First planted tank help

[tibbsy]

I wasn't sure if this was better suited here for Tank issues or under freshwater. I apologize if it should be in the latter - mods feel free to move/close/etc.

I recently set up a freshwater planted tank for my 6 year old and 3 year old and I'm having some issues. I have kept saltwater tanks before so I am familiar with those, but freshwater is a totally new foray for me, and I'm not sure how best to figure out my issues.


Here is a current "snapshot" of the tank to hopefully help figure out what's going on in my tank.

Tank specs:
20L
Tidal 55 HOB filter, filter floss, small chemi-pure green pack (meant for nano/pico, but I didn't want to strip the water column totally), biomedia rocks - currently on full flow (used to reefs, thought more flow was better)
78-78F
Hygger 36W full spectrum LED, standard day cycle 6:30 am - 6:30 PM
Fluval plant stratum

Stock:
6 zebra and tiger nassarius snails (3 of each)
3 guppies
2 small otos
2 dwarf corys
1 neon tetra
(feed Fluval bug bites tropical 1 small pinch per day)
A few plants - I'm still learning these. Duckweed, java fern, dwarf grass, and one other that was "cabbage" but I don't know (there is a picture attached below)

Deceased (see below):
2 neon tetras
2 snails
1 ghost shrimp

Maintenance:
Weekly top offs with fresh water and Seachem Prime to remove chlorine, etc.
As needed use magnet scraper to remove stuff from glass
Monthly 25% water change

Current tank parameters:
Temp - 78-79F
ph - 6.8-7.0
Ammonia - <.25 (not exactly pure yellow on the API kit, so a bit more than 0.0 but not to the level of the 0.25ppm color either)
Nitrite and Nitrates - 0

On to the questions..

First, I seem to be having issues with livestock and I am not sure if it's my tank or just that the livestock had other issues? When I first got the tank cycled and the cloudy white-ish bacterial bloom was gone, I added a ghost shrimp and two snails and two otos to the tank to help with algae issues. The shrimp was dead within 12 hours... The shrimp were not great at the Petco where I got them, so I wasn't sure if it was just a store issue or tank issue and everything else seemed to be doing well.

A couple of days later, though, one of the zebra snails just stopped moving around. I thought it was dead so I took it out and it responded to being in my hand, so I knew it was alive. I put it back in the tank and it resumed semi-normal activities for a day or two and then it actually died.

I started checking the parameters more and the ammonia was a bit high, which I thought made sense since the snail had just died. I did a 25% water change and things seemed to be ok. I'm just running biomedia and filter floss.

Move forward a few weeks and the water remains crystal clear, the livestock seem happy, everything is good. I go to the LFS (a legit one this time, Atlanta Aquarium - love this place!) and pick up 2 dwarf corys, 5 more snails, 3 neon tetras, 3 guppies. Do a long acclimation and add them, all seems good. I added a 5g chemi-pure green to help with the sudden added bioload and dose some of the microbe-lift as well.

In the last week, two of the neon tetras have died and the original tiger snail did too. The first neon tetra was fine one moment and then wasn't - maybe it choked on a larger piece of food? The second started swimming odd, clearly a swim bladder infection, but I'm concerned it was an issue with my tank that caused it in the first place.

Water is slightly white-ish again (assuming bacterial bloom from the microbe-lift and added nutrients). Lots of algae on the substrate now, too.

Is the livestock loss just part of the deal, that sometimes livestock just won't make it? Or is it likely I have a bigger issue? I haven't tested phosphates or anything beyond the API master kit. I unfortunately don't have the space to quarantine livestock. We really want a lot of shrimp and some more fish, but there is no way I am buying more livestock and killing the poor things until I have a better handle on my tank, that's not fair to them (or my wallet and kids' feelings).

Second, what is going on with my plants? It seems they have roots growing from their leaves, which seems like they're either doing GREAT or there is a major issue and they are trying to find more nutrients.


Do I need to provide more fertilizer? I have Flourish but haven't used it because I don't want to see a huge spike in algae.

Third, The duckweed I have is growing well but now keeps getting pulled to the HOB (it wasn't doing this before so I don't know what changed) - any tips from folks on how to get the duckweed to kind of hang around the tank edges like it was before? I'd prefer to avoid a basket or something, I like the way they look floating naturally.

Again, sorry if this is the wrong channel for this thread, and thank y'all very much for any help or advice y'all provide.

cheers!

 

[Hunna]

I gotchu.

