5 Things I Will NEVER Put In A Nano Aquarium Again

[@FluorescentBetta]

One of my favorite tips from you is to use a COMB to take out the duckweed. That's a game changer! Duckweed is very useful in many ways, so thank you for letting us have our cake and eat it too!

[@chriscyr4982]

agreed, never painted gravel again. I've been using pea gravel in dark brown only. If there's any lighter color stones I pick them out. 35 years ago my girlfriend and I found a spot on a Boca Raton beach where all the shells collected in one spot. We'd take 2 five-gallon buckets worth, spend hours picking out the brown, purple and black shells only and actually return the white shells soon afterward. We'd also jump out of her Camaro with buckets and scoop up peoples drive-ways made out of chatahoochee stone ( same thing as pea gravel ) and again pick out all the light color stones. So our fresh and salt tanks had darker substrates. Haven't kept salt in many years. I wouldn't rip off millionaire homes these days ( wait, yes I would ) however most landscapers spray for weeds so it's probably contaminated anyway. That's my world and I approve of half of this message ......

[@BigShrimpin416]

Stealing people’s driveway stones is hilarious 😂😂😂😂😂

[@GlassSurfing]

Someone on Reddit just asked to identify a car because they pulled up and stole their landscaping rocks 😂 some of us are a little more wild

[@audrameyer9558]

I agree 100% about duckweed!! I don't even think I ever bought any...it just showed up one day 😕 🤣 I find that subwassertang does much better in tanks that do not have heaters. And I must "tend to it" every few days to keep it coralled. My Gardneri Killifish love to breed in it 🤗

[@thesmallscape]

Oh well, that would be a solid reason for keeping it, Audra! 💚🙌💚

[@Jen.K]

Re: Subwassertang, I love the way it looks and I'm nurturing a few little clumps, which I have attached to little bits of hardscape. But I'm now realizing it's not your average moss/floating plant, it seems very delicate and almost needs a tank just for itself, where it wont get disturbed by anything.

[@audrameyer9558]

@@Jen.K Oh yeah...it requires being attached to something or being wedged in between things. Its a bit annoying at times, but really is beautiful and the fishies love it! 😊

[@robertmcdaris7591]

Duckweed is the one that I will never-ever let into my aquarium again.

[@marcusstevenson1654]

You say that like you have a choice.

[@Isaac-ul8yz]

@@marcusstevenson1654fr once you have it, you’ll always have it. I completely redid my tanks and I still ended up with duckweed. Oh well it’s easy to maintain if you keep taking it out

[@Mifiboi]

@@Isaac-ul8yzvery nice as house plant fertilizer

[@violetvengance202]

I absolutely love duckweed and so do our fishys it seems there are 2 types of hobbiests those who love it and those who hate it..there is no in between 😅 I just sell my excess which there is always! It’s a nice $50-$150 a month that I get to put back into my hobby 🥰

[@wendihamlett105]

Hey Joanna! Totally agree with the little bridge thingys and all the rest except...subwassertang!! I LOVE it no one eats it. it grows like mad in all my tanks (yes you have to wrangle it up now and then.) The real reason is I absolutely love to say "subwassertang" even if I butcher the pronounciation!

[@thesmallscape]

Haha, Wendi!! You are too funny, I love it. Maybe we will see each other again and we can talk subwassertang!! 🌱😃🗣️

[@pyleaquatics]

I make sure I have Duckweed in my 5.5 gallon aquarium along with snails. Duckweed is great for pulling out nitrates and purifying water in my killifish breeding tanks. It also lowers the light levels a bit. I think it's essential.

[@mongguppiesandendlers]

I agree with all of these!! I did painted gravel when i was really little and was so disappointed when the coloring came off. Now i do sand, pea gravel, natural things. The only 2 black substrates i have is fluval stratum and diamond black sand. Even the diamond black sand comes with small brownish grains in it so it isn't a true black substrate.

