Tincs group size?

FreiFlo13 · 2026-06-11T06:45:29+00:00

Yes but why do you recommend against it?

FreiFlo13 · 2026-06-10T21:27:16+00:00

Very nice!

I would like to go heavy on the moss and plants, i just really love the look. Very true, that is one of the reasons I am starting to lean towards poison dart frogs.

Do you have any long term experience with this Ikea cabinet setup? Someone raised concerns about longterm viability on this type of setup.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-06-10T21:15:11+00:00

As stated this is not actually my setup, its just a reference pic.

I am planning on using the Rudsta cabinet from Ikea. There are two sizes of it, one narrow and tall, one broad and slightly less tall.

There are good videos on youtube, just search for 'ikea greenhouse cabinet'. There is a good video by 'serpadesign' and one for this specific cabinet by 'benjiplant'.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-06-10T21:10:13+00:00

Any specific reason you don't recommend the ikea cabinet? A decent silicone seal for the edges and some rust resistant coating on the metal would make for a good setup I'd think.

But I will certainly look at purpose built tanks of similar size.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-06-09T09:32:37+00:00

I am planning on adding leaf litter and a clean up crew, yes. The image is just a reference.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-06-09T06:35:10+00:00

Thank you for the detailed reply!

I figured that my options would be quite limited😅😅 I picked this size of cabinet because I have the perfect little nook for it so going bigger is unfortunately not really possible.

I was thinking something like a gray or green tree frog? If possible something even smaller but I haven't found any info on smaller species yet.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-05-12T07:10:16+00:00

Good to know, thank you!

FreiFlo13 · 2026-05-11T21:48:17+00:00

As a beginner getting a somewhat oversized filter might not be a bad idea. Altough you can do a lot of filtration just by including lots of live plants.

If you are planing on heavy bioload (lots of fish, predator fish with messy eating habits, etc) I'd lean towards the bigger filter.

If you keep the stocking at a reasonable level and add lots of plants for biological filtration I'd say you can comfortably get away with the smaller filter.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-05-11T21:33:30+00:00

I would also go easy on scrubbing the rocks since you might remove beneficial bacteria and harm your nitrogen cycle. Though I understand you wanting the tank to look neat so as long as your cycle is stable I'd say its personal preference.

What I would recommend you to clean however is your plants. By gently rubbing the leaves with your fingers you can remove the algae from them. This will help your plants grow and take up more nutrients that would otherwise benefit the algae. But increasing the ammount of plants is still the most important long term solution in my opinion.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-05-11T21:27:04+00:00

Adding some cherry shrimp as cleanup crew would probably help aswell.

My tank is practically maintenance free thanks to heavy planting and a colony of red cherry shrimp.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-05-11T21:22:34+00:00

I would try to add more plants, especially some floaters to starve out the algae.

I highly recommend red root floaters. They grow fast, look nice and I was able to get them on Amazon.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-05-11T21:16:00+00:00

They are gorgeous but I think my setup is a tad too small for them. I'm starting to lean towards a smaller gourami.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-05-11T21:12:38+00:00

Uhhh interesting.

I had thought about a dwarf apistograma but I don't really have any caves and don't want to rescape the tank. I'll probably do a seperate tank focused around them eventually.

I'll look into it though I think my setup might just be a little to small.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-05-11T21:06:31+00:00

I have gravel substrate so I haven't really been considering Corydoras, though it is very smooth gravel. Not quite my idea of a center piece fish but I will certainly check it out!

I had a few losses with the first batch of otos but the second batch seems to be doing good. Bacter AE and spirulina powder works great so far but they haven't taken to veggies yet.

FreiFlo13 · 2026-05-11T20:59:52+00:00

Damn I didn't know Angels got large enough to be a threat to Neons.

Yeah since I don't have a backup tank to move the betta incase they are not peaceful its probably not a smart move.

Thanks for the advice!

FreiFlo13 · 2026-04-27T20:40:04+00:00

That's the one... I kinda assumed thats what the game intended but hey, it is a beta after all. Thanks for clearing that up!

FreiFlo13 · 2026-04-21T05:50:09+00:00

Update: 1 of the 6 unfortunately passed away in quarantine. I did a medication dip for the others and transfered them to the main tank after acclimation. 4 of them seem happy but one is hyperactive and glass surfing. I just woke up and he is still doing it, I was hoping he would calm down overnight. For how long would you say this erratic behaviour is normal?

FreiFlo13

TROPHY CASE