# 6 gallon tank progress



## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

So I bought this 6 gallon fluval 6 gallon tank that would have been close to 200 bucks at the store. I got it for $80 from my LFS. granted it is used but there are no leaks and it works just fine. 

Now I wanna try my hand on one of those landscape looking tanks. I never done it before so if anyone has any idea on what type of plants I should get and add to the bonsai tree, let me know! =D

Anyway here is the WIP landscape I am going for. I'm not sure If I should add small rocks to it or just leave it like this and add small plants that wont grow tall.

let me know what you think!


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## blubird101 (Jan 25, 2019)

Oooh, good luck! I'd love to see the finished project!
I think in the dark section you can use a good low carpeting plant, like baby tears or monte carlo. It would almost look like grass. Or you could just use good old dwarf hairgrass, though it would need some trimming. And I guess yeah, some small stones in key parts of the tank would help to keep that illusion of scale.

As for a the "tree" I've seen some people take apart marimo moss balls and spread them on top, making the form of the tree. I personally like the branch you have though, and I don't think you should cover the small detailed branches!

Either way, looks like a great start!


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Yeah I was thinking about adding some of those carpet plants into the tanks. Thanks for the ideas! =D

You think rocks would be a nice touch? What type of rocks do you think I should add? I was thinking some jagged rocks slanted upward but not 100% sure. Where do you think I should place them? my thought was either around the tree or on the flat side to the left. There's not too much substrate over there and was thinking about having the rocks have some moss on them. I was also thinking of making this tank have CO2. Any suggestions on what would be a cheap rout to go for that kind of thing?

For the tree. I have to agree with you not adding any plants on it. I'm just wondering if it would look to bare if left "dead" I was thinking of nano Anubias so the roots can drape down. That or what you thought of, the moss balls. 

I have added water to the tank and turned on the filter. thinking of having no heater for the tank. I think I remember hearing that plants like cooler water than warm. I would also have to find some fish that will be okay with colder water. If all else fails I'll end up putting a small heater in there.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

ignore the cloudy water. one of my friends gave me a great idea to add a hidy hole under the tree. All that it needs are the plants, some rocks and the FISH...once it cycles.


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## Old Dog 59 (Nov 11, 2018)

That's a neat Idea. I like the layout of the substrate. I think once the plants are in it will be a really beautiful tank.


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## blubird101 (Jan 25, 2019)

Something like this (specifically talking about the stones on each side, though if you wanted to cover your tree you could, though I still think its good on its own) would be awesome! You see how some small stones on either side look like natural boulders in mini scale? Helps to get that perspective you're looking for.

Love the hidey hole, great idea!

(edit, forgot the picture *facepalm* i'll comment again with it)


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## blubird101 (Jan 25, 2019)

*edit* forgot to add the picture haha, here you go!


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

yeah that's what I was thinking too with the rocks. that or this type of rock formation some how mixed in. Maybe the rocks can form around the "road?"










I ended up changing the sand to small gravel due to the plastic I used to keep the two substrate separated from one another didn't work so well. I like the brown instead of the white sand. I still need to fix a few things to the gravel but it's a start!


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## Old Dog 59 (Nov 11, 2018)

It looks very nice. You have a good start going. A few well placed rounded stones on either side of the road would look amazing. I would add some moss or very low grasses and then Anubis on the tree side but not high enough to hide the tree. on the other side some Java fern and a couple of taller swords to the back of the tank on either side.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

So I bought seed for this tank! It's SO Much cheaper than buying it already grown oh my god. I bought Glossostigma Hemianthus and Hygrophila seeds. I heard good reviews about it growing in 14 days and it will be exciting to watch it grown day by day! I will be taking photos of the progress once both seeds arrive. I will also be adding some of this plant into my other tanks as well! =D 


As for the Sword plant, They might not grow so well in a short enclosed tank like this. I have one in my 5 gallon that is tall and squished. lol I think I will stick with short plants for this tank. Thanks for the idea though I love swords! easy to grow. I do like the rock ideas. any type of rocks you all think would go well for this tank? if I can find them that is. I may end up just buying them instead of getting them from outside. 

The photo is the seeds I bought. small leaf and large leaf.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Added the rocks! and some plants I had in my 15 gallon tank!


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## blubird101 (Jan 25, 2019)

OOOH, lookin like a good start!