[@Ayla212T]

I tried black diamond sand and it spiked the pH, off the charts. I read it was neutral, so thought it was contaminated and tried again with a different bag and got the same result.

[@Chompchompyerded]

My pet duck (and indoor duck) just LOVES duckweed. Both the small kind and the big kind. She loves water lettuce and every other kind of floater too. I have thought about getting a nano tank and plant it to duckweed for her to graze on anytime she wants, except she'd eat it all in one sitting. So if/when I get an aquarium I'll put floating plants in it and give my duck a happy treat every so often. I'll do anything for my duck.

[@thesmallscape]

What?!? That’s the cutest thing ever! In that case I’d LOVE duckweed! 😃

[@Chompchompyerded]

@@thesmallscape It's all a matter of taste, in this case, quite literally. I've never tried to eat duckweed. I'm not convinced that I'd like it as much as she does, but she just goes crazy over it. I put some in the bathtub every day when she goes for her daily swim. I don't ever have to worry about having to clean it up because she eats every last scrap of it. All ducks like duckweed, and therein lays a problem. When they go from lake to lake and pond to pond, they often carry it with them on their feathers. Once they're back in water, the duckweed dislodges from their feathers, and then there's an infestation of the stuff. As you know, it grows like crazy, and it can choke out a pond in no time. No light can get to anything else, and before long, the pond will become overloaded with cyanobacteria, which kills all the life in the pond except for the duckweed. When you seed ducks going crazy over the stuff, it's hard to tell whether it's cute, or a curse. I guess it all depends on your point of vies. If you're a duck, it's all upside!

[@SequoiaElisabeth]

Good advice, thanks for sharing! Subwassertang is one of my favorite aquatic plants. I have had difficulty getting it to grow where and how I would like, so I just let it do its thing.

[@thesmallscape]

That is certainly one way to do it! 🙌

[@Demontoastslayer]

Try growing subwassertang on your sponge filter and letting it take over and cover it up

[@Jen.K]

How do you attach it?

[@Demontoastslayer]

@Jen.K you can use some thin fishing line to attach it at first, and over time it should just clump up and take it over. I got it to work without fishing line. If it's a coarse sponge filter, you can sort of just stuff it onto it, and it will get stuck on to it like velcro

[@Jen.K]

@@Demontoastslayer thanks for your reply, I will give it a try

[@SuperBoppy]

I use duckweed in my 10 gallon, with a circular barrier in the middle - the HOB filter flows in the circle. It works well, but yes, you need to "harvest" the duckweed regularly. It is a great pollution absorber. I tried using the duckweed in my 29 gallon, but I did not like it there. If you are trying to get rid of the last remnants of duckweed, just agitate the water with an air stone for several days and it will disappear - it does not like moving water at all.

[@joeycarter2678]

I will never ever put a snail in an aquarium. They took over my aquarium and no matter how many times I clean them out of my tank, the very next day there were all over the tank. After fighting them forever, I finally tossed everything in my tank except the fish and still wound up with a single one. A very expensive mistake.

[@cherylbelott]

Hi Joanna! Happy The Small Scape Saturday! 😊 “It looks like a rolled up sock in your tank.” 🤣 Oh my gosh that made me laugh! 😂 I called your #5 right before you said it. Lol. My kids got a 5gal hand me down tank years ago with teal rocks. That paint over time did wear off in places. Gross is right. I don’t mind floating plants like duck week or salvinia until you get in the tank to clean and it gets all over your arm. Hope you have a great weekend!

[@thesmallscape]

Haha! Did you see it coming?! 😆Every time I look at those tanks in the basement ugh! Weather should be nice the rest of the weekend here - yay! Hope you are enjoying your summer weekend as well! 🌵☀️🌴

[@cherylbelott]

@@thesmallscape Somehow right before you said it, I knew you were going to say the substrate. 🤣 Beautiful weather this weekend! I’m relaxing outside right now!!

