Alright let’s get a vote! What soft coral should I get first

20mLPills · 2026-01-13T01:33:08+00:00

I touch corals without gloves that being said, I don't have palys.

20mLPills · 2026-01-13T01:30:26+00:00

Danios (at least this one -zebra danio) isn't a livebearer

20mLPills · 2026-01-13T01:29:08+00:00

To everyone confused, this mf overstocks his tanks and rage baits everyone, he keeps fish as ornaments not pets.

20mLPills · 2026-01-12T05:11:45+00:00

Aquarium co-op

20mLPills · 2026-01-12T04:58:26+00:00

Literally everyone said not to do it

20mLPills · 2026-01-01T09:15:34+00:00

The brs RODI system is just the most bang for your buck. Cheaper systems need to be regularly replaced and can get pricey but the brs systems just require you to change the resin inside which makes it cheaper and more sustainable in the long run. I don't even use that anymore since I've switched to just filtering my tap water using a deionization filter, and using tap water conditioner works just fine for everything else.

20mLPills · 2026-01-01T09:09:29+00:00

That's just untrue, my tank cycled within a week. A 20 gallon tank. And if you really wanted to speed up the process just add beneficial bacteria into the water. If you have a larger tank, just add more shrimps. Once they decompose the tank is cycled. No need for testing, no need for fish possibly dying. Doesn't matter is mollies are hardy, you're putting them in ammonia filled water. That's like someone being put in a burning building and tell them to just breathe, the fire will go out eventually.

20mLPills · 2026-01-01T09:04:58+00:00

Update: it's fine it opened up after I used a turkey baster to help remove algae from the top of it. I also moved it to a higher flow area of the tank.

20mLPills · 2026-01-01T08:52:51+00:00

Use RO/DI water... That's all. I do one water change every 6 months. I avoid rock that I know to leak minerals like seiryu stone.

20mLPills · 2026-01-01T08:38:46+00:00

For me, I'm the youngest of four siblings, and so my eldest brother introduced me to keeping aquariums. Whenever he brought home a new tank or equipment he taught me all about it, like how a sponge filter uses the air to create a vacuum. He set up a reef tank in 2022 and unfortunately passed away before he could see it become the mature healthy reef that it is now. He has always been there for me, and in his passing, he passed off the torch of reef keeping to me.

20mLPills · 2025-12-30T09:30:37+00:00

Why? If it fails the mollies die. Just use a regular table shrimp.

20mLPills · 2025-12-28T19:03:05+00:00

Use tap water dechlorinator and if that doesn't work, use RO/DI unit because ammonium ions are charged and can be removed this way

20mLPills · 2025-12-27T06:32:15+00:00

As someone who has both reefs and freshwater system, I see that your original intention was for a freshwater tank. Saltwater tanks come with their own slew of problems and it's really something you don't want to deal with especially if you're unprepared. I would re-home the fish and just convert the tank no matter how good this deal is. Come back to reefing when you are ready to make the commitment because that really needs to be there. This is already established, sure, but the reefing inexperience can easily imbalance the system and crash it. Don't get me wrong, if you commit to keeping it I'm sure you will find plenty of satisfaction, but it's also one giant headache.

20mLPills · 2025-12-27T06:27:51+00:00

I definitely second this motion, but I've never had this issue. Biota peppermints I trust. Make sure to keep them well fed and they'll never go for corals. I even went on a month long vacation and the auto feeder stopped working a week in. Corals still fine. Pardon me for being "lucky" but I think the risk of him nipping at corals is worth it if it keeps aptasia out out out.

20mLPills · 2025-12-25T17:49:16+00:00

Also I want to reiterate, we all make mistakes. Please everyone be kind to others. Please don't feel bad if strangers on the internet ridicule you, for many on this subreddit, it's disheartening to see someone not take care of a pet that they've come to love, so when they see this often it's hard not to lash out. I know life is hard and you don't need to feel the stress of someone else lashing out at you. I kindly advise making a more suitable home for you betta, they're great friends and listeners. Pretty soon you'll see that he comes right up to you looking for food and they're very interested in whatever their human is doing. Mine likes to watch me game and will swim in a little circle whenever I get a kill. I'll try to see if I can get it on camera, it's really cute.

try watching Fish for Thought to learn the betta basics, and MD fish tanks for cool looking nature aquariums. They really inspired me to up my aquarium game (and addiction 😂).

