Welcome to ScapeCrunch
We are ScapeCrunch, the place where planted aquarium hobbyists come to build relationships and support each other. When you're tired of doom scrolling, you've found your home here.
Social Feed
Recently I've gotten into a side hobby of culturing blackworms. I think blackworms have a lot of potential for a great and easy live food to culture but there isn't a lot of good information online on how to best take care of them. So I have been doing little experiments to try to learn more about their care.
I have found the blackworms do care a lot about water quality, sure they can tolerate slightly worse water than most fish but they won't thrive in it. In fact I've had a lot of die off when the water got too dirty. I keep high water quality in my cultures by connecting them to my other tanks. This can be done in many ways but what I do is use any plastic tub, a uniseal and PVC for an overflow. I connect it to my tanks flow using these fitting used for irrigation tubing, of course you could also use airlifts, or a small seperate pump.
Here is an example of one of the tubs on top of a 20G long tank
Here are my other culture containers.
As you can see I also glue some mesh around the overflow to reduce blackworms leaving the culture. I've found blackworms can still make their way through this mesh but it keeps down how many leave the culture. Even without the mesh the blackworms leaving the culture hasn't been too significant. But worms leaving the culture may be ideal for some as this could be automatic feeding.
I currently use a sand substrate as it is what I had on hand. I added some filter sponges to some of the cultures and the worms all go in the sponges completely ignoring the sand. In the cultures without the sponges and just sand only a few worms burrow, they mostly stay in clumps on top of the sand. Still learning about how useful it may be to use the sponges. For the most part they are only a hindrance, but the worms do really like them so I wonder if that may help the production of the culture. One thing they are nice for is keeping the worms concentrated where you want them, this can make feeding easier.
Since water quality isn't a huge concern in these I have been trying to push the limits on how much I can feed them. Here is about what I have been feeding this culture every day. Unfortunately I don't have a good idea on the mass of the worms in this culture, but on this day they were fed 10g of kens veggie flakes.
24 hours later.
As you can see they completely devoured all of those flakes. That amount of food would have crashed most culture setups I have seen which is why I think it is very important to overfilter with blackworms. Many guides I have seen suggest feeding small amounts two or three times a week. But they can clearly eat very significant amounts of food. However it may not be nessecary to feed that much depending on how much worm mass you are trying to yield. This is what I hope to find out.
Here you can see the green flake food inside the worms.
So far flakes have been their favorite food, which makes sense as they are very thin and easy to break down. I originally fed algae wafers which they also like but they are not able to go through them as fast as flakes and I want to maximize how much they can eat. I think ideally you would feed small amounts of flake throughout the day rather than the single big feed I am doing, but I haven't figured out an easy way to automate this. The problem is that it is best to place the food right around all the worm clumps which would be hard to to with an auto feeder, and flakes float. For now this is good enough though.
I have tried cutting up the worms with scissors before but I belive I found too much mortality for it to be worthwhile. There is also likely a lag period where the worms are healing and cannot eat as much which means less worm mass produced that day. So I am moving away from manual fragmentation for now and just seeing how much they will grow on their own.
Here is day one after manual fragmentation.
Day 3 I am starting to see more die off.
Day 7 I see significant die off. I think here I may have lost at least 50% of the worms.
Day 10 they seem to have stabilized. And decided to end this experiment after seeing this much die off. Perhaps the conditions were just not optimal for good healing, maybe too dirty, overcrowded, fed too early etc. I am not sure. I may try again in the future. I am open to suggestions.
My newest experiment just finding out exactly how much the blackworms can eat and how fast they can grow. I started with 15.15 g of worms. I will weigh them again in a week.
Unfortunately this experiment isn't perfect because the worms can leave through the overflow but I a hoping their reproduction is fast enough this won't be a significant factor. I started off with 500 mg of the kens veggie flakes. I forgot to take a picture of how much this looks like. But here is 24 hrs after feeding. As you can see only green waste is left.
Today I am trying 1g of veggie flakes I will soon update on their response to this much food.
I have found the blackworms do care a lot about water quality, sure they can tolerate slightly worse water than most fish but they won't thrive in it. In fact I've had a lot of die off when the water got too dirty. I keep high water quality in my cultures by connecting them to my other tanks. This can be done in many ways but what I do is use any plastic tub, a uniseal and PVC for an overflow. I connect it to my tanks flow using these fitting used for irrigation tubing, of course you could also use airlifts, or a small seperate pump.
Here is an example of one of the tubs on top of a 20G long tank
Here are my other culture containers.
As you can see I also glue some mesh around the overflow to reduce blackworms leaving the culture. I've found blackworms can still make their way through this mesh but it keeps down how many leave the culture. Even without the mesh the blackworms leaving the culture hasn't been too significant. But worms leaving the culture may be ideal for some as this could be automatic feeding.
I currently use a sand substrate as it is what I had on hand. I added some filter sponges to some of the cultures and the worms all go in the sponges completely ignoring the sand. In the cultures without the sponges and just sand only a few worms burrow, they mostly stay in clumps on top of the sand. Still learning about how useful it may be to use the sponges. For the most part they are only a hindrance, but the worms do really like them so I wonder if that may help the production of the culture. One thing they are nice for is keeping the worms concentrated where you want them, this can make feeding easier.
Since water quality isn't a huge concern in these I have been trying to push the limits on how much I can feed them. Here is about what I have been feeding this culture every day. Unfortunately I don't have a good idea on the mass of the worms in this culture, but on this day they were fed 10g of kens veggie flakes.
24 hours later.
As you can see they completely devoured all of those flakes. That amount of food would have crashed most culture setups I have seen which is why I think it is very important to overfilter with blackworms. Many guides I have seen suggest feeding small amounts two or three times a week. But they can clearly eat very significant amounts of food. However it may not be nessecary to feed that much depending on how much worm mass you are trying to yield. This is what I hope to find out.
Here you can see the green flake food inside the worms.