[@MBBTigger1357]

Hi there. Looonnng story short. No more duck weed. It never goes away! LOL😀

[@plushpossum]

"Buckets & buckets"! YUP. You said a mouthful!! 🙂

[@ladydiane1811]

Well done! You helped solve a few problems I've seen in my own nano tanks. THANK YOU Joanna!

[@thesmallscape]

☺️🙌🌱

[@jstoeck784]

I like floating plants but I do agree that they will populate quickly. I don't use duckweed. I have salvinia and red root floaters. The salvinia will cover the top of my ten gallon in less than two weeks. I just get rid of the excess and stay on top of it.

[@joeycarter2678]

All excellent information and I really appreciate all the heads up.

[@thesmallscape]

🙌

[@Fishnkitts]

Omg this episode is awesome and soo hilarious - your expressions and comments!! The fake moss ball 🤣🤣🤣

[@explorer_9851]

I love my floating plants . I have red root floaters . Grow like crazy but it’s fine lol I keep up with it . Hate that moss ball lol 😂. And oh gawdddd the freaking gravel . I totally agree lol

[@stoutlager6325]

Yeah same experience with susswassertang. I love duckweed though. Part of the reason is I keep a snail species that eats it and I have a lot of surface agitation in my tanks which the duckweed isn't a big fan of in terms of propagation. There is always some amount of it but I never get full surface coverage.

[@1997goldwing]

I definitely agree, thanks for sharing.

[@erickborling1302]

Nice thoughts. Here's a hypothesis begging someone to try it: get some beige dental casting stone (i.e. Fujirock) and make little planter/sculptures. It might be an ideal anchor for driftwood combined with the flower-pot concept (i.e. "easy planter") or a custom base for a rock that sinks deeper into the substrate than you'd prefer.

[@LushSaltyAquariums]

"Rolled up sock." LOL. :)

[@thesmallscape]

😝😂

[@cosmoplakat9549]

What is this refrigerator spa treatment for marimo moss balls of which you speak? I have 4 in my tank and would love to give them a spa treatment! ❤

[@thesmallscape]

😃 well…I like to give them a rinse and squish in the sink. Then just set them in the fridge for just a few hours or a day and there you go! 💦😌

[@rockyandmiles9889]

I agree with subwoofertang 😅 makes a mess!! As for the fluval moss ball, I have one on my 10 gallon to help reduce phosphates (that’s what the packaging states). I had a lot of BBA on my Anubias and the moss ball seems to have helped after a couple of months? It’s not a great looking thing so I put it in the back of the tank behind a rock 😂

[@hologram952]

Duckweed for me, especially in a tank with shrimp. I couldn't just scoop it out cause the shrimp would hang out on it and I would get one or two in each scoop. Took a few hours to remove it from my nano with a measuring cup and fish net. The larger floaters are much easier to deal with. The frogbit was too much with the long roots for me. I currently have salvinia.

[@new_friends_]

As I'm watching this and I look over at my nano tank with... red root floaters and duckweed... haha

[@merilynmikiveer1476]

Subwassertang reminds me of Monosolenium Tenerum, even though the latter is a liverwort. I really liked this plant by its appearance and color, it looks like a miniature version of Frisée (underwater)lettuce and for that reason I added Monosolenium Tenerum into my tank recently. I should mention that I don't have much experience with growing liverwort, or moss - moss to me looks like you have to know what you're doing, it looks intimidating and for that reason I have not yet tried to grow moss in my aquarium, but I did get the liverwort because in the shop it looked really unique among the other plants. I got my Monosolenium in a Vitro, from Tropica. I softly shredded the liverwort into pieces and attached them to various surfaces, like driftwood and rocks, with a glue (I believe I used too much glue and perhaps the following has something to do with it) to sort of experiment and see what the plant likes more. It has been growing in my aquarium for a a month now, and at first I didn't notice it, but few days ago when I did 50% water change in my tank and took one of the bigger driftwood pieces out with Monosolenium growing on top of it - I could smell its stench. I had researched this plant previously, mainly to see what requirements it had to succsseed in my tank as I don't use CO2, etc. But nobody ever mentioned that it has this praticular and quite strong smell to it, it smells sort of like seaweed in autumn. Some of the leaves that were directly glued on the driftwood surface had turned a bit yellow-ish, so there's a possibility that it's rotting, but I could also see new growth. It looks really beautiful still, and the snails love it, but I'm not sure if I want to grow it in the long run because whenever I clean the tank and take some pieces out it reeks and all of my apartment is full of seaweed stench. And I've also put one piece of rock with Monosolenium into a "fish"bowl (that has no heater or a filter), to see how it acts in there, and it really is extremely hardy plant and easy to grow. It was one of the first aquarium plants I ever got, I also got my first Anubias that day, which I killed in less than a week.