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## jijicat (May 9, 2019)

I use white sand for my tank and so regretted doing so. Fish and plants are already in the tank so I had to cover the sand with a layer of small river rocks. Now every time I do vacuum the tank became dusty.


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## HAYGEE (May 23, 2019)

Tree said:


> So I bought this 6 gallon fluval 6 gallon tank that would have been close to 200 bucks at the store. I got it for $80 from my LFS. granted it is used but there are no leaks and it works just fine.
> 
> Now I wanna try my hand on one of those landscape looking tanks. I never done it before so if anyone has any idea on what type of plants I should get and add to the bonsai tree, let me know! =D
> 
> ...


This is so cute! I can’t wait to see the end result! Love the little “pathway” and the contrast between the black and white sand <3


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

jijicat said:


> I use white sand for my tank and so regretted doing so. Fish and plants are already in the tank so I had to cover the sand with a layer of small river rocks. Now every time I do vacuum the tank became dusty.



yeah I tried to make a barrier between the two substrate but it just unglued. So I ended up sucking up the sand and adding the brown gravel.



HAYGEE said:


> This is so cute! I can’t wait to see the end result! Love the little “pathway” and the contrast between the black and white sand <3


thanks! though like I stated above, I ended up changing the sand out into a gravel. 


One of the seeds bags arrived today! Though I have realized I need to take out all of the water in the tank for 14 days and mist the tank until the seeds sprout. It wont be an issue, just that I was trying to cycle the tank from the old filter media from my other tanks. So I'll have to keep the water in a bucket with a filter until I can add the water back into the tank. lol


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Day 1 of seeds in the tank! I wanted to take out the tree so the whole black substrate will be covered by the plants. Granted some of the plants will be squished by the tree but I'll either remove them or just squish them. I'll figure that time out when I get there. LOL 

I added two types of plants. Both carpet plants, one plant has very tiny leaves and the other larger leaves. I'm not sure if I want any other plants in the tank as of yet. I'll see how this turns out before decided that. I had to remove the plants that were in there due to them not dying from no water. I found out later that I had to remove all the water to seed. HA should have known that. anyway wish the seeds luck!


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Well the seeds didn't grow all that well in the substrate I used so I am growing them in a different pot and maybe transfer them over to the tank later. for right now I added more plants to the tank and some more rocks. =D


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## blubird101 (Jan 25, 2019)

That's the best but worst part about a new tank, is getting all the plants to grow in and become established! Just keep on at it


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

blubird101 said:


> That's the best but worst part about a new tank, is getting all the plants to grow in and become established! Just keep on at it


Hahaha yup! Though I really REALLY hope these plants thrive in this little tank. I also got my plants in the mail today and added them in! I also moved some plants around. The plants behind the tree are the new addition to the tank. Wish my plants luck to grow! 

Also the fish I am going to be getting are, Two Scarlet Badies, and 4 to 5 Rosy Loaches. I may add some shrimp in there to feed the Scarlets because they do like to hunt for their food. but we will see when that time comes. 

The tank is also so close on being cycled too!


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## Old Dog 59 (Nov 11, 2018)

Looks good. sorry to here the seeds didn't do well. In most tanks I have seen them thrive in, the substrate if like fluorite or enriched potting soil. They really need the frets to pop and grow. You have a great start and a good idea for the fish. Hope all goes well from here on in.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Old Dog 59 said:


> Looks good. sorry to here the seeds didn't do well. In most tanks I have seen them thrive in, the substrate if like fluorite or enriched potting soil. They really need the frets to pop and grow. You have a great start and a good idea for the fish. Hope all goes well from here on in.


the funny thing is, after I added in the plants and the water, the seeds started to grow! the directions tell to not add too much water or else the seeds will rot. Well they weren't growing so I took out most of the seeds and some were still in the tank and are growing. So now I added the rest of the seeds into that tank to see what happens. haha!


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Looking gorgeouser and gorgeouser!