So far flakes have been their favorite food, which makes sense as they are very thin and easy to break down. I originally fed algae wafers which they also like but they are not able to go through them as fast as flakes and I want to maximize how much they can eat. I think ideally you would feed small amounts of flake throughout the day rather than the single big feed I am doing, but I haven't figured out an easy way to automate this. The problem is that it is best to place the food right around all the worm clumps which would be hard to to with an auto feeder, and flakes float. For now this is good enough though.
I have tried cutting up the worms with scissors before but I belive I found too much mortality for it to be worthwhile. There is also likely a lag period where the worms are healing and cannot eat as much which means less worm mass produced that day. So I am moving away from manual fragmentation for now and just seeing how much they will grow on their own.
Here is day one after manual fragmentation.
Day 3 I am starting to see more die off.
Day 7 I see significant die off. I think here I may have lost at least 50% of the worms.
Day 10 they seem to have stabilized. And decided to end this experiment after seeing this much die off. Perhaps the conditions were just not optimal for good healing, maybe too dirty, overcrowded, fed too early etc. I am not sure. I may try again in the future. I am open to suggestions.
My newest experiment just finding out exactly how much the blackworms can eat and how fast they can grow. I started with 15.15 g of worms. I will weigh them again in a week.
Unfortunately this experiment isn't perfect because the worms can leave through the overflow but I a hoping their reproduction is fast enough this won't be a significant factor. I started off with 500 mg of the kens veggie flakes. I forgot to take a picture of how much this looks like. But here is 24 hrs after feeding. As you can see only green waste is left.
Today I am trying 1g of veggie flakes I will soon update on their response to this much food.
5 Replies
·
1407 views
I Donated 2026
I wanted to share my experience so far with a cheap flow meter from Aliexpress.
I am generally a “you get what you pay for” aquarist, but I have taken a gamble due to circumstances. It is still early days, but it feels like it may have paid off.
Looking to add a flow meter to help tune my CO2 in a newly set up 130L tank, I searched far and wide for the different options. They were few and far between, most were for far larger flows than I needed and those that were appropriate were ridiculously expensive to get to Australia. So I went searching on the various Chinese discount sites and came across the LZB-3WB flow meters. They are cheap… real cheap. Less than $30 Australian landed, which made me nervous, but felt it was worth a shot at that price.
Not knowing what flow ranges I would need I ordered a 6-60ml/minute model.
After installing it, it was clearly too high of a range for my tank, but it did allow for some visibility while adjusting CO2. It was certainly better than a bubble counter.
Here is a picture of it action:
As you can see, the reading is below the scale of the meter, but with a marker I could at least set a starting point as I adjusted my CO2 higher. Also the adjustment valve was useless, a tiny turn would shut the flow off or open it to max out the meter.
I ordered the below as a replacement:
2.5-25ml/minute seems like a good range for my tank.
As a bonus the valve is better than most standard regulator needle valves. I can adjust the flow in increments of about 1ml/minute.
Below is the valve in action:
They have been in service for 2 months total now, 1 month each, so still an early review. It has been a solid upgrade though and was an easy install. They come with big 8mm barbed fittings but they can be unscrewed to reveal 1/8 female threads that standard needle valves for aquariums fit. I have also got some 1/8 to push fit fittings that I am yet to install as I am heading away on holiday for 2 weeks soon and don’t want to make any changes for the house-sitters to potentially have to fix!
Pros: adjusting my CO2 was made so much easier by being able to see exactly how much of an increase I was making with each adjustment. Monitoring that the valve isn’t drifting has been easy also, a quick check of the meter tells me it is steady.
Cons: I doubt that the reading is accurate. This means little to me, as I am not using it for a calculation or comparison between tanks. As long as the reading is consistent, even if it is wrong, I am fine with that. Also, the max pressure is listed as 40psi. I am unsure if that is a failure or accuracy maximum. Again, it doesn’t affect me as I run a low regulator pressure due to using a reactor. If I were using a diffuser that needed a high pressure, it may make me nervous.
As always, with any cheap gear, your mileage may vary. But, I thought it was worth sharing as it may help those with limited access to flow meters of appropriate sizes. So far it is proving to be the second best $25 I have spent on this tank, second only to the super red bristlenose I have in the tank.
I am generally a “you get what you pay for” aquarist, but I have taken a gamble due to circumstances. It is still early days, but it feels like it may have paid off.
Looking to add a flow meter to help tune my CO2 in a newly set up 130L tank, I searched far and wide for the different options. They were few and far between, most were for far larger flows than I needed and those that were appropriate were ridiculously expensive to get to Australia. So I went searching on the various Chinese discount sites and came across the LZB-3WB flow meters. They are cheap… real cheap. Less than $30 Australian landed, which made me nervous, but felt it was worth a shot at that price.
Not knowing what flow ranges I would need I ordered a 6-60ml/minute model.
After installing it, it was clearly too high of a range for my tank, but it did allow for some visibility while adjusting CO2. It was certainly better than a bubble counter.
Here is a picture of it action:
As you can see, the reading is below the scale of the meter, but with a marker I could at least set a starting point as I adjusted my CO2 higher. Also the adjustment valve was useless, a tiny turn would shut the flow off or open it to max out the meter.
I ordered the below as a replacement:
2.5-25ml/minute seems like a good range for my tank.
As a bonus the valve is better than most standard regulator needle valves. I can adjust the flow in increments of about 1ml/minute.
Below is the valve in action:
They have been in service for 2 months total now, 1 month each, so still an early review. It has been a solid upgrade though and was an easy install. They come with big 8mm barbed fittings but they can be unscrewed to reveal 1/8 female threads that standard needle valves for aquariums fit. I have also got some 1/8 to push fit fittings that I am yet to install as I am heading away on holiday for 2 weeks soon and don’t want to make any changes for the house-sitters to potentially have to fix!
Pros: adjusting my CO2 was made so much easier by being able to see exactly how much of an increase I was making with each adjustment. Monitoring that the valve isn’t drifting has been easy also, a quick check of the meter tells me it is steady.
