# Acute Tankinidis



## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

And here is what I am attempting in order to calm my tankinidis, because we know there is no cure for it:

10g tank. Standard dimension. 21" X 10.5" X I can't remember how tall, but ya'll get it.

1 AquaClear 20 filter. I had one before. I loved it. I am sticking with what I know. It never gave me any problems. The only reason I am buying one is because the seal on the one I have is all dried up and cracked, and I don't feel like looking for parts.

It is filled with Matrix. I love Seachem products. Whenever I can, I will stick to that brand, because my experience with their products have only been good. In Spanish we have a saying that basically means that it's best to stick to something you know works well, than to change to something that may not work. I don't agree with this saying as a life's motto, but for certain items, I stick with it.

1 50W Marineland Visi-Therm Heater. I will buy a second later on. I try to have more than one in each tank, and have each one be powerful enough to maintain the temperature in the entire tank on its own. In case one goes out, the fish are still safe. I've had these heaters before, and they were great. The two I had left cracked, but only because I left them running out of the water. Oops!

I ordered this hood for it, and I have two 13W CFL rated 5000K. I'm wondering if I should switch to the 23W. After you see my wishlist of plants, let me know.

For substrate, it will have Flourite, at the very bottom. And it will be covered with Flourite Black Sand. I had originally only ordered the black sand, however I will pick up the regular Flourite at PetSmart, because what I'm thinking of doing, will require more than one bag.

I went to PetSmart, and as I was looking around, I found some hollowed out logs. They were small, and perfect for the "cave" I am thinking of attempting. I was previously thinking of getting a clay pot, breaking it in half, and creating the cave that way. But then I saw this. By the time I saw it, it had already somehow jumped on my hand, and it would not let go. So I "had" to buy it. I will cover it with the substrate, and plant Cabomba on top of it. I have a small sponge filter. I will attempt to arrange it so that the small filter is inside the cave to create water movement, so the water doesn't stagnate.

Now for the look of the tank.

I apologize, I do not yet have anything set up. Once I do, IF I figure out how to make the pictures the correct size for posting here, I will post some. For now, try to have a little patience with me, and a LOT of imagination, as I try to describe it.

Mentally divide the tank into four quadrants. If you like math, think of the Cartesian system. The four quadrants are the back right; the back left; the front left; and the front right.

I will place the cave on the back right of the tank, so that the opening is off-centered, reaching the center of the tank. If all works as planned, you will not see any clay. On top of the cave, I will plant Cabombas. Most of that quadrant, the back right, will be filled with Cabomba.

In the fourth quadrant, which is the front right, in front of the cave, but not near the entrance of the cave, I hope to have a single reddish plant. I was hoping for this, but it is way too big. So I will have to settle for something similar, hopefully this, whichever is the redder one.

In the second quadrant, which is the back left, I wanted this plant. But it grows a lot taller than I hoped for. I am wanting a darker green plant, the shiny leaves were perfect, that has SOME reddish highlights. Since the bottoms of the leaves of this plant are dark red, I thought it was perfect. I may still get it.

For that same area, if I don't get the previous plant, I also found this plant on this site's Plant Finder. I loved it, and thought I would do that instead. However, the moment I declared it to be perfect, I also found out it is rare to find it for sale in the Americas. I will see.

The remaining area, the front left, and part of the front right would be covered in HC. If I dream, I may as well dream big, right?

For fish, well I don't have much of a selection for a 10g tank. I also don't like most freshwater fish. So I will probably go with what I had before. 1 Betta, 5 Neon Tetras, and one, or two Siamese Algae Eaters. Not the imitation ones, the real SAEs. If I can't find them, I won't get any algae eaters.

The only CO2 that I have ever done, and will do again, is Excel. I know some plants have trouble with it, and I know some people say it's a waste of time. Perhaps it is. However, last time I used it, and with the powdered ferts I had, my plants were happy enough to start bubbling. If the plants I get now seem to have a problem with it, I'll just stop using it. No problem.

I think I'm forgetting stuff, but I'm tired, and I need rest. I will post a Want To Buy add for the plants I'm wanting, later today. The sticky said I can post them, even if I'm new, so I will. I'd love to hear the community's comments.

I hope you all have a very wet day!


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

I tried to post a WTB ad, but I was blocked because I don't have 25 posts yet. So I went back to read the replies to that forum's rules, and the rule was changed at some point. So if I don't buy the plants before I reach the 25 posts, I will post it when I reach the minimum requirement.

I'm sure I will post them soon enough, but my patience for having the plants runs out faster than I can type. >.> lol Yeah, sometimes I behave like an impatient, spoiled brat. Well, I often do, actually. =D But at least I'm honest, right?