[@GlassSurfing]

*Sue's Vassar Tongue* but make it sound German. That's not a "b", it's practically a double "s". Sweet water algae! Great video Joanna! Enjoying watching you guys go through the process. Thanks for sharing all the wisdom, as always!

[@thesmallscape]

Yup! That’s how it’s done. 🙌

[@fadhilaiman7812]

as for me pelia moss..i bought them attached to stainless steel mest and i bent it to make an arch, some kind of cake but when they start to grow its kinda hard to trim it and let it looks good. another thing is frogbit, they grew their root fast and if it van grow long enough they will rooted themselves in substarate i use to cut the root short and now in larger tank., the root never grow lol

[@SwordandShieldStable]

As a new aquarium hobbyist, I researched a ton prior to buying anything. I created a small aquascape, and usually I prefer natural/normal things, but I wanted black substrate to really allow the plants and lighter colored fish I planned to buy to pop colorwise (instead of against light sand/gravel). I ended up getting painted black gravel and I HATE it lol. I did rinse and do a vinegar bath prior to using it, but the paint is slowly revealing the white rock. Ugh, I wish I knew about more options for darker colored substrate. If anyone has suggestions for finding some let me know! I also bought a plant online that must have had some stray duckweed stuck to the roots when they planted it... because I opened up the root plug and went to rinse and it filled the top of my rinse bucket! It's like it populated inside the plug. I was plucking out random stray duckweed pieces for the month the tank was cycling. Cue me hovering over the tank with tweezers, squinting at the one random duckweed riding the flow.

[@wheelbite9]

Buy black sand. Of all the substrates I've used, it's the best looking. It's like owning a silver car, you can't see most of the filth on it, so it's much easier to keep clean.

[@cherylcalifornia125]

Fluval Stratum is a beautiful, dark, rich in nutrients substrate for plants. Looks great with colored fish and shrimp as well. I’ve been using it for years and you don’t even need to rinse it prior to putting it in your aquarium. You will want to add your water to your aquarium slowly (try not to disturb substrate as much as possible)and rinse/squeeze out your filter sponges a couple times a day for a few days until the water clears up. That little bit of hassle is so worth it in the long run.

[@Matthew_Does_To_Many_Things]

I have recently just joined into the nano planted tank world. I bought a 6.8 gallon petco tank used off of market place for what I would say a good price. It came with nice rocks with Java fern supper glued to the rocks and black gravel and a very long vine of pothos thats roots grew into the filter media and now I have a nice vine growing around my room. I’m currently making sure that it’s cycled completely and then I’m gonna go to pet-smart or pet supplies plus and grab me a koi galaxy female betta. I just need some floating plants and driftwood to add to the tank and I’m all set.

[@thesmallscape]

Sounds great! I wish you luck and lots of fun!! 🌱🌱🌱

[@Matthew_Does_To_Many_Things]

@@thesmallscape Thanks!

[@JohnWood-tk1ge]

I have gotten to the point I only go with natural things in my tanks, nothing else looks right to me!

[@Cole-ty9dz]

I stole someone's resin log that had plant seeds in it. They're an eye-sore in my opinion but the ones with seeds in them pay off, depending on the situation. Let's just say it was a very smart move as the plants grew and I transplanted them for better nutrients.