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

thank you! right now the seeds are growing EVERYWHERE! LOL so much for the gravel road. maybe I can remove the plants one by one.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Been searching for days for this. Could not figure out the keyword. Anyhow, these are 1.7" high.

https://www.amazon.com/SPORN-Aquarium-Decoration-Landscape-Terrace/dp/B001OE73CY?th=1


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## Old Dog 59 (Nov 11, 2018)

Yep it's going to be like weeding a garden. Hope you have a long tweezers and a lot of time, LOL. But Hay the seeds did grow.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Been searching for days for this. Could not figure out the keyword. Anyhow, these are 1.7" high.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/SPORN-Aquarium-Decoration-Landscape-Terrace/dp/B001OE73CY?th=1



oh thats NICE! should have thought of that before HAHAHA!



Old Dog 59 said:


> Yep it's going to be like weeding a garden. Hope you have a long tweezers and a lot of time, LOL. But Hay the seeds did grow.


yup! but I heard that these seeds only last for 6 months??? at least that's what a youtuber said... we will see if they are right or not. =) I'll take a photo of the tank tomorrow and show you all how fast the seeds are growing.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Tank looking great!
> 
> I believe four Dario would go great in that tank. Lots of ground cover and the Mopani. They love Subwassertang or moss if you can figure out a place to fit in a small bit.



You think 4 will be okay? I was hoping maybe 2 males and 2 females. I was reading that the females are hard to come by. 
The look like cool little fish though! And with the shrimp, they can eat them if they prefer live over frozen. that is the only issue with Scarlets. I hear they eat live food. I have enough shrimp to go around but any idea on how to go about getting live foods? I know you can harvest your own int he back yard (watched a you tube video about it) so I may give that a shot. LOL


I may end up removing the loach in the future though. I keep hearing that they need a larger tank cause they love to zoom around. We'll see what happens I can either place it in the 15 gallon tank or just re-home it altogether.


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## jijicat (May 9, 2019)

Tree said:


> So I bought seed for this tank! It's SO Much cheaper than buying it already grown oh my god. I bought Glossostigma Hemianthus and Hygrophila seeds. I heard good reviews about it growing in 14 days and it will be exciting to watch it grown day by day! I will be taking photos of the progress once both seeds arrive. I will also be adding some of this plant into my other tanks as well! =D
> 
> 
> As for the Sword plant, They might not grow so well in a short enclosed tank like this. I have one in my 5 gallon that is tall and squished. lol I think I will stick with short plants for this tank. Thanks for the idea though I love swords! easy to grow. I do like the rock ideas. any type of rocks you all think would go well for this tank? if I can find them that is. I may end up just buying them instead of getting them from outside.
> ...


the carpet is really beautiful! How difficult to grow them? I'd like to have it too in my tank!


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> I've never had issues with all males even in a 5.5. They will spar without damage which is normal and too cute. However, they are territorial whether there are females present or not. The good news is they don't have very big territories.  One-quarter of a 5.5 is plenty for them.
> 
> You will like Paul; he is the best of the best. Can't praise him highly enough. I am ordering a Grindal worm culture from some who gets rave reviews on AquaBid to see if his travel well in the heat. When I get the 20 longs set up I am ordering starter cultures from Paul.


Thanks so much for all of your guy's input! I have received the fish and ended up buying 6 of them. three for the 6 gallon tank and 3 for the 15 gallon in my room. I think I have one female out of the bunch though it is hard to tell. Time will tell. 
When I came back from work I have noticed that one is missing in the 15 gallon. I'm kinda a horrible person and don't QT fish >-> but I think the large move stressed the little fish out. When I was drip acclimating them one didn't seem to be swimming right. they are hard to find in all the plants in my 15 gallon so maybe the third on is hiding somewhere. but I thought I picked out the remains of a little fish but it was hard to tell with all the debris on it. The three in the 6 gallon are doing just fine. I have tried to put in frozen Dalphnia in the tank and I don't think they are eating it. soooo off to get some live food from Paul! hahaha! I'll be sure to mention your name when I order mine. If he knows you by your avatar name here that is. lol 

I'll see if I can send in a video in a minute here of them


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

enjoy!


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## blubird101 (Jan 25, 2019)

That little hidey hold under the tree turned out great as well!


