My most simple scape I have made and probably my favorite. Additionally, it is the lowest maintenance of all my tanks.

Stocked with only Celestial Pearl Danios, Pumpkin Neocaridina Shrimp and Ramshorn snails.

Thought I’d share my 20L profile tank that is home to my betta Keke! Now 5 months established and it has gone wild.

No CO2! Clean up crew is 1 mystery snail. Only requires top ups - tank is fully stable and self sustaining. No algae issues even by the window.

Counting my blessings (swipe to see it back in May)

Plants, shrimp and fish are all growing well.

I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank that has lots of plants, a large piece of driftwood, aqua soil capped with sand and a sponge filter. I had a hang on back filter but recently replaced it with a sponge because the water current was too strong for my shrimps and pygmy spotted rasboras. I saved the filter cartridge and shoved it behind the sponge filter to help keep the bacteria going.

I was using bottled spring water but recently switched to using well water from the sink. At first I was having a problem with nitrites and nitrates but the pH seemed fine. The last few days the pH keeps crashing down to 6 and I assume lower. The nitrites nitrates and ammonia are all reading 0. Today I added some aragonite substrate in a mesh bag to try and bring the pH back up but I don't understand what is happening. We have lost 2/8 cherry shrimp but the rest seem like they're on the brink.

I read not to use any sort of "pH up" additives. What should I do? There were a few Indian almond leaves in there but I took them out. The well water has 0 nitrites and nitrates and a relatively high pH. I've added conditioner. I was adding extra bottled bacteria to try and speed up the sponge filter getting established. The nitrites were .25 and the nitrates were 5 but all of a sudden they're all 0 with the super low pH.

Any ideas?? Did I crash my whole tank? I'm rather new to this and I just don't understand what is happening. The tank was fully cycled before I changed the filter to sponge.

I'm just so worried and don't want to lose anymore of my creatures.

Hi all,

I’ve had black beard algae (BBA) and hair algae in my planted tank for about a year now. I’m trying to decide whether to fight it in place or do a full restart, and I’d love your opinion on both options.

Tank

• 150 x 50 x 50 cm (about 375 L), open top, set up for about 2 years
• Filter: Eheim 2217 canister, cleaned every 2 months
• Substrate: organic potting soil capped with 5 cm of basalt split
• Flow: good as far as I can tell, but I don’t know if there are dead spots
• Livestock: Neocaridina red shrimp, Amano shrimp, kuhli loaches, hillstream loaches, galaxy rasbora, Pseudomugil luminatus and harlequin rasbora. I have a second, smaller tank where I can house them while I clean the main tank.

Plants
Blyxa japonica, Rotala indica ‘Bonsai’, Alternanthera reineckii ‘Mini’, Hygrophila pinnatifida, Staurogyne repens, Pogostemon helferi, Anubias (unknown species), Anubias barteri ‘Mini Coin’, Bucephalandra diabolica ‘Kedagang’, Bolbitis heudelotii, Hydrocotyle tripartita and Monte Carlo (which grows vertically instead of carpeting).

Lighting
3 cheap LED floodlights (not aquarium lights), 6000 K, non-dimmable. Photoperiod is 5 hours. I suspect they’re not ideal for a 50 cm deep tank.

CO2 / ferts / maintenance

• CO2: 5 hours a day, starting 1 hour before the lights come on and stopping 1 hour before they go off. My drop checker is usually a little blue.
• Fertilizing: none at the moment
• Water changes: 40% once a month

The problem
BBA and hair algae on the glass, plants and hardscape, for about a year now. I wipe it off the glass but it keeps coming back. A blackout did not help. I haven’t used any algae treatments. Photos attached.

My questions

1. Is this tank still salvageable, or would I be better off starting over?
2. If I restart, how should I clean and sterilise everything: hardscape, substrate, filter media, canister, tubing and glass? Which methods actually kill BBA and hair algae, and how long should things dry or soak?
3. Which plants are worth keeping and dipping, and which are better replaced? Do the Anubias, Bucephalandra and Bolbitis with BBA on the leaves have a chance?
4. What is the most likely root cause (nutrients, CO2, light, flow), so I don’t get the same algae again after a restart?
5. Any tips for moving the fish and shrimp to the small tank and back, without exposing them to treatments?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Came with iron weights, does that mean it can’t be planted?

