# 155L Goldfish Cube



## goldscapes (1 Oct 2018)

So, as requested, here's the progress of my 155L Goldfish Cube in the form of a journal.

This journey started out as an urgent rescue of 2 Goldfish and a Shubunkin from a 54L tank that could no longer cope.  I had zero experience of fish keeping when I bought the fish for my daughters on a whim back in February 2016...

Here's what the tank looked like then:



 

Fast forward two years, add another goldfish, loose most of the plants, add some algae and turn that sparkling white gravel to a sludgy brown mess and after loosing a fish and some online research I realised our scaly friends needed a new home and fast!

Online auction sites seemed like the obvious first step and within a couple of days I had a 60cm cube tank with filter and lights.

A trip to the local shop later and here's the new tank on day one (background care of my daughters):


 

Yes, fish in there on day one... I know, I know... but bear in mind I had never even heard of cycling at that point let alone fishless cycling and I thought getting them out of the sludgy mess was better for their short term survival (even now I think this was probably the best option and chance they had).

Despite the advice of the local shop I put way to much sand in there and have been syphoning it out slowly with every water change. I went for a large central island of wood all bound together so I can lift the whole unit out and give the sand a good clean, for anyone that doesn't know goldfish are MESSY and I think my main problem in the old tank was build up of waste in the gravel causing extremely high nitrate levels.

Over the next few weeks, I read a lot of articles on this forum (thanks to everyone here, this really is an invaluable resource) about how to setup a tank and fumbled my way trying my best to keep the critters alive. And I'm glad to say it's now almost 2 months in, the tank has fully cycled and all fish are healthy and as far as I can tell happy in their new home.

Once the tank was stable I added CO2 and a few more (but nowhere near enough) plants.
I repaired a missing cap on the spray bar and moved it to the back wall to improve the flow (which worked wonders).


 

A big improvement but still nowhere near enough plants so here's the latest shot following these changes:  

CO2 moved to an inline diffuser
Spray bar fitting adjusted for more surface agitation
Anubias and Rosafolia to join the Java Fern and Cryptocoryne
Lighting changed to two LED lights and two 15W T8 tubes (these are the only size that fit under the hood)


 

So, where now?  Well, I'm still not comfortable that this tank is stable. I'm getting some algae, the lighting is probably not strong enough to justify the use of C02 and there aren't enough fast growing plants in there. I'll add another post shortly with a summary of the tank regime with respect to fertilisers lighting times etc. for anyone that is interested.


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## goldscapes (1 Oct 2018)

*155L Cube Summary*

*Filtration*

1400 litres per hour
two grades of filter sponge and ceramic balls
APS Filter extender filled with bioballs acting as a CO2 reactor
*Lighting*

1x Aqua Glo T8 15w
1x Power Glo T8 15w
Both on at the same time for 12hrs
Fluval Aquasky
7am-3pm at 25-30%
*CO2 & Fertiliser*

CO2 for 14hrs starting 3 hrs before lights on
CO2 Roughly 10 bubbles every 2 seconds (becoming hard to count at this speed)
Seachem Flourish, Iron and Potassium weekly as per instructions on bottle
TNC Complete 15mm once per week as per bottle instructions


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## J@mes (1 Oct 2018)

Hi Dave, it’s a good job you’ve done, like the look of the tank, poor little goldfish must be much happier! I’m a total novice but perhaps you’re getting algae due to the 10 hours of lights on. It’s striking how much better a tank looks with more plants in


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## goldscapes (1 Oct 2018)

Thank you for your well intentioned suggestion but as a self-confessed total novice I think I might try the Algae section of the forum first 

That didn’t come out right, makes me sound ungrateful for the advice, which I wasn’t and was sound 👍


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## goldscapes (1 Oct 2018)

And you're right about more plants looking good, the biggest challenge I have had is finding varieties that the goldfish don't munch on. The red plant (Alternanthera Rosaefolia) is taking a bit of a kicking at the moment, in fact if anyone knows of a fast growing temperate plant that won't get eaten I would be extremely grateful to hear about it!

In fact I usually throw in some Cobomba or Elodea to act as a tasty distraction but since I improved the circulation it was getting caught under the hardscape so I took it out, I'll probably get some more and see if it helps.