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## Old Dog 59 (Nov 11, 2018)

Fantastic video. The tank is awesome. I would be very proud of this work. A true labor of love.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Thanks guys! So far so good. I ended up getting some black worms for the mean time from a fish store 50 minutes away from me until I can get my order in for the other live foods. 
It was interesting on what fish likes the live black worms and what fish don't. Both my pea puffers LOVE THEM along with my panda loaches and the bumblebee gobies. The fish that don't care for them are my Figure 8 puffers the rasboras and the guppies. I think I've seen the Scarlets eat them and pick at them but I think I need more than just those worms. not sure if they are too large for them.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Love the video. It's amazing how tiny these guy are, isn't it? I love them. Dario may be my favorite species (sorry, Betta).


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Love the video. It's amazing how tiny these guy are, isn't it? I love them. May be my favorite species (sorry, Betta).



indeed! I mean if they weren't so territorial I could have put them all in the 6 gallon alone. but I didn't want to chance it. I did find out that the 6th one did die. I still only see two in my 15 gallon. =< I think one is a female and the rest are males. LOL so all males in the 6 gallon and a female and male in the 15. 

what do yours eat? more of the banana worms? do they have a favorite on their live foods?


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Mine ate frozen Brine shrimp, rinsed Krill, Daphnia and "mini" Bloodworms (mosquito larva). Also, live Micro, Banana, Walter and Grindal. Almost forgot: It took some of mine a week to fully color up.

BTW, did you know there are several Dario? Dario Dario (Scarlet Badis), Dario hysginon, Dario 'Myanmar' are most easily obtained. In the back of my mind I seem to remember there is also a blue species. Here are hysginon and 'Myanmar'.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Mine ate frozen Brine shrimp, rinsed Krill, Daphnia and "mini" Bloodworms (mosquito larva). Also, live Micro, Banana, Walter and Grindal. Almost forgot: It took some of mine a week to fully color up.
> 
> BTW, did you know there are several Dario? Dario Dario (Scarlet Badis), Dario hysginon, Dario 'Myanmar' are most easily obtained. In the back of my mind I seem to remember there is also a blue species. Here are hysginon and 'Myanmar'.
> 
> ...



Okay good to know that it will take them a bit to color up. I love how they hunt. Always on the move and looking for food. =) I wonder if they are eating the frozen but I just don't see it. I still would like to get a nice variety on the foods so I think I'll order some banana worms and try to get my hands on some live daphnia if I can. Do you still have yours? I seen the blue ones online and boy they are pretty! I hope mine will color up a nice red once adjusted.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

blubird101 said:


> Hey! What seed pack did you use? Just curious, I might buy one myself!


OH I'm sorry I missed this question! 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074TR3VGB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NNC9NTK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


The package says not to place them under water but the seeds never grew for me when the tank was empty. so I took a chance and added water and BOOM they grew. XD it's a nice cheap way to get plants. though I heard that they only like 6 months??? I'll let you know what happens in my tanks after 6 months.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

blubird101 said:


> Hey! What seed pack did you use? Just curious, I might buy one myself!





jijicat said:


> I am not be able to suck all the sand out, so I did some brain storming. Attached the photo of my 10 gallon. The fine sand is all over the plants, and there is nothing I can do at this point. :smile2:



I think what I have seen was people added all sand at first and then added the gravel on top. what you can do is get tongs and slowly pick out the gravel. That is what I had to do with this tank over and over again when adding the plants in. this tank was a PAIN in the BUTT though. so I would not recommend this tank for live plants. LOL


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Well frustrating as it is, I ended up taking down the 6 gallon tank. There were so many reasons why I did this. 
1, The small opening is the WORST for maintaining the tank.
2, When a fish died, it was hard to take out due to the small gap.
3, Keeping the tank trimmed and clean was a pain.
4, The plants that grew from the seeds started to float everywhere with the substrate I used. It's better to attach the seeds to drift wood or a rock in order for them to stick onto something. Trying to get them out of the tank with a net was a headache.

What did I do to the other items and the fish? I placed them in my other tanks. I am happy that I did this though. at first I thought all of the hard work I put into this tank was for nothing. I was super upset. But seeing I had an opportunity to add the hidey hole in my 10 gallon tank and the dead tree in my 5 gallon shrimp tank along with the rest of the plants, I was feeling much better taking apart this tank for good. The two scarlet badis were added into the 15 gallon and so was the butterfly loach. They are much happier in that larger tank I have to say. 

What did I learn from this experience? NEVER GET ONE OF THESE TANKS EVER AGAIN! I mean for fake plants sure... but my lord this tank was the worst idea anyone ever came up with. It's pretty and all with the top being closed in and you could see above it, but the maintenance is hard. 


