# Starting my first planted tank.



## Coolfish

This thread will be for my first planted tank. I already got all the stuff to get this done except co2. Equipment: 29g tank with hood, t8 light, big bag of Eco complete, root tabs, dwarf hair grass, bacopa, aquatop cf400-Uv canister filter, 29g wood stand. Tomorrow I'm going to get the stand built and by the night it should be ready to plant. I been reading for months about this stuff now it's time for hands on. I welcome any tips to help me have a nice planted tank. Maybe a nice piece of drift wood in the middle with some moss growing off it like a tree. I'm going for that carpet look maybe some tall grass toward the back.


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## Redhead305

if your going for a carpet look you'll need good lights not the standard lights that come with most kits. also defintly will need a co2 setup wheather its pressurized or not


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## Cory1990

You can do a DIY co2 look at my post in te DIY. It looks like crap, it doesn't have a ton of pressure but it works well and I seen growth since I added it. 

As for lights you will need a strong light if you want a carpet. 

IMO planted tanks are easy and once your hooked on plants you will be looking at them more then the fish.


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## Coolfish

I have good natural sun light that will shine on the tank as well. Maybe I will get a small co2 tank later. I been reading a bunch about this already.


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## Redhead305

Coolfish said:


> I have good natural sun light that will shine on the tank as well. Maybe I will get a small co2 tank later. I been reading a bunch about this already.


sunlight wont help you its inconsistent and doesnt provide much in terms of direct light its ambient


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## grogan

29 gallon beginner planted tank? Ahh that brings back memories. Your going to have alot of fun on this. I cant emphasize this enough, you don't need a ridiculous light on the aquarium. Lets see here, a 29 gallon is 18" tall. If you have 2" of substrate that makes the distance from light to substrate 16". So if we go off the light chart a single T8 bulb sitting directly on top will give you low light. If you add another one you will have medium light. Medium light will do just fine growing dwarf hair grass and bacopa. 

Sounds like a fun weekend project bud.


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## Coolfish

Thanks. it's going to be a fun weekend for sure. Maybe I'll even try to plant some bulbs.


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## Coolfish

Update: The stand is built it was a pain to put together nothing was connecting together right. Got the hood and light put together. Tank is now on the stand. Next i need to put together the filter add eco complete get it planted fill it up with water. Yup it's been a fun day getting mad that nothing was lining up good.


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## Redhead305

pictures bro lol


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## Coolfish

I will get pics tomorrow maybe.


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## Coolfish

Update: Got the filter put together and it took me a hour to prime the dam thing. Eco complete and plants are in the tank filled it up with water and tetra safe start. Now the heater is warming up the water. Don't worry I will get pics soon.


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## Coolfish

Update with pics:


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## ZebraDanio12

Looks like a fun project and tank looks great! Whats the plant? DHG?


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## Coolfish

Thanks. The plant is dhg and bacopa in the back.


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## Coolfish

Here is some new pics.





































Is that red spot on the zebras face normal?


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## ZebraDanio12

Oh no! Not fake plants...-_-


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## Coolfish

I just put them in there for a while.


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## Coolfish

Your probably right they need a better home. When i get back from out of town I'll find them a better home and get some German blue rams instead.


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## Coolfish




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## grogan

Bud first thing this tank needs is some bigger rocks. When those plants grow in all of those little tiny rocks are going to be completely hidden.


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## Coolfish

It will work for now but when it grows in I won't care about rocks. I'm waiting to hear back from the lfs I'm going to rehome the red zebras and get German blue rams. If that happens I will move the neon tetras to this tank.


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## Coolfish

How can I get this look? I'm going to try but it's going to take a while.


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## ZebraDanio12

LOTS OF LIGHT! lol. Mosses grow slow. It will take awhile.


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## Coolfish

Where can I get some dwarf sag? I tried at the planted tank but nobody has none.


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## ZebraDanio12

AQUABID~. There is everything pretty much there


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## emc7

That tank? First you get a lot of money, then you join the AGA, Buy a couple takashi amano books...


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## Coolfish

You don't need a lot of money to have a tank like that beeeep. Had to censor myself for a second. All you need to do is research to find a cheaper way.


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## BettaGuy

yeah you could definitely only buy one of each plant and let them grow but that would take ages. So really you do need a lot of money.


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## Coolfish

I don't believe this ton of money business to have a nice tank. I'm going to figure this out on my own and show you it can be done.