[@leafjelly4615]

Wow im glad you talked about painted gravel, im new to the aquarium hobby and i just stayed away from it because i prefer a more natural look. I had no idea that paint gravel was that bad!!

[@Jen.K]

When I first got started about 5 months ago I had absolutely nothing and there were these 5 little pieces of duck weed which came with something I bought and I was so happy to have them and nurtured them, trying to make them grow and spread so I would have some floating cover. But now, they are everywhere, covering the top of every tank, crowding out light and competing with everything. I scooped out handfuls of it and fed it to my chickens, even they didn't want it. When I remember the trouble I went to, trying to make it grow, it's hard to now just throw it out. Maybe my worm farm will like it.

[@CarolynnMc01]

I only have two tanks these days and one is a 16 gallon cube. I haven no idea where all this darn duckweed came from, but surely I can thank a plant retailer for that! (and the trumpet snails in my larger tank). Somehow I've managed to avoid trumpets in the smaller tank, but I'm sure it's inevitable. I don't mind the trumpets in the larger tank.... they let me know when I'm over-feeding my fish, so that's an advantage! My small tank just has cherry shrimp and it looks terrible right now. I plan to do some work in the poor thing today. Thank you for your Small Scape videos. I haven't had much opportunity to see Prime Time live streams (or any live streams) in a while. Unfortunately, I get caught up with work. Why can't someone just send me money for no reason every month so I can be carefree? heehee!! Have a great day, Joanna! xo

[@thesmallscape]

Oh I know the feeling all too well. Sorry to hear about all your new friends. Those trumpet snails are just the worst for me. Don’t feel bad about missing the PTA livestreams, we’re actually missing the next 2 because of engagements we can’t miss. ☺️

[@Jen.K]

When I first got started, I bought some trumpet snails because I thought they looked cute and I was happy to see them multiply. Then I put a few in a new tank and realized that they had completely rearranged my beautifully designed, layered substrate. I'm planning on getting some pea puffers soon.

[@CarolynnMc01]

@@thesmallscape I'll try to be there in a few weeks! xo

[@CarolynnMc01]

@@Jen.K if you have a bird bath, you can always pick them out and give the the wild birds. I don't know if this is such a good idea because of our environment (but I do it and the wild birds do eat them). Maybe someone can let me know if I'm doing something I shouldnt.

[@Jen.K]

@@CarolynnMc01 Thanks for the idea, that's interesting and yes I do have a bird bath, I also have chickens, and they would probably like them too. But actually, I'm saving all my pest snails for when my pea puffers arrive, they are going to have a banquet.

[@WahidahCherazade]

Oh, the first one was growing on a root that I got when buying my aquarium! My first thought was "Nice, I want plants!" but then I started to dislike it and actually removed it and throw it in the trash. I just hope it won't grow back on the root now... It probably will...

[@tiffanyclark-grove1989]

I just got a half a cubic foot of Pea gravel for $3.30. I am so pleased it looks great.

[@thesmallscape]

What a bargain!

[@nessiferum6200]

I miss my mossball. I bought three of them and one just grew and grew and grew until it was larger than a tennis ball, it was always covered in shrimp, they loved it! I had to get rid of it in the end, it was getting too big and growing in weird shapes and I couldn't make it round again. I would absolutely recommend them in a tank especially with shrimp, just make sure you don't end up with a mutant monster, lol.

[@thesmallscape]

Oh wow - what a fun story!!? Runaway monster moss ball?! I love it - thanks so much for sharing!! ☺️

[@trenamarie9820]

Love me some Subwassertang! It’s going to make great hiding places for baby shrimp.

[@PiClaudius]

Do you think duckweed and susswassertang (I love it) are annoying? Try Utricularia gibba (maybe is Floating Bladderwort)! A small fragment arrived into my nano tank with a plant, and in few weeks it invaded all the surface, tangled to the moss and to the Rotala. It was almost impossible to get rid of it. The worst thing is that it is carnivorous and actually ate my baby neocaridina shrimps and medaka’s fries!

