Aquafrogg's 10 gallon tank journal

Another update on the forest. Added some more tannins yesterday and replanted some cabomba stems, Eddie really liked it. He sang up a storm last night. <3 plus bonus dramatic shot of Reggie

Side note, my baby java ferns seem to be constantly pearling? Have I figured out the perfect combo to grow java ferns fast??

 

I always look forward to seeing pics of Reggie. ❤

 

Following

 

I always look forward to seeing pics of Reggie. ❤

I always look to being able to hear from you! I’ll PM you, we should catch up again soon

 

Just wanted to post a picture of the nerite as proof he is alive lol. I lost him for a few weeks but it just turns out he was going to town on the back wall of glass. I had grown an entire thick carpet of BBA and hair algae on it for him before I got him. It’s completely clear now. He does a good job. You can see on the wood where he has/hasn’t eaten the BBA and Mulm.




I’m doing another water change at some point tonight so I will get a bunch of pictures then. The microfauna in this tank is incredible. There’s so much life. When the lights go on in the morning they all go scattering

 

Just finished reading through the thread. I really enjoy the updates, it’s nice to watch the tanks evolution.

 

Just finished reading through the thread. I really enjoy the updates, it’s nice to watch the tanks evolution.

Thank you! You inspired me to go through my thread and see all the old pictures it’s come a long way!

 

Got pictures of the tank and of all 3 boys today

The reddish picture of Eddie was during the “sunrise” the planted+ light does

 

Some updates! I just did a huge water change and trim yesterday. There’s about half the plant mass now. Also one of my aponogetons grew this super long stem flower thing? Anyone know what it is?

 

Just wanted to post a picture of the nerite as proof he is alive lol. I lost him for a few weeks but it just turns out he was going to town on the back wall of glass. I had grown an entire thick carpet of BBA and hair algae on it for him before I got him. It’s completely clear now. He does a good job. You can see on the wood where he has/hasn’t eaten the BBA and Mulm.

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I’m doing another water change at some point tonight so I will get a bunch of pictures then. The microfauna in this tank is incredible. There’s so much life. When the lights go on in the morning they all go scattering

I can also see nerite eggs

 

It’s a flower!

 

I can also see nerite eggs

Dang it!! I thought that was sand!! He is a girl now

 

It’s a flower!

Well, it’s gone now!

 

An Eddie photo dump <3

 

So glad I've found your pictures, then followed your thread
Also, I'm completely new to the Betta thing (only had Cories and Black Neon Tetras before, now I have a baby girl Betta), so, what's the purpose of the almond leaves? Is is for the color, the tannins?
Anyway, they look so cool!! Love the look of your tank and all the lil ones living in it!

 

So glad I've found your pictures, then followed your thread
Also, I'm completely new to the Betta thing (only had Cories and Black Neon Tetras before, now I have a baby girl Betta), so, what's the purpose of the almond leaves? Is is for the color, the tannins?
Anyway, they look so cool!! Love the look of your tank and all the lil ones living in it!

Thank you very much!! This is about to be a very lengthy comment, sorry about that.

First of all, congrats on becoming a betta mom!! They are very rewarding and personable little fish. If you have any questions about them feel free to ask! If I don’t have any answers, I can tag a few people who might.

So leaf litter is very beneficial for all of the critters in an aquarium, not only for bettas (although just about every betta breeder uses them and swears by them, some even say they promote stronger fin rays). The first beneficial thing are the tannic acids released by them as they decompose, which are found in every natural body of water (even the ocean) and are extremely healthy for your fish. I can link an article by Tannin Aquatics that can explain it a lot better. These tannins also turn the water a nice rich golden brown color, which is also in just about every freshwater body of water. They also provide food for any microfauna in your aquarium that help decompose things and can be a good food source for fry. Also the hiding spots, which both my frog and betta use.

Indian almond leaves are probably the most common leaf used, but they are expensive and break down quickly. I prefer to make a tannin “tea” with almond leaves in a tea pot and add some in after water changes, but I use oak leaves from my back yard as the actual leaf litter. I’ve found they break down so much slower than Indian almond leaves. I’ve had mine in since Christmas and they haven’t even begun to get slimy or frail yet. Meanwhile the Indian almond leaf pieces I added at the same time have withered to nothing already. Hope this helps!!

 

Tank update: been slacking on water changes. I usually do 2x/week so that algae doesn’t form (it gets pretty out of hand if it begins to form) but I’ve just been doing one per week the past two weeks. I need to add more water to my tannin jar cause I’m almost out of tannins already. Anywho, this tank looks kinda crazy at the moment. However, the cabomba hasn’t covered the surface of the water yet after I trimmed every single stem the other day.

