or something. The plant starts to turn brown and sends up (I'm not sure of the correct term) vegetative stalks with little plantlets on the ends. I've found you can plant these stalks into the substrate with the plantlet on top, and it will grow into a new plant. They've been easy to grow. This is the third year this has happened to me.
Pic of plantlets below. I'll try to get a better one sometime. All I had time for tonight was a crappy phone pic.

This year I divided one of the mother plants in hopes that it wouldn't fully melt and would regrow. That is still in progress.

Anyone else's experiences are welcome.

DSC09694a.webp

This plant is the same plant as the one on the right above.
20261006_182513a.webp
4 Replies · 83 views
Art
Art
Staff member I Donated 2026 Founding Member
· posted in Meet & Greet Forum
Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @Poppet7B9!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
0 Replies · 12 views
JayP
Supporting I Donated 2026 Rockstar
Last reply · posted in Lounge
When I was walking around Aquashella Chicago, I crossed paths multiple times with Logan Rando while he was filming. I was wondering if he had posted a video of the show yet so I checked out his channel. No video of Chicago yet, so I instead watched his video of New Jersey. About half way through the video, Father Fish rolls by on his scooter and announces he'll be making an announcement that will destroy the tropical fish industry. LOL! I didn't know Father Fish was actually a speaker at Aquashella. Seems funny that a guy who preaches about not giving money to the aquarium industry was invited to speak. I figured WTH, I'll bite and go to his channel to see what the big news was. I couldn't bring myself to watch the whole thing, but I did scan through it and still don't know what the big Earth shattering news was. Just the same ole preachy stuff and I regret destroying the brain cells. I have to be more careful of that, as I'm older and can't afford to lose many more. I'm sure glad my path into this hobby was seeing the work of Takashi Amano, other knowledgeable aquascapers, and all the great folks in this community.
2 Replies · 46 views
A
I Donated 2026
Last reply · posted in Rainbowfish with Gregg Zydeck
Has anyone ever kept Dwarf Neon Rainbows (Melanotaenia praecox) with goldfish?

I have 4 fancy goldfish (either Fantails, Orandas, or some sort of hybrid of the two). They are around 4–5 inches each. I also have a school of 8 Dwarf Neon Rainbows in another tank (2 males, 6 females).

The rainbows are super sensitive to CO₂. The moment I cross around 30 ppm in my planted tank, I can see them struggling, so I’m thinking of shifting them to the goldfish tank, which has no CO₂.

The goldfish tank is 300 litres (4 × 2 × 2 ft / 80 gallons), and the rainbows are around 1.5–1.75 inches.

Usually people say no to goldfish tank mates, mainly because of a mismatch in temperature or temperament. But in this case:

  • The goldies cannot possibly eat the rainbows at their current size.
  • The rainbows don’t fin nip, or at least I’ve never seen them do it.
  • The water parameters in both tanks are quite similar.
  • Goldfish tank: GH 6, KH 2
  • Current rainbow tank: GH 4, KH 0
  • Temperature is pretty much the same in both tanks: 24–25°C (74–77°F).
Has anyone actually tried keeping Dwarf Neon Rainbows with fancy goldfish? Any issues I’m overlooking?
4 Replies · 83 views
Art
Art
Staff member I Donated 2026 Founding Member
· posted in Media of the Month Forum
This month's theme is: plant, hardscape and fish

This one is going to be tough but I hope some of you take up the challenge. Take a picture that captures a plant, some hardscape and at least one fish in the same picture.

Be as artistic and creative as you like.

The rules:
  • Submissions are allowed between October 7 and October 23.
  • Voting will start on October 23 at 12:01 am Eastern time.
  • Voting will end on October 31 at 11:30 pm Eastern time.
The prize:

A $25 store credit from BurrAqua thanks to @Burr740!
0 Replies · 34 views
  • Like
Reactions: artandsoul
W
Last reply · posted in Planted Aquarium Discussion
This was in my Google news feed today. I thought it interesting as to the how and why of Aqua Soil.

1 Replies · 61 views
Art
Art
Staff member I Donated 2026 Founding Member
· posted in Forum News/Feedback
If you would prefer not to see the daily login counter under a member's name or in the navigation bar, you can now choose to not show it. Simply go to your preferences section: https://scapecrunch.com/account/preferences. Scroll down to Content options and uncheck the two appropriate lines.

Thanks to @Pepere for bringing this to our attention.
0 Replies · 39 views
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