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## goldscapes (1 Oct 2018)

Here's a quick update following today's maintenance, a full tank clean including inflow and outflow tubes.
The water is a little cloudy but much better than before the maintenance, the water had become really dark and I hadn't noticed just how bad it was, now I have a reminder...


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## goldscapes (8 Oct 2018)

Weekly maintenance complete, just a 40-50% water change some pruning of unhealthy leaves on the ferns and Anubias, and the addition of 2 Bucephalandra Theia and a B. Theia Green to conceal the structural ties and add a bit more plant mass. 

The upper leaves of the A. Rosaefolia are looking a bit the worse for wear after I took out the floating plants and the goldfish had nothing else to munch on. Also there is some brown algae on the upper leaves. Lower down there is good new growth but green rather than red leaves. I’m not expecting miracles but maybe nearer the surface the red coloration will return.

Fertiliser ran out so switched to Seachem Flourish and Potassium with some Iron in reserve should I need it.

Finally some floating plants on order so I can try out the “Duckweed Index” approach to fertilising.


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## goldscapes (8 Oct 2018)

Updated dosing as per bottle guidelines.
3ml Flourish
5ml Potassium
Twice a week to start with to see how things go from here.


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## goldscapes (16 Oct 2018)

Brown algae/slime got worse this week, maybe not consistent enough with the ferts this week? The Roasaefolia, Anubias and Buces all needed a leaf clean. Had to hack back some of the affected rosaefolia that was too delicate to clean 

Full deep clean of filter, pipe clean (full of sludge) substrate vacuum and glass scrub.

CO2 output must have been effected so will keep an eye on drop checker for the next few days.

Two and a half hour mega clean done! Let’s hope a little more regular fert dosing keeps it at bay.

On the plus side there was some good new growth on the Rosaefolia so let’s hope it continues so the volume and height increases over the coming weeks.

Not going to make any changes to the CO2 setup (reactor etc.) until I can stabilise the tank again.

Floating plant experiment didn’t work, goldfish thought it was watercress...


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## goldscapes (16 Oct 2018)




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## DutchMuch (16 Oct 2018)

that background though....


also isnt this tank just a tad small for the gold's


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## goldscapes (16 Oct 2018)

DutchMuch said:


> that background though....
> also isnt this tank just a tad small for the gold's



Maybe a temporary background for the photos is in order...

As far as the size of the tank goes I think that’s how much water three fully grown goldfish need, they are messy blighters... The Shubunkin alone can grow to 46cm but he’ll be in a pond by then...


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## Miss-Pepper (17 Oct 2018)

davexcape said:


> As far as the size of the tank goes I think that’s how much water three fully grown goldfish need, they are messy blighters... The Shubunkin alone can grow to 46cm but he’ll be in a pond by then...



Excuse me if I'm wrong but I think all three of those are fancy or fantail goldfish, so they'll all get to 6-8" maximum (15-20cm) and may not fair well in English ponds. Some people are successful but it seems rather hit or miss. Traditionally a Shubunkin refers to a single tailed/comet goldfish that grows larger and are very well suited for ponds. Yours looks like a calico fantail to me, big body and double tail. As for the aquarium size, longer and wider would be better but 150l water volume is adequate for now - but when they are larger I'd recommend a better swimming footprint instead of a cube, perhaps around 200l.


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## goldscapes (17 Oct 2018)

That’s a relief to hear, our garden would need some serious landscaping to make room for a pond. At the moment there is a strong flow in the tank and they seem more than happy to swim against the current and in and out of the plants so I won’t be rushing to get a new tank, not least because I have no idea where I could fit a longer one in...

Thank you for your input though I will bare this in mind, your words are well received!


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## goldscapes (26 Oct 2018)

You might be interested in seeing what I did to the old tank, it’s now a “Simple Planted Tank” and I am quite fond of it.


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## goldscapes (26 Oct 2018)

@DutchMuch here’s a shot with a minimal background, just for you 

Basic maintenance today, algae & diatom clean up and 40-50% water change.

Added a reactor to help defizz the water, worked well.


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## DutchMuch (26 Oct 2018)

s0 much better


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## goldscapes (27 Oct 2018)

DutchMuch said:


> s0 much better



Thanks, the lighting perhaps isn’t quite right since I moved the 7w bright white led into my other tank but while I try and deal with the algae I have in here I think it’s for the best!