Edit: The paragraph that was here was supposed to be deleted, instead I was going to ask for plant recs if anyone had any suggestions, especially emersed plants. The back section is only 4in tall at max.

Saw my single shrimp ( dunno the kind but it's white and big ish ) struggle walking against it in some areas. Is the current too strong?

T. gracile

Various anubias, African water fern, and moneywort. Still trying to overcome consistent diatoms on some anubias leaves but overall going well 5 months in!

I feel like the co2 from the diffuser is going straight up and not reaching where it has to, what should i do? should i change the filter/filter location? if so, i'd have to move my light forwards - would that affect my stem plants? I feel like the water is near stagnant towards the right side of my tank as well.

Hi everyone, I’m new to this hobby and started this tank yesterday. What do you guys think about it and do you have any tips and tricks for me?

I started this tank as a concept almost exactly two years ago and it's finally finished! Swipe to see the progression (all the way back to when the hardacape was originally planned for a 10 gallon). Current tank is 20 gallons.

I'm incredibly proud of this tank and myself for being able to keep it looking as nice as it does by not flaking on my weekly maintenance. This is the culmination of a lot of hard work and persistence. From plastic plants and a 5 gallon betta tank in 2020 (the last photo shows my very first tank) to this in 2026. I'm incredibly grateful to this hobby. Bonus photo of my cat, Penny, helping me contemplate the hardacape on the right side of the tank.

I'm using an Oase Thermo 100 canister filter. I run C02, have a Twinstar S series light and dose APT 3 daily. Lights run 8 hours. Current inhabitants are CPDs, Pgmy Corys, Pumpkin Shrimp and Ramshorn snails.

Plants are Elocharis belem (carpet), Hydrocotyle Tripartita, Ludwigia Repens, Rotala Rotundifolia, various kinda of anubius and buce, Java Fern Sunrise as well as Myriophyllum Mattogrossense, Mayaca Fluviatilis, Homalomena Broad Sekadau South, Lobelia Cardinalis Mini and Samolus Parviflorus Red (lysimachia parvifolia).

Ask me any questions!

Did I mess up by planting this Anubis on my driftwood? It looked like it was going to sit much lower in the tank but once I put it in there it looks much higher and the leaves are almost out of the water. (Sorry for the cloudy pic- i just placed it)

From Texas what’s the best quality plants you’ve received trying to start a planted tank with Monte Carlo

looks like little grains of table salt

Is there any aquarium plant that can be grown submersed that looks like the emersed form of Rotala but underwater. I love both forms of Rotala but I especially love those little round leaves that they have above water and I want to find a plant that I can grow underwater that looks similar. Colorful and rounded leaves. Any ideas welcome.

Honestly I probably would have found one by now but it’s worth asking. Sometimes u guys give me the best ideas.

I have had quite a few types of moss in my tanks and these two I'm not sure which ones they could be, since they popped up on their own. The possible types are flame moss, weeping moss, java moss, or peacock moss. It's definitely not hooker moss, snowflake moss, or giant willow moss.

I'm inclined to say the first one is weeping and the second either flame or peacock? I know I had peacock moss in that tank at one point but it melted away.

Just got this tank and have a few plants but looking for some suggestions for what kind plants I can add. I want to add more fish, shrimps and guys. But no idea where to go or what can make it look good and full of life

Heyy guys …my place has an avg temp around 35C … so my guess is that my aquarium would be around 28-30 (when i start one)
Been reading and doing some research about what plants i can grow … but everything i want(Anubias, Buce, Hygrophilla pinatifida, some varieties of moss)grows well around 24C

soo i wanna know the aquarium temp and what plants you guys are able to grow

Beginner in this. I have planted aquariums doing fine without CO2 I don't want to pass this deal up that's all. My question is, is this worth it for 40 bucks. My tank is 30 gallons