[@thesmallscape]

Wow! No kidding?! Zoinks!!

[@PiClaudius]

@@thesmallscapeNot kidding, l managed to take pictures of the bladders with the shrimplets inside 😢 And it took at least one year to get rid of every small piece of that nightmare of a vegetable in my tank. I had to remove almost all the moss.

[@jeannechats]

Agreed about the fake moss balls from big box pet stores I bought painted blue gravel - tossed it within 2 months

[@thesmallscape]

I think we’ve all had that blue gravel at some point. 😃

[@dallasbrat81]

Duck weed is fine as long as you like mowing every week 😊

[@lizettebusquets4305]

I never intended to add duckweed, but it came with some other floating plants. I hate it and have tried to eradicate it with little success. I'm getting to the point that I'm going to get rid of all floating plants. It blocks the light to other plants.

[@huldu]

I had duckweed once but it disappeared. I think it's sensitive to strong water currents. Had a big tank with quite a bit of circulation and the duckweed never managed to get a foot in the tank. Some plants do really well and others just fail I could never figure it out. The hardiest plant I ever had was the anubis or whatever it was called. It grew like a boss, super easy to take care of. I had a little moss ball too that I got from China, that thing really started to explode as well.

[@myst2759]

Honestly, the duckweed thing I don’t mind. I have a 40 gal breeder turtle Paludarium / Riparium set up so any duck weed in my 9 gal, 10 gal, or 20 Long I just throw in the 40. I’ve been running black water in all my tanks except for the crayfish 10 gal so have no issues with algae. Haven’t found subwassertang anywhere so don’t know if it will grow for me. Overall I actually failed at Betta Bulbs, which are suppose to be just a drop and grow so I didn’t something wrong there. Which is why I won’t get bulb plants again

[@PureAndShrimple]

I have far too much duckweed but there are loads of newborn yellow shrimplets in it so I'm afraid to touch it!

[@erickborling1302]

The quest for great gravel. Is ongoing. Stay frosty: bring collapsible containers when you visit nature. Perfect sand and gravel is a noble thing.

[@marymendez4178]

I do agree with you on all these items, blue gravel looses it's color, the sub-was-ser-tang looked pretty when you zoomed on it and when I Google it, the leaf are small and it also looks like duckweed I hate them both. Moss ball looks like a tiny wig, Yeah your right.

[@Wintersdark]

Ufh painted gravel. I set a tank up with black sand and gravel thinking it would look cool and highlight my colorful neos, ivory mystery snail and guppies. In practice? It VERY quickly stops being entirely black. Any detritus in the tank looks EXTREMELY bad. In the end, even if you vaccum it tomget rid of any debris the paint wearing off (i did NOT understand it was painted, ill add, thought it was just dyed right through) makes it look BAD. Nope. Only natural sands and gravels from now on, and most importantly some variety in colors because fully uniform gravel doesnt really work, even ignoring problems with paint wear.

[@Rivercat0338]

Rolled up sock 🤣 So true!

[@CricketsMa]

Hard to believe that I haven’t had even one of your least favorite things in my tank! I had a gorgeous piece of wood that I boiled in a large turkey roasting pan, for DAYS and it still turned my tank so dark and murky, it was hard to see anything I wonder if the pet store wants it back, for free?

[@thesmallscape]

That stinks. Sorry to hear that.

[@AlhanaTsuki]

Still bummed the PennPlax thing didnt work at all. I was really hoping it would grow for you! Gotten a lot of different plants in now at Petsmart, but the packaging is bad, if you dont get them within a week or two it seems they go downhill fast.

[@littlemidwestrebornsdolls]

No painted gravel for me! Gina

[@markvonwisco7369]

I have one aquarium where duckweed is a problem. Completely eliminating it from that one tank needs to be my summer project.

