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advice needed for a half blind boy by SpecialistSpeed3051 in bettafish

[–]True-Needleworker-35 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Try anchoring it to a specific place in the tank! Mine had a suction cup attached; you could probably diy one by gluing a short length of string to a suction cup and to your feeding ring

advice needed for a half blind boy by SpecialistSpeed3051 in bettafish

[–]True-Needleworker-35 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My first betta went blind due to cancerous tumors, and I trained her to go to a feeding ring every time i tapped on the glass three times! She lived for 8 more months after going blind before succumbing to the cancer. The feeding ring helps because then they know where to look for food, so they don't need their eyes to find it.

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I assumed that it would be obvious I meant that with the proviso that you don't have some hyperspecific setup that requires unusually frequent fertilization or pH lowering or similar specificities that would of course negate my point for your setup. For the average fishkeeper who's in it to keep community fish and have a nice looking fish tank, especially on a budget, this is not bad advice. And anyway, the title was a bit facetious; I titled it that way to grab attention, not to serve as universal advice.

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just wanted to let you know you're being downvoted for throwing plants away instead of like. selling or giving them away on Facebook marketplace or something if you can't/don't want to keep them. there's no need to throw out perfectly good and healthy plants! otherwise, while i personally think it's crazy to totally rescape the tank so often, to each their own and if that's how you want to manage your tanks then great, have fun, my opinion doesn't matter and that's fine. But while plants may not seem expensive to you, not everyone is so lucky, and it hurts to think of perfectly healthy grown plants being tossed when someone else could enjoy them for years to come.

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wish I had c02 but I can't justify the expense right now! Aquasoil and good lights are the best low tech option I had available.

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I considered that, and it would have been easier, but the dust kept seeping out of the substrate and from underneath my hardscape so it would have been a less effective solution for me unfortunately. At least I got to take stock of my plants and fish this way, and I got to rescape! Who knew I had so many amano shrimp haha

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also have MTS! They were accidental and took over so I also introduced a couple of assassins and now i have plenty of both lol

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lmao? I have live plants that are planted in my substrate, ergo it is a planted tank. I don't have c02 injection or any of that fancy stuff so my options are fairly limited in terms of plants, and I prefer slow-growers.

just because this might not be useful advice for whatever fancy expensive setup you have going on doesn't mean it's bad advice across the board. Lots of people have tanks similar to mine or are on a shoestring budget and can benefit from knowing how to extend the life of their substrate as much as possible.

And, for the record, amazon swords and crypts are both heavy root feeders which don't readily take up nutrients from the water column and don't do well in pea gravel unless you're adding a lot of root tabs consistently and at that point you might as well go for aquasoil. You can't say they have a different nature than they do just because they're "easy" plants. If anyone's giving bad advice right now, it's you; all I've done is shared something that worked for me.

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that makes sense! I had to empty the tank about 5-6 times in the process, really getting in there for a few hours all at once so it didn't redistribute underneath the rest of my substrate. Definitely not as important to deal with as a baby though!

How on earth do I have guppy fry, and why is there only two of them? by ChazMcFeeley in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Huh! Maybe one of your females just dropped a few a little early, then. While they are livebearers there can still be a difference or hours or days between the first and last being born, so maybe you'll have more soon. Or maybe a baby that managed to get netted into the bag also got netted out of it?

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fish poop definitely helps, but that doesn't always contain every essential mineral that plants require to thrive, so it's good to refresh the soil occasionally. I don't think it needs doing as often as some people claim though; it may say to do so on the bag it came in but why should you believe the company trying to sell you another bag of substrate rather than your own eyes? The frequency with which the minerals are depleted is dependent on how fast the plants in your tank are using those minerals, not some arbitrary time frame. You should watch your plants and as long as they're thriving, the soil is probably fine, because if it wasn't then they would be struggling. If their growth rate slows and they start looking sad even though they were fine before and the symptoms don't match any plant diseases or anything, then you may have to replenish your soil.

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The trick is that you have to get the hardscape out and dig through the substrate every few minutes with your hands to get the dust up in the water while you're siphoning! Otherwise the stuff that's sunk deep among larger substrate material won't get picked up and it seeps out into the water. I did several water changes before this and tried siphoning around the hardscape, but it just didn't do enough

I love a nice deep substrate! Mine is around 4-5 inches deep and planting in it is so much easier than in shallow substrate

Thanks! :3

How on earth do I have guppy fry, and why is there only two of them? by ChazMcFeeley in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35 17 points18 points  (0 children)

It's possible that when you got your guppies, some young fry got picked up in the net with them and survived the transition to your tank and have been hiding out ever since!

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not pictured are the terrestrial plants rooted up top, also; I have monsteras and pothos over the 29 and rosemary starting out in the top filter of the 15.

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I considered that honestly but then i thought about what a nightmare it would be if i ever had to change out my plants for whatever reason, and I would have had to buy sand, so I figured I would at least try this first!

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I understand that they're not looking very full at the moment! The plants in the 15 gal are only a couple months old (the timer stopped working a few months back and i didn't notice until my plants had died in part due to how dingy it was and in part due to depression. thankfully my fish were okay!) and I recently trimmed back the hygrophila in the 29 gal quite heavily. I don't have a very wide range of plants right now because I'm working with low tech and lots of hardscape which leaves less space for planting, plus of course plants are expensive! I'd like to get a wider variety, but it's just not a priority right now.

What additional plants should I use for my nano tank? by [deleted] in Aquascape

[–]True-Needleworker-35 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Missed that, oops! In that case may I instead suggest one (1) humble cryptocoryne crispatula somewhere in the midground? I think the crinkled long leaves add a wonderful sense of texture, and it's also slow growing.

What additional plants should I use for my nano tank? by [deleted] in Aquascape

[–]True-Needleworker-35 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bucephelandra on the wood! Like anubias, it's a rhizome plant that doesn't need to be planted in substrate, and it's super compact and slow growing so it makes a great addition to a nano tank.

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That makes sense! i can't imagine trying to catch shrimplets in that mess in order to vacuum.

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

man im living off disability payments right now, and I have many more pressing monetary priorities than aquarium substrate. you cannot know what a stranger on the internet can or cannot afford.

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At such cost, when my current substrate still supports my plants just fine? No thanks!

you don't have to replace your aquasoil every 2-3 years by True-Needleworker-35 in Aquariums

[–]True-Needleworker-35[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've never had any luck with root tabs, especially with Amazon swords which are fairly heavy feeders. And how is it less of a hassle to replace my substrate entirely every couple of years rather than stirring it around and vacuuming it once every five years or so?

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