lmsmith

The daddy BN will probably do a really good job protecting them while they're small. They tend to do better if you leave them with the dad when they've hatched, but maybe consider taking 1/2 of them and leaving the other 1/2 with him and seeing how it goes?

This is probably a stupid question with heaps of variables, but I've planted some Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae. How long will it take to grow and spread out? I'm dosing flourish excell but no CO2, it has medium lighting for about 10-12hrs a day. Is there a general rule as to how long plants take to grow? When will I see changes?

I'm not even convinced it's necessarily *bad* water quality that causes it. I mean, my ones were in a breeding tank where I bred blue rams, so the water quality was pretty spot on for that. The cories were also breeding regularly. I think it's just a certain aspect in the water, like calcium as suggested by F15hguy. I'm not sure it's just calcium; it's probably a combination of macros that contribute.

Definitely wasn't true in my case, but makes perfect sense. I do think they're being inbred a bit which is causing them to reach maturity faster and not grow as large.

I've had bronze cories that stayed that sort of size. I think a lot depends on water quality and food, space etc.

No, he tells me he is but actually he just plays PS3. Sigh. I'm super excited to follow the build thread.

My bf never helps. "Babe, water change" "Sorry, I'm busy scrubbing the toilet"

That's amazing. It's so beautiful. But I have to ask, just how big is this tank it's going into?

Planted 2 lots of java fern and some indian fern, as well as a couple of bits of taller ambulia. I can't wait until the plants start to shoot up and look tall. The waiting is the worst part.

Perfect, thanks. And I assume I just dose the amount they suggest? I like these sorts of tanks: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/yourt ... Wasserpest http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/yourt ... 0&n=beetea I'm happy to just have a few types of plants, but I definitely need swimming room. Thanks - so far it's been shooting across rather than up. Any way I can help with that, or will it eventually just start growing up? Thanks everyone for your help so far!

The lights don't cover the whole tank, so the sides and front don't get direct light. A lights upgrade was on my list anyway

What sort of fert dosing? Is the excell stuff ferts?

I was looking at the 20g system which is about $50. Canisters are $20 for 3, so I figure it will work out much cheaper in the short term, and especially since I've a) never used co2 before, and b) don't have anywhere to store the co2 tank and stuff, I think it would work out much better for me. If it were a larger tank, I could definitely see the value in the sodastream system

Don't you just buy new tiny bottles for it? How do you deal with CO2 causing pH swings?

This tank is going to house dwarf puffers sometime in the future. I've planted it and am waiting for things to grow. At the moment I have ramshorn snails in there, and that's it. Here's the first attempt at aquascaping. I rescaped tonight and have spread out the grassy plant, which I've been informed is Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae. I'm hoping it turns into a nice thick ground cover. I'm thinking of getting a fluval tiny CO2 system, but I've never used CO2 before. I want fast, awesome growth, but I'm a bit worried that in a mostly sealed tank, it will spell disaster. I brought some flourish excell today on a whim. Is it any good? Will it help my plants grow? The fluval edge doesn't have awesome lighting, but I'm planning on getting additional LED lighting for the sides to help growth during the day. I don't want to spend huge amounts of money on this tank, but I WOULD like it to look very pretty and get fast growth. So, basically, I've never really had much of a proper planted tank that took anything more than some plants and a light. I want this to be a bit more than that and to be very solidly planted, so any advice would be great.

Thanks for the quick reply! I've currently got it at the back of the tank but I'm thinking I might do a bit of a re-arrange and use it as ground cover at the front.

I've got 2 of these. I want to grow heaps more of it. Should I separate it out a bit and plant individual shots, or just wait until it spreads by itself?

I don't have an answer for you, but that foreground is going to look rad when it fills in!

I'm going to buy some this weekend, but if they don't have any, I'll pop down to the stream by my house and go hunting.

Perfect. That's great info, thanks.

Mmm, I never *actually* test water either. If I'm cycling from scratch, I wait a few weeks, otherwise I do water changes, large and often (40%/day) for a couple of weeks. Never had a death from a cycling issue.

I don't eat fish or seafood, but I'm sure my kitties would be keen!

They're living in tropical conditions at the store. I'll give them a go, other wise I'll feed them to my marines

Maybe I need to go fishing

How small are they???? The ones at the petshop are like...3-4cm?