Cons: I doubt that the reading is accurate. This means little to me, as I am not using it for a calculation or comparison between tanks. As long as the reading is consistent, even if it is wrong, I am fine with that. Also, the max pressure is listed as 40psi. I am unsure if that is a failure or accuracy maximum. Again, it doesn’t affect me as I run a low regulator pressure due to using a reactor. If I were using a diffuser that needed a high pressure, it may make me nervous.
As always, with any cheap gear, your mileage may vary. But, I thought it was worth sharing as it may help those with limited access to flow meters of appropriate sizes. So far it is proving to be the second best $25 I have spent on this tank, second only to the super red bristlenose I have in the tank.
21 Replies
·
1403 views
Journal Waterbox 20g AIO Planted Tank
NC AL’s Waterbox 20g AIO Planted Tank
Current view as of 5/26/26
Current view as of 5/26/26
Tank: Waterbox 20 AIO
Return pump: AI Axis 40
Lighting: (2) AI Blade Fresh 12”
Dosing pump: Ecotech Marine
CO2 injected
The purpose of this tank is to maintain a healthy planted tank for at least 1 year. There is a stipulation that I must be able to do this using my tap water for water changes.
54 Replies
·
2686 views
Supporting
I Donated 2026
Received this email this morning, 9/2/2026
----
Dear Customer,
After several years of serving aquarium hobbyists around the world, ChihirosAquaticStudio.com will officially close on September 6, 2026.
Before we close, we’re offering one final storewide promotion.
FINAL CLOSING SALE — 30% OFF
Use code:
FINAL30
at checkout to receive 30% off your order.
This is the final opportunity to shop at ChihirosAquaticStudio.com before the store closes. Stock is limited, and some products may sell out before the final day.
Store closes September 6, 2026.
Thank you for your support over the years and for being part of our journey.
----
This brings up a lot of questions.
Is it just the site ChihirosAquaticStudio.com that's closing?
What about Chihiros.com? Is that going away as well?
What about support, warranty, ongoing app updates, etc?
----
Dear Customer,
After several years of serving aquarium hobbyists around the world, ChihirosAquaticStudio.com will officially close on September 6, 2026.
Before we close, we’re offering one final storewide promotion.
FINAL CLOSING SALE — 30% OFF
Use code:
FINAL30
at checkout to receive 30% off your order.
This is the final opportunity to shop at ChihirosAquaticStudio.com before the store closes. Stock is limited, and some products may sell out before the final day.
Store closes September 6, 2026.
Thank you for your support over the years and for being part of our journey.
----
This brings up a lot of questions.
Is it just the site ChihirosAquaticStudio.com that's closing?
What about Chihiros.com? Is that going away as well?
What about support, warranty, ongoing app updates, etc?
36 Replies
·
1095 views
Supporting
I Donated 2026
Rockstar
Before taking up this hobby, I had a Creality 3D printer I used on rare occasions. I purchased it used and had problems with it from the start. It was supposed to be user friendly but that definitely wasn't my experience.
Once I put together my first scape and realized I could print some helpful parts and tools, I decided to purchase a new Bambu Labs A1 Mini. It opened my eyes to how easy and fun 3D printing could be. In the time since, I've been printing more and more items, not just for aquarium use, but stuff for projects all around the house. I decided it was time for an upgrade to something with a larger build volume. I was planning to move up to the A1 initially but then began thinking, perhaps having an enclosed printer might be smarter, to future proof my needs and desires going forward. After a lot of back-n-forth debating between the Bambu P2S and X2D, I ended up with the P2S this weekend. I have an expanding list of new aquarium related items I want to print
So what printers do others here use and what are your thoughts?
Once I put together my first scape and realized I could print some helpful parts and tools, I decided to purchase a new Bambu Labs A1 Mini. It opened my eyes to how easy and fun 3D printing could be. In the time since, I've been printing more and more items, not just for aquarium use, but stuff for projects all around the house. I decided it was time for an upgrade to something with a larger build volume. I was planning to move up to the A1 initially but then began thinking, perhaps having an enclosed printer might be smarter, to future proof my needs and desires going forward. After a lot of back-n-forth debating between the Bambu P2S and X2D, I ended up with the P2S this weekend. I have an expanding list of new aquarium related items I want to print
So what printers do others here use and what are your thoughts?
1 Replies
·
44 views
I Donated 2026
Journal 75P - Journey Into High Tech
Inspiration, Goals, & Considerations
I've had an interest in aquariums since a young age and had my own aquarium with fish like Angelfish and Mollies around middle school. Growing up, my dad had a bigger tank with Blood Parrots and Silver Dollars. Over 10 years ago, I had a low maintenance 55 gallon planted tank. I was pretty proud of it, but always envied the high tech tanks I saw on forums/social media and told myself when I broke that tank down that the next time I set up a tank, it would be like what I envied. At the end of 2024, I set up a small low tech 5 gallon planted tank to help scratch my aquarium itch, which really only reaccelerated my desire for setting up a high tech tank. And now, here we are!
The size of the tank was mostly dictated by the space. I originally planned on something around 30 gallons, but my LFS had the UNS 75P in stock and after measuring and discussing with my wife, we agreed it would work for the space. The tank is between the kitchen and living room, which is essentially a play area for my son, so lighting needs to be adjusted to make sure he's not blinded by the light when looking up at the tank.
Generally, I'd like to have a visually pleasing aquarium with lots of fish and plants that's peaceful to enjoy. I'd like to automate / reduce as much friction as possible and I realize there's still plenty I need to learn, so I'll need to have patience when things go wrong. I want to keep away from anything that's hard to get out of the tank once it's in (duckweed, moss, pest snails, etc). I felt like sharing prices below might give value to anyone in the future that's looking to start where I did with a high tech tank.
