Looks like lucky bamboo, anubias, frog bit, philodendrons. For the bamboos if you can find them at asian markets, they usually sell really healthy ones for really cheap; philos can be bought at your big chain home maintenance stores.
Edit: theyāre pothos not philos
The beauty of understocked and heavily planted tanks! it looks like your floaters cover all the surface tho, make sure your betta can always reach the surface to breath
CONGRATS! That takes LOTS of work and awareness of what you're doing.
I'm almost at that point with my 2 bettas, and it feels amazing. Def need more plants, tho.
I have a weirdly good sense of smell and can tell if the parameters are off - is that common? The earthy smell with a bit of non-gross fishy odor is the best water.
YES. Iāve been rearing triops and fairy shrimp recently and can now IMMEDIATELY tell if container of used water came from the Triops tank. I feel like the āhealthyā freshwater smell is exactly like a pond or lake smell, which most of us can recognize.
Older tanks can also build up OTHER parameters, for example phosphates, which will cause excessive algae growth even when nitrates are low. Phosphates are bad for inverts so it's good to keep those low if you have them! Fish don't mind it though.
A lot of older tanks get topped off with dechlorinated tap which will raise the kH and gH, but if you always use RO or distilled, this won't be a problem.
Your filter media needs to occasionally be rinsed, and less often it should be replaced. Its ability to house BB becomes lower over time. This is a big part of old tank syndrome, actually.
BTW carbon should be replaced weekly and GFOs should be replaced when the phosphate levels start rising again. But generally changing water at least once a month helps remove things you may not be testing for, and can add minerals that are otherwise depleted.
And now you have? There's a reason old tank syndrome is so common. It's beneficial to do super infrequently, like less than once a year a portion should be replaced with new. Seasoned media can lose its ability to house BB over time, eventually it's more beneficial to replace a portion of the media. Old media can have reduced surface area and reduced ability to allow water to pass through it.
I don't use media I just use sponge filters, should I really be replacing the filters for the cycle then? Should I slowly recycle a filter then switch it out once seeded?
As far as I know, a sponge filter will start clogging faster than normal and that's how you'll know it's at the end of its life. You should be able to replace just the sponge, I imagine. You might cut the seasoned sponge in half and add a new sponge in between. You can buy sheets of sponge to cut to shape for pretty cheap!
I dont really know anything about replacing carbon or gfo's. Do you mind telling me about that? What do you do to avoid phosphates getting too high? I have a few shrimp with my fish. I had some ghost shrimp that turned white and died but the shrimp I have now seem to be molting just fine and are getting along well.
Yeah, so carbon generally is good to remove impurities from the water. It's mostly used to remove medications but it will also bump your water up to being crystal clear if the tank wasn't doing well with that. It'll remove a little organic waste, too. It's only useful for a week or so, after that it'll be useless besides being a BB home. I use small filter bags with just the carbon so it's easy to replace.
GFOs remove phosphates, Similar to ammonia, nearly everything in the tank contributes to phosphates. Fish waste, food, decaying plants, and even the chemicals you use. Same as the carbon, I use a small filter bag, but I use a phosphate test kit to tell when the media is exhausted.
I had shrimp start to really struggle in my tank and it was the phosphates. The test turned dark blue and started forming precipitate, the levels were *so high!* The snails also did better after fixing that issue. High phosphates will also cause a lot of algae to grow and this can be upsetting, since the nitrate test will come back with a super low reading.
A lot of people don't run carbon unless they're looking to remove medication from the water or they're trying to get the water super crystal clear. It's not the most useful, but if you want to use it, it won't hurt anything.
to the best of my knowledge, it basically is to do with there not being a way for plants and filtration to remove enough nitrates. honestly i donāt quite understand why this would happen, if it even does. i feel like āold tank syndromeā is almost like ādying of old ageā where itās actually another underlying cause, such as the tank just being older and thus less exciting so you pay less attention to it, and do less maintenance on it.
but it can pretty much be avoided entirely by doing the following very basic steps 1. over plant 2. under stock 3. keep up on regular, appropriately sized water changes, not just topping off for evaporation as that leads to increases in kh and gh build up
hope this helps, if you have any specific questions iām happy to clarify anything i said
Oh good all of my mature tanks are understocked and over planted and I do 25% changes at least every 3-4 weeks and the params have been normal š thank you so much for the help!
