My first real planted tank

My heart is breaking for the destruction on that background!! But as far as those types of backgrounds go I'd agree that it wasn't my favorite and didn't fit with your setup.

Loving the layout so far!

Your water parameters are perfectly fine for most fish. Green neons, maybe not so much though. They really prefer soft and acidic conditions. Typically with your Japanese style they do use a lot of fish that fit that soft/acidic category though. Other fish in this category are more adaptable then the green neons though. Standard neons, cardnials, rummynose tetras etc would all do better for you IMO.

Keep us posted!
 
My father even asked me if the before and after pics weren't reversed ;)

Even if such a background would have suited my aquarium, I'd still have taken down this one and replaced it, it was poorly installed and still permeated with the previous owner's water (and algea). I'll do some lookup work to the small fish I like and see how they do under my tap water values, matching fish to water sounds better than trying to match water to fish imho. Thanks for the tip!
 
Tom C said:
matching fish to water sounds better than trying to match water to fish imho.
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Exactly! We say this a lot to new comers and you figured it out on your own. You're gonna do just fine in this hobby. :) When you tested the tap water did you let it sit over night and/or aerate it though? Straight from the tap can have trapped CO2 and other gases in it that dissipate quickly and your pH can change quite a bit.
 
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Did not let it sit no, but I did also test my tiny guppy tank, and it's pH was only slightly lower (7.4), so I think I'm good :)
 
Let's see if pictures work this way too. I was planning to go buy my plants today, but apparently a good aquarium store in these parts is hard to come by. I finally found one who stocks the plants I need, but he only had one small cup of each. Ordered 5 chips of each Staurogyne Repens and Micranthemum Monte Carlo, to be delivered next week. I did already buy the wood for a moss tree, as that needs to be soaked for a week or 2 anyway.

I have attached a picture of the hardscape with tree for you to get an idea of the final look. I'll probably turn it around some before i attach the moss and make its placement final.

IMG_20161202_162806.jpg
 
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Well, it appears I no longer have a guppy tank :(

Did my weekly large water change yesterday (40%-ish), but this time I added Seachem Flourish Excel (testing it before I put it in my large aquarium), and already thought my fish looked distraught, tested pH and ammonia, even O2 (as they appeared to be gasping for air) and all looked fine. By the time I got up this morning all 3 were dead. Just tested again, more extensively thus time, and NO2 is at the max my test set can measure. Now I just have shrimp and the 2 killer snails. Going to change water again in the hopes they survive.
 
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That moss tree piece is perfect!

Sorry to hear about your guppys. :( What size tank is it again and what dosage did you use? I hope you've done the extra water change already and the other critters are ok.
 
It's a 30 litre (8-ish gallon) tank, already did the second water change, afterwards NO2 was still high, but acceptable. Water went cloudy shortly after, I suspect a bacterial bloom, as now my test set can no longer detect any NO2. Makes me wonder where it came from in the first place :(
 
Assuming you did actually mean NO2, a nitrite spike is unusual, especially in an established tank (which I believe it was). How much excel did you add to the tank? At 30 liters and an initial dose it should be a little less than 4ml, less then a cap full.
 
Initially I added just less than a cap, then 2 days later added a tiny bit more (just a mil or so, did not measure exactly unfortunately), and another 2 days later, with my water change yesterday, I again added the same amount as I did to start with, as per the instructions. I really hope balancing the bigger tank will be easier, hate losing fish.

My shrimp are now all gathered at the top of the tank, on top of my filter. I'm worried.

EDIT: maybe the nitrite came from the dead fish? Is that possible?
 
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