Here are the photos of the items in the new/old tanks of mine. lol the moment I added the hidey hole the panda loaches started going in when I was covering it with the sand. LOL at least someone was having fun with their new home. =P 

the first photo is my 15 gallon tall that I added the Dwarf S.sage grass in.
the second photo is my 10 gallon tank with the hidey hole along with the third photo.
the 4th photo is my 5 gallon shrimp and snail tank
and the last is my 15 gallon full look. I'm looking for some nice tall plants to fill in the back of this tank if anyone knows some easy plants that can grow in hard water with ph around 8.0. the ones I have no are struggling to grow. I ended up buying three plants that had bulbs but stupid me placed them in the sand. x_x they rotted. I should have known that. they were rare plants too. I have one left that seems to be doing ok. I hope it grows.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

I always say I mostly learned about aquatics via my mistakes. ;-)

What plants have you tried? You can email the Aquarium Plants Factory and ask Tristan what he would recommend. You can let him know I or Betta Fish suggested you email him.

There are some taller Anubias that would work. My water is semi-hard and pH 7.8-8.2. I have taller Crypts like Balasansae, Lucens, Lutea, Retrospiralis. I believe Giant Hairgrass and Giant Sagittaria Subulata will work in higher pH.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> I always say I mostly learned about aquatics via my mistakes. ;-)
> 
> What plants have you tried? You can email the Aquarium Plants Factory and ask Tristan what he would recommend. You can let him know I or Betta Fish suggested you email him.
> 
> There are some taller Anubias that would work. My water is semi-hard and pH 7.8-8.2. I have taller Crypts like Balasansae, Lucens, Lutea, Retrospiralis. I believe Giant Hairgrass and Giant Sagittaria Subulata will work in higher pH.



Oh I have not checked that website. I went to another one. Granted they never informed me to not cover up the bulbs for the plants I purchased. I'll look into that website later today.

Oh I also contacted Paul for the live worms and bought some. mentioned your name and all.  hope you get a discount! found out my Badis are okay with frozen blood worms but I still want to give live cause my Bumblebee gobies in my 37 gallon LOVED the live black worms I got from a fish store a few weeks ago. sad part is that they only live about a week or so and then they die. So getting my hands on the kit Paul has will help me out big time!


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

lol! Found the plants I wanted already! and mentioned your name  

found my all time favorite plant! Cryptocoryne Balansae! I have some in this tank already but would like more to fill up the background. =)


the Crinum Calamistratum is what I bought that started to rot in the substrate.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Yeah, they don't always tell you about bulb plants. I, too, learned that the hard way.

I'm getting an order ready for APF. I have gotten my healthiest plants from them so I'm a fan. They do offer BF members a discount but usually their site discount is better. I believe ours is 10%. 

I have some cleaning up to do and rearranging for the tank that will have the African Dwarf Frogs and then I'm off to spend $$. :-D


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

I should be getting the plants by this Friday as for the live food. It has not been given a date yet. I think Paul is still in the works with it. 

seems like all my fish are very happy in their 15 gallon tank I just have to keep up with it more than the rest of my tanks cause there are more fish. That wont be an issue. lol 

I've tried my hands on ADF but they died on me. =< and I don't want to chance another death. but glad they are thriving for you! I wonder if it was due to the hard water I have? 

anyway I rehomed the clown pleco cause he was destroying my plants and digging them up in my 15 gallon. And it seemed that he was pooping a lot more than my other fish in there. I decided to add the butterfly loach only because he seems to do just fine all by himself even though I read that they do better in groups. he's eating like crazy and I see him all the time rather than the pleco I had in there before. I heard that these loaches though need a lot of room and water flow even though they only get up to 2 to 3 inches. So I bought a HOB filter. At first I was worried about my other fish not liking the flow, but they seem to like it. LOL


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

I only get my ADF from California. African Clawed Frogs carry diseases (like Chytrid Fungus) which kill other species of frog. California prohibits the import of ACF so I know my ADF have not been exposed. 

Many pet stores source their frogs from places that allow ACF and sometimes the two species are kept together as babies. This might have been why you didn't have much luck. :dunno:

Chytrid Fungus - causing global amphibian mass extinction

PS: I, too, have hard water.


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