I feel like I’m inadequate at taking proper care of them. I have been doing nonstop research after I found this subreddit and all you wonderful people but the more I learn, the more I realize I did wrong to start my tank. I love my tank and fish. But I feel like they could be doing better in other hands.
There are things I want to do like add healthy bacteria and macroorganisms but I have barely a starting point with their names. Do you guys have any suggestions? It’s only been up and running about a month and I’m allowing tannins into the water so it looks more natural. I’ve been trimming and spreading my baby tears as much as I can and build them some shelter and hidey holes. What do you guys think. What should I do to help them?
Posted by Spiffyfiberian9
4 Comments
Great to see you care so much about your fish. If I were you I would test the water to make sure you have a strong cycle, other than that it looks good. Also know that strong bacteria colonies and microorganisms take time no matter how much experience you have. If you have any questions I’m happy to help.
There’s many channels in YouTube,check them out.plants play an important role in keeping tanks clean,add shrimps too if possible,they finish off the food residues and deal with algae
I can assure you that when all of us started keeping fish, our first few batches of fish could’ve been in much better hands, so honestly, keep on trying, and it’ll eventually all click, it’s one of those hobbies where it takes time to learn everything, I’ve learnt a lot from watching fish aquascapers on YouTube such as “md fish tanks” and sepra design.
If your tank has been running for a month, you should be cycled or almost cycled. I’d start with testing the water to see where you’re at! After that, it’s all about the plants from here! I’d recommend getting a few Amazon swords, water spangles, and hanging pothos cuttings off the sides of the tank so the roots are in the water and the leaves aren’t. In my experience, all three of these plants have been very easy to care for and are extremely beneficial to the water! I’m not sure the type of substrate you’re using, so you may need to invest in root tabs for the swords, and I’d recommend a liquid fertilizer if you don’t use it already to give the plants any extra love and support they need! I’m not able to id all of your livestock, but I don’t think I saw any snails. Nerite snails are annoying when it comes to laying eggs everywhere, but they don’t hatch in freshwater tanks. But 3-4 in your tank would make a great cleanup crew. There are other types of snails too, but I think they all can breed and I think unviable eggs are way less of a nuisance than 100s of baby snails lol.