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## goldscapes (31 Oct 2018)

Quick addition of some more plants.
3 bunches of Elodea and Limnophilia (I think).
6 Vallisneria Gigantea
4 Water Lettuce


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## goldscapes (31 Oct 2018)




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## goldscapes (4 Nov 2018)

Weekly update, still some signs of algae. Considering adding Phosphate to dosing schedule. 
Cut the A. Rosaefolia back hard to try and encourage some bushy growth.


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## goldscapes (8 Nov 2018)

Diatoms on the Anubias started to get worse so decided to up the light intensity. Rigged up an Ada 301 led over the tank to see if it helps, nice and bright, hopefully not too bright...


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## alto (9 Nov 2018)

This is a fantastic gf tank 

And I LIKE the background from your girls 

Both Anubias & Java fern (Microsorum) do quite well with lower light levels - much easier to grow them with minimal algae when shaded especially when plants are new ... as you can imagine from their slow growth rates, it’s a good while before they have mostly submerse leafs 

Diatoms usually responds well to increased water changes, time rather than increased light levels so I’d tread cautiously 

Eg, daily water change for a couple weeks

Also with limited plant volume and mostly slower growing plants, I’d go with a lean nutrient dosing method (think ADA rather than EI) - especially as you have “messy” fish already contributing to waste/organic load - it’s not just that they eat a lot (relative to tetras etc) but they are also inefficient digesters 
(I assume you include vegetable type matter in their diet)


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## goldscapes (9 Nov 2018)

Thanks Alto 

“Vegetarian matter” is most definitely in their diet, they’ve been happily shredding the vals since I put them in!

I’ll take a look at ADA dosing and lower the  dosing to once a week instead of twice to start with.

The reason for increasing the light was two fold. First the diatoms have been slowly getting worse since I removed the 7w led from the tank. Before this things were only on certain plants. Increasing ferts seemed to get some new leaves on the Anubias. Secondly the tank simply looks too dark for my tastes. It only has two 15w T8 bulbs and a 3w blue led at the moment.

In the interests of keeping costs down before Christmas (kids first then pets) I tried to use what I had (light) rather than buying something new (phosphates). I’ll increase the water changes too 

The ADA lamp is only on for 4hrs in the middle of the 8hr T8 photo period at the moment my plan was to slowly increase this by half an hour each week.

Your input is well received and appreciated.


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## BarryH (9 Nov 2018)

Dave, what is the sand/gravel you have in the more recent shots? It looks to have a larger grain size than the earlier shots where you mentioned "sand".


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## goldscapes (9 Nov 2018)

I meant to add a message about that. The sand was too fine and kept getting sucked up the syphon. You can see the base glass starting to become visible in the earlier shots. Instead of replacing the sand I went for something heavier and got a bag of standard aquarium gravel from my local fish shop. It’s around 3mm grade. It’s better but at the last clean I really had to dig into it to get the muck out. Somewhere on here someone mentions attaching a plastic fork to the end of the syphon nozzle and use this to agitate the substrate.


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## BarryH (9 Nov 2018)

Thanks for the help Dave.


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## goldscapes (9 Nov 2018)

This is the stuff:
https://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/post/new-aqua-range-aqua-substrates
It doesn’t have a specific name that I can see but the product code is AS5013. 
I just dropped into my local Maidenhead Aquatics and bought the gravel they had in stock, it looked about the right size not to get sucked up without being too large for the fish to sift through.


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## goldscapes (9 Nov 2018)

@alto you were right to suggest caution adding extra light, after only a few hours there’s sign of green algae on the wood closest the light so it’s gone back in the box for now.

Large water change today and daily for the next couple of weeks it is then. Thanks again for the advice.