Specs (prices include sales tax)
Tank:
Lighting:
Filtration:
Co2:
Inflow & Outflow Pipes:
Substrate & Hardscape:
Fertilization:
Other Misc Equipment:
Chihiros CO2 Drop Checker
5 x Oase ShutOff Valve 16/22
Inkbird WiFi ITC-308 - $38
SwitchBot Leak Detectors - $15 each
"Stand"
Because the guts are located in a kitchen cabinet, I didn't want to screw directly into it and damage it. I was also concerned silicone would not be able to dry and outgas properly when sealing the edges. I opted to line the cabinet with contact paper. It's essentially a giant sticker, so I lined the sides, bottoms, and a second layer over the bottom edges/joints. I built a 3 panel "stand" inside of the cabinet so I could house everything and screw into the plywood without any concerns. I used 1 sheet of 3/4" Maple plywood and coated 1 side with a latex primer followed by a layer of latex white paint. This is mostly for water resistance and not necessarily water proof. I placed a silicone cabinet liner under the right side equipment. I made a shelf to place the EcoFlow on so if there's a catastrophic leak it's off the bottom.
One consideration I hadn't thought about was how "cramped" the cabinet would be since I placed the EcoFlow on a shelf with a "wall", which essentially made the work area much tighter.
Cable Management: Raceway and cable clips
Water
Express Water RO5DX - $160
Coming soon
I've had an interest in aquariums since a young age and had my own aquarium with fish like Angelfish and Mollies around middle school. Growing up, my dad had a bigger tank with Blood Parrots and Silver Dollars. Over 10 years ago, I had a low maintenance 55 gallon planted tank. I was pretty proud of it, but always envied the high tech tanks I saw on forums/social media and told myself when I broke that tank down that the next time I set up a tank, it would be like what I envied. At the end of 2024, I set up a small low tech 5 gallon planted tank to help scratch my aquarium itch, which really only reaccelerated my desire for setting up a high tech tank. And now, here we are!
The size of the tank was mostly dictated by the space. I originally planned on something around 30 gallons, but my LFS had the UNS 75P in stock and after measuring and discussing with my wife, we agreed it would work for the space. The tank is between the kitchen and living room, which is essentially a play area for my son, so lighting needs to be adjusted to make sure he's not blinded by the light when looking up at the tank.
Generally, I'd like to have a visually pleasing aquarium with lots of fish and plants that's peaceful to enjoy. I'd like to automate / reduce as much friction as possible and I realize there's still plenty I need to learn, so I'll need to have patience when things go wrong. I want to keep away from anything that's hard to get out of the tank once it's in (duckweed, moss, pest snails, etc). I felt like sharing prices below might give value to anyone in the future that's looking to start where I did with a high tech tank.
Specs (prices include sales tax)
Tank:
UNS 75P (8mm Glass - 29.52" x 17.71" x 17.71") - $519
UNS Atmos Backlight - $274
Lid - Working on getting a custom lid made
Lighting:
Chihiros WRGB II Pro 60 - $263
Chihiros WRGB II Pro Shades- $40
3D Printed Side Shades - Still need to do this
Chihiros Hanging Rope Kit- $37
Chihiros LED Lights Hanging Stand Kit - $64
Chihiros WRGB II Pro Shades- $40
3D Printed Side Shades - Still need to do this
Chihiros Hanging Rope Kit- $37
The mounting screws provided protruded beyond the bracket and would not fit with the backlight. I ended up getting washers and placing them outside the bracket to limit the screw depth.
Really disliked the fact that the stand was branded with Chihiros and visible when looking into the aquarium.
UNS Light Hanging Bar - $105
Filtration:
Oase BioMaster 2 Thermo 850 - $461
Oase tubing - Included with filter
Co2:
Misc. 10lb Cylinder - $118 (includes CO2)
CO2 Art PRO-SE Regulator - $105
Aqua Rocks Colorado Small Yugang Reactor 19mm w/ 90 degree elbows - $150
Inflow & Outflow Pipes:
Aqua Rocks Colorado Stainless Steel Lily Pipes 17mm - $54
Aqua Rocks Colorado Lily Pipe Clipper - $11
Substrate & Hardscape:
UNS Controsoil - Black, 'normal' used as a base and ‘fine’ on top - ~$129
CaribSea Super Naturals- Jungle River Sand (foreground sand) - $42 (only used a small mount of the bag - will user remainder in upcoming tank)
UNS Controsand Santa Fe (used as accent around dragon stone) - $57 (only used a small mount of the bag - will user remainder in upcoming tank)
UNS Controsand Sequoia (used as accent around dragon stone) - $52 (only used a small mount of the bag - will user remainder in upcoming tank)
I was surprised how dirty these rocks were and how much rinsing was required. For the price point, I felt like they should have come pre-washed.
Driftwood & Dragon Stone from Aquarium Co-Op - $111
Fertilization:
Burr Aqua Micros and Macros
Chihiros Magnetic Stirrers - $100
Battery Backup & PowerEcoFlow DELTA 3 Max (2kwh) - $680
Unfortunately prolonged power outages are not uncommon for us. We've been without power for multiple consecutive days, 7 days being the longest. This battery backup gives me some peace of mind knowing the tank can run for some time uninterrupted giving me the flexibility to get the generator out and running at a later time, refill with gas, etc. I believe run time will be around 12 hours.
Other Misc Equipment:
Chihiros CO2 Drop Checker
5 x Oase ShutOff Valve 16/22
Inkbird WiFi ITC-308 - $38
SwitchBot Leak Detectors - $15 each
"Stand"
Because the guts are located in a kitchen cabinet, I didn't want to screw directly into it and damage it. I was also concerned silicone would not be able to dry and outgas properly when sealing the edges. I opted to line the cabinet with contact paper. It's essentially a giant sticker, so I lined the sides, bottoms, and a second layer over the bottom edges/joints. I built a 3 panel "stand" inside of the cabinet so I could house everything and screw into the plywood without any concerns. I used 1 sheet of 3/4" Maple plywood and coated 1 side with a latex primer followed by a layer of latex white paint. This is mostly for water resistance and not necessarily water proof. I placed a silicone cabinet liner under the right side equipment. I made a shelf to place the EcoFlow on so if there's a catastrophic leak it's off the bottom.
