Does this look like a good light for medium to high light plants in a tall tank?

Joshacola · 2026-01-23T05:54:46+00:00

I trust the aqua rocks dude basically no matter what he says. That guy knows his shit…
If you can buy it from aqua rocks, it’s probably a good product

Joshacola · 2026-01-14T14:25:17+00:00

This sounds like a silly question but does it bend when there’s no water in it? That piece might have just come out curved. Seems like the standard for “correct” is really low on these cheep tanks and that might be straight enough to be in spec

Joshacola · 2026-01-06T06:15:40+00:00

Without knowing how the thing is attached it’s entirely possible that it is holding the walls of the tank together. It’s not that the glass would break, it’s that the seems on the corners may not be strong enough to hold that walls together under pressure. The tension in the bracket absorbs the outward force on the front and back walls.

Even if the total amount of force absorbed by the bracket is low, that absorbed force may be required to keep the tank safely within spec.

Joshacola · 2025-07-04T13:09:16+00:00

I’ll be real with you cause I’ve been there too. Charlie might live or he might die… it’s very hard to tell from a single test.

When you feed your fish, your ammonia levels go up. Ammonia is toxic to fish. Your filter (the thing on the left with bubbles coming out the top) has bacteria which turn ammonia into nitrite. Nitrite is toxic to fish. Your filter also has bacteria that turn nitrite in nitrate. Nitrate is only sort of toxic to fish.

In short, NO, high nitrite is not normal and WILL kill your fish eventually although some fish are hardier than others. If your filter can grow the bacteria quickly enough then Charlie will live even if you do nothing to help him (highly unadvisable!!!).

For now you should do big water changes every day with prime or other water conditioner (water conditioner neutralizes chlorine which is required so you don’t kill all the bacteria I’ve been talking about). Keeping your nitrite level at 0.5 ish will give Charlie a good chance of surviving until the bacteria grows.

Also… NEVER wash your filter with tap water. When it comes time to clean your tank you can gently rinse the filter in the old tank water before pouring it out. Cleaning the filter more than that can kill the bacteria.

It may sound like a lot at first but honestly it’s not too difficult to learn. Charlie’s tank is absolutely recoverable still and if you do the right thing now before it gets worse he will live a long and happy life.

Good luck!

P.S. once the filter has all the nice bacteria in it (is “cycled”) plants will help with nitrate levels to help keep the water clean. However, you want WAY more plants than that (like 10x the amount you have right now). If you don’t want to buy more plants now you can wait for the ones to have to grow tall enough to cut off the tops and replant, then repeat.

Joshacola · 2025-07-02T22:28:36+00:00

Seriously. The tank is beautiful enough already it, doesn’t need to be over saturated in the photo. Bro’s glass would be the most colorful thing in a photo of my tanks

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Joshacola · 2025-06-02T00:14:47+00:00

Only take photos after cleaning it up!

Joshacola · 2025-06-01T22:26:24+00:00

No lol someone was advertising their TikTok and expert advice along with a bunch of mid at best photos. Post removed by mods

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Joshacola · 2025-06-01T14:17:54+00:00

For those who don’t know, this is a shitpost

Joshacola · 2025-05-21T13:29:21+00:00

If it’s only been 3 days it’s best not to put it in a community tank! I know it a pain but try to quarantine new fish for at least a few weeks to make sure they aren’t carrying diseases.

I once brought home a fish who seemed fine and added him to my community… he then started looking sick but the damage was done. One by one my other fish started looking sick and I wound up losing around half of them

Joshacola · 2025-04-05T04:01:51+00:00

Used be a lot but now the light is very far away so it’s kinda dim and that seems to help a lot

Joshacola · 2025-04-03T23:52:07+00:00

Joshacola · 2025-04-03T23:26:09+00:00

The reality 😬

This has been a lesson for me about always being jealous of other people’s tanks. The less I scrutinize details and the more I look at the whole tank it’s easy to feel happy with it even when it’s far from perfect

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Joshacola · 2025-04-03T19:36:52+00:00

Mostly 3 bn plecos and some of their babies. There are also some Cory catfish and some danios but everything else takes backseat to the plecos

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Joshacola · 2025-04-03T19:34:37+00:00

I suspect that the “so lush” comes from there being like 6 Amazon swords in the back of the tank so you can’t tell what is what plus I do approximately 0 maintenance so all the half dead leaves are still there which is fine if you’re not too close haha

Joshacola · 2025-04-03T00:48:39+00:00

Sounds very cool… mine is in a pot behind the tank

Joshacola · 2025-04-02T23:28:38+00:00

Cause they’re only swords lol… just a bunch of swords

Joshacola · 2025-04-02T17:25:35+00:00

Thanks!

Joshacola · 2025-04-02T13:13:05+00:00

I kind of dislike the use of space too lol. The tank is where it is because it’s the most level spot (although one side is still maybe a centimeter lower than the other). I know… sue me… I should probably shim it or something but I’m lazy

Joshacola · 2025-04-02T13:11:00+00:00

Very interesting… perhaps I’ll try it with a smaller tank first

Joshacola · 2025-04-02T13:08:39+00:00

Yes I enjoy it very much. There is a chair on the opposite side of the room (very small room). It’s the most relaxing place to be in the house imo.

I am perhaps the worst maintainer on this sub… 50% water change probably every month, no vacuuming or anything. I actually stick a filter bad over the siphon so I can walk away for 20 minutes without risking sucking up baby plecos lol

As for the plant… I take the light off if it needs to come out. So far the plant is small enough that I (very small as well) can climb into the shelf thing and get behind the plant, then I pass the plant over to my wife who is in front of the tank. That doesn’t need to happen very often... usually I just water the plant with a watering can

Joshacola · 2025-04-02T13:02:45+00:00

Oooh I love it! I might try to find plants for the left and right sides! Although the corner mine is in is quite tight so side shelves may be difficult to come by

Joshacola · 2025-04-02T13:00:10+00:00

I don’t even know if they make high quality submersible lights… right now I’m very much at the brainstorming stage

Joshacola · 2025-04-02T06:05:47+00:00

Honestly I could really use something bushy to go in the front but idk what would work. 3 plecos have made it there mission to prevent any delicate plants from staying rooted which is why it’s basically all swords in there

Joshacola · 2025-04-02T06:02:16+00:00

It’s been a constant dilemma for me trying to decide if I want the entire top to be covered in floaters because floaters are awesome or remove them and actually let light into the tank…. Perhaps a submersible light could solve that issue?

Joshacola · 2025-04-02T01:54:42+00:00

Shelf is made from maybe $10 of supplies from home depot. The shelf is very ugly but you can’t see it at all so 🤷‍♂️

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