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## alto (9 Nov 2018)

Is it possible to switch over to T5 from the T8?
That will give you better PAR as T5 design tends to higher intensity even at similar wattage, most T5 will appear brighter 

As you have the ADA light, try again but begin with 30min, after a couple days extend to 45 min etc - with slow growing plants, this needs to be a slower process than if a mix of fast and slow plants 

In order to establish new (tastier) plants, add some elodea etc for fish to snack on, try floating plants such as Limnobium laevigatum (sorry not clear on the common name as it seems to vary rather a lot) as the roots should distract the gf
“Duck weed” the tiny single leaf floating plant that is an aquarium scourge - unless you have gf 

(I suspect a gf forum has loads more ideas)


It’s often not that easy/fast to establish Vallisneria from “bunch” plants - instead invest in some aquarium nursery pots such as Tropica’s Vallisneria range (these are ones I happen to be familiar with), note that some Vallis species are slower, more difficult than others 

If you’ve a gravel only substrate, I’d open some of Tropica’s Nutrition Capsules and add to the Vallisneria planting zone

Algae crew - with gf I’d add a few larger snails such as “mystery” snails (the blues are really lovely), also zebra Nerites (look for larger specimens) (I find the “onion” and “tiretrack” Nerites to be overly generous with their egg laying - white spot decor everywhere  )

I believe you’re adding CO2 so I’d try adding Bolbitis - check with Aquarium Gardens etc for when a larger shipment arrives from Tropica - this will give you more “instant” plant and it’s a much faster grower than Anubias species 
Crinum calamistratum Is also not very palatable (but expensive for a larger specimen)

You might also enquire after the XL pot range - some of the swords might manage gf depredations if plant is big enough etc to start


Any root plants, I’d add the additional nutritional support to the gravel


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## goldscapes (10 Nov 2018)

I can’t do a straight swap to T5 bulbs as the ballast isn’t powerful enough but I could get a pair of T5s to run alongside the T8s - I have found it harder to source T5s at the right length (438mm I think) so thought a dimmable LED might be a better long term investment here. Something like the Fluval Aquasky Bluetooth.

I might try the ADA lamp again, thanks for the suggestion as to how to get it started.

There are three bunches of Elodea and Limnophilia in there at the back already and it worked pretty well until I added the Vals.

I did try smaller floating plants but they were eaten so quickly it would have cost me a fortune! Flow is also too strong for small floaters it just pushes them all into the water column.

I deliberately don’t plant the substrate so I can take everything out of the tank and give it all a good clean. I have been considering planting some containers though so your advice here gives me more confidence this is a good approach. Thank you for the plant tips too, much appreciated!

I hadn’t considered snails in case they turned into goldfish playthings, but if I could source some large ones that might work.

Thanks for all your comments


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## alto (10 Nov 2018)

Mystery snails seem to do fine gf BUT it as always YMMV 

I’d definitely choose 2cm snails & not any of the smaller species

I agree look for a suitable LED

Bit confused on T5 dimensions - isn’t this a 60cm x 60 x 60 “cube”


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## goldscapes (11 Nov 2018)

alto said:


> Bit confused on T5 dimensions - isn’t this a 60cm x 60 x 60 “cube”



Roughly 60 cubed, nearer 55 but only 51 under the hood. 438mm is the length of the 15w T8s and with the ballast caps on they only just fit. So I’d be looking at 24w T5s, which are the same length. They aren’t impossible to find just less of a selection to choose from.


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## goldscapes (12 Dec 2018)

Ok, slight change of tack. Vals didn’t stand a chance against the aptly named Nibbles, so out they go. A. Rosaefolia just isn’t recovering, more N might have helped but I don’t have any so sticking with Micros and K for now, out it goes. Anubias are thriving, some Java fern doing well, some not so. Cryps just doing their thing... slowly...

A generous batch of B. Japonica is on its way care of @Kalum - looking forward to getting that in here somewhere, let’s hope Nibbles leaves it alone.

CO2 pressure is dropping, almost in the red so will need a refil.

Lighting period increasing slowly to 9hrs has introduced some hair algae but only on the Vals, will keep an eye out and knock it back again if necessary.


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## goldscapes (13 Dec 2018)




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## goldscapes (15 Dec 2018)

Half the B. Japonica replaces the A. Rosaefolia let’s see how it takes. Thanks again @Kalum.


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## Kalum (15 Dec 2018)

Glad you had plenty to do what you wanted and it has been growing quickly in my non co2 tank so should really take off in yours


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## goldscapes (21 Dec 2018)

Nibbles!