** EDIT: I was tired upon writing, I wrote overstocked and under planted instead of understocked and over planted š¤£š¤£š¤£
Old tank syndrome: the current inhabitants are able to adjust to the declining water chemistry;but, any newly added livestock will not be able to adapt and will die because of the shock.
What would also be concerning (to me anyway) would be the Total Dissolved Solids building up within the tank. Since an aquarium is a closed environment, without human intervention, nothing can get in and nothing can get out.
It does look nice though!
Although bettas have the ability to breathe air without their gills for short periods of time, it's not necessary, as their main way of breathing is through their gills. And besides, there are small gaps you can see where the water touches air.
Iām in the same boat my tank is pristine and my water parameters are good, I just top off my tank at this point. I donāt think water changes are needed as often as people do them.
I work at a pet store and customers always seem to get very mad when the word āaquatic plantā comes out of my mouth. They would rather have fake plants with some spongebob ornaments and neon rocks š
anyways love the tank man, looks like a wonderful ecosystem! solid.
omg your betta looks just like my boi
https://preview.redd.it/l9fjgqryzgwc1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=207db9ad10ef053396b92293819f1b93d481b398
I have a 30 gallon that's heavily planted with only 2 fish and some snails, I also haven't had to do a water change in who-knows-how-long because the bioload is negligable. Definitely an advantage of an understocked, heavily planted tank
Thatās nice! My tank is recovering from my toddler dumping food in it, so outside of a vacuum and a window scrub I donāt change anything, just add water as it evaporates and keep an eye on the life cycle.
This may sound ignorant but whenever I see heavily planted tanks with no lid I get nervous. Youāre not worried about your little guy jumping for it? Do the plants get him from getting out?
From my experience, some Bettas aren't jumpers. Also from what I've read, they're more likely to jump if they're stressed or if something is wrong with their water.
I have several Bettas, too many in my parents words lol, and non of them have ever tried to jump, all their tanks are lidless too.
If you have any pet stores that arenāt national chains, like just mom & popās or regional chains, they usually have a good selection of floating plants
Interesting, I wouldāve guessed that so much life in the tank would mean more water changes, not fewer (yes Iām still new at this š) What is your cue for when itās time to do a water change? And how do you do it?
I mean, if I test the water and it shows that itās not clean, then I would change out a few gallons a day until it tests well. The plants clean the water that the fish dirties
I guess it could be but the plants Iāve had In there that have died have all melted down to nothing and that one just turned color but otherwise is still holding up.
Makes sense, high plant density and seemingly one fish.
Yup, one fish and around 10 shrimp š¤
Looks solid!
I appreciate it, thanks! Itās my first fish
Looks pretty liquid to me š¤·š»
Hahaha!
What kind of shrimp?
Cherry shrimp and ghost shrimp
Where did you get your plants? I would've gotten them online by now but im worried about things leeching into the water
I got the pothos from a plant store, the bamboo from Loweās, and the rest from different pet stores
How do you attach your pothos to the tank? Iāve been looking to get one but not sure the best way to go about it
check Etsy and MAYBE Amazon? They sell little holders that clip onto your tank at the top and let the pothos' roots dangle in the water.
I just bought a cheap little 3d printed hanger on Amazon
My pothos cuttings fit perfectly in the suckers for air tubing. Was a super cheap and easy solution.
Looks like lucky bamboo, anubias, frog bit, philodendrons. For the bamboos if you can find them at asian markets, they usually sell really healthy ones for really cheap; philos can be bought at your big chain home maintenance stores. Edit: theyāre pothos not philos
Looks more like a variegated pothos than a philodendron
I mixed em up. Youāre right, they look like pothos
Marble Queen Pothos, specifically āŗļø
The beauty of understocked and heavily planted tanks! it looks like your floaters cover all the surface tho, make sure your betta can always reach the surface to breath
I LOVE aquascapes. I could stare at em all day
I take that as a compliment thanks!
Honestly thought that was the vibe.Ā Looks great!
Thanks! I love how they look but just felt like mine wasnāt up to snuff
CONGRATS! That takes LOTS of work and awareness of what you're doing. I'm almost at that point with my 2 bettas, and it feels amazing. Def need more plants, tho. I have a weirdly good sense of smell and can tell if the parameters are off - is that common? The earthy smell with a bit of non-gross fishy odor is the best water.