One consideration I hadn't thought about was how "cramped" the cabinet would be since I placed the EcoFlow on a shelf with a "wall", which essentially made the work area much tighter.
Cable Management: Raceway and cable clips
Water
Express Water RO5DX - $160
I saw this recommended by @Naturescapes_Rocco, and feel like the value is pretty hard to beat. I waited until it was on sale to purchase, but even at the $190 list price, it's great. Water source is an artesian spring (well). From the tap, TDS measures 56. In my 5g, I've used water straight from the tap, but opted for RO so I can keep things consistent with this setup. TDS after initial filter flushing was 0 (yeah, 0!).
55 Gallon Brute Trash Can, 44 Gallon Brute Trash Can, 32 Gallon Greenmade Trash Can, and 2x dollys.I need to improve this setup because it's a PITA. RO goes into the 55g, then I need to transfer it to the 44g to fill the tank. The 32g was originally what I purchased because that was the biggest Costco had, but it didn't hold enough water to fill the tank, so I had to rethink my plans. Seeing the 55g in person, I wasn't confident I could fit 2 side by side in the space I set up the RO in (which I couldn't). This setup is very clunky and requires a lot of water moving to make it to the tank. I've been using the 32g for waste water so I could water plants with it, but I might get worn down quickly and send it down the drain.
Plants (all UNS TC)- Homalomena Sp Sekadau South (babysitter)
- Hydrocotyle Tripartita (potentially babysitter)
- Alternanthera Reineckii Rosanervig (initially planned as babysitter, but may keep some in long term)
- Hemianthus Callitrichoides 'Cuba'
- Rotala Rotundifolia Blood Red
- Anubias Nana Petite
- Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo'
- Alternanthera Reineckii 'Mini'
- Echinodorus Rose
Coming soon
- 25x Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbow
- 7x C005 Corydoras pantanalensis
- 3x C123 Yellow Cory 'Rio Nanay'
- Aphyosemion bivittatum 'Funge' Pair
- 5x Stiphodon rutilaureus Goby
- 1x True Siamese Algae Eaters
- 1x Bamboo Shrimp
- 8x Amano Shrimp
91 Replies
·
6086 views
Cyanobacteria / BGA.
How do we get rid of it?
What are the causes?
Is there a fool proof treatment besides erythromycin?
BGA has been stubbornly showing in the substrate of my tank and creeps out when temperatures rise in summer. Is there a fool proof way to get rid of them?
How do we get rid of it?
What are the causes?
Is there a fool proof treatment besides erythromycin?
BGA has been stubbornly showing in the substrate of my tank and creeps out when temperatures rise in summer. Is there a fool proof way to get rid of them?
33 Replies
·
4137 views
Supporting
Journal Low and Slow
Finally a journal.
I’ll soon be setting up two new tanks, a UNS 90p and a 50c. (Not so!) Patiently awaiting tanks and stands delivery.
They will both be middle energy tanks. I have lengthy periods of busy time and travel that mean the tanks need to survive without human intervention here and there. So plenty of automation is needed, and slow and steady wins over high energy. Or in BBQ smoking terms: low and slow.
Plans:
My last tank has had a rough year. Hurricane Helene meant two weeks with no electricity, and much longer without decent water changes.
Then last summer the tank developed a slow leak while I was out of town (ugh!). Had to fly home for a week to triage. Fish and plants have been in temporary tanks. Plants are struggling. Photo is when they had already been in temporary bin for over 6 weeks, I was surprised it didn’t look like an algae infested swamp.
Sooo ready for my new tanks! These are my first really nice tanks, I’ve only owned petco specials before.
For the new tanks I'm planning on over ordering plants since my surviving plants are clearly pretty weak at this point.
I’ll soon be setting up two new tanks, a UNS 90p and a 50c. (Not so!) Patiently awaiting tanks and stands delivery.
They will both be middle energy tanks. I have lengthy periods of busy time and travel that mean the tanks need to survive without human intervention here and there. So plenty of automation is needed, and slow and steady wins over high energy. Or in BBQ smoking terms: low and slow.
Plans:
- Injected CO2, but less than 30ppm
- Inert gravel
- Tidal HOB filter and partial UGF plate.
- Less than EI ferts, but more than PPS pro.
- Tap water (my tap is 50 TDS and only 10ppm Ca) remineralized to 30ppm Ca and 3-4 dKH.
- Lower light levels: Week aqua L on 90p and Chihiros wrgb 2 slim on 50c.
- Easy slow growing plants, and a few fish. Thinking the 50c will be a shrimp tank.
- Some hardscape but nothing crazy
My last tank has had a rough year. Hurricane Helene meant two weeks with no electricity, and much longer without decent water changes.
Then last summer the tank developed a slow leak while I was out of town (ugh!). Had to fly home for a week to triage. Fish and plants have been in temporary tanks. Plants are struggling. Photo is when they had already been in temporary bin for over 6 weeks, I was surprised it didn’t look like an algae infested swamp.
Sooo ready for my new tanks! These are my first really nice tanks, I’ve only owned petco specials before.
For the new tanks I'm planning on over ordering plants since my surviving plants are clearly pretty weak at this point.
55 Replies
·
4473 views
Rockstar
I’m often out and about working in the field and stumble upon breathtaking examples of often overlooked and under appreciated slices of nature that Florida has to offer.
My neck of the woods is filled with marsh/wetlands ripe with both native and invasive wildlife of all flavors; I want to start a thread where I can document and share.
I’ll update this thread whenever I capture something noteworthy. Much of what catches my eye is aquatic flora, but I try and document anything captivating. I hope you find this as beautiful and fascinating as I do.
My neck of the woods is filled with marsh/wetlands ripe with both native and invasive wildlife of all flavors; I want to start a thread where I can document and share.
