I had a 20 gal tank some 20 or more years or so ago, and everything was artificial except for the fish. Due to the constant need of maintenance I gave up a year or two later. I am now retired and older then dirt myself. Anyway, I am now the proud owner of a 29 gallon tank that has been up and running for a month with satisfactory results for the most part. There is still so much to learn though. I know I wanted to have live plants, and realize that fish waste can aid in the fertilization of the plants. Anyway, after watching a lot of youtube videos on the subject I decided to start by using an inch or so of pre washed organic potting mix, topped off with two inches of pre washed play sand purchased from Home depot. I then added the water, along with the back filter, heater, Etc. I then added more sand and destroyed my filter, which I replaced with a sponge filter rated for a 40 gal tank. Again so far so good. I then added eleven assorted plants, and nine small fish I bought at pet smart. I have no idea what the names of them even are. Again, so far so good. I feed the fish brine shrimp rather then the processed flakes, and am careful not to over feed. Anyway, I am now seeing some brown haze on the top of the front glass closest to the light, and two of the plants are developing a black color to a couple of leaves. I believe it's a form of algae. I did order yesterday fifteen verities of plants so I can plant a lot heavier, and hopefully that will help solve at least part of the algae problem, but not sure, just hoping for the best.------My appreciation to the moderators for allowing me to be part of this forum.
First day here, first thread, and new 30 day old tank. So much to learn.
- Thread starter JJays
- Start date
Again, welcome to AC JJays. I sort of answered you in your planted tank thread.
All I'm going to say here is brine shrimp is not a great "only" diet for your fish. It's kind of like protein potato chips. OK for a treat but not so much for all the time. What fish do you have? There are some better foods you might look into offering them on a regular basis. Not all flakes are bad, variety is good. Fussy fish are a PITA if you run out of the preferred kind. We can help you choose if you'd like.
I'm trying hard not to overwhelm you with bossiness but that's often hard for me
Take it that in the nice way I mean it & let others help you too, we all have opinions. There's no 1 right way to happy tanks, it's a learning curve for any tank.
All I'm going to say here is brine shrimp is not a great "only" diet for your fish. It's kind of like protein potato chips. OK for a treat but not so much for all the time. What fish do you have? There are some better foods you might look into offering them on a regular basis. Not all flakes are bad, variety is good. Fussy fish are a PITA if you run out of the preferred kind. We can help you choose if you'd like.
I'm trying hard not to overwhelm you with bossiness but that's often hard for me
Take it that in the nice way I mean it & let others help you too, we all have opinions. There's no 1 right way to happy tanks, it's a learning curve for any tank.Again, welcome to AC JJays. I sort of answered you in your planted tank thread.
All I'm going to say here is brine shrimp is not a great "only" diet for your fish. It's kind of like protein potato chips. OK for a treat but not so much for all the time. What fish do you have? There are some better foods you might look into offering them on a regular basis. Not all flakes are bad, variety is good. Fussy fish are a PITA if you run out of the preferred kind. We can help you choose if you'd like.
I'm trying hard not to overwhelm you with bossiness but that's often hard for me
I don't take your post as being bossy. I jumped into this aquarium thing with both feet, yet knowing next to nothing. I can use all the help I can get. My aquarium set up I chose, I got from watching Father Fish videos. While I do like fish, I seem to enjoy the plants better.
Awesome! I also have a heavily planted tank but tend to love what grows like weeds rather than having a beautifully scaped artistic aquarium. My original inspiration, some 20 years ago, was to approximate nature so I wouldn't have to do water changes. I've since learned that was called aquaponics and I am nowhere near the first person to think about this. I pat myself on the back because I figured out most of it before YouTube was there to help me. At this stage, my only advice is to have good lights and know that there will be a ton of mistakes along the way. More plants will die than live but, once you figure out the magic sauce, the ones that live will thrive and be very amazing. Plants are slow to adjust. When they're not growing and I start to question whether a newish one is even going to live, I'll think about transplanting it only to find that the leaves haven't grown but the roots are amazing and the plant turns out to be quite happy. I don't mean this to say it's all death and sadness, only to know it's a guessing game that takes forever. Knowing success will eventually come makes the loss easier. Knowing everyone with beautiful tanks started with die offs that were completely preventable (in hindsight) makes it easier when your tank is full of algae and weeds and seems ugly to you. Anyway, welcome. Pictures are never required but always encouraged. Since you don't know all the types of fish you have, photos!
Welcome!