For your first question, tank was probably still cycling or too new for inverts. Neon tetras just die. Their genetics aren’t great. I’d hold off on any caradina/neocaridinas until the tank is way more established. Not sure how fast you added livestock, but for both fresh and salt water, slower is better. Especially in new freshwater systems.

Second, those brown things coming off your plant, are new plants forming. That’s just how Java ferns grow. It is a rhizome plant as well, which means the roots shouldn’t be buried in the substrate attach it to some wood or rock. As far as the lighting schedule itself, 12 hrs is far too long for freshwater. I’d recommend 8hr, 10 max. If you are wanting it to be viewable when the kids are home/awake, put it on a timer to be on for 4 hours in the morning (7am-11am), off for a few hours while you/they are gone for the day, and to come back another 4-6 hours in the evening when people are around and awake to view. This gives the plants enough light to grow, but also doesn’t promote algae growth.

As for duckweed, you brought that upon yourself when selecting it as your floater lol. Once you have it, it’s almost impossible to get rid of and if you have other tanks, will easily transfer into them. It grows at an incredibly fast rate. You can buy 3D printed baffles people sell to make a barrier around the HOB outflow to keep it out. You can also use airline tubing and make one yourself.

 

[tibbsy]

I gotchu.

For your first question, tank was probably still cycling or too new for inverts. Neon tetras just die. Their genetics aren’t great. I’d hold off on any caradina/neocaridinas until the tank is way more established. Not sure how fast you added livestock, but for both fresh and salt water, slower is better. Especially in new freshwater systems.

Second, those brown things coming off your plant, are new plants forming. That’s just how Java ferns grow. It is a rhizome plant as well, which means the roots shouldn’t be buried in the substrate attach it to some wood or rock. As far as the lighting schedule itself, 12 hrs is far too long for freshwater. I’d recommend 8hr, 10 max. If you are wanting it to be viewable when the kids are home/awake, put it on a timer to be on for 4 hours in the morning (7am-11am), off for a few hours while you/they are gone for the day, and to come back another 4-6 hours in the evening when people are around and awake to view. This gives the plants enough light to grow, but also doesn’t promote algae growth.

As for duckweed, you brought that upon yourself when selecting it as your floater lol. Once you have it, it’s almost impossible to get rid of and if you have other tanks, will easily transfer into them. It grows at an incredibly fast rate. You can buy 3D printed baffles people sell to make a barrier around the HOB outflow to keep it out. You can also use airline tubing and make one yourself.

Thanks!

The livestock was added about 2 weeks after the cycle "finished" and I waited for the water to clear. Testing looked pretty good, so based on my saltwater experience I thought I would be set, but I've since read shrimp are pretty sensitive so, probably still not ready to house them. The second round of livestock was added maybe 1.5 months after the cycle finished. LFS said to add more bacteria when I added these new ones to help with the upped bioload so I did as they recommended. I'll go read more on shrimp before I do any more.

I'll turn down the light setting for morning and evening. I was wondering if it was too much light. I'll figure out a way to get those plants to rocks and wood, too.

Hahaha, fair enough. I'll come up with something to hold them in place a bit better that isn't too obvious/eyesore.

 

[Hunna]

Superglue, fishing line, cotton thread can be used for attaching freshwater plants to things. Just be sure it’s the cyanoacrylate that’s safe for aquarium use.

 

[chaples55]

First off, I totally agree with the sentiment that neon tetras just die, lol. Cardinal tetras are a nicer option if you like that look.

To keep shrimp your best bet is to use RODI water and add minerals back in to a desired TDS level depending on the species of shrimp. Depending on your tap water source, it could be too hard or too soft for the shrimp to properly molt. As for what mineral product to use, lots of people recommend salty shrimp, but it's pretty expensive. There's a guy on an Australian shrimp keeping forum that wrote up a diy recipe for shrimp minerals that would be a cheaper option to switch to in the long run. I'm still using a tub of salty shrimp I bought a few years ago and I have a colony of hundreds of bloody Mary shrimp and a dozen or so green babaulti shrimp in a UNS 22 long.

As far as plants go, the java Fern is a great start. I've found it's basically un-killable. The hairgrass may struggle though without more light and CO2. If you don't want to purchase additional equipment, definitely stick to "low-tech" plants. That's the term freshwater plant people use to refer to plants that will grow with basic lighting and no fertilizer or CO2. Java Fern falls into that category, as do many anubias, crypts, bucephalandra, swords, and sagittaria.