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I would recommend getting the normal thrive. It’s more bang for your buck because it’s more concentrated. If you want to dose it leaner like Thrive C, you can just dose it at half the recommended levels. Thrive C is a solid #2 option though. I would not go with Thrive +. That has a form...

That post is over a year and a half old now and I’m glad you’ve pointed it out — I’ve since changed my opinion and don’t see it as black and white. A pair or a group could work in a 16g, but it may not. Honey gouramis can get aggressive among each other and bully a weaker conspecific to death...

What do you mean by fighting with low KH? Why are you worried about the PH dropping below 6.6?

Higher temps do indeed make things more difficult, with temps 80 and above specifically making things harder on plants. 2 things warmer water does is it puts a higher demand on energy production for plants and lowers dissolved oxygen levels which are important for healthy tanks. It doesn’t...

I think that’s overstocked. A lot of fish in the middle of the water column. I would go with one of the tetras only and up whichever of those to 12-15. You could add a group of bottom dwellers too. So the stocking would be 12-15 tetra, 4-5 guppies, 10 shrimp, and 6 bottom dwellers. If you...

I love my python. It doesn’t work with my sink or bathtub, so I actually hook mine up to my shower. See what’s up with your bathtubs and showers, one of them could work. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe it’s generally highly discouraged to use water that has been softened for aquariums...

Nice shot of mermaid weed.

Sup everyone! Mid-week update. Here is the tank: Decided to get rid of the hydrocotyle. It did not want to stay rooted in the substrate. I think it would have looked much better and been easier to deal with attached to some hardscape like lava rock. One big bonus is you can now see the...

What nitrate test are you using? API? If so, it’s important that you really hit the second bottle hard against your hand or a surface to mix it around and then shake it very vigorously for the time it says before doing the test. If you aren’t doing that it’s possible you’re getting inaccurate...

He could have had an anatomical issue where an organ in his body didn’t grow right. Based on his having issues for a while, that’s kind of what it sounds like to me. I’m also really sorry this happened, it’s an unfortunate part of the hobby. 20% seems low to me for a water change in a...

Dropsy is a symptom, not an illness. How often do you do water changes? When did you get them and did you do any quarantine? Have you added anything new to the tank recently? 0 nitrates is extremely low for a tank with four poop monsters in it.

Okay nice nice, yeah increased oxygenation and even root tabs should help. But regular gravel by itself does indeed give plants a harder time with rooting so that’s most likely a large factor.

Without injecting CO2, you cannot exceed equilibrium. At equilibrium, your CO2 ppm is only like 3-5ppm or so. Natural environments that support thriving plant growth typically have elevated levels of carbon dioxide (10 - 40+ ppm) from organic decomposition and underground stores of CO2. One...

I would highly recommend reading more into what injecting CO2 entails. This website is a great resource: https://www.2hraquarist.com/. But to answer your question, yeah definitely. In nature it’s normal in plenty of areas where fish live in more acidic environments (tetras, angelfish, and...

What’s your filter situation like? You’ll ideally want to use either a reactor or an atomizer rather than an in-tank diffuser on a tank that size to get efficient CO2 diffusion. The best way to judge whether you are injecting enough CO2 is to ensure you are getting at least a 1pt drop in PH...

Thank you! :)

Thank you! :)

Been a while again. Thought I'd update on how the tank is looking. Changed some plants and others have grown in much better. Here is how the tank was looking over the course of a couple weeks recently before a 3 hour trimming session this last weekend. And after the trimming, this is...

Sorry to hear that you're seeing some ammonia and nitrite. Just wanted to chime in and say that I have also never had my cycle disrupted by those medications.

Male Pearl Gourami