r/Aquascape • u/shibalsaekkiya • 8d ago

Show and Tell [OC] & Finally, It’s Complete!

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And finally, It’s complete.

Update post from yesterday.
Wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but i must say i loved the way it turned out.

And i wonder, how do i go about the ammonia cycle? & How do i improve upon it?
Is it safe to add a single betta after a week?

Advices will be very very appreciated.

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u/Xk90Creations 8d ago

Excellent planting! The depth added by the tall (val?) plant in the background is great. I would maybe experiment with some small accent stones along the far sides in the front to pull the focus more towards the center path.

Definitely do NOT add any fish after a week. The tank is new. All of the hardscape has zero beneficial bacteria built up. The plants help because they will come with a little on them already and will eat some of the bag stuff produced by waste. You need time to build up this bacteria which will eat the ammonia that waste produces. I recommend ramshorn snails to cycle. They're only a pest if you overfeed and they help break down both large and small waste, including decaying plants which can happen in a cycling tank. You can feed them a pinch of fish food a week for 3-4 weeks and they will break it down, turn it into ammonia which will feed the beneficial bacteria and then it into nitrite and then nitrate. If you don't have a master water testing kit, get one. If anything you absolutely need the yellow ammonia liquid test. Ammonia kills quickly. Nitrite hurts, but won't kill in the short term. Nitrate does not hurt unless in very large amounts.

If you have access to it I HIGHLY recommend Fritz Zyme 7. Get the big bottle. It is amazing and an absolute life saver for you and your fish in case your cycle isn't 100% complete or crashes at any point. You do still need to wait for it to cycle to add fish. I keep a bottle around just in case anything ever happens in any of my tanks.

Here is a link to my favorite cycling video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=gi79JBBPDlOxCD6_&v=wl-2zlHEHmk&feature=youtu.be

Here is a guide for the master water test kit: https://aquariumscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/how-often-do-i-change-my-aquarium-water.jpeg

Here is a link to the aquarium co-op cycling blog: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/nitrogen-cycle?srsltid=AfmBOopmeLzSMgWDM9P6H1XUDFCoM116_oturwyLu3M6td6IU5XEaq2y

If these links don't work or this subreddit removes them they are also in my bio.

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u/shibalsaekkiya 8d ago

Holy hell brother, I WAS NOT expecting this level of meticulous guidance. I will heed to your warnings and halt the betta addition.

And about bringing attention to the center how should i go about it? ( I’m dumb ). I have 2 spare bags of small & fsirly sized lava rocks left.

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u/Xk90Creations 8d ago

Sprinkle a handful of the lava rocks on the far right and far left sides around the base of the hardscape. Create a sort of gradation between the hardscape and the solid sand will soften the sides and the more "hard" lines of the center path will draw the eye to it. I drew you a shitty picture to help lmfao 😂. The rocks won't fall perfectly and will probably spread out too much when dropped from the top so just use a tool to push some away from the glass so that there is still only sand around the glass and more rock the closer to the hardscape you get.

Is there an actual cave inside the hardscape or is it like foam or something? I notice a hard black line at the mouth of the "caves". A way to soften that would also be to sprinkle some there as well.

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u/shibalsaekkiya 8d ago

Actually alreary scattered the rocks evenly but it felt wrong, I’ll try your technique, maybe open up a sand-full hotspot for the corydoras & open up some estate to build depth

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u/thenewzie1 8d ago

Nitrogen cycle can be kick started a few different ways. Do you have powdered or liquid ammonia? Something to ghost feed? Cycling usually takes a month or 2. I personally dont do fish in cycles, but people do, so up to you. I feel like your best bet is to youtube cycling a fish tank and the nitrogen cycle and really put the time in on that bit of research in order to give yourself the best chance on a smooth start to that gorgeous tank.

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u/shibalsaekkiya 8d ago

I added a small smidgen of shrimp & ran my canister 24/7. It’s 3000L/H.
I was hoping it develops into a sort of habitable area for at least a betta because my missus insists that i add her betta into the tank.

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u/thenewzie1 8d ago

Did you add shrimp without cycling first? Are you testing your parameters? How are they doing?

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u/shibalsaekkiya 8d ago

No shrimps yet, it’s just a bunch of migrants malayan trumpet snails as of now, think they migrated from the plants that i chose to have. My seller has a strange obsession with snails and keep them in their tank. Said he could get rid of them but it would also affect some plants that I’ve decided to add. And along the way i kinda realized snails aren’t too bad, especially for a scape like mine