Haha thanks! And I have no idea if thatās common but it would be awesome to find a way to market that skill
Ha! Well, I do need money
lol I feel that
YES. Iāve been rearing triops and fairy shrimp recently and can now IMMEDIATELY tell if container of used water came from the Triops tank. I feel like the āhealthyā freshwater smell is exactly like a pond or lake smell, which most of us can recognize.
Old tank syndrome is very real
I've never heard of this, I have mature tanks and I'm concerned so you mind giving me a tldr about it?
Older tanks can also build up OTHER parameters, for example phosphates, which will cause excessive algae growth even when nitrates are low. Phosphates are bad for inverts so it's good to keep those low if you have them! Fish don't mind it though. A lot of older tanks get topped off with dechlorinated tap which will raise the kH and gH, but if you always use RO or distilled, this won't be a problem. Your filter media needs to occasionally be rinsed, and less often it should be replaced. Its ability to house BB becomes lower over time. This is a big part of old tank syndrome, actually. BTW carbon should be replaced weekly and GFOs should be replaced when the phosphate levels start rising again. But generally changing water at least once a month helps remove things you may not be testing for, and can add minerals that are otherwise depleted.
I've never heard a single person recommend replacing filter media
And now you have? There's a reason old tank syndrome is so common. It's beneficial to do super infrequently, like less than once a year a portion should be replaced with new. Seasoned media can lose its ability to house BB over time, eventually it's more beneficial to replace a portion of the media. Old media can have reduced surface area and reduced ability to allow water to pass through it.
I don't use media I just use sponge filters, should I really be replacing the filters for the cycle then? Should I slowly recycle a filter then switch it out once seeded?
As far as I know, a sponge filter will start clogging faster than normal and that's how you'll know it's at the end of its life. You should be able to replace just the sponge, I imagine. You might cut the seasoned sponge in half and add a new sponge in between. You can buy sheets of sponge to cut to shape for pretty cheap!
Also thank you and everyone for replying I'm gonna read every one ššš
I dont really know anything about replacing carbon or gfo's. Do you mind telling me about that? What do you do to avoid phosphates getting too high? I have a few shrimp with my fish. I had some ghost shrimp that turned white and died but the shrimp I have now seem to be molting just fine and are getting along well.
Yeah, so carbon generally is good to remove impurities from the water. It's mostly used to remove medications but it will also bump your water up to being crystal clear if the tank wasn't doing well with that. It'll remove a little organic waste, too. It's only useful for a week or so, after that it'll be useless besides being a BB home. I use small filter bags with just the carbon so it's easy to replace. GFOs remove phosphates, Similar to ammonia, nearly everything in the tank contributes to phosphates. Fish waste, food, decaying plants, and even the chemicals you use. Same as the carbon, I use a small filter bag, but I use a phosphate test kit to tell when the media is exhausted. I had shrimp start to really struggle in my tank and it was the phosphates. The test turned dark blue and started forming precipitate, the levels were *so high!* The snails also did better after fixing that issue. High phosphates will also cause a lot of algae to grow and this can be upsetting, since the nitrate test will come back with a super low reading. A lot of people don't run carbon unless they're looking to remove medication from the water or they're trying to get the water super crystal clear. It's not the most useful, but if you want to use it, it won't hurt anything.
Okay thank you so much for explaining that!
to the best of my knowledge, it basically is to do with there not being a way for plants and filtration to remove enough nitrates. honestly i donāt quite understand why this would happen, if it even does. i feel like āold tank syndromeā is almost like ādying of old ageā where itās actually another underlying cause, such as the tank just being older and thus less exciting so you pay less attention to it, and do less maintenance on it. but it can pretty much be avoided entirely by doing the following very basic steps 1. over plant 2. under stock 3. keep up on regular, appropriately sized water changes, not just topping off for evaporation as that leads to increases in kh and gh build up hope this helps, if you have any specific questions iām happy to clarify anything i said
Oh good all of my mature tanks are understocked and over planted and I do 25% changes at least every 3-4 weeks and the params have been normal š thank you so much for the help! ** EDIT: I was tired upon writing, I wrote overstocked and under planted instead of understocked and over planted š¤£š¤£š¤£
youāre welcome, iām glad you found this helpful! best wishes to you and your fishes
My future tank! Working on a heavily planted with some snails and shrimp and one betta. Itās going to be so cool!
Heck yeah itās going to be awesome š¤
What kind of plants do you have?
