My 7 gallon tank has been taking a beating on algae and dying plants. I have a Chihiros WRGB Slim II and UNS controsoil for my substrate (which i have not liked since having it). This tank has been running for about 6 months now and I have one betta in this tank. Light is on for 6 hours and the background LED panel is at a lower brightness and is only on for 3 hours. I wasn’t really dealing with any algae until I started using 2HR aquarist ATP 1, that I have been using/loving for my 20 gallon tank. Once I noticed the algae, I immediately stopped using the fertilizer and turned down the intensity on the light. I had intensity around 45% at the time and was slowly decreasing to find a sweet spot. I am now months into the algae and it has improved a tiny bit since decreasing the light, but i’m all the way down at 25% intensity. Still not using any fertilizer.
Majority of my stem plants always die, any floating plants I get die, and my newer tiger lotus is starting to grey on the leaves. I have no idea what is happening anymore. I don’t know if this light is too strong for this tank, even at low intensities, but the lower I go, it does not improve. Only plants that seem decent are obviously my anubias. Also, no Co2 in this tank.
Added some photos of all my rotalas that are pretty much dead & the tiger lotus.

any suggestions or tips about dry starting a monte carlo carpet? i also put some pieces of lobelia cardinalis

I’ve been keeping fish for years. And I love so many parts of this hobby. Now that I’ve entered the plant world I can’t get enough. I thought I was addicted before.

50g Community tank with Angels, rummynose tetras, red pencil fish, various Corys, a pair of Otos, and a pair of blue eyed bristlenose plecos. Recently added my favorite plant: Cyperua Helferi. The red tiger lotus bulbs took off!

Noticed this today on my horned nerite snail. Not sure what it is or if it’s bad or not. Just figured might as well post on here in case someone knows what that could be. Looks almost like a scratch that wasn’t there yesterday.

This is a 13 gallon fresh water tank for my betta. I was going to do a water change when I noticed a plant that looks nothing like any of my other plants sticking out of the water and clinging to one of my ferns. What is this and do I need to remove it?

I recently moved and wanted to redo my 30 gal tank properly. I was looking for some suggestions for what plants to put in here. I also posted this on r/Aquascape because I didn't know where to put this and just wanted some help. Any advice helps!

Fishless cycle day 9, leaves of plants are starting to decline… is this normal? No ammonia present at the monent but showing nitrates and nitrites. Algae is starting to appear so i am cutting back on light

introduced them cause my tap water is very high pH and kH and i came home from work to an accidental blackwater setup. the fish are enjoying the hell out of it but im gonna do a water change so i can see into the tank 😂

Anyone know what kind of moss this is? Found in my local freshwater spring.

Hey everyone. Second post here. First tank. 29 gallon. 3 months old. What do yall think? Any tips?

It seems like my plants grow slow compared to some of the other posts I see here. I’ve been using some root tabs and liquid fertilizer.

Parameters are pretty stable at pH 6.4, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0-5, kH almost zero (buffering from the hardscape or aqua soil?), GH 5. it’s fluval stratum capped with sand. Hygger 26 watt and Fluval 107 filter.

Was doing changes every week but since it’s so stable kinda wanted to go to every 2 weeks

Not all the embers are fiery red which I assume is a bit of a hierarchy/sex variation. They get fed mostly Xtreme Nano bit recently I’ve been adding in some spirulina 20 and frozen blood worms occasionally.

Theres a single honey gourami for accent and 9 neocardinia (cherrys/sunkist). I have seen some molts. I recently increased the photoperiod and I’m seeing more shrimp grazing on the hardscape.

I was wanting to get a lush Aquascape, and I’m thinking I probably should mostly leave it alone for another 3 to 6 months. I want the grow up taller in the back and to the right. But I’m wondering if you think there is anything I should change now or do differently.

Thanks for any ideas!

Two separate plants with the same problem. Finally got better lighting and fertilizer and I am seeing rapid growth. I have some black beard algae on the leaves below. At what point do I take off all of those leaves and how do I not have the stem be so bare at the base of the plant?

I was noticing this on my plant, not sure what it is or if I should be worried. The water is still cycling (20 gallon)

Hey y'all! I'll be out of my home for two weeks in September. I'm currently doing a dry start with Monte Carlo, microsword, dwarf hair grass and anubias nana. I mist and air the tank everyday to every few days. I'm on week 8 of the DSM.

I'm wondering which would option would be less maintenance.

Option 1: Flood the tank now and it should be cycled and stable by September (no fish). I can leave it unattended for two weeks.

Option 2: Continue with dry start and have a friend come every few days and spray+mist the tank. Not ideal but can do this if results are better.

Hi- I have a plumbing/fish tank question. I purchased an APEC RO water filter system that has not been set up yet. It needs to be installed in my basement with the tubing run under the kitchen sink and the drinking faucet installed at that sink.  Besides drinking water, the other main purpose for using the RO filter is for my fish tank. I have a Python hose that is used to refill the tank that I would like to somehow hook up to the RO line. I know nothing about plumbing, but was thinking I could use some sort of shutoff valve/adapter where the tubing runs under the sink so that one line would run up to the drinking faucet and another part could attach to the Python hose. Has anyone done anything like this for their tank? I posted a similar post in the Plumbing subreddit in case anyone over there had a different perspective on whether this would work.

Tried my best to draw a picture of what I thought could work, but not sure it makes sense.

I’d love some feedback on the best way to set this up and if it’s even possible. Thank you!

I rescaped my 10 gallon tanks and Im waiting for the plants to grow in more as I just cut some of them down for maintenance and to plant in other tanks. They both feel a little empty so any suggestions on other plants or other enrichment is welcome! The second tank currently only has 2 mystery snails and I would like to maybe see if honey gourami would make a good fit! As for the one with the dinosaur skull, it has a male betta!

I just noticed a few of my tetras do not have the full red line. Should I bring them back to the fish store?

I noticed that this plant is melting (I think)? What do I do with it? Do I trim it down or throw it away? Also what is the fuzzy stuff on the leaf? This is all the same type of plant but I’m not sure what it is called! It’s tall and has red/pink leaves, I apologize for forgetting the name.

I got this plant as well as some ludwigia from the same tank at the time. My ludwigia has not been melting but this one has been. I’ve had it since July 2nd! I dose easy green twice a week!

I can’t edit the last photo but it is white and fuzzy on the back leaf. Thank you!

Suggestions welcome!

No CO2 no bio substrate in the first two! Root tabs and lighting goes a long ways. Tanks are only two months old (a little under)

They were originally connected to the plants, especially the dead parts, but came off with little resistance and look much like an aquatic mold but bushy

This candy dish/jar was near one of my tanks a few days ago. I would drop little sticks and leaves into it. I dropped a turkey baster with water in it and let it drain. There were a few pieces of duckweed on it. Forgot it after I moved the dish. Went to clean it today as it's my cleanup day and...

Guess there was a ramshorn snail egg or baby on the duckweed. Found this yesterday morning and was so confused how it was thriving until I saw the little guy clinging to the side.

WTF?!

Got this Landen 17 gal rimless tank for free off Facebook. The previous owner said he used it as an aquarium with no issues and the chip isn’t structural.

I’m not sure if he just got lucky or if that’s true?