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## goldscapes (7 Jan 2019)

@Kalum sorry to say that the B. Japonica was not successful  I rescued what I could and moved it to my tropical tank where it is yet to take hold, fingers crossed!

New strategy, C. Helferi and a pond-load of Elodea. Nibble your way through that lot goldies!



 

The keen-eyes will also notice the Buces have been removed, now also in the tropical tank.


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## Kalum (7 Jan 2019)

Not good mate! Did it die off or torn to shreds by the goldies?

What substrate and ferts you using?


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## goldscapes (7 Jan 2019)

Nothing special, the maintenance post (second post) is up to date. 
What worked so well for you?


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## Kalum (7 Jan 2019)

goldscapes said:


> Nothing special, the maintenance post (second post) is up to date.
> What worked so well for you?



It grew like a weed in mine, I was using ADA Amazonia soil and dosing EI (on the light side looking back). Started off as a CO2 tank @2bps but the pic below was after 3 months with no co2 which I was surprised about


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## goldscapes (21 Jan 2019)

Big trim on the C. Helferi, due to emerged growth dying back, missed one though...
Added half a dozen snails, loads of food for them on the wood plus the glass, which I didn’t clean this time. Let’s see how they get on.


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (28 Jan 2019)

Starting to look like it's maturing nicely...


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## goldscapes (5 Aug 2022)

So, it’s been a while since my last post but thought I would resurface and update this journal with the latest info.

The tank, filter and diatoms remain the same but just about everything else has changed.

I think the smallest of the three fantails from the last photo has survived but the others sadly did not. It’s now accompanied by a telescope eye moor and seems pretty happy.

Lights have been replaced with a Fluval Aquasky. Using a custom low light setting for 12hrs a day.

No CO2 for now.

Think I need some fast growing plants.

Here’s a pic, would be great to see if anyone out there remembers this tank or if anyone fancies commenting on the setup.  All comments are well received.


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## PARAGUAY (6 Aug 2022)

Maybe Hygrophila along the back keeping nice and trimmed.


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## mort (6 Aug 2022)

Are the plants still potted to stop the goldfish digging them up? If they are then they will do much better planted with some root tabs under them. It can be hard for them to spread out of the rock wool. 

It's a bit of a cliché but hornwort is a great plant for coldwater aquariums as it happily floats making it impossible for the goldfish to dig up. Elodea is another one that does the same as is water sprite. I like paraguay's hygrophila suggestion as well.


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## goldscapes (6 Aug 2022)

Thanks for the suggestions @PARAGUAY and @mort 

I’ve added a few floating bunches of Elodea and Hornwort for now and will try planting the potted plants with root tabs at the next water change. I originally kept them potted so I could remove them and clean around them more easily. Happy to give anything a try 

I might add some Hygrophila at the back if the fish leave the other plants alone - so far so good!


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## goldscapes (10 Aug 2022)

Already some signs of diatoms on the leaves so I reduced the photo period to 7am-3pm with a one hour ramp up and down.


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## goldscapes (12 Aug 2022)

Some signs of green algae on the glass (right), not sure where that’s coming from.


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## goldscapes (13 Aug 2022)

I changed my mind about planting the C. Helferi in the gravel. Keeping this tank clean is going to rely on me being able to remove the hard scape in one piece and I don’t fancy trying to negotiate two fish and plants when I return it to the tank each time. Don’t worry though, the plants haven’t gone to waste, they’ve found a new home in my other tank.

Here’s the latest photo:


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## goldscapes (2 Sep 2022)

Tried increasing the light intensity from 40% but a couple of days later diatoms came back so I think I’ve found the upper limit for now. Might try increasing the duration instead.


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## goldscapes (2 Sep 2022)

I’ve adjusted the lights on half an hour earlier. I plan to do a water change this weekend and will have to clean the diatoms off the leaves manually.


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## goldscapes (4 Sep 2022)

Water change done, damaged leaves removed and diatoms cleaned off manually. Really wish I could find a way to get rid of them completely maybe the lighting tweaks will help. Dosed 15ml of TNC with a little extra Seachem Iron after reading a post on here somewhere that suggested the iron in TNC complete isn’t very effective in hard water. This was mainly due to the most recent leaf being much paler in colour to the others, which I understand can be a sign of low iron.


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