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Advice On: Lights/Algae/Teardown/Cleaning/Scape/liquid ferts

Thrills24

Member
Joined
25 Jul 2013
Messages
63
@ukapsMods since this covers a variety of topics I decided to post this thread in the general section as it's not based on one specific aspect of the hobby so to speak.

Hey UKAPS

My last post on here was in July. Back then, I was seeking advice on an algae bloom and was told on various forums that the algae in question was one which you just had to "Wait out" as there was no clear cause but after almost a year and my tank going from vibrant to pitiful I emptied the tank and removed the substrate a week ago and, quite frankly I feel out of the loop. In retrospect, the cause in my humble opinion was a combination of my (at the time) new t5's with powdered ferts being administered incorrectly, and the substrate being to high. But after 10 months of nothingness I'm itching to get back into this hobby of ours but I'm going to start from the ground up so to speak. So I have some seemingly basic questions but before I do that some stats before ukaps' infamous "ceg4048" e-bites my head off lol

Tank 180 bowfront-Juwel
Lights 2xT5
Substrate: Eco complete
Stock: N/A

At this point I'd like to stress that my water stats have varied from time to time but have remained constant throughout the years with my test kit and although api and nutrafin are not as precise as some of the testing i've on here, I do trust them. Side note: Nutrafin in my experience picks up on lower concentrations than api, but again that's just my experience... Now that that's out of the way, some advice is needed if I may be so bold...

What's the best way to thoroughly clean and get rid of any traces of that algae both in the tank/glass and the substrate? I know that that may seem like a very amateur thing to ask but I've never had to go to this drastic a measure before so I'm unsure if there is some chemical or product I should get hold of to assist the deep clean.

Secondly the T5's. I was using new bulbs for roughly 3 months before I turned them off will they still be as effective as they should be?

Thirdly, and I say this with the maximum amount of caution on here but for now, I'd like to go back to liquid ferts :nailbiting: I understand, acknowledge, and accept without reservation that liquid ferts are more costly than dry salts and give less bang for my buck but crucially here I am eager to simply get back into the hobby and would like some advice on which "brand" I should go with for now. Preferably one which can be used to build a carpet of hc etc.

And lastly scapes... Has anyone/ as members of ukaps has anyone seen any good scapes for a juwel 180. I tried looking in the journal section but found none. Many thanks for taking the time to read this, advice here would be the best xmas present ever.

Thrills
 
The best place to start would be reading through the tutorials in the tutorial section then anything your unsure of ask as a specific question as your above post is just to difficult to answer in one hit,

Dont worry about ceg he always has everyones best interest at heart and the way he answers is imo brilliant, precise, to the point no nonsense :)
 
Juwel 180
My mates got one(link is in my signature)and the stock t5 lights are quite powerful, add the problem of not enough co2 and the result is chronic diatoms algae. He doesn't want to raise the lights higher or buy a new light so he added amano shrimp and ottos. The diatoms is still there but gets eaten by the fauna.
Theres no point in trying to sterilise the tank because the algae will still come back if the cause is still there.
Stick with the dry ferts they are not the cause of your problem
Bin the test kits mine read off the card and i've had no fish/ shrimp deaths
The light is your problem too much on for too long
 
I've just ripped our main tank apart and changed sand and gravel for ada My lights are now 8" higher than they were. Also I was warry of dosing ferts as I was not totally convinced the lighting was the issue as it was only on for 5 Hrs, but I suppose we can't see with our eyes what kind of light the plants are using. Anyhow I started putting ferts in last night as I was told to by a few members:D
 
I've just ripped our main tank apart and changed sand and gravel for ada My lights are now 8" higher than they were. Also I was warry of dosing ferts as I was not totally convinced the lighting was the issue as it was only on for 5 Hrs, but I suppose we can't see with our eyes what kind of light the plants are using. Anyhow I started putting ferts in last night as I was told to by a few members:D
 
Thanks guys...

@Terry I knew before I even made the thread lol

@Big Clown I understand saying that there is no point in sterilizing but the approach will be different this time so I need a fresh start as a foundation. Sterilization of the tank and eco complete should assist in that. I'll also be adding more shrimp in the rebuild so any advice on the sterilization would still be appreciated.

@sa80mark I've been reading through it for some time now and not seen anything really on a 180 juwel to base some ideas on.

@Kirk If you've made a thread on this change don't hesitate to link me to it.

Guys I still need advice on the lights and liquid ferts if you would be so kind.
 
Hello mate it's a bit pic heavy and less wordy than a darlek but I've put some pics in my journal:D when i cleaned our tank out as everything was coming out I just used an old filter Foam and a mild bleach solution in a hand sprayer and elbow grease. Then a sprayer with ro and declorinator to wash down poured gallon in the siphon then rise again. I'm no way recommending you do this unless your are stripping everything and make Sure your filter is out of the way not to get bleach anywhere near your helpers inside/ bacteria.
 
@kirk Yup I understand the bacteria and how chlorine/chemicals affect them lol. I still don't see your journal, perhaps I'm searching wrong? Or you could link me?
 
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