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## NoobyZ

Hey' it seems fun! i hope it works out for you man, that type of view you want to get its gonna be tough but if you really want it go for it! keep us update it too haha


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## Coolfish

I'll be lucky if anything grows. Where is that diy co2 link?


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## Coolfish

Samantha.g said:


> Okay i know this isnt related to what he/she is saying... but i really need someone to go into the chat room right now so i can ask questions about my new fish eggs that my fish just layed. PLEASE! i cant afford much so i need help thanks!


Dafq.t:


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## Coolfish

I'm seeing something starting to grow next to the bacopa. It might be a bulb that I planted but the other bulbs got big and ugly so I pulled them out hmmm wonder what it could be.


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## Coolfish

I'm going to try diy co2 soon.


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## Fuzz

that's most likely an onion plant. BTW, welcome to the planted community and I wish you success.


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## Coolfish

Thanks.:fish:


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## Coolfish

Plants I'll be ordering next Friday. I'll also be setting up diy co2 even though they don't require co2 but they will grow nicer with it.
1o-Rotala sp green
10-Marsilea minuta -carpet plant
2-Cabomba purple - best chance for color
1/2 portion -flame moss
10-rotala colorata
1-anubias nana
4-medium baby tears
2-ludwigia repens and palustris


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## Coolfish

Bought some airline tube, yeast and a check valve. What mixture should I do with a 1.89l bottle?


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## BettaGuy

you have probably seen corys Co2 thread in the DIY section. It works well for him so I would use the same mixture, awiously on a smaller scale. It takes a bit of mathematical thinking (calculator  ) but you should figure it out.


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## Coolfish

I might try something different.


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## Coolfish

There are tiny little bubble looking things on the new plant coming up and it grew a leaf very fast overnight that's where the bubbles are. I don't have my diy co2 up yet what can it be?


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## ZebraDanio12

Pearling maybe?


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## BettaGuy

Yeah, I would say its pearling too (when the plant gives of so much oxygen that the water can't take anymore in so that it escapes in form of bubbles). That's pretty awesome to get that without co2


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## Coolfish

I have been using root tabs and eco complete must really work well you can see how fast that new leaf grew over night. Here is a pic of the plants with no co2 and here is a pic of my diy co2 setup it's not done yet but I'll get it up sometime this week.


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## BettaGuy

looking good, figured out what mixture you want to use?


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## Coolfish

Thanks. No still have not.


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## Murloc

Here is a guide that Christel Kassellmann came up with years ago that still proves true today for a DIY CO2:

" For each Liter ( quart ) of luke warm water, add 100g ( 0.22lbs ) of sugar and about 2g ( 3/4 tablespoon ) of active yeast. "

" For a small 50L ( 13.2 gal. ) aquarium a 0.5 - 1L ( 0.5 - 1qt. ) fermentation jar or bottle suffices, for a 200L ( 52.9gal ) aquarium, 2L ( 2 qt. ) bottle, and for a 400L ( 105.8 gal. ) is sensible "


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## Coolfish

Got the co2 hooked up now we play the waiting game. The spray bar must off got a little air in it because it went off all crazy that's why there are a bunch of bubbles.


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## Coolfish

How will I know if the co2 is working?


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## Coolfish

some pics with the co2 going a few days but not sure if it's working or not.


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## BettaGuy

It works if the plants grow better, faster, greener etc. It will take a few days, but its definitely not doing any harm.


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## Coolfish

The plants have been very green without it but we'll see what happens by the weekend.


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## Fuzz

You're gonna need a "drop checker". Easy to get a hold of, but the 4dKh solution is a little tricky. You can buy it or make it. I just bought it so I don't have to mess with it. A little goes a long way. Usually the drop checker comes with the pH drops...put the "solution" into the drop checker and add a few drops of the "co2 indicator liquid"(ph drops). 

The drop checker is delayed, but gives you a good idea of where you are. If you get to yellow, you're at risk of suffocating your fish. If you can keep it at a lime green color, you're all set. I'm sure there's threads in this forum as well as other forums(google search) that will help with anything that i may have missed or any other questions that you may have....or you can ask them here and one of us "aquatic gardeners" will help you out.


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## Coolfish

I guess the diy co2 is working I have another plant growing.


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## BettaGuy

I would say so. I really wouldn't worry about checking the co2 levels. Normally DIY co2 doesn't have the pressure to pump enough co2 into an aquarium in the day time to kill fish if you have plants in the aquarium. I would just remove it at night because it can get dangerous then.


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## Coolfish

I'm going to order more plants tonight. Also I'm taking down the 10g so I can focus on this tank I'm giving the 10g to my mom. 