I remembered two sayings in Spanish that relate to this. One says that bills, money, don't have time to warm up in my pocket before I spend them. And the other is that a fart would last longer in my hand than money would. =D

I just ordered the equipment yesterday, and I already am anxious to have the entire thing set up, cycled, and ready for fishies!


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

Good news, everyone!

I've decided on plants, and already have an order set up. These are what I'll be getting:

Alternanthera Reineckii Roseafolia
Cabomba Palaeformis (Purple)
Anubias Barteri v nana
Hemianthus Callitrichoides

That is the dream. I will work for it. But only for as long as it is fun for me. After that, I'll probably have a tank full of Anacharis, lol jk.

Of course, this is my plan for this minute. The minute hand ticks, and my ideas change. But this is it for now.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

So today I remembered that my main tank, last time, was a 20g tall. That is why I had eight fish. So for the 10g, I will probably only have one betta. I know they're solitary fish, but I feel bad for the poor lil fella.


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

I hear you can put a couple female bettas together and sometimes a solitary male won't bug certain species as long as he has a nice territory, but I don't think a 10g is big enough to set up territories. there might be some small fishies or shrimp you could have a school of depending on water params (without the betta of course unless you want to see a feeding fest)


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## wrenn420 (May 17, 2014)

I know what it feels like. This is the really exciting part.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

Pandragon, I actually have thought about, and am still considering, having two or three female bettas, instead. However I don't like that they are less colorful. I am not so keen on bettas that I will consider importing one. Last time I spend a couple of months searching for the perfect betta. I had one breeder continue to send me updates on new fish he had for sale, for over a year. This time, if it's going to be a betta, I just want it to be blue. My only other thought is killifish. However there are no local vendors.

Wrenn, yeah. This is really exciting. However the excitement is killing me. I am almost feeling exhausted, lol. I have been out daily, checking out hardware stores for the perfect light bulb. I found them today. They are two GE, 20W, 1200 lumens, 6500k bulbs. However I am ready for the excitement of suspense to end, and the excitement of starting to actually build to start.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

Update: That clay thing I was going to make a cave with does fit in my tank, but it takes up half of it. I actually don't mind that part, it's just that the entrance to the cave would end up flush against the front glass panel.

That is not the look I was going for. So no cave. =/

I thought of getting one of those small, hollowed out, half logs, but when I actually look at the dimensions, it would end up looking like a gnome sized door in the Jolly Green Giant's castle.


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

Can you drill a hole in the side of the cave thingy? That would give access or you could possibly cut or break it in half and make two caves. Since you have it why not find a use for it before going out to try and find something else to buy?


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

When it comes to working with my hands, I'm not the brightest bulb in the tree. I asked my family if they thought they could do it, they all said it'll break. I'll take it back to PetSmart. It'll pay for a betta and some plants.

In the mean time, I'm thinking of rescaping... well, I haven't scaped it yet, but I had it all done in my mind, and am rescaping in my mind. lol


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

If its terra cotta or some kind of pottery clay it can break if you try to drill or cut it but it isn't impossible with right bit and speed. If you can exchange it without having to pay a large restocking fee it would be easier than experimenting and hoping all goes well. I hope you can get it all set up soon.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

Well thank you very much kind... umm... sir? mam?

There is no restocking fee, that I know of. If there is, I'll be buying something there anyways, so they can just give me credit. If they still want to charge, which I've never heard of any place local that does, I'll just let my Wonder B* Powers activate!

So, in the mean time, I'm wondering how scape it. I can't think of any other plant's that I'd want, that fit in my tank, height wise. 

...

Out of curiosity, I just searched their refund policy. They have a no hassle refund policy. No restocking fee. Refund with receipt, no questions asked. Refund without receipt for anything under $10. Credit without receipt for anything over $10, or on a purchase older than sixty days. They'll even refund you a credit for something you bought with someone else.


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

that sounds like a pretty decent refund policy. I haven't ever returned anything from them yet. 

I think you should sketch the idea in your head and post a pic on here so all can see and provide input. I guess you could always do moss, compact hygro, and some bacopa or something with a bit of wood/wood like cave and a few larger stones.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

Well, it took me a while, but here are my two Paint masterpieces.

On this one, the dark green at the edges would be cabomba, probably purple cabomba. The red would be Alternanthera, and I would keep it trimmed short.

The brighter green would be HC. The grey at the center would be a rock, and surrounded by a short green plant, like the compact hygro you mentioned.









On this one, the darker green at the left would be the cabomba. Probably the green one. It would start bushy at the left, and more like a wall toward the right. The red would be the Alternanthera; bushy at the right, and tapered in height toward the left.