I’ll update this thread whenever I capture something noteworthy. Much of what catches my eye is aquatic flora, but I try and document anything captivating. I hope you find this as beautiful and fascinating as I do.
135 Replies
·
9335 views
Supporting
I Donated 2026
Journal MrJG - UNS 90L
@Sb1415 Apologies I totally snagged the format of your journal post for this so thank you!
Many moons ago I was an active and contributing member on plantedtank.net, I think at one point I had around 14 scaped tanks going before burnout and life changes. Instead of weekends consisting of maintenance I transitioned to camping/boating and life has been great. I’ve always missed it. After downsizing and making a move to a new home I kept only a small 12x12 cube tank that started life as an amateur iwagumi layout, Seiryu and hairgrass only. I put it on the nightstand beside my bed and added some of my favorite Anubias and crypts from taken down tanks. Its been sitting there running for 5-6 years now, low light, top offs only w tap. Maintenance when it got out of control. Super old aquasoil now flattened out to a thick 4-5 inch thick layer in a perfect line front to back.
In Aug/Sept 25 had a bit of a health issue that kept me in bed for several weeks recovering while I looked at this sad little cube, mostly healthy but not truly thriving. No fertilizer being added for years, GDA covered anubias leaves that also were many years old and I thought to myself I should make this better… that was the tipping point. OK I’ll do a deep clean on the substrate, get some stems to throw in there, maybe get a carpet going. Tissue cultures/stems ordered and I got to work. No more top offs, 10% water changes instead. TDS ~900 when I started. Ultimately everything melted back and didn’t grow well. I’d been keeping the lighting so dim all these years to maintain just the crypts/epiphytes without it turning into a mess and I was ok with it again. That was the spark.
I decided I wanted to build out a new tank, most of my old hardware/tanks I had let go of in a bulk way so I was going to have to start new with everything sans some 5 gallon buckets of Amazonia that I’d placed in the basement of the new house.. Phoenix rising from the ashes? Most likely more like algae emerging from the depths. I still consider myself a beginner and maybe amateur at best so yeah…
So I got to work again reading, researching, what’s new, what has changed since I’ve been out of the loop for so long? Ooo dark start that sounds much better, in line CO2 diffusers cool! CO2 reactors, pretty awesome sounding, 2Hr aquarist read every article, and I’m back in baby!
Tank inspiration
None really hence no name, it fit right into a slot to occupy my mind from a not so great situation that I was in and I’m ok with that. Ultimately I’d like this to be a low-mid energy tank that can have minimal amounts of weekly maintenance while still looking the part. I’d prefer to keep it as simple as possible while still having some high tech bits. Get all the equipment out of the tank, co2, low-mid level lighting, minimal/simple fertilization. I got busy ordering equipment and started brainstorming layouts and what hardscape materials I could find. Instagram was my friend for a while, seems that everything that kept grabbing my attention were island style layouts with a very thin layer of sand surrounding. I’ve also always been partial to big chonky pieces of driftwood, I thought to go the manzanita route but wysiwyg pieces were fetching stupid prices. I ran across this ironwood in a listing and couldn’t let it go. The deep lines in the bark were just calling me so I quick snap ordered it before my brain could process dimensions, I knew it would fit but didn’t fully visualise how much it would ultimately limit the layout. I wanted to stay mostly inert with stone and eventually/begrudgingly ordered the tumbled lava stone with the intention of keeping it to a island/river layout style and mimicking some of my found instagram muse tanks. It will mostly likely end up more nature style although the start will be more Willy Wonka than anything. Thanks @Burr740 for that, I shopped like a kid in a candy store.
Equipment
Tank
Many moons ago I was an active and contributing member on plantedtank.net, I think at one point I had around 14 scaped tanks going before burnout and life changes. Instead of weekends consisting of maintenance I transitioned to camping/boating and life has been great. I’ve always missed it. After downsizing and making a move to a new home I kept only a small 12x12 cube tank that started life as an amateur iwagumi layout, Seiryu and hairgrass only. I put it on the nightstand beside my bed and added some of my favorite Anubias and crypts from taken down tanks. Its been sitting there running for 5-6 years now, low light, top offs only w tap. Maintenance when it got out of control. Super old aquasoil now flattened out to a thick 4-5 inch thick layer in a perfect line front to back.
In Aug/Sept 25 had a bit of a health issue that kept me in bed for several weeks recovering while I looked at this sad little cube, mostly healthy but not truly thriving. No fertilizer being added for years, GDA covered anubias leaves that also were many years old and I thought to myself I should make this better… that was the tipping point. OK I’ll do a deep clean on the substrate, get some stems to throw in there, maybe get a carpet going. Tissue cultures/stems ordered and I got to work. No more top offs, 10% water changes instead. TDS ~900 when I started. Ultimately everything melted back and didn’t grow well. I’d been keeping the lighting so dim all these years to maintain just the crypts/epiphytes without it turning into a mess and I was ok with it again. That was the spark.
I decided I wanted to build out a new tank, most of my old hardware/tanks I had let go of in a bulk way so I was going to have to start new with everything sans some 5 gallon buckets of Amazonia that I’d placed in the basement of the new house.. Phoenix rising from the ashes? Most likely more like algae emerging from the depths. I still consider myself a beginner and maybe amateur at best so yeah…
So I got to work again reading, researching, what’s new, what has changed since I’ve been out of the loop for so long? Ooo dark start that sounds much better, in line CO2 diffusers cool! CO2 reactors, pretty awesome sounding, 2Hr aquarist read every article, and I’m back in baby!