1o-Rotala sp green
10-Marsilea minuta -carpet plant
2-Cabomba purple - best chance for color
1/2 portion -flame moss
10-rotala colorata
1-anubias nana
4-medium baby tears
2-ludwigia repens and palustris


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## Coolfish

Yea buddy I got a order of plants going to be here this week.


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## Coolfish

Finally i found a new home for the red zebra cichlids today. Now i can plant more plants and move my neon tetras and betta to my 29g.


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## Coolfish

I have the fish from the 10g getting use to the water now. Got my plants in last night too but I'll post a pic of them later. Shut down the 10g already too my mom will take that to her home. Oh wow the neons are coloring up nice they never did that in my 10g wow man they have a nice glow to them wow.


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## BettaGuy

I already suggested this in your other thread, but i would run the filter from the 10g in the 29g as well until the filter of the 29g has increased the amount of bacteria in it to deal with the increased bioload.


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## Coolfish

The 29g is already cycled.


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## Coolfish

Here is a pic of the fish in the 29g. I can't get a good photo of the neons but wow you should see there color now it's like a neon blue/purple very nice looking.


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## BettaGuy

I know its already cycled, but I thought maybe the amount of fish you have now would increase the bioload. You should be fine anyways though, but why not run the smaller filter for extra filtration? That way you can add more neons for example.


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## Coolfish

I have a aqua top cf400 uv canister filter on this tank. It can handle up to 370 gallons per hour so I'm sure I can get a lot more neons later on. That little filter on the 10g won't even matter with this filter.


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## Cory1990

How many neons did you add to the tank? 

It's looking nice just keep adding plants. Also just know some plants may or may not grow in your tank. Iv had that problem where some stuff grows and some stuff doesn't.

Also I used mirical grow root tabs and that did wonders for a lot of my plants.


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## Coolfish

I been using root tabs and diy co2. Just 6 neon tetras for now.


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## Coolfish

Ahhhh foul mouth I think i have algae. On the glass of the tank are brownish green spots. What do I do? I turned on my uv light now.


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## Cory1990

I get alage growth once or twice a month in mg planted tank only on the glass as well. Don't panic remov it as you see it and do a water change as well. If you don't take these steps you will wish you did because it can quickly suffocate plants (I've heard) and also it can take over te tank pretty quick exp if its green hair alage 


I don't have a fancy window cleaner but I keep a razor blade close by for scrapping off alage. Try that and in a planted tank with co2 and fertilizer it is common to get alage you just need to jump on it punch it and kick it a few times it will admit defeat and come back for another fight next month.


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## Cory1990

Do not interrupt the plants lighting! Keep everything as is, just scrape water change and exspect it to come back once a month. Very basic in a planted tank.


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## BettaGuy

Theres nothing bad about a little algae growth, it is quite normal I believe. If there is too much algae growth however it is because nutrients, light, and co2 are out of balance. What can happen with DIY co2 is that he bottle puts out different amounts of co2 each week, and as the week progresses. This isn't very balanced and might cause a bit of algae growth.


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## Cory1990

Alage in a planted tank is bad and should be removed as it is seen.


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## BettaGuy

I have a bit of algae in my planted tank once in a while and it is not bad. As long as it doesn't cover the plants it is fine. I sometimes get a bit of it on the aquarium glass but it dissapears on its own or when I clean the aquarium. Algae is not bad, it is just a sign that your light, nutrients, and co2 are off balance. This isn't bad, it is just that you are adding to much or too little of one of the three which causes algae growth. Nothing to worry about, it just means you need to toggle your fertelizers etc a bit.


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## Coolfish

I'm going to try a big W/C tonight.


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## Obsidian

Algae is not bad. Leave it there and figure out what is off balance. If it's on the glass, scrape it off 

I did not read this whole thread but- if this is a new tank chances are good it is diatomes and all you need to do for those is wipe them off and then wait. They level out on their own and go away. It's very common in new tanks


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## Coolfish

This tank has been up only a few months so yup it's pretty new. On a side note I'm thinking of getting some RCS. I'm trying 6hrs a day on the light now let's see if it will help.


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## Obsidian

It's not going to do much for the diatomes. I would seriously just do the 8h day minimum for your plants, and wait it out. Wipe things down. Diatomes will come off really easily.


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## Cory1990

I run my lights for 9 hours a day. When I slowly turned them down to 5hr days blacked out tank that's when some of my plants began to seed and I got a lot of new plant growth. 


I also rub the plant leaves every now and again to get everything off of them.