The brighter green would still be HC; I really want to try it. And the purple at the center would be a centerpiece plant. Possibly a short, thin piece of wood, like this, with a moss ball on top.









Regardless of what I end up with, I have a few rules I want to go by:

A simple look. A clean look. Think patio garden, and not nature scenery.

Three, or four different kinds of plants.

With the exception of HC, I'd like the plants to be medium to low maintenance.

I will be using drinking water; the same water we buy at a local dispensary. I am pretty sure it is RO/DI water. If it is not, /retch. So, except for the changes that the fertilizers make to the water, it will probably remain soft, slightly acidic water.

Input away!


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

If you are using bottled water than you might need to remineralize it with some brand of aquarium salts. I think seachem makes one called equilibrium or something like that.

As for design, i think it could work. It seems a little stagnant with everything kinda encircling a solitary stone dead center, unless its a really cool looking stone or cave formation, maybe neat piece of drift wood that has some nice angles. Idk, that is just my opinion. I usually try to pull the eye to one corner or another, well anything as long as it isn't dead center, but you can do whatever ya want. 

Good paint sketch, I would've just sketched it on a napkin or scrap of paper and took a pic with my phone if I didn't have photoshop, corel painter, and a wacom tablet!


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

This is an idea of what I had in mind.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

Well, here's another idea, because things have a way of not working out the way one plans them to.









The black areas are where the hood have the cut-outs for the filter, and heater. For now I can't change that. I also have this, so I hope to fix it a close to the heater as possible so there is water flow near the heater.

The dark red would be the Alternanthera, cut short. The orange-ish area would be the cabomba purple. The dark green would be anubias nana. And the light green area would be the HC, in a sunken/bowl/pool like area, as best i can, with what little I have to work with.

Input please!

Also, it would all be arranged VERY slowly, one month at a time, because I'll only be able to purchase plants a few at a time.


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

That looks pretty cool. I guess you could always put a different hood on there later if the heater,filter, and skimmer get in the way of your idea. If you want plants, I would go see the for sale or trade thread in this forum. I have seen really good deals, grab bags, and such that are waaaaayyyy cheaper than buying individually at petco or petsmart (those are just the fish stores in my area, so they are all I can compare too). I have sen several posts pop up for trimming for basically free as long as you pay 6-8 dollars shipping and other were 20-30 dollars for plenty of plants for a small tank with free shipping. good luck  My petco/petsmart sells tiny plants for $8 each and $4 on sale and they are half dead, so next time I buy plants I am going straight for the buy and sell thread especially after seeing pictures from people who just received the plants very healthy and in massive quantity compared to what I spent on my whole tank so far.  You can try aquabid.com too, a lot of people on this forum sell on there as well.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

Update on my tank:

I finally have it set up. There is gravel, and sand, and water, a heater, and running filter. But mostly I'm happy because there are finally plants in there!

If you've been following my other thread, you know I got over 130 stems for fifty cents. Yup, cents. That wasn't a typo.

I had a bit of help in cleaning them up, so that cut down on time, but I now remember why I almost gave up on plants last time, oO. Poking in that many tiny stems, most were one to two inches in length, was not fun. Actually it is relaxing, but to do it all at once was craziness on my part.

I loved the deal, but I don't think I'll be buying that many all at once again. And though I am really happy at the reward of tiny, little sprouts now perking up in my tank, they were only enough to fill in probably around an eighth of the tank.

However it will remain looking bare for a long time. I swear I am only plucking in one single plant a month from now on, lol. Probably not. Actually I'm sure I'm not, but it will be a long time before it looks anywhere near what I hope it to look like. Knowing my luck, it will probably fill in just in time to tear it down.

Oh, and there is a hair ball in there too.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

Pandragon, I have noticed some of the plants for sale through this forum. I was REALLY interested in one of them. However I always have to think twice before ordering any live things.

I live in a small city that is still quite rural. Our USPS is first routed to Las Vegas, then heads back here. So anything that says "Overnight," will usually be three to five days.

With the extreme weather we have in this area, there are only about two windows of opportunity a year in which I'd feel comfortable ordering anything that would arrive through USPS. And paying for other mailing services, like UPS, adds at least fifteen dollars for a three day arrival, and much more for overnights that still take two or three days. So I could pay about ten bucks for a plant at PetSmart, or half that price from fellow aquarists, for a plant that actually IS nicer, but would have to add fifty or more dollars to make sure it arrives quickly enough to not bake.

I will actually be trying that with HC, IF an Arizona vendor has it in stock this Sunday. But only because it is not an animal, and I REALLY, REALLY want to try HC, which none of the local stores have.