[@MikeyB4ume]

“A rolled up sock” 😂😂😂😂😅

[@Rutrag]

Süßwassertang, from German is pronounced suess (like doctor) + vasser (like I'm going to vasser the plants in Dracula's accent) + tang (like the astronauts drink). That third letter is NOT a "B"; it's called an eszett. Sometimes it's replaced with a double "s" to make typing easier. Süßwassertang is a compound word that would literally translate as "sweet water weed," except that Süßwasser is the equivalent of freshwater in English.

[@laurabustos6560]

That's so odd, I have Subwassertang/ pellia in my kitchen tank that gets a ton of natural light and I've never had algae on it. I have hair grass in the same tank and that's what catches detritus in my tank! I'd get rid of the hair grass! Pretty carpet plants can be found elsewhere! 😮‍💨

[@feralon9570]

My nano tank is a 20 long :P I've never used any colored substrates, I've never tried subs-whatever.. lol I do use your comb hack for my floating plants!, but I'm unlucky and never got any duckweed :P lol Super curious about all the changes! CAn't wait to see it when it's done!

[@chuxtuff]

The first thing I thought of that I'll never put in my tank again is that brown specimen pieces of wood that you see at the fish store and online. The reason I don't like it besides being expensive is that it releases tannins into the water making the water look like weak coffee. I've read that it's healthful to the fish and won't hurt anything but as the days wear on your tank gets darker and darker until you do a partial water change which helps. But not putting a piece of that wood in the tank to begin with would've been even better. After 6 months and partial water changes every week or two I had it so I removed it to regain my sanity. So if you want a dark watered Amazonia type fish tank put a piece or two of that wood in your tank. If you don't like the dark water look keep it out of your tank.

[@thesmallscape]

Good thoughts, dark water is not for everyone especially when it doesn’t mellow out.

[@rhondafitzpatrick1646]

thank you for the heads up on these items, I am just starting out in the fish keeping... you always give great advice!

[@thesmallscape]

Great - hope they help! ☺️

[@Eden_Rivers]

This video made me laugh and laugh. Floating plants are my white whale of fishkeeping. I tried lots and couldn't keep them alive. What they need (lots of light and low flow) only exists in my nano tanks. I got dwarf water lettuce to grow. And grow. And grow. And in one tank, it grows alongside algae. But my bettas love it, so I maintain it. Actually, I'm off to do that right now .... 😂

[@thesmallscape]

🤭😂 well, have fun then!

[@itscyberqueen13]

Thank you for this video. I ended up with 2 nano tanks (without the betta I originally ordered due to the seller mixing up my perfect fish with another customer's, grrrr). They won't let you send them back because he would be too stressed traveling from Indonesia and then back! So I had to pick another one because it was the sellers mistake. Anyway, now I have two betta (double the cost on everything now. I just gotta laugh.). Anyway, I have two new pets now, that I thought was gonna be cheaper than a dog...(It was not) I digress. Grrr...lol Thank you for this video on what NOT to waste my money on. I have two new babies and will always be paying double for everything now so it really helps not to buy something that's gonna be troublesome. Grrr....but my two bettas are loads of entertainment because they are very different in personalities and ...they each find something to make me shake my head each day. I only have had one for 2 days and the other for about 2 weeks. Let's hope I can keep them alive. I'm stressfully looking each morning to see no one floating or sunk and lifeless at the bottom of the tank. I'm checking the water 2-3 times a day. Yes, I am a stressed fish mom now. lol 😅

[@sewerrat7612]

Seeing comments about duckweed wishing i could keep it alive. Its the only plant ive found that i cant have tried multiple times

[@thesmallscape]

I must say you are envied. 😆

[@PureAndShrimple]

I thought your last one was going to be ramshorns 😂

[@jonisolis9645]

Water sprite -- would never add this plant again in a small tank. I had it grow to almost 24 tall!

[@thesmallscape]

😲🤭wow!

[@carolebraswell982]

I sooooo agree with your assessments! Hate those fake moss balls! And my blue gravel is turning white!!! LOL

[@thesmallscape]

Ya…booo!!! 👎 🤭

[@kframe1208]

My Penn plax thingy didn't grow either. It's in a drawer somewhere now. -_-

[@thesmallscape]

Ya. Bummer.

