My new 5 gallon

Plants taking off. Starting to really look alive.

noahm said:

Plants taking off. Starting to really look alive.

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Thanks! Nitrites are taking off too unfortunately, testing 0.5ppm this morning!

Tested again this evening and nitrite seemed to have dropped, I would say it was closer to 0.25ppm (stupid me didn't take a picture though). I checked the filter and there's a small buildup of gunk. Didn't clean it as it's been running for about 2 weeks so I don't want to take all the beneficial bacteria out (am swapping from the original filter to this one so I have two filters running atm). I did a water change regardless.

I don't have any of the traditional symptoms of "new tank syndrome" other than the nitrites. Water is clear, plants doing well, definitely not overfeeding as I only have the one betta and I control what I give him each day. Am worried that he could be stressed but so far he's acting fine and even made a bubble nest today, which I destroyed with ny water change!

Added a few drops of API Quick Start that I had left over when I did yesterday's water change, today nitrite is testing 0. Not sure if it's a coincidence but I'm not complaining. Will keep up with daily testing/water changes until things really settle down.

Your setup looks great ! Love the plants arrangement !

That is one lucky

MaloK said:

Your setup looks great ! Love the plants arrangement !

That is one lucky

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Thanks, he seems happy so far! Gave him some bloodworms as a treat and he practically attacked the pipette I used

I stick to simple plants as am not very experienced (plus if I kill them it's not too expensive to get more!)

Lcc86 said:

Thanks, he seems happy so far! Gave him some bloodworms as a treat and he practically attacked the pipette I used

I stick to simple plants as am not very experienced (plus if I kill them it's not too expensive to get more!)

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Yes sir, never use glass droppers to feed fishes. These maniacs can break them...

I'm able slowly but surely kill almost any aquatic plants. So I too sticks with the easy ones... Loll.

Did a water change and added an unused ornament I found in my cupboard, I felt like I had too much black space at the back and this really helps. Zazu loves it and has been exploring most of the day! The issue with ammonia and nitrite has gone, it was 8 days since previous change and I was testing the water every other day. Probably could've left it but had some time and wanted to change up the tank anyway.

Little bit of algae but forgot to clean it off. Will play with lighting adjustments to get rid.

I think your algae problem is slightly promoted by the sunlight your tank gets from the window behind it

MaloK said:

I think your algae problem is slightly promoted by the sunlight your tank gets from the window behind it

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Yeah not much I can do about it in this room, there's also only one plug so I can't move the tank! I'm not too worried about it atm.

Haven't updated on this tank for quite a while. I got the green algae well under control by adjusting lighting, everything has actually been really good in this tank until the last couple of weeks. I've started to get an outbreak of the dreaded cyanobacteria (see pictures). My filter isn't running as efficiently as it could be so my jobs for today are to do a big water change, clean all the cyanobacteria off the plants and any ornaments, gravel vac, and do some filter maintenance. Currently using a spray bar but will see what other attachments I have that may increase water circulation a little. Obviously don't want to increase it too much with a betta in there but need to get this outbreak under control! I'll rearrange some of the decor too to give him a bit of a change of scenery.

Zazu is still a happy little guy, super aggressive at feeding time! I got some live bloodworms as a freebie a couple of weeks ago and he absolutely loved hunting them down as a bit of a treat. I definitely don't have capacity to raise my own food but I'll look into buying more from time to time.