Update time!

I hope you guys are going to be as excited as I am.

Today I got one of my many many orders, the aquarium mat and lid. What does that mean? It means that my 20 gallon tank is almost ready to be completely setup.

https://i.postimg.cc/k9TfPNsd/20221120-104122.jpg

This is how far I have gotten thus far.

I did not cut the mat perfectly but it doesn't have to be perfect, the black static cling background wasn't quite long enough and has 'ripples' in it but once I get the live plants those ripples won't be seen.

I am still waiting for more packages so hopefully the weather keeps playing nice otherwise I might be waiting until Spring of 2023 x..x

Anyway, I know this update isn't a super long one but it's all I've got for now, you'll get updates whenever I get more of my orders delivered to me, Thank you for reading this update.

Pretty cool! What kind of fish are you planning to stock it with?

I'm going to hopefully stock it with 4 snails and 1 betta fish :3

Awesome! Share pics when you have them. :D

I will! :3

Update time again.

I know it's been 3 weeks, I was going to post last week but some family stuff came up, plus Amazon decided to have that damn back to back sale, which ultimately screwed me out of some stuff for my dog and my aquarium stuff, So now I am looking at an alternative.

I feel like I owe it to you guys so, I'm going to post what I've been meaning to post over these past 3 weeks.

Warm water aquarium plants:

Yes there are warm/hot water aquarium plants.

But first let's address some of the 'cold water' plants before we kick off into the warm/hot water plants.

To name a few.

The Echinodorus ''Ozelot''

and

Ludwigia Glandulosa

are both 'cold water' plants, they can only tolerate 76F any hotter and they'll melt, Too cold and they will die off rapidly.

Some consider the next plant to be a 'cold water' plant but I have kept it in 81F to 82F and it did amazing, it was super green and grew like a weed lol

This plant is called, Nymphoides Hydrophylla ''Taiwan'' Keep in mind that it was the only plant in my Fluval Flex 9 Gallon aquarium and I had a German Blue Ram in the tank, I don't have the tank, fish or plant anymore.

Now about those 'warm/hot water' plants.

Bucephalandra Sp. ''Red''

it can be kept in water as cold as 70F or aquariums as hot as 90F

This plant is not 'easy' but if it is placed where there is the most amount of light in the tank it is relatively easy to keep with proper trimming when it is needed.

Another one.

Hygrophila Siamensis ''53B''

It can tolerate 70F and 90F it is an easy plant with a medium growth rate but should be kept in taller aquariums as it does grow tall between 6-12 inches tall.

This plant is perfect for beginners who don't mind the taller plants.

Next one:

Alternanthera Reineckii Rosanervig

Yes it's red, Don't panic though.

It gets to about 5-8 inches tall and again can survive in 70F to 90F

It also has a sibling that is pink though I am not sure how tall it gets but it can handle 70F to 90F as well.

I do strongly advise using Seachem Excel and Seachem Advance (Use Advance sparingly, once every 3 weeks or so) Excel should be used weekly after every water change, The amount depends on how many plants you have, The mentioned products help to reduce the need for a Co2 system.

Here's something you probably didn't know about plants or never considered it.

Just like our fish, our live plants can go into temperature shock, No acclimating the plants in their bags does not count, you need to drip acclimate for about 30 minutes but keep the plant or plants completely submerged in whatever bucket or bin you are using.

Remember liquid supplements only do so much, you'll still have to use root tabs, I recommend using Tropica Nutrition Capsules as needed.

The mentioned plants are also by Tropica, if you are new to plants getting them in vitro (As baby plants) is something I highly suggest doing, Now if you are experienced then by all means take on a Mother plant so long as you have the space to do so, It's called a Mother plant for a reason.

That's all I've got for you tonight but I'll be back with more plants!

Bye Bye.

Merry (Early) Fishmas!

Getting the new tank in a day or so...thinking of putting pondweed in it? For goldfish..any point or will they not like it? Google isn't doing its job for me for some reason

it needs soil..I'm sure because it's a plant but how will I set it up?

I wouldn't add pondweed to an aquarium, it spreads to fast and it will completely take over the entire tank, Corkscrew Vallisneria, depending on the size of your tank you might be able to get the larger variants of Vallisneria, the Giga version I believe get's about 6-8 feet tall so you'd need a huge aquarium and it grows fast, Goldfish like to uproot and eat plants, but you could try Water Wisteria and Guppy moss, Guppy moss doesn't need to be planted it just floats, the Water Wisteria needs to be planted and it looks like waterweed except it doesn't spread as rapidly and is easier to deal with, As for planting it, you'll want to keep the Water Wisteria away from the heater and away from direct contact with the filter, it could easily go into a corner or even the foreground of your tank, Oh and most importantly, only bury the roots anything past that and your plant will die.

Update!

I know it's been so long.

It finally happened, I washed my substrate and added it to my tank, Filled and have begun cycling it.

So far it's been almost crystal clear (I'll add pictures tomorrow)

But here's what I did during/after.

When my tank only had the substrate in it I sprinkled Seachem Safe everywhere (That stuff smells awful just a heads up)

Next I added 1 capful of Seachem Excel, and with the help of a large (16 Inch Python siphon and an Eco Pump it has a fixed flow and a steel strainer) I filled the tank up, My Seachem combo alert system is doing it's job, Lastly, I added 2 Capfuls of Seachem Stability (Will need to add 2 capfuls everyday for 7 days) and finally 2 capfuls of Nutrafin Cycle.

Yeah I have had a busy day XD Also I might not ever get the song Hot Blooded out of my head for the rest of my natural life, I listened to it so many times.

OH, Before my tired nerd brain quits for the night, Here's what I put in my internal filter (The internal filter is NOT staying because omg it's so loud it sounds like I have an indoor waterfall)

1 (Cut to fit) Fluval ammonia pad.

2 1/2 spoonfuls of Seachem Matrix (Sitting on the Ammonia pad)

1 (Cut to fit) Fluval Phosphate pad.

2 Spoonfuls of Seachem Purigen (Sitting on top of the phosphate pad)

and 1 (Cut/smooshed to fit) Fluval Polishing pad.

There are no plants in my aquarium yet but there (Hopefully) will be on the 3rd of January weather permitting but I did order 4 plants so I'm hoping that the weather continues to behave.

Thank you for sticking with me all this time.

That's all I've got for you for now but I will be back very soon, Byee!

Here are the pictures

(Day 1)

(Day 2)

I didn't take a picture for day 3 but I will and upload it here tomorrow.

https://i.postimg.cc/yYjjRH7T/20230101-163924.jpg

(Day 3)

https://i.postimg.cc/sg2c9NXC/20230102-105224.jpg

(Day 4)

https://i.postimg.cc/t4mzrNZZ/20230103-080737.jpg

(Day 5)

I will preform a water change as soon as I get my live plants, Weather permitting they should be arriving on the 5th.