I want to give the glass a thorough cleaning. I will be replacing my red flourite substrate with natural soil plus a sand cap.

What I already have:

26 gallon aquarium
Fluval 205
Hydor Koralia Nano Powerhead
Sand banks for raised areas
Driftwood
Fish

Things I still need to purchase:

Organic soil
Tahitian Moon black sand
Medium gravel to make raised areas
New heater
Rocks
A ton of new plants

I want to make a better moss wall, covering the whole back of the tank, using magnets to hold it in place. My current moss wall is mostly a failure. It only covers about half of the back wall and growth is sporadic.

I will probably try the “dry start” method, to promote fast growth before I fill the aquarium completely with water.

You might think I’m converting to an “el natural” tank, but I’m staying high tech. I’ll be using the same lighting, same filter, same pressurized CO2, and adding a power head for more circulation.

I still need to plan out what plants I’ll get this time, and also plan out the aquascape.

I’m keeping the same fish, except eventually I might get rid of the Chinese algae eaters and replace them with a couple otocinclus. I’d also like to get a few zebra nerite snails. I love my neon tetras, but I only have 7. I might bring that number to 10, I’m not sure yet.

I’ll have to get everything I need before I start this project of course. And then I’ll have to setup the 20 gallon aquarium and cycle it before I move the fish and snails over.

I also need to figure out where I’m going to put the 20 gallon. Not much room in the kitchen right now. Maybe I’ll put it in my office for the time being. I’ve been planning an “el natural” setup for this one, so I’ll probably set it up the way I want it so I won’t have to redo it after I’m done with the 26 gallon.

So that’s the plan. What do you think?

Blue Mystery Snail

One of my favorite aquarium inhabitants is my group of blue mystery snails.  I only have 4 or 5 of them.  Since many snails are grouped as Mystery Snails, I’m not sure what exact species mine are.  Water temperature should be kept between 70 and 82 °F.  Most care sheets and websites say that the pH should be kept around 8.  My pH is around 7.4 and the snails seem to be very happy.  Most mystery snails are active at might, but mine are active throughout the day.

Unlike most snails, mystery snails are asexual.  That means there must be a male and a female snail for them to breed.  In the two years that I’ve kept these snails, they haven’t bred once.  They lay their eggs above the water level, so if you want them to breed, you must leave some room above the water line.

They feed on algae, dead plant matter, and other uneaten fish food.  They also eat vegetables, such as zucchini and cucumbers.  Did I mention they love vegetables?  They do.  I should note that these snails are very safe in planted aquariums.

Since these snails can grow to the size of a golf ball, the general rule is 2.5 gallons per snail.  Most websites also reccomend that the aquarium be covered.  My aquarium is an open top and I have had any snails escape.

For more detailed information, check out the Mystery Snail Care Sheet at petfish.net.

Fissidens fontanus from Aqua Botanic

I’m planning on making a tree/bush using Fissidens fontanus for my 26 gallon aquarium. I’m still researching on ways to do this, and also the best ways to trim to keep the tree/bush look.  I think this will look really good in my aquarium, once I’m able to replace the substrate and work a new aqua-scape.  I think it will look really good sitting close to my Cabomba furcata.  My new aqua-scape will be kind of a hill scape, with driftwood.  Of course I’ll have a ton of other plants in there, along with cryptocoryne parva, cryptocoryne wendtii, anubias minima, vallisneria nana, hygrophila corymbosa kompact, christmas moss, and peacock moss.  I might also try dwarf hairgrass again.  I’ll keep you updated once I start playing with the fissidens fontanus.

Do you have experience with Fissidens fontanus?  Leave a comment!

Equipment I Already Have:

1. Single GLO Life-Glo T5 HO 24W 6700K
2. 20 Gallon Tall Aquarium
3. Eheim ECCO 2232
4. Catalina Titanium Heater 100W
5. Two Red/Brown Sand Banks

Stuff I Still Need:

1. Organic Topsoil (un-fertilized)
2. CaribSea Tahitian Moon Substrate

Planned Fauna:

1. Neon Tetra x10
2. Red Cherry Shrimp x5
3. Amano Shrimp x5
4. Otocinclus x5
5. Zebra Nerite Snail x5

Planned Flora:

1. E. tenellus, Marselia minuta, or dwarf sag
2. Hygros, Bacopa, Rotala indica, Ludwigia repens, Hydrocoytle leucocephala for stem plants
3. Mosses, ferns, anubias, and crypts

From Wikipedia:

Neon tetras are considered easy to keep in a community aquarium that is at least 60 cm (24 inches), with a pH of 6.0–7.8 and KH of 1.0–2.0.  Neons are best kept in a densely planted tank with subdued light and an ideal temperature of 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit to resemble their native Amazon environment.  Neon tetras are omnivores and will accept most flake foods, but should also have some small foods such as brine shrimp, daphnia, freeze-dried bloodworms, tubifex, which can be stuck to the side of your aquarium, and micro pellet food to supplement their diet.

I’ve taken a ton of photos of my aquarium, and while the neons are definitely not camera shy, they move too fast for the current settings on my camera. I need to increase the shutter speed to get a clear shot. It also doesn’t help that I have a broken tripod.

I feed my neons a combination of flake and freeze dried bloodworms once a day. I also give them frozen bloodworms or frozen tubifex once every other week. They seem to enjoy this emmensely.

I also have other tank inhabitants, but I’ll save them for another post.

I really like this filter. It was super easy to set up. The only thing I don’t like about it is that is has ugly green hoses, filter and intake. But that’s easily replaceable.

It’s increased the flow in my 26 gallon tank. I have a spare Fluval 205 that I’ll add to it once I have the 20 gallon tank set up and move the Eheim over. I’ve also been considering putting a power head in the tank instead if the second Fluval 205. If I do that, I can create great flow for the carpet plants I plan on putting in the 26 gallon tank.

I really can’t say if I like it any more or less than my Fluval 205 though. They both work very well, and I haven’t had problems with either. Anyway, the EHEIM 2232 is good for tank sizes up to 35 gallons, which is plenty of flow for my 20 gallon tank.

The flora and fauna that I’ll eventually put in it will love it.