 

So glad I've found your pictures, then followed your thread
Also, I'm completely new to the Betta thing (only had Cories and Black Neon Tetras before, now I have a baby girl Betta), so, what's the purpose of the almond leaves? Is is for the color, the tannins?
Anyway, they look so cool!! Love the look of your tank and all the lil ones living in it!

The tannins that leaf litter releases (as explained by sunflower) have medicinal and antibacterial properties (or something along those lines) and are generally a health booster for fish.

 

Thank you!! I didn't know that!

 

Do you guys know if these tannins would be safe for Cory Catfish? I have a False JuliI in the tank right now, with my baby girl Betta, and I don't want to do anything that will compromise anyone's health.

Oh, and yeah, I know Cories are schooling fish, I'm going to go to the pet store today get him some pals, they're supposed to have new Juliis coming in this afternoon.

 

Do you guys know if these tannins would be safe for Cory Catfish? I have a False JuliI in the tank right now, with my baby girl Betta, and I don't want to do anything that will compromise anyone's health.

Oh, and yeah, I know Cories are schooling fish, I'm going to go to the pet store today get him some pals, they're supposed to have new Juliis coming in this afternoon.

Yup, tannins should be A-OK for corys.

 

Thank you, FinalFins!! I guess since they're naturally from the Amazon Basin, that makes sense

 

Some more pictures because I’m obsessed. Considering thinning down my cabomba a lot do give more of a stringy look versus a thick, dense look and adding a lot more tannins. I can’t imagine how low my pH is with tannins and CO2 but my critters definitely do not seem to mind at all and my nerite’s shell is extremely healthy.

 

Oh I love your tank! I'm setting up my own betta tank after many a setback, though it's only 5.5 gal. Love the plants!

 

My husband keeps saying he wants to get some of these African Frogs, and I never really got into it, but now I'm starting to think they look pretty cool

 

Oh, btw, I followed your guy's info here and ordered some Almond Leaves from Amazon. Unfortunately I don't think there's any oak tree nearby, where I could grab some leaves, so, for now the Almond Leaves will have to do it ($7 for 10 leaves). Gonna re-read how to use them here

 

Oh, btw, I followed your guy's info here and ordered some Almond Leaves from Amazon. Unfortunately I don't think there's any oak tree nearby, where I could grab some leaves, so, for now the Almond Leaves will have to do it ($7 for 10 leaves). Gonna re-read how to use them here

Magnolia leaf litter is my favorite for tanks. I just throw them in directly from my yard.

 

I think there's a magnolia bush in the backyard of my building, gonna check out if it's really magnolia. Thanks for the idea!

 

Got some “sunset” pictures tonight after a water change and squirting a healthy amount of bloodworms in for everyone. Will get full tank pictures when everything settles.

 

Some tank pictures!! Plus some other pictures (one of all 3 inhabitants in the same spot!)

 

Some tank pictures!! Plus some other pictures (one of all 3 inhabitants in the same spot!)

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Just the three homies chillin’

 

I did an oopsie... I kind of let this tank go for a little bit so the algae got out of control, the CO2 ran out, and a lot of the plants died off... so I took everything out and rescaped the tank completely.

The idea is a lot of rocks and wood to make hiding places and then everything tapers off towards the right. I’d like to go look for some more rocks to add a rock and stick pile to the right or maybe some plants, idk. I’m practicing social distancing so I foresee a hefty shipment from buceplants in the near future. I still need to add tannins and let the water settle, will add more pictures tomorrow probably.

Before



Extreme amounts of algae and mulm everywhere

After



A million times cleaner, but more sparse (will be fixed shortly)

 

This is the tank as of today, I’ve got some tannin tea brewing outside that I’ll add later and take pictures after.






I added a rock pile to the right and I want to find one last thick piece of wood to put between the rock pile and the main island. And then I want to get my cabomba propagating and add some stems to the right corner to cover the filter and drop checker and diffuser. Might do a little plant shopping too. Any thoughts?

Oh and when I add the tannins I’ll add a few more leaves to the bottom. I already have some floating on the top that I didn’t boil (as you can see)

 

Looking good! I love how the plants on the left look, it's super textured and neat!

 

Added the tannins! Very pleased. You can’t see them super well on camera though. I’m loving the detail/rockiness that gives my froggy tons of places to explore.

 

There was still algae everywhere. I chopped off all the leaves of the aponogeton (had algae and didn’t look good) and left the bulbs to encourage new growth. Did a bit more rearranging and added more leaves. Also cleaned/took off roots from pothos and moved those around as well. This is how we are looking, hopefully all will grow in well.

 

Welp, this took me 7 hours.

 

Hi everyone, I'm not on this forum much but here's how my tank is looking, I did a video on rescaping it (I wanted a similar design but clean everything) and I can't wait to see what it looks like when the plants grow in

 

 

In case anyone is interested in an update on my tank (and seeing my adorable frog). I don’t really come on this particular forum much anymore but there might be someone curious about how all of my critters are doing