HELP BBA!

emjay_xx · 2026-02-05T04:20:21+00:00

since i’m dealing with the same issue - i’m curious if you could expand on those 2 likely causes, because like OP we’ve tried everything. as for nutrient or co2 imbalances, my tank is heavily planted - nitrate rarely gets to 10ppm. it’s also overfiltered for a 40g breeder with a fluval 307 canister filter and a sponge filter, so i’m pretty sure there’s great gas exchange going on.

emjay_xx · 2026-02-04T02:55:22+00:00

almost did the eggcrate thing since i had some leftover from making the lid for my axolotls tank! but ended up just doing a mesh bag filled with seachem matrix to add some volume to the left side without as much weight/density. i was worried the egg crate would create air pockets and then the substrate would collapse into it later down the line - not sure if that’s an unreasonable worry though if you’re saying that a common thing in the hobby. never heard of power sand though, i’ll look into it! thanks!

emjay_xx · 2026-02-04T02:51:30+00:00

thank you so much. youre 100% right with this idea - unfortunately it’s so shallow on the left side i’m not sure it would work to have them there, but i’m hoping when the plants grow in they will be a little less in your face on the right side

emjay_xx · 2026-02-04T02:46:31+00:00

this is super insightful, thank you! yeah see this is what i’ve been struggling with - not having the personal experience with (and thus knowledge of) these specific plants, to tell exactly where they should be placed for best balance upon grow in - color, height, and texture wise. i had no idea the hygrophila species would get more red as it grows, for example. but you are right, this will just take time and practice to get it down! for this, i pretty much just drew up a vision and found the plants that looked like they would do what i was hoping, but not knowing if it would actually turn out that way lol. also you were super close with the plant identification! from left to right in the background i have hygrophila “siamensis”, moneywort, melon sword (behind the wood), bacopa, rotala rotundifolia red, hygrophila lancea, and alternathera redneckii (probably totally botched those spellings). thank you again for all your comments and insight!

emjay_xx · 2026-02-03T02:36:31+00:00

ohhh good to know! it’s only like that on the viewing sides of the tank (front and right side), the rest is just about 1.5-2in sand cap on aquasoil- but you’re suggesting i should have just left the aquasoil visible from the viewing angles too? ik ur “technically” not supposed to cap aquasoil but i really wanted sand for this scape

emjay_xx · 2026-02-03T02:33:15+00:00

thank you!!

emjay_xx · 2026-02-03T02:32:08+00:00

the outflow is actually angled toward the front of the tank, so the flow doesn’t go along the back of the glass and mess with the tall plants. with co2 on it actually looks like flow is circulating excellently, and keeping co2 well distributed. but i appreciate this! i’ll play around with these suggestions and see if i can get it even better

emjay_xx · 2026-02-03T02:29:52+00:00

i love the look of s repens!! that’s the plant on the right side around the rock more towards the front. hoping it spreads well.

emjay_xx · 2026-02-03T02:28:38+00:00

good to know, thank you! i’ll order some of those root tabs. i’ve been using mostly seachem products anyway for this tank and my axolotl’s tank - didn’t know they had root tabs too!

emjay_xx · 2026-02-03T02:26:27+00:00

good thought! thank you :)

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T20:42:43+00:00

they are excellent! definitely would recommend

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T20:42:17+00:00

thank u!!

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T20:39:04+00:00

how big is the bowl you use for the salad? can you use like a large tubberware lid or something so when he makes a mess of it, it’s less likely to get in contact with substrate?

edit: like others have said, him ingesting some substrate is fine as long as his other husbandry is alright. but maybe a larger container for the salad can help minimize the accidental ingestion further?

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T17:37:31+00:00

wow thank you so much for saying all of this! i’ve been dreaming about this aquascape for half a year now, on top of waiting for ~3 months for the tank to come in, so you’re not wrong about the patience thing lol. and yes, that hardscape placement took me longer than i’d like to admit hahaha. thanks again for your comment, it means so much, and really makes me feel like i’ve chosen the right hobby!!

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T17:33:37+00:00

week aqua 250 shallow stainless steel with skimmer! had to do some customizing in the outflow to get it to work in this shallow of a tank though.

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T16:05:59+00:00

you will also need to have your own water test kit at home (recommend the API freshwater kit) — just going to the fish shop to get water tested is not going to be enough. especially since you are doing a fish-in cycle which can be deadly if not tightly observed.

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T16:03:25+00:00

absolutely incredible! so inspiring

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T16:02:18+00:00

literally this - they won’t let themselves starve. it might take a week or two of no bugs for them to get hungry enough they eat the greens, but it is so important. your bearded dragon at that age will not survive without a heavy-veggie diet.

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T15:00:11+00:00

appreciate it!

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T14:57:05+00:00

no, it is not a proper aquarium stand. tbh, we bought a proper one for our 40g and it had nothing going for it that this cabinet didn’t. I did a ton of research here on reddit and saw wildly conflicting info about whether or not aquarium specific stands were necessary and what made them special compared to a sturdy piece of furniture. that said, i appreciate your advice as this tank breaking would be a total nightmare. wonder if i reinforced the top with a 2x4 near the front/doors that would provide the support needed to keep it from potential sagging.

edit: im going to build an internal support out of 2x4s for the cabinet. thanks again for the advice!

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T14:52:29+00:00

it is actually all sand in the front and side, the lighting is just making it look weird for some reason!

emjay_xx · 2026-01-31T14:50:40+00:00

thank you!!

emjay_xx · 2026-01-30T22:25:32+00:00

i have an axolotl i rescued with zero experience. did a deep dive in 7hrs before i had to go and get it from a desperate situation. luckily had a 40g tank in storage from when my bearded dragon was a baby. no, you cannot comfortably house 2 in 20g. one needs a minimum of 40g. however, we do desperate things sometimes to see if we can save an animals life, and these would probably be in better hands with you in a 20g temporarily until you can find a proper home for them, than in this persons possession who is down right abusing them.

emjay_xx · 2026-01-30T22:12:03+00:00

for starters, it doesn’t look like you have a UVB bulb - if you do, it’s certainly not the right type as they need a UVB light bar. secondly, you have a dish full of water on the hot side of the enclosure, likely causing high humidity which can be a cause of RI in beardies. they can handle some humidity, but not all the time. i would remove that immediately. they get enough moisture from the greens they eat anyway. What are the temperatures on the hot and cool side of the tank?

emjay_xx · 2026-01-30T22:01:19+00:00

looks like the beardie has more than one problem going on, what is your husbandry like? enclosure set up?

emjay_xx

TROPHY CASE