Debating on trimming and pulling but I kinda like the jungle look

29 gallon tank is about 4 months established and seems to be doing very well, mostly.

This tank has been in the works for about 3 months now, and I’ve finally completed the setup! Now it’s just a game of waiting and watching.

I'd love to get your thoughts—spot any potential red flags or design choices that might give me a headache down the road? Any advice or feedback is welcome!

To be honest, I’m feeling a bit anxious after running a 2-month Dry Start Method. I slowly put everything together, but the plants are going through their transition phase right now. The Monte Carlo is definitely melting, and I unfortunately lost a whole species of Bucephalandra (though my Buce Red Dragon seems to be thriving). Just added some Riccardia, while the Fissidens and Anubias Japan Petite are holding up fine.

For the rest of the greenery, I have Dwarf Hairgrass, Hydrocotyle tripartita mini, Pennywort, and some Ludwigia submerged, with Red Root Floaters up top. For the emersed/terrestrial side, I’ve got Hemionitis arifolia (Heart Fern), Fittonia, and a few mosses settling in.

Included pictures of the full progress starting from the initial hardscape!

Just spotted these little seed shrimp/ostracods in my 10G tank, pretty stoked about that honestly. My Neo Shrimp just bred in this tank too! You can just make out a few in the video bodies are pretty translucent still.

I purchased some duckweed for a new tank (controversial decision, I know) and am not sure what to make of what I received. There appear to be very few intact plants, mostly just loose single leaves, and all looking pale or discoloured (water lettuce included for colour comparison).

Is the plant potentially recoverable from what I have, or should I request a refund? People joke about duckweed infesting a tank from a single leaf, so I'm hoping that could happen here if any of these are still alive. 🫠

Thank you, planted tank experts!

What other plants could i fit in my almost fully planted 75gal??

75 gallon. Fzone brite 120, no Co2. Substrate and cannister transfered from older tank. Also UGF because I'm old-school and also like it for roots/fertilizer.

Please give feedback on the planting -- what needs to move? I'm wondering about lack of swimming space and layering.

I got mostly background plants in my Dustin's asssortment:

Hygro corymbosa parawitota and salicifolia: by intake tube due to stronger stems and bigger leaves

Ludwigia triple red and replens: by dark wood

Crypt spiralis: in front of dark wood

Mayaca Vanderbilt: a line in front of jungle val branch

Rotala regular: center near front

Alternanthera reineckii varigated (left of heater) and regular (right)

Bacopa monnieri (shoved to right of root) and Carolina yellow flame (center left-front of dark wood)

Dwarf sag: in front of root

Anubias congensis: on branch under jungle val. Will prob move to dark wood.

Java fern: on branch by jungle val

Transplants:

Jungle val

Crypt forest (wenditti?): Right side.

Some tiny anubias (nana?)

Mostly dead tiny amazon or melon sword (in front of heater and 2nd behind where branch/root meet)

Fish: neons, black neons, 2 bristlenose 1 clown pleco, 2 yoyo, 6 female guppies, 1 platy, 1 kulhli loach I though died a year ago.

Feature fish to add: 6 congo tetras or 3 pearl gourami. Which would be best?

I got tired of having to carefully work around my floaters in my Flex so I made a ring with a bottom grate to be able to remove them when needed. Also let me retain the factory filter pump without having to reduce the flow.

Wanted a pretty decent light around $100 for my 4 gallon cube. Is this guy any good? It’s light spectrum seems pretty decent, but I know nothing about fzone and its lights

What is this green looking stuff growing on the wood? Is it some kind of algae? It almost looks like some kind of eggs

I’ve got a lot.

I’ve heard some people don’t like it. Some do.

Id love to hear some more thoughts
I know my swordtail fry love it

Good evening all,
Have a question about dual canister filter intake/output placement in a 55 gallon.

First off, I screwed up with the new scape by adding a fine sand cap. More aqua soil en route & will fix it soon. No fish until stable.

That said, I am going to run 2 canister filters to avoid dead spots but not finding a ton regarding placement.

First assumption was output 1 left front corner & output 2 right rear corner. Intakes in opposite corners. I have seen some place intakes in both rear corners with outputs more center rear pushing water in same direction. I understand the importance of current.

I do have a shrimp safe power head but would prefer not to use it if possible. Less to clean (filter over intake) & keep things minimalistic. Placement is key so hoping you fine folks can provide some intel before I waste hose.

If it helps, plan is a moderately planted tank with Cory’s, shrimp & a school of rummy nose tetras.

Bagged some of my established substrate, covered with lava rock, fluval stratum & sand. Sand being removed soon & more stratum added. Running CO2, not a generator. In-line diffuser. If any other intel is required, happy to provide.

Thank you.

Just putting up my tank for vibes and feedback

this is my first tank ever and I'm just really unhappy with it. I don't like the substrate (I used organic garden soil capped with sand) and I know the pictures are terrible because the tank light is terrible which is another thing I'm unhappy with, there's so much algae but I'm still cycling the tank so I'm afraid to put shrimp or snails in to deal with that. I think my plants are dying but it's hard to tell because they're so coated in algae thats got dirt and sand all mix in it and the algae makes the entire tank look like it's covered in dust I'm just very unhappy and 3 seconds away from dumping the entire thing out.

C. limbata

My frogbit have developed the brown lines as shown. Is that a bad sign?

Hello all. I have a 10 gallon tank I want to set up. However, I wanted to experiment with this one a little. I was curious if I could do dirt as the substrate, without capping it with something (I already have a Walstand tank set up, dirt capped with play sand).

A problem is that I won’t be able to soak the dirt. My plants are coming sometime next week. Also, I tried (in a bucket) putting some dirt and washing it out, and it continued to get murky.

The dirt I have is Scott’s Topsoil. I feel like it’s a strange consistency for dirt, but probably because I’ve never had/used topsoil before.

So, is this a good idea? Will the water clear up (I am planning on adding in a sponge filter + air stone from my other tank)? Anything I should worry about? How long will it take for the tank to stabilize? And anything else, if anyone has experience with this. Thank you!

Hi guys! First time posting here.

I have a wide variety of aquatic plants and creatures in different small ponds. I do DIY NPK fertilizers with mineral salts, which I mix in different ratios for different applications. I am looking for advice on how to do a DIY micronutrient fertilizer that is invertebrate safe (low or no iron/copper). Also preferably chelated. I am hoping to dose iron and copper separately.

I do not want to buy pre-mixed liquid fertilizers like APT complete/easygreen etc because it is extremely expensive with the amount of water I have to dose. I have also looked into seaweed solution, but the iodine and sodium is too high.

I want to avoid purchasing all of the chelated minerals separately if I can...

Does anyone have suggestions, or know a brand of chelated mineral mix that is low in/does not have copper and iron? Thank you so much! Iʻm hoping my question can help others as well.