this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2026
44 points (100.0% liked)
Aquariums and Fish Keeping
1359 readers
13 users here now
A community for aquarists, both fresh and salt!
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
It just takes patience. Everything happens slower in a tank like this. There's sifted dirt on the bottom and then sand on top of that, so the plants have plenty of nutrients in the substrate. I deliberately introduced the dreaded Malaysian trumpet snails to keep the substrate stirred up. Lots of plants, nothing fancy just plenty of stems, mostly pearlweed. I've been dealing with a lot of hair algae but I got some amanos shrimp a couple weeks ago and they're beating it back. It's just a little ecology and I think a lot about every change before I make it.
Malaysian trumpet snails, you say? My 75 gallon has a writhing mass for a substrate at feed time. They're so prolific they keep the glass clean at night.
Our spotted congo puffer is fat and sassy on crunchy snacks.
People get mad about them but I agree they work great and are mostly asleep when I'm awake.
Btw a siamese algae eater might be pereft for yor algae woes. Mine was added mainly for BBA but they really lived up to their name.
If your trumpets get too out of control: yoyo or clown loaches are great at snail control.