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

Good luck! I hope to see pics soon.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

Is it possible to post vids? I know how to record on my laptop, but I haven't figured out how to take a pic. >.>


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

I know you can upload to youtube and add a link, not sure if you can embed video. If you have a mac use photobooth, windows I can't remember.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

I got 12 pots of HC, and 6 bunches (probably around 30 stems, I haven't counted) of purple Cabomba. I can't wait to get them planted. I have them in a bucket atm, and will work on it tomorrow. I will try to figure my laptop out, and get pictures before and after.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

A couple of updates:

All the plants are planted now. Since I overdid it with how many plants I ordered, the scape will end up looking a bit different than the last plan I had.

The Alternanthera is doing okay. Over the first few days after planting, the poor little stems went from looking bad to worse. Like I said, I bought them at a great discount, because they were already in poor health. It's natural to get some decay, I would imagine, when replanting any plant. Add to that the poor health, and having to go from emersed to immersed, I was expecting quite a bit of decay. And quite a bit of decay I got.

However, they have gone from looking pale, and having quite a bit of decay, to having some green coming back, to now having a very varied mix of some pale stems, some translucent leaves, some light green leaves, now some darker green leaves, and some bright pink, and dark red leaves. They are still all very short though. It has only been a week, but I already want to see a forest! I'll have to go back, and read the information on the Alternanthera. Is that a very slow growing plant? /stares at the second hand, ticking.

The Cabomba Palaeformis is looking fine. I left them in a bucket for longer than I wanted to. Finally I planted them yesterday. I started planting them, leaving the stems the size they came. However I soon changed my mind. I plucked them back out, and cut them all to similar size. I planted each stem pretty spread out from any other stem, and they still look somewhat bushy. Granted they are not bushy like some of the aquascaping pieces of art I've seen, but I did only plant them yesterday. I hope in six months they are looking very bushy.

The Hemianthus Callitrichoides (HC) was also way more than I expected. However I'm happy with it, because it was enough to cover the entire area I wanted covered. However it was also more, and so that was another change to the scape I had planned.

Also, I had a difficult time getting those patches to stay in the sand, but I didn't want to do mesh. Then I saw a video that had a simple solution: To put a pebble on top of each patch. It won't attach to the pebble, it weighs it down, and it is easily removed once the HC roots to the substrate. So I had a facepalm moment (and for emphasis).

So now there are a lot of very short, still rather unhealthy Alternanthera stems, a lot of medium-tall cabomba, plenty of HC, one medium sized hair (moss) ball (an impulse buy), and it's baby it let loose, one very curious betta, and a mystery snail (also an impulse buy), which I can't find anymore.

And I am sorry there are neither pics, nor vids. I was going to try to figure out how to take pics with my laptop, but now I can't find the extension to charge the battery. Talk about facepalm.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

I have been dosing PPS-Pro for almost a week now. I do see a lot of recovery from all the plants. I'm actually quite happy with how the plants are doing now. However, I want faster!

My main desire is to get the Alternanthera grown up. Yes, they were in very bad shape, so I understand the underwhelming, and slow growth. And they are doing much better. In part due to them now receiving fertilizer, and in part due to the cleaning done by the snail, and, believer or not, the betta, too, it has cleaned up nicely, and now I can mostly see variations of greens and pinks. The way the betta helps is by exploring, and I suppose having fun, in the plants. Sometimes it'll poke it's nose in the plants, sometimes it will roll around in them like a little piggy. In doing so, it loosens up dying leaves, and sometimes healthy ones -.-, and they float up, get stuck on the intake bars, and I pick them out.

So I'd like to increase something starting next Monday. What should I increase, ferts or Excel? Both? I would imagine increasing only one thing at a time would be better, so I can keep track of what is causing which changes, but I would rather first listen to expert advice. As a review, here is what I have/do:

10g tank, has around 9.5g of water, I dose for 10g, to keep it simple.

I only ended up with 40.5 lumens per liter of 6500K light. I will be painting the underside of the hood white. The amount of light will not change any time soon.

I dose according to PPS-Pro. 1 mL Macros, and 1 mL CSM+B daily.

Excel, 1 mL Daily.

1 bag each of Flourite, and Flourite Black Sand

Cabomba Palaeformis (I'm guessing over forty stems)

Alternanthera Reineckii (I'm guessing close to 100 stems survived)

Hemianthus Callitrichoides (originally there were six 2x2 inch pots, most seems to still be alive from the emersed/immersed conversion)

Though I'd LOVE to see the colors, right now my concern is getting the Alt. to grow. I'm sure I could work on it all at the same time, but I'd like to actually SEE what changes in the plants are cause by which changes I make.


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