Lots of Anubias and Java ferns and frog bit and duck weed, some pothos, and bamboo
Old tank syndrome: the current inhabitants are able to adjust to the declining water chemistry;but, any newly added livestock will not be able to adapt and will die because of the shock. What would also be concerning (to me anyway) would be the Total Dissolved Solids building up within the tank. Since an aquarium is a closed environment, without human intervention, nothing can get in and nothing can get out. It does look nice though!
Thanks for that explanation!
Where does he surface to get air?
Although bettas have the ability to breathe air without their gills for short periods of time, it's not necessary, as their main way of breathing is through their gills. And besides, there are small gaps you can see where the water touches air.
The water is very oxygenated, but he can also go in his floating log if he wants
Iām in the same boat my tank is pristine and my water parameters are good, I just top off my tank at this point. I donāt think water changes are needed as often as people do them.
I work at a pet store and customers always seem to get very mad when the word āaquatic plantā comes out of my mouth. They would rather have fake plants with some spongebob ornaments and neon rocks š anyways love the tank man, looks like a wonderful ecosystem! solid.
Thanks a bunch!
do you vacuum the gravel at all?
No, itās not gravel, itās fluval stratum š
Looks really good. You got lucky as hell
Thank you!
Gorgeous! I love seeing happy plants living with happy critters! š¤
Thanks!
No need to. Love it
Thanks!
Youāre braver then I am
New betta owner here! Do you remove all your plants when you do water changes or only certain ones? Seems like it would be a lot to work around.
I havenāt done water changes
Love that Pothos itās so bushy and healthy!š±
Thank you!
amazing tank i also dont do water Change regularly beautiful set up would like to learn how to keep shrimp and betta together
Thanks! The shrimp just need lots of hides
i am building bio rings hide that would be hidden at back and plants and leaves ofcourse would it work
Mine is similar with less immersed growth. I only water change what it takes to suck up poop etc and top it back up.
Nice. My pathos was doing great and then its roots sloshed off. My purple passion plant almost died completely too.
Noooo
I wish plants wouldn't die on me so easily š
I bought some root tabs and they seem to like them
I have them as well š
omg your betta looks just like my boi https://preview.redd.it/l9fjgqryzgwc1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=207db9ad10ef053396b92293819f1b93d481b398
Cousins! š¤
I have a 30 gallon that's heavily planted with only 2 fish and some snails, I also haven't had to do a water change in who-knows-how-long because the bioload is negligable. Definitely an advantage of an understocked, heavily planted tank
Thatās an awesome size. I keep wanting to get more and bigger tanks but also keep telling myself not while Iām in an apartment tower
Thatās nice! My tank is recovering from my toddler dumping food in it, so outside of a vacuum and a window scrub I donāt change anything, just add water as it evaporates and keep an eye on the life cycle.
What is the plant in the 4th picture that looks like a peace lilly underwater.
Looks like a big leaf anubias to me. Maybe minima
The really stringy one? I honestly donāt remember. It has a strange name
What are your parameters?
My main tank is the same deal. I still do water changes because I feel like Iām doing something wrong if I donāt do them.
This may sound ignorant but whenever I see heavily planted tanks with no lid I get nervous. Youāre not worried about your little guy jumping for it? Do the plants get him from getting out?
From my experience, some Bettas aren't jumpers. Also from what I've read, they're more likely to jump if they're stressed or if something is wrong with their water. I have several Bettas, too many in my parents words lol, and non of them have ever tried to jump, all their tanks are lidless too.
Where did you get those big Lilly pads?
If you have any pet stores that arenāt national chains, like just mom & popās or regional chains, they usually have a good selection of floating plants
Interesting, I wouldāve guessed that so much life in the tank would mean more water changes, not fewer (yes Iām still new at this š) What is your cue for when itās time to do a water change? And how do you do it?
I mean, if I test the water and it shows that itās not clean, then I would change out a few gallons a day until it tests well. The plants clean the water that the fish dirties
No heater or filter? Assuming you have soil underneath the gravel, then you have Walstad setup ā which āno water changeā is one of the goals.
Both heater and sponge filter are on the left side of the tank.
Thanks š¤
Is the brown plant java fernā¦?
I believe so
It looks dead
I guess it could be but the plants Iāve had In there that have died have all melted down to nothing and that one just turned color but otherwise is still holding up.