Processed flakes would be much better than brine. I’d go with a high quality pellet/flake, maybe something like NLS and I’m also a fan of Ron’s rift cichlid pellets and mix in brine and bloodworms occasionally.
The brown film sounds like diatoms, which is about right for a tank at the 30 day mark. You’ll probably have bouts of diatoms and various algae until the tank matures and then assuming your parameters are good and there’s not too much direct sunlight , the algae should taper off.
Btw I was born in 1948 
The first this to correct is that it is usually not a good idea to buy fish when you do not know what they are. Instead, if theo see a fish you like before you buy it, you acan research it. Thta will tell you if your tank is the first size for that species, oy your water parameters are appropriate for that species. The parameters you need to know for your tank and thus for whether or not you should keep a given fish in them, are:
1. Hardness aka GH.
2. pH - this can range from being acid (below 7.0, to being alkaline (above 7.0) or neutral at 7.0.
3. Temporary Hardness (Alkalinity) aka KH. This is what help keep the pH stable, The higher the pH the higher the KH will and shpuld be.
4. Water Temperature- get a tank thermometer if you so not have one.
In addition you need to know a bit about cycling.
At my peak I had 13 planted tanks which included a high tech tank in which I had to inject pressurized CO2. I am not a fan of dirt in a tank and my plants alweays did best in small size gravel. With sand there is the danger that if the grain size is to fine it tends to compact and that is not the best thing plants. That said I do have one planted tank with a sand bottom, but it is not a fine grained sand.
If you have never gardened on land before and this is your first foray into live plants, you are stating out way behind the 8-ball so to speak.
I can send you to where you can learn the basics of water chemistry which any fish keeper should know, but plants get more complicated due to the variety and different care needs of them. I had kept both flower and vegetable gardens before I started using live plants, so I had some grounding. It still took me a number of years to really have a good idea about what I was doing.
Go here and read the Sections on Practical Fresh Water Chemistry and Which Test Kits Are Important. They are a tad old but essentially get most of it right. https://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin.html
The first this to correct is that it is usually not a good idea to buy fish when you do not know what they are. Instead, if theo see a fish you like before you buy it, you acan research it. Thta will tell you if your tank is the first size for that species, oy your water parameters are appropriate for that species. The parameters you need to know for your tank and thus for whether or not you should keep a given fish in them, are:
1. Hardness aka GH.
2. pH - this can range from being acid (below 7.0, to being alkaline (above 7.0) or neutral at 7.0.
3. Temporary Hardness (Alkalinity) aka KH. This is what help keep the pH stable, The higher the pH the higher the KH will and shpuld be.
4. Water Temperature- get a tank thermometer if you so not have one.
In addition you need to know a bit about cycling.
At my peak I had 13 planted tanks which included a high tech tank in which I had to inject pressurized CO2. I am not a fan of dirt in a tank and my plants alweays did best in small size gravel. With sand there is the danger that if the grain size is to fine it tends to compact and that is not the best thing plants. That said I do have one planted tank with a sand bottom, but it is not a fine grained sand.
If you have never gardened on land before and this is your first foray into live plants, you are stating out way behind the 8-ball so to speak.
I can send you to where you can learn the basics of water chemistry which any fish keeper should know, but plants get more complicated due to the variety and different care needs of them. I had kept both flower and vegetable gardens before I started using live plants, so I had some grounding. It still took me a number of years to really have a good idea about what I was doing.
Go here and read the Sections on Practical Fresh Water Chemistry and Which Test Kits Are Important. They are a tad old but essentially get most of it right. https://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin.html
J
JJays
welcome and you've come to the right place for info.
As mentioned above, in my opinion you jumped a few steps too far ahead in the process of starting out in keeping plants/fish.
I think a 29g and sponge filtration is perfect for a beginner, but I would have definitely not suggested you go with soil and sand for starters. 29's are a bit tall and can be tough to get the light radiation down low w/out over doing the higher up stuff.
Just to add to the above into, you have to start by figuring out what fish and plants you are going to keep, get your nitrogen cycle established and go from there.
As mentioned above, in my opinion you jumped a few steps too far ahead in the process of starting out in keeping plants/fish.
I think a 29g and sponge filtration is perfect for a beginner, but I would have definitely not suggested you go with soil and sand for starters. 29's are a bit tall and can be tough to get the light radiation down low w/out over doing the higher up stuff.
Just to add to the above into, you have to start by figuring out what fish and plants you are going to keep, get your nitrogen cycle established and go from there.
