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Your welcome. I would love a big tank like yours. I think I would definitely make it into a species tank. Giants Danios in a tank that size and heavily planted would rock...!

If you have a low intensity light the growth of your plants will be slow. Anubias by nature are slow growing plants which assimilate their nutrients from the water column (75%) and (25%) through their roots. Also, if you have no carbon dioxide then I would recommend to look into NilocG’s Thrive...

One thing I would recommend is getting a bag of laterite and mixing it with your existing gravel. Laterite is rich in iron since is a clay base substrate which will help with your plants. You can make gravel work with your plants, some may need a little more help than others depending on the...

I agree with your observation. I was not trying to say Biohome is a chemical filtration media. What I was trying to share is that I had a completely established filter in which Inadded Biohome and it’s been seven months. More than enough time for anaerobic bacteria to colonize the media. But my...

I bought two pounds of the Biohome Ultimate and it’s been seven months and my nitrates are at the same level they were Seven months ago. I took that stuff out of my canister filter and bought Fluval’s Clearmax and not only did my nitrates came down but also my phosphate levels. The Fluval...

I wouldn’t say scary but there is several factors you have to take in consideration. The main thing when deciding to go with a planted tank is choosing what TYPE of plants you want. What I mean by this is fast growing vs. slow growing plants. And the reason for this fast growing plants will...

The plants ability to correctly carry out photosynthesis can be affected by very fast current. Plants absorb nutrients in two basic ways: a) through their roots and b) through their leaves. Therefore, in a planted tank you want a gentle current throughout the tank so that nutrients are equally...

I have kept planted tanks for over 17 years and a very high flow is never really necessary or wanted. One thing you don’t want are dead zones within your tank. So that is why it’s very important to understand how your equipment works and find the best place to put your intake and output if you...

Well if you want to leave the gravel you could put a small cap of sand on top of the gravel. This way you would cover up the blue and get the look of a sand substrate. Plus sand will provide you with a good planting media for your plants. You will have to use root tabs for your plants; but this...

Good afternoon Magtom, I would recommend the use of a liquid fertilizer made specifically for low tech tanks. I use Thrive from NilocG’s. If you to their website and look up their liquid fertilizers they make a specific formula for tanks which do not receive or have CO2 fertilization. The...

My 75 gallon dirted tank.

I have a 75 gallon tank which is dirted. I used a layered substrate with the natural plants I was going to use in my tank in mind. My substrate thus, have three layers. For the first layer I used a big bag of Eco-Complete, which is lava rock that comes in this liquid substance that is full...

Fish keeping had always brought so much peace and tranquillity to my life that I instantly fell in love with it. I can literally sit in front of my tank and watch my fish swim around for hours. Now that I have children of my own I wanted to share the beauty of nature with my kids. To teach them...

The chemipure green is a specialized type of carbon made specifically for planted aquariums. This type of carbon does not remove the nutrients and minerals your plants needs to thrive. So if you have a planted aquarium and want to use carbon this is the way to go. The bags are lasting me at...

Good Evening D6Veteran, I would say give it some time. Your plants like anything else in your new tank is going through an adaptation period. Most aquatic plants are no exception to this rule. The great majority of the are grown immersed an so their leaves which they have when you buy the plant...

Good Evening Bentley, In a nine gallon tank a small CO2 system would go a long way. As far as this I personally use a DIY kit and it works great for me. I bought my kit on Amazon from a company call ZRDR; it uses a combination of Citric Acid and Baking Soda plus water. I bought the 2 liter...

So as far as the organic soil (Miracle Grow) the first 3 to 4 days were the craziest while I was cycling the tank. I went with that soil because it had the lowest amount of ammonia which the soil will leach during the first 72-96 hours after exposure to water. The water will even have a strong...

You can do a mixture of aqua soil or planting organic soil ( I used Miracle Grow’s Nature’s Own organic soil) for the lower level of the substrate. The volcanic rock is excellent media for beneficial bacteria and it acts as a natural buffer for water; it will have a tendency to naturally lower...

One thing affecting your water chemistry is definitely the amount of plants and you have the plants bare in the tank with no substrate? Furthermore, the combination of no substrate and no fish is not helping the process. Plants help with the buffering process, but the plants need minerals which...

Good Evening, Is your tank heavy planted at all? Or do you have just a minimal amount of plants? Also, is there anything that could be leaching ions of carbon within your water column at night? How is your water change scheduled? Do you use liquid fertilizers? And do you run air stones at night...