[@terrygorsch386]

I am disappointed with dark substrate ☹️ I thought I would like it but it's to dark in a 20 gallon high 🤔🤓🐠🎸

[@thesmallscape]

That’s a bummer.

[@traceychiang909]

Fun video.

[@zsworld6609]

I love my Susswassertang! 😂

[@patriciarangel9915]

I have never like color gravel when I used to have a tank in my youth🤭 I am 65 right now🤭

[@plantique101]

I agree with all of your choices

[@pecosR0B]

months later, still trying to get rid of some of that duckweed lol

[@fakename2212]

I don't touch painted gravel. I tried it once with blue gravel and after many rinses, it never rinsed clean, so I never used it. Waste of money.

[@lyndaspangler9654]

So, folks, is there a good floating plant? If so, which ones are best? Thanks. ✌🏼🖖🏼🌿

[@thesmallscape]

I do like salvinia minima and frogbit if you’d like to give floaters a try ☺️

[@cyndyyoungschimke5936]

I laughed when you commented about that fake moss ball. I ordered one from Amazon & when it came, I didn't even put it in my tank. Absolutely hideous and not even remotely real looking.

[@NoahLavineASP]

One mistake I made was putting a Mexican dwarf crayfish in a tank with my betta. Never again...

[@thesmallscape]

Oh…bummer. Sorry to hear but we all have lessons like that lurking in our minds.

[@cheook7029]

I guess "Süßwassertang" could be translated to "fresh water seaweed". The "ß" is not a "b" but one of our special letters that is pronounced like a sharp "s" as in "kiss". Grüße aus Deutschland.

[@thesmallscape]

Yup! I just won’t attempt it on camera. My accent wouldn’t do it justice. 😊

[@annette3966]

That fake moss ball does look like a rolled up sock, yuck! I have a 20 gallon tank with blue gravel. It used to have two shades of blue , but I picked out the light blue while it was in the tank. That took a long time! I definitely would not put blue gravel again. I mostly use black now. Another thing I don't like in my tanks are plants that come with snail eggs. I just can't deal with so many snails. I've been only buying the tube plants from Petco and PetSmart to avoid the snails.

[@jv2513]

Easy solution get three assassin snails and you’ll never see another snail ever again lol

[@annette3966]

@@jv2513 Haha...true! 😆

[@jonisolis9645]

I had a moss ball and it died. :(

[@thesmallscape]

☹️ sorry to hear it

[@jeremymoore450]

Joann, I have never used duckweed but I don’t like stuff floating on the top. I agree with substrate. I have some rainbow rocks in a 5 gal nano tank and it looks terrible it was my daughters tank. I am going to switch it out soon with a galaxy sand that I also have in my 55 gal and I love how it sparkles and so much easier for the fish to pick the food off. My 20 long has a black substrate with some colors in it and that is going to get switched out to the galaxy sand soon to. It is a planted tank so not sure how that is going to work with fish and plants already in it. Do you have a video about replacing substrate in a planted tank and already have fish in the tank.

[@fredk4136]

You should never add a male and a female guppy to a nano tank. They breed like crazy.

[@mikefisher4834]

I’ll never have duckweed unless it’s giant duckweed I have frog bit and water spangles I want red root floaters and water lettuce

[@cathylocklin3215]

I agree , natural is better.

[@yermailmain206]

Only fail if you don’t try🤙🏽

[@jamesparadigm]

💚💚💙💙😊

[@thesmallscape]

😃😎💚

[@0ptccopa434]

1 is pronounced SOOS-VASSER-TONG or

[@illgrooves]

Never Java moss

[@Curtis.StMartin]

Duckweed Yuck !!!!!!!!!

[@thefisher6273]

Psinted gravrl. Sprites - I csnt keep up with growth. Duckweed blocking my light. I keep taking it out and comes back way too fast. Female Guppies. I cant feed all those mouths! 😂😂