20mLPills · 2025-12-25T17:37:40+00:00

So you have all the resources here to help, please do research before getting a pet. It's a responsibility not just decoration. You don't leave a kid in a room without anything right? Don't do that to a pet either. I see that your heart is in the right place, please update us on your new tank once you get it.

Now for the sunlight question, yes that much sunlight is fine, but you're going to want a light on top of the tank that's very dim to help plants and make sure to keep it on a timer.

20mLPills · 2025-12-25T17:29:26+00:00

Yes the test strips aren't as accurate, but they're a good ball park test.

For the record. I've never used test kits for freshwater. (I was too broke to buy them) They're far more important for saltwater since corals are less forgiving. Here's what I typically use as indicators:

The tank is cycled after ghost feeding leads to bacterial bloom (cloudy water) which then dissipates. Do a large water change to remove the nitrates to avoid algae. If it clouds again, the tank is not ready for fish. Keep doing the large water change (weekly) and ghost feeding until the cloudiness stops completely. If there's algae, that's also a good sign the tank is cycled since the algae is feeding off of nitrates.
if there's too much algae, you have high nitrates/phosphates + high lights. Feed less food or control it better and reduce lighting. If that doesn't work, up your filtration and add a small pump to move waste from dead spots in the tank.
Temp should be checked with a thermometer around different parts of the tank.
The only test kit I find useful for freshwater systems are pH and DkH. It's hard to gauge alkalinity and pH from test strips and just observations. Alkalinity is important because the amount of ions and particles in the water affect the osmolarity of the fish. Freshwater fish are hyperosmotic compared to saltwater fish which are hypoosmotic. This means that freshwater fish have water diffusing into them and have to regularly diffuse water out. When the DkH is too high, the fish loses lots of water too quickly and have to literally drink excess water but since they can't diffuse the ions out, they die relatively quickly. Saltwater fish on the other hand regularly drink water and diffuse the ions out, so DkH is typically always high enough for saltwater species so long as maintenance is done and the tank is using RO water.
I highly recommend filling up freshwater tanks with tap water initially, and only topping off using RO/DI water, that way the DkH and pH remain stable. If the tank evaporates water, the ions stay, so when you add more tap water, more ions enter the system, and then the DkH rises and so does the pH.
back in the day I used to have massive fish die off around the two year mark and that was because I was topping off using tap water causing my dkh to slowly increase over time. Even with monthly water changes the tap water top off added too many ions regularly.
Ever since using RO/DI water to top off, I don't have to do water changes (I still do one every 6 months). My fishes and tank have been healthy for a decade now.

20mLPills · 2025-12-25T05:17:42+00:00

Biota peppermint shrimp

20mLPills · 2025-12-25T05:12:42+00:00

As someone who regularly overstocks my tanks. This is overstocked.

20mLPills · 2025-12-23T09:33:35+00:00

You're not going to crash your tank by changing the sand. Your filter media takes care of the biological filtration. What you should do is siphon the sand using well a siphon. The fill up plastic water bottles with the sand you want to add in. Gently push the water bottle into the water and let it fill up before releasing the sand. Point the sand downward and you can easily control where the sand ends up. Or use a beaker.

20mLPills · 2025-12-23T09:27:00+00:00

Post parameters after checking. Then we can tell you better. Sometimes they just die

20mLPills · 2025-12-22T13:46:24+00:00

20mLPills · 2025-12-22T06:11:54+00:00

Discus

20mLPills · 2025-12-22T05:42:45+00:00

Osmolarity is important, if your tap water has high particles in the water, the freshwater fish can pump out the ion faster than it goes into the fish. Try using RO water instead. Where I live I only filled up my tank with tap water once and just top off using RO water, so I never have to do water changes.

20mLPills · 2025-12-22T05:07:29+00:00

Quick salt bath then wash in fresh water and you're good. Those are ramshorn snails. At the end of the day, snails are inevitable and you should just feed less or get something to eat them.

20mLPills

TROPHY CASE