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NACD Nature Aquarium

Evening all,

Few zebra danios added yesterday to give the rummies more confidence, it's worked a treat! All fish now happily swimming together and feeding really well. Plant growth is picking up, MC has really done well after the large melt previously. Still keeping up with WCs, 2 or 3 50% per week. EA Aquascaper nutrition now increased to 8ml a day, plants have responded very well to this, less signs of deficiencies and no extra algae growth.

Quick FTS
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Cheers!
Ra
 
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I've added some more Seiryu stone to the scape, adds more depth to the valley though the middle. What do you think guys think?

8887ea5ec6a0d584f1315ec6b549c1b4.jpg

The tank is currently going through a diatoms stage. Should clear up in no time.

Unfortunately I have lost 3 zebra danios due to jumping. RIP.

Thoughts on adding a couple otos and more Amanos?

Cheers guys,
Ra
 
Looks nicer with that added stones! Well done.

Plants looks OK too but be aware that lilaeopsis will eat that foreground once acclimated.

Otos loves an mature tank, so less than 2 months is an little soon but why not.

How many japonica do you got? I would add about 10 in a 60p.

Cheers mate
 
Yeah it's good to see more stone in the tank, it provides a much better viewing experience. Plus it has created some small caves/tunnels for livestock to swim through, very entertaining to watch 😀

I know the lilaeopsis will reign terror on the foreground but I don't mind a jungle/mixed feel, I love the Nature Aquarium style!

Yeah I'll hold back on the Amanos and Otto's for another week. 2 or3 Otos and another 5 Amano will be added next week. That makes 10 Amanos 🙂

Cheers!
Ra
 
Beginning to see more and more brown alage in the tank. I've began more frequent WCs, turned the light down a notch and increased the CO2.

I'm thinking of buying the Chihiros doctor, leaving the CO2 on 24/7 and getting a couple Otos and 5 more Amanos to help battle this.

Thoughts?

Cheers!
R
 
Mhhh...are these diatoms algae?

If yes, they should have been already destroyed by snails, shrimps and oto + beneficial bacteria.

Before trying the 24/7 co2, do you have enough bacteria media in your filter?
Fill All the filter with good bacteria support like eheim substrat pro, juste leave one stage of mesh.
Beneficial bacteria will fight Brown algae...chihiros won't help for that.

Are you using RO or tape water? If tape, be sure to use some good dechlorinator, I use easy life filter medium.

I wouldn't touch the light, plants need it to grow and it won't affect diatoms.

If that doesn't work, you could always try the CO2 24/7

Cheers
 
Thanks for the reply cookies 🙂

Here are pictures of the algae:

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I use Seachem matrix in my filter, I had a look at it the other week during maintenance seems to be building up a good colony (I hope haha!)

I also use Seachem matrix as my dechlorinator with tap water. The tap water in my area is classed as 'Moderately soft'

I've begun the battle on algae and carried out a huge maintenance session yesterday. The Bolbitis was covered in this thread like algae but the new growth toward the rhizome was healthy so the old leaves have been trimmed back to the rhizome. The moss has also had the algae removed and trimmed back. Glass cleaned and using a air hose I removed as much waste organics as possible by wafting my hand around every nook and crevice. The wood has been scrubbed too to remove any last bits of algae.

Chihiros doctor has now been installed. And CO2 is now on 24/7. Dosing remains the same.

Even if the Chihiros does not contribute much it sure as hell looks cool when it turns on 😀

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Cheers,
Ra
 
Hi all,
Raquascape said:
I use Seachem matrix in my filter, I had a look at it the other week during maintenance seems to be building up a good colony (I hope haha!)
Click to expand...
Depends on what it looks like, strangely you might actually need a bit for flow through the filter.

You only tend to get the thick, slimy, microbial films where you don't have <"enough oxygen to fully complete nitrification">.

We don't know what causes <"filamentous diatom"> (Fragilaria) "outbreaks", but they look like they may be associated with higher levels of organic compounds. Diatoms are pretty much universal anywhere you have liquid water and there is a lot of scientific interest in using <"their assemblage as a biotic index">. This is partially because they have persistent silica skeletons, so you can get historical diatom assemblage data from sediment cores, but also because their relative abundance looks to be a sensitive indicator of nutrient status.

If the filter is pulling in a lot of organic debris (dead leaves, faeces etc.) or you have fine foam or floss in the filter you are much more likely to end up with filter media which is microbially clogged and, at least partially, anaerobic. This is one of the reasons why they like the <"Kaldnes (K1) type floating cell media"> in salmon aquaculture etc., it is self cleaning and naturally continually sheds any excess biofilm.

People who don't keep planted tanks often look on simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in the filter as a good thing (because it reduces nitrate levels), but you run the continual risk that the aerobic/anaerobic balance will tip over the edge and you end up in a system where ammonia (NH3) & nitrite (NO2) levels start to rise, <"with inevitably fatal results">.

Because we have plants and a substrate we are at less risk of rising ammonia, but we also don't need denitrification in the filter, the plants will mop up the nitrate (and NH4+, NO2-) for us.

cheers Darrel
 
Thank you for the detailed explanation Darrel, I now understand things much better!

My filter consists of only coarse media, purigen and Seachem Matrix.

The matrix has a brown colour to it (previously white). Based on what you say, adding the chihiros should improve things, by adding more oxygen.

Many thanks,
R


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Hi all,
Raquascape said:
The matrix has a brown colour to it (previously white)
Click to expand...
That sounds good.
Raquascape said:
Based on what you say, adding the chihiros should improve things, by adding more oxygen.
Click to expand...
It won't do any harm.

Plants are the real oxygen factories, once you have actively growing plants every thing else is really froth.

cheers Darrel
 
Otocinclus doing a great job. You can see the difference on the Anubias and bucephalabdra! Fish seem happier with the Chihiros installed, more O2 for them. Bottom pic is before 24/7 co2 and otos.e4c3a320cb65c5888b74c2f60cbc270d.jpg
 
Raquascape said:
I did some TDS readings. My tap water reads 300ppm and my tank 590ppm. Can anyone enlighten me on what this all means?
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:wideyed: holy molly , that can explain your diatoms and growth problems!

That is very very high, it's considered 'average good' with 100-150ppm in the tank.

That means your water is very hard, that's not good for plants, fish and even worse for the shrimp.

With an tap water of 300ppm, you better use RO water, at least 50% RO 50%Tap.

Cheers
 
Dang. Now I see where my issues have came from.

Looks like I need to do some reading into RO.

Thanks cookies,

Ra


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CooKieS said:
:wideyed: holy molly , that can explain your diatoms and growth problems!

That is very very high, it's considered 'average good' with 100-150ppm in the tank.

That means your water is very hard, that's not good for plants, fish and even worse for the shrimp.

With an tap water of 300ppm, you better use RO water, at least 50% RO 50%Tap.

Cheers
Click to expand...
This is really not a fair statement.
Almost all plants really dont care about tds, a large majority of fish don't either and caradina shrimp are just fine.
Every tank at Aquarium gardens is tap water just up the road from me that is 330ppm, gh20. All of George farmers are also the same, also up the road... think you would struggle to say hard water is an issue in any of their tanks?

Using RO can make growing some plants easier and it's fair to say algae can be more of a pain in hard water but it can be done just as well, no question.
Likewise there are issues with Ro water that can make it harder especially the ability to hold co2.

Yes above 500 would suggest hard water top ups which should always be RO to stop TDS creep. A relatively stable tds is fairly important...



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