Tank inspiration
None really hence no name, it fit right into a slot to occupy my mind from a not so great situation that I was in and I’m ok with that. Ultimately I’d like this to be a low-mid energy tank that can have minimal amounts of weekly maintenance while still looking the part. I’d prefer to keep it as simple as possible while still having some high tech bits. Get all the equipment out of the tank, co2, low-mid level lighting, minimal/simple fertilization. I got busy ordering equipment and started brainstorming layouts and what hardscape materials I could find. Instagram was my friend for a while, seems that everything that kept grabbing my attention were island style layouts with a very thin layer of sand surrounding. I’ve also always been partial to big chonky pieces of driftwood, I thought to go the manzanita route but wysiwyg pieces were fetching stupid prices. I ran across this ironwood in a listing and couldn’t let it go. The deep lines in the bark were just calling me so I quick snap ordered it before my brain could process dimensions, I knew it would fit but didn’t fully visualise how much it would ultimately limit the layout. I wanted to stay mostly inert with stone and eventually/begrudgingly ordered the tumbled lava stone with the intention of keeping it to a island/river layout style and mimicking some of my found instagram muse tanks. It will mostly likely end up more nature style although the start will be more Willy Wonka than anything. Thanks @Burr740 for that, I shopped like a kid in a candy store.
Equipment
Tank
- UNS 90L
- 90 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm
- 79 liters or 21 gallons by volume, 62.5 liters or 16.5 gallons actual w hardscape
- Oase Thermo 200
- Replaced the charcoal media with more ceramic from Oase
- Replaced w Fzone stainless steel -Fzone glass Lily w skimmer ⅝”
- Replaced tubing with UNS pro tubing ⅝”
- Fzone Quick release ⅝” so Lily pipes can be cleaned without having to reprime filter
- Gla inline atomizer - replaced Fzone Co2 inline diffuser ⅝”
- GLA dual stage - replaced Fzone pro series dual stage regulator w/ 5lb tank
- Timed on 3 hours before lights on, off 1 hour before lights off
- Using distilled by gallon, remineralized with salty shrimp GH targeting GH around 4-5
- Hoping for 0-1 KH
- Dark start cycled with prime dechlorinated Tap and APT Start
- 80% old used ADA Amazonia v1, small bits sifted and bagged to create slight slope
- 2HR Feast topped to around 2 inches
- UNS Bora sand
- UNS Kona pebbles
- Fzone Bright 90 - 90CM
- Before hardscape made rough par map using photone with diffuser iPhone 15 Pro
- At 100% top 404, mid 219, base 127 PAR
- At 50% top 190, mid 110, base 62 PAR
- Will be starting tank with 45-50% lighting intensity
- Timed at 3pm-9pm photoperiod with 60 minute ramps
- Current Colorcast LED strip w/frosted background
- Timed scenes for dawn (orange 1 HR during pre-ramp) /daylight (green during ON cycle) /sunset (red 1 HR during post-ramp) /night (indigo 1 HR after lights out)
- Arizona Ironwood
- Black tumbled lava stone
- APT 1 and 3 dosed at recommended levels per calculator
- APT Jazz - in 3-4 months as Feast gives out
- Trying to keep it simple with fertilization to start
50 Replies
·
4193 views
Supporting
I Donated 2026
Rockstar
I started my first tank as an adult about a year ago, and have posted updates on it in my other journal , the Beginner Scaper Journal. I had intended the other journal to be a journey for this new tank but there were so many variables and many questions about the other set up that i thought it would best to start this new journal.
I am going to hold on to my beginner/amateur flair to the post since I think this is such a great hobby and want newcomers to know that everyone started as an amateur
Tank Inspiration
Dennis Wong's planted tanks. If you guys don't know who this is, I have already served a good purpose by introducing you to the founder of the 2Hr aquarist. He has a scientific horticulturist approach to planted tank that resonates well to my scientific mind. He is one of the few that I have read and listened to who mentions the different schools of thoughts when it comes to managing planted tanks and does not stick with a single approach.
Anyways a long winded rambling to say that everyone should read through the 2hr aquarist website. His products are all called APT (Advanced planted tank), and i think that is what his company was called before. His current display tanks are all planted tanks, which are beautiful mostly without hardscape but with lush plant growth and do not follow the rules of Dutch scaping. To anyone who wants to understand his philosophy more, i would recommend in addition to the website watch some videos where he has been interviewed.
I wanted to re-create this type of tank, but obviously as a beginner/amateur. I am hoping to learn more about growing plants with my ultimate goal to advance to a next scape which might be more nature style where i can take the knowledge from growing plants and now incorporate hardscape to it.
Equipment
Tank
- Waterbox mini 25
Background
Fish List (Preliminary)
Photos
photo 1 - Day 11
Photo 2 - Day 20
Photo 3 - Day 21 - Current - Testing - Ammonia 0, Nitrate about 10 on API kit - Changed filter outlet location to get reduced current
Photo 4 - Day 21 - Side view
Thanks for reading so far!
There has been some good growth, some expected filamentous algae/diatmos and some melting, all expected hopefully this would not get too bad.
The Rotala blood red, Florida and Ludwigea arcuata are doing great. Both the florida and Arcuata seems to do much better on the aquasoil than on my prior intert substrate.
Blyxa melted a little but getting better, the Tulunadensis is struggling. The rest holding stable.
Interesting observation - The Rotala blood red, started putting out lot of roots and side shoots which i think is mainly because the plant was being pushed by the current to almost bend sideways and I believe it is thinking that it close the surface and doing its thing. With the changed filter outlet location I am hoping that it will be more erect and when i cut and replant there will be less roots. 2hr aquarist has written about this as well, but i think the bending sideways leading to rooting is not mentioned.
I am not liking the layout as much as i thought i would. Have been discussing with BurrAqua and have some suggestions but still thinking about this. Thoughts and suggestions welcome. Hopefully lot of people with (@Burr740 , @Dennis Wong @Art @techman81 @Pepere @Unexpected @Naturescapes_Rocco @Jeff Miotke @BenB @DutchMuch ) and without experience will follow and share this tank journey with me.
This is a great forum and i have tagged people that i am familiar with on the forum who have answered my questions and helped.
