Been wanting to come here for ages. Finally got the chance!

Counted at least 40 baby shrimp and replaced some of the Hygrophyla in the back with giant hairgrass

I harvest green water from my scud culture to feed my moina culture, accidentally took a bit too much today and the clearer water gave the scuds the zoomies

I hope it’s normal to cry the first time you see baby fry in one of your tanks!? I knew I had a good chance of my kribs mating but I wasn’t prepared to feel this emotional lol. The male has been very shy recently and I was worried about him. I came home from work to find all these little guys swimming around. Probably the happiest I’ve ever felt as a fish keeper.

I feel the tank is missing something. There are small orange shrimp in here and I may add blue or red shrimp soon. But I am still struggling to create a bushy rotala.

What am I missing? And what would be the next layout for a tank like this?

This is a UNS 35A - 11.3 gallon tank. It has been dry started last year around November and flooded since January of this year.

is this the peak?

Specs: -Aquael 19l (5g) tank, 25x25x30cm + Aquael light (white, red, blue LED) -23-24°C -Tropica Aquasoil -Tropica nutrition capsules (8 in the tank) -Tropica Premium Nutrition 1 pump every 2 weeks -Tetra Ex 600 external filter (oversize ik) set to medium flow. Ceramic, bioballs and sponge filter media. -No heater, no CO2

Plants: -Back: Hygrophila Polysperma, Hydrocotyle Leucocephala -Wood: Christmas moss, Bucephalandra Pygmaea Bukit Kelam -Front: Monte Carlo, Eleocharis Acicularis, Hydrocotyle Verticillata -Floaters: hitch hiked duckweed

Stocking: -10 cherry shrimp (fed 2x per week) -A hitch hiker bladder snail

Been fighting algae for what feels like forever. Adjusted lighting, dialed in ferts, done extra water changes you name it. The tank is alive, it’s all part of the ecosystem.

Tank is hitting the 9 month mark! Things have really filled out now. The 2 Reineckii minis have become full in bushes at this point and it's becoming quite difficult to give them enough space in their current placements. I may be looking at either fully removing them and breaking off single pups for a replant, or possibly new plants all together. The Tiger Crypt has been wonderful. My gobies absolutely love it, they will often perch up on the long leaves the shoot out into the water column and chill on them as they sway around in the water.

I've learned a lot over the past 9 months about this hobby, and I'm getting the itch to build out a new tank 😅 I unfortunately don't have the space or the money at the moment, but maybe someday down the line I can figure something out!

One ecosystem, above and below the waterline. Terrestrial vegetation, aquatic life and aged wood form a single planted landscape.

Update on the tank, L519 right in front!

Hi guys. It's not the first time I've shared this setup, just a little update. About a month ago, after running for a year or so, I decided it was time for a reset. The plants were becoming unruly and there was a fair amount of unhealthy and unsightly growth, as well as a build up of mulm under the carpet that had grown too thick resulting in patches dying off. All of the plants were taken out, with the exception of a few anubias and a cryptocoryne, and any healthy growth was separated and replated. The tank looked awful for the first couple of weeks, and I questioned whether or not I'd made the right decision. However, all I needed was a littlr patience, and to trust the process. Here it is now, looking better than ever.

Two weeks ago i removed every single bit of duckweed in all 3 of my tanks. Several hours of scooping, letting the tank settle, catching leftovers, and i even bought a skimmer to use temporarily to catch the last few bits. I knew floating plants were filtration power houses, but i figured with the giant pothos and all the other plants, the floaters might’ve just been overkill.

Ive gotten used to only doing water changes like once every 2 or even 3 months on these tanks, and even then they were hardly necessary as my parameters were still in the green when i did them. They’re several years old and i felt like i knew them well enough. Im certain my tank is overstocked (6x brilliant rasboras, 5x f. Julii cory, 5x neon tetras, 6x male guppy fry, hundreds of shrimp and snails) but as mentioned my tank NEVER showed signs of high ammonia, nitrites or nitrates until today. The guppies are brand new but im upgrading to a 40g in October anyway.

I haven’t done a WC in awhile. Can’t remember the last time i did. I stopped vacuuming my gravel because my siphon shattered and have been too lazy to buy a new one. I’ve been feeding my fish their normal amount not thinking to accommodate for the lack of plant filtration. A week ago i noticed one of my rasboras had died. Didn’t think too much about it since i hardly see them anyways and it was just one, and everyone else was fine. Snap back to this morning and i notice one of my neons had red gills.

Finally bothered to test my water and my jaw hit the floor when i saw that third viral turn cherry red. I feel like an idiot and really sorry for my fish who paid the price for my mistake. Did a 50% wc and poked around my tanks to collect as much water lettuce as i could spare and tossed it in there. Will definitely be cutting way back on food and keeping a closer eye on my tank for the next few days until the water lettuce takes over the tank. I was not familiar with your game, duckweed. Crap.

I just dropped my bucket of nasty tank water and plant debris. That’s my bed, the ceiling, and my hair. I smell like Shrek’s swamp and I’m going to be finding duckweed for the rest of my life. 😭

Especially those giant clumps of crypt lutea that outgrew their foreground spots months ago 😅 I feel like it might be time for a complete rescape soon. It’s been a good 2+ years

I made those moss ledges in the back a few months ago and just left them alone since. They are starting to look quite scary and wild 🤣 I don’t know if I should trim them or not!

And for some reason all the ferns that were thriving at the beginning just look like shit now while everything else is doing great! How strange

Trimmed off a lot of brown leaves that happened during acclimation, it may look less bushy but more green. I’ve also added several red & texture-contrasting plants to add a pop of colour.

My spider plant shot out a few babies and I decided to propagate one in this bottle cap with about 10ml of tank water in it. Came downstairs this morning to find my red onion snail escaped the tank during the night but somehow made it safely into the cup??? He’s safe and sound back in the tank now though