Also if you see snails from any of your plants be sure to get rid of them everytime you see one. I got some java moss before and I got snails from that. Months later I'm still picking them out as I see them. Not nearly as much as when I first got it.


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## Coolfish

I'll try to wipe it off.


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## BettaGuy

Wiping of aquarium glass is easy, plants not so much. RCS are a great idea as they love eating algae, so they'll clean the plants for you. If you try doing it with your fingers you might damage the plants.


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## Coolfish

Well I did a big W/C today wiped off the algae and got 3 more fish. I also planted a small piece of DHG.


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## Fuzz

Otocinclus...miniature catfish that do an AMAZING job with cleaning plants and glass. I have 10ish in my high-tech 40 long and I don't ever see algae.


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## Obsidian

Don't put the ottos in until after the diatomes are gone, if you haven't already. They can't digest them and it causes problems. They are not the most hardy of fish in the first place, need to set them up for success!


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## Coolfish

I did not get Otto's. I'm going to get some rcs later on. All I have is neon tetras and 1 Betta.


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## Coolfish

Some new pics.


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## BettaGuy

Tank looks great, and once those plants on the left grow you'll have a little joungle there.


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## Coolfish

Thanks. hopefully the dhg will carpet all across.


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## ZebraDanio12

Your plants are pearling a ton!  I just set up my co2 and see a teensy bit of pearling.


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## Coolfish

I can't wait until they start spreading out.


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## Obsidian

If you are using an air pump for your bubbler, and CO2 you are wasting time with the CO2 to my understanding. They counteract each other because the bubbler increases surface agitation which increases the mount of O2 in the tank. 

If you keep the bubbler- hide it or bury it  that kind you can put all the way under the substrate and it will send the bubbles up through the gravel.


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## Coolfish

I'll try to hide it somewhere. I took some pics with another camera don't know if they are any better.


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## Cory1990

Looking good so far! Keep it up and you will have a jungle of over populated plants soon


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## Fuzz

What kind of filter are you using? If it is a trickle type, you don't need the bubbles. Surface agitation is good at night time so you dont build up surface scum. 

Surface agitation will aerate the tank with oxygen and remove excess co2, so your fish don't suffocate at night.


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## Coolfish

Thanks. My filter is a aqua top cf400uv canister filter 390gph.


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## Fuzz

most canisters won't agitate the surface unless you set the return nozzle real high. You can put your air pump on a timer to run at night while your lights are off.


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## Coolfish

I have a spray bar too.


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## Coolfish

Got about 5 glowlight tetras today I'm going to get about 4 more. After that I will have 9 glowlights 9 neons 1 Betta.


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## Coolfish

I wanted to try some of these little guys out and see if it will work. Looks like some of them came with eggs.


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## Coolfish

Yessssssss! I'm starting to see new plants coming up plus plants spreading out. Yessssss! Yessssss!


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## Coolfish

Made my own sponge filter since I could not find one. I still have a little algae problems but not as bad.


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## Murloc

Right on man, looks really nice!

Ghost, and almost all shrimp species, if female, carry eggs. When she is ready she will release pheromones into the water to attract a male, who in turn fertilizes them. Then she will be carrying little baby shrimp which she will eventually kick off of her abdomen. ALmost all of my ghost shrimp fry are eaten before I ever see them haha.. But some may elude the fish and their parents and survive. 

I like to use shrimp to eat brown algae which normally grows on plants. They tend to fancy that, and If I want a plant cleaned I will drop it in my shrimp tank, and take it out the next day and it will be cleaned up, and unharmed.


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## lohachata

your tank is looking fantastic cool....nice job..


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## Coolfish

Thanks guys. I need more plants on the right side of the tank not much is going on over there.


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## Coolfish

Little update: I have algae on my tanks glass and some on the little rocks in my tank. I been running the light 8hrs a day trying to see if that works but nope. The weather here got cold this week down to 30° and I had one glowlight die not sure what happen but it might of been old already. One of the bulbs I planted is growing like crazy one of the leaf's on it grew all the way out of the water and some new plant is growing too.


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## BettaGuy

If algae is growing it is because there is something out of balance. I would try fixing the balance between fertz and lights, or get some algae eating fish like otos or some algae eating shrimp like amanos


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## cuda

Nice job coolfish. Where did you get your plants? Our local fishstore never has much of a variety bought bacopa but was already frazzled and didnt recover. Bought one order online came in well but too expensive with shipping. I like the dark color of the substrate, kinda wished I went with darker.


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