I am going to hold on to my beginner/amateur flair to the post since I think this is such a great hobby and want newcomers to know that everyone started as an amateur
Tank Inspiration
Dennis Wong's planted tanks. If you guys don't know who this is, I have already served a good purpose by introducing you to the founder of the 2Hr aquarist. He has a scientific horticulturist approach to planted tank that resonates well to my scientific mind. He is one of the few that I have read and listened to who mentions the different schools of thoughts when it comes to managing planted tanks and does not stick with a single approach.
Anyways a long winded rambling to say that everyone should read through the 2hr aquarist website. His products are all called APT (Advanced planted tank), and i think that is what his company was called before. His current display tanks are all planted tanks, which are beautiful mostly without hardscape but with lush plant growth and do not follow the rules of Dutch scaping. To anyone who wants to understand his philosophy more, i would recommend in addition to the website watch some videos where he has been interviewed.
I wanted to re-create this type of tank, but obviously as a beginner/amateur. I am hoping to learn more about growing plants with my ultimate goal to advance to a next scape which might be more nature style where i can take the knowledge from growing plants and now incorporate hardscape to it.
Equipment
Tank
- Waterbox mini 25
- 60 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm
- 90 liters or 24 gallons
- This is a big upgrade from my 29 gallon standard tank. The silicone work is flawless.
- It does come with a leveling mat.
- It is deeper and slightly taller than a 60P or UNS 60U. I thought it would be useful to have more depth.
- Background - Thanks to @Jeff Miotke suggestion
- Waterbox stand - Black
- The main contention is that it does not come with side holes like some of the other expensive stands do.
- It just comes with opening in the back, so getting the tubing out is messy.
- The door attachment is a soft close but it needs to be leveled which can be finicky
- I did add a magnetic holder for tools and will add some light as well at some point.
- It does come with leveling foot holders.
- It is nicely built other wise.
- I wish it came with a pull out like the Oase stands but guess would be very expensive.
- Overall Ok, but nothing to highly recommend about.
- Oase Biomaster 350 thermo
- Replaced the biological media with Seachem Matrix
- Replaced one of the foams with Seachem Matrix as well.
- Steel lily pipes from GLA with extension. I think many of liked this company. But I personally would not buy anything again from them. They had quality control issues with this. One of the holders were metal and other acrylic and they would not send me another metal one. These are not the cheapest especially and you also have to buy extension separately. These are made by a chinese company and not made by GLA.
- I used to have glass lily pipes but got tired of cleaning them.
- I read many people commenting that using a skimmer attached to the inflow or outflow might be a pain to adjust, so ended up getting the Oase Crystal skim
- Fzone Co2 inline diffuser
- These work great and this is the second one that i have gotten. Trouble free but might need to replace parts of it if it gets clogged. Important thing is that it can be opened to clean.
- I have a Fzone dual stage regulator
- Cheapest that i could find and works very well - highly recommend
- I use RO water and remineralize it with APT Sky to a GH of around 4. Use the calculator on APT webpage.
- My goals are to have a low KH, and GH of around 4 - 5.
- APT feast about 12 Liters
- You can read about my experience cycling it here using Dark Start (sort of)
- I did not want Aquasoil in the front of the tank and wanted a thin lining of gravel so used a gravel from Carribsea, and some smooth lava stones to separate them. More about this later but i don't really like the way it turned out.
- Chihiros WRGB II - 10th anniv edition - 60 cm.
Background
- Left - Rotala blood red
- Middle - Rotala Tulunadensis (From Burr Aqua)
- Right - Alteranthera Reineckii Rosaefolia
- Left - Blyxa Joponica
- Middle - Ludwigea Arcuata, Pogostemon Decannensis, Rotala Florida, Staurogyne Repens
- Right - Syngonathus Belem/Macrocaulon(From Burr Aqua)
- Left - Lobelia cardinalis mini
- Middle/Right - S.Repens and Montecarlo
- Still to come - Eleocharis Aricularis mini (in the place where the stones are)
- Clump of Hydrocortyle Tripartita to absorb nitrogen - Trust me you do not want this plant for any other reason, will take over your tank and get everything into a tangled mess.
Fish List (Preliminary)
- 4 Rasbora espei
- 2 Otos
- Will be adding more from my prior tank
- Lighting - 30% - 8 am - 3 pm
- Co2 - 40 ppm by Hanna co2 kit, 5 am - 3 pm
- Fertilizer - APT 1 - Still not settled on a routine but the recommended dose for daily dosing would be about 2.3 ml and i do about 2-3 ml every 3 days.
- Water changes 75% every 3 - 4 days, will make it weekly in the next couple of weeks
Photos
photo 1 - Day 11
Photo 2 - Day 20
Photo 3 - Day 21 - Current - Testing - Ammonia 0, Nitrate about 10 on API kit - Changed filter outlet location to get reduced current
Photo 4 - Day 21 - Side view
Thanks for reading so far!
There has been some good growth, some expected filamentous algae/diatmos and some melting, all expected hopefully this would not get too bad.
The Rotala blood red, Florida and Ludwigea arcuata are doing great. Both the florida and Arcuata seems to do much better on the aquasoil than on my prior intert substrate.
Blyxa melted a little but getting better, the Tulunadensis is struggling. The rest holding stable.
Interesting observation - The Rotala blood red, started putting out lot of roots and side shoots which i think is mainly because the plant was being pushed by the current to almost bend sideways and I believe it is thinking that it close the surface and doing its thing. With the changed filter outlet location I am hoping that it will be more erect and when i cut and replant there will be less roots. 2hr aquarist has written about this as well, but i think the bending sideways leading to rooting is not mentioned.
I am not liking the layout as much as i thought i would. Have been discussing with BurrAqua and have some suggestions but still thinking about this. Thoughts and suggestions welcome. Hopefully lot of people with (@Burr740 , @Dennis Wong @Art @techman81 @Pepere @Unexpected @Naturescapes_Rocco @Jeff Miotke @BenB @DutchMuch ) and without experience will follow and share this tank journey with me.
This is a great forum and i have tagged people that i am familiar with on the forum who have answered my questions and helped.
177 Replies
·
17423 views