1 Week Newbie Update: Help Needed!

[Paul Kettless]

Hi Leah, tank looks like it's coming along nicely, I'm sure the swords will spring into action once they get settled.
Panda Garra are really comical fish and full of character, they'll be squabbling with one another at some point and might even turn grey and lose the red tints off their tail fins (this happens when they're seriously peeved), don't worry this is normal and will settle down once the pecking order as been established.

3x panda garra (I keep the water level a little lower than the glass to avoid them climbing out and always stop at the waterline)

Just shows sometimes that I dont read the posts correctly sometimes, I could have swore that said Panda Corys. Not a fish that I am very familiar with, or see spoken about much on this forum. From what I have been reading they appear to be good algae eaters, but they get quite big in size. Can they dirty up the substrate/plants too much in a planted tank?

 

[John q]

Well I can only speak about mine paul.

I have 2 in each tank (should be kept in groups of 3) and they were about 1.5" when I got them, after 6 months the biggest is maybe 3".
I don't think they are quite as efficient algae eaters as ottolincus but certainly look better in the tank and have loads of character.

Plant wise they seem fine, you'll often see one perched on a leaf chilling and cleaning it but I've yet to see them cause any damage.
They'll often eat/hang out with one another and occasionally have a squabble, as they've aged these fall-outs have faded.

When pruning or rearranging things in the tank they can sometimes latch on to my arm/hand presumably looking for food.

As a final plus the Mrs loves them and even sent me pictures of them chilling in a quarantine tank when I was working. 🙄

 

[jaypeecee]

When pruning or rearranging things in the tank they can sometimes latch on to my arm/hand presumably looking for food.

That's Panda Garras for ya! Gorgeous fish.

JPC

 

[sparkyweasel]

k they can sometimes latch on to my arm/hand presumably looking for food.

They are related to the fish some people use to eat dead skin from their feet, Garra rufa.

 

[Hufsa]

Panda garras make tank maintenance a bit more difficult and also very amusing. They wanna check out whats going on and you have to be careful not to bump your passengers into things by accident Very curious little helpers

 

[Leah95]

Hi,
Yes, they do grow reasonably fast.....when they get near the surface you could chop them in half and replant the tops!
Remove the old bottom part of the plant from the substrated, trim the out roots off, and use the bottom parts as floating plants, these will help you get the aquarium matured!
hoggie

Hi,

Thanks for that tip! I did not know that they could be used as floating plants - when you refer to trimming the bottom part, would you suggest breaking it down into 2/3 plants e.g. the bottom half has 3 rows of leaves, remove the roots and cut it into three separate plants so the leaves are floating on the surface? I will definitely be trying this in a few weeks.

 

[Leah95]

I absolutely love the panda garras. As others have said, they’re extremely comical and love to get involved with anything that comes into the tank including your hands. I didn’t initially set out to get them but I was aware how big the plecos get. The panda garras reach a maximum size of around 10cm which is 1/6th of the size of the plecos (estimating their max size is approx.). They’re also beautiful to look at and clean pretty well - the gouramis do most of the work however haha.

The only thing I’d say to people is that they will crawl out - I learnt this after I’d topped the water up too high and I watched one make its way up and onto the outside glass 1 minute after filling. Either get a jump guard or have the water level a little lower, they’re quite smart and they do stop at the waterline. Also, like myself and others have said they love to get involved in EVERYTHING so check your hand/tools when you take them out the aquarium haha.

 

[G H Nelson]

Hi,

Thanks for that tip! I did not know that they could be used as floating plants - when you refer to trimming the bottom part, would you suggest breaking it down into 2/3 plants e.g. the bottom half has 3 rows of leaves, remove the roots and cut it into three separate plants so the leaves are floating on the surface? I will definitely be trying this in a few weeks.

Hi Leah
Yes, you can cut the stems into three, no problem there!
Darrel and I are big advocates of using floating plants to help with filtration!
There are probably more benefits than I have listed in the below thread.

Using stem plants as a filtering aid at Start Up!

The subject of using fast-growing stem plants as part of a filtering aid has cropped up a few times recently. This idea has been around for a long time so not new, it has benefits, especially for a new setup. 1. Improves water quality. 2. Reduces excess light. 3. Reduces diatoms. 4. Reduces...

www.ukaps.org

hoggie

 

[Leah95]

Hi Leah
Yes, you can cut the stems into three, no problem there!
Darrel and I are big advocates of using floating plants to help with filtration!
There are probably more benefits than I have listed in the below thread.

Using stem plants as a filtering aid at Start Up!

The subject of using fast-growing stem plants as part of a filtering aid has cropped up a few times recently. This idea has been around for a long time so not new, it has benefits, especially for a new setup. 1. Improves water quality. 2. Reduces excess light. 3. Reduces diatoms. 4. Reduces...

www.ukaps.org

hoggie

Hi Hoggie,

Thanks for your fast reply! I love the idea of floating plants and I will definitely be giving this a go.

Whilst we’re on the subject of floating plant, at the moment I’ve got quite a high flow in my tank and the Fluval sits directly on top of the glass. I currently have 1 Limnobium laevigatum (I forgot to mention) I was given to try and I’ve noticed it sits in a darker corner of the tank due to the flow and the light doesn’t reach it well (I’ve attached a picture below). Do you have any advice on what I could do to improve the conditions or whether the conditions will be suitable enough for it?

 

[G H Nelson]

Hi
I know Amazon frogbit doesn't like getting water splashes or condensation droplets on them as this tends to make them have brown patches which lead to rotting!
You could angle the duckbill down slightly to reduce the surface turbulence😉

 

[Leah95]

Hi
I know Amazon frogbit doesn't like getting water splashes or condensation droplets on them as this tends to make them have brown patches which lead to rotting!
You could angle the duckbill down slightly to reduce the surface turbulence😉

Oh! I’ll note that too, I’ll be a little more careful when I clean the tank.

Haha, that’s a very good idea, I always overlook the simplest resolutions, haha.

Thanks for your advice 😀!

 

[Wolf6]

I made a plastic ring out of a food container lid kept in place with a suction cup. Its not the prettiest solution, but it allows me to keep my floaters in the spot I want them. Easy enough to make, costs next to nothing 🙂

 

[Kingyfish1]

How is the tank coming along now?

 

[Leah95]

Two Month Update!

So I just wanted to update you all on the progress of my tank and how much it has come along.

I’ve taken the second piece of wood out for my nano tank and added flame moss along the wood. I’m not sure on the flame moss as it does get everywhere but I’m giving it a chance to settle in and hopefully go greener. I’ve since added some Ludwigia super reds and, one week in they’re looking amazing! The light has really brought out the red. I’ve added some Monte Carlo as a test and it’s doing okay. There’s some melt but I’ll give it time, again it’s only been two weeks. I added another plant today but I can’t remember the name, it’s the pink/red in the bottom right. I’ve also added some floating plants: Salvinia and Limnobium laevigatum which I’ve been trying to get hold of for weeks. I’ve had to do a bit of trimming on the Amazon swords as they were becoming a little too tall so it’s looking a little sparse at the back but they’ll grow back in the next month. Overall, apart from the odd leaf or bit of melt, all the plants seem to be okay! The gunk on the wood is slowly disappearing and the fish are living their best life!

I’ve upped the intensity of the Fluval Plant 3.0 to 60% (aside from blue which is at 3% and red at 50%) this week and there’s been a slight increase in algae and melt. I’ve found a spot of blue-green algae today but I’ve noticed it every now and again the past few weeks. I thought it was something else till I found a patch elsewhere today so I’m going to knock the intensity down.I’m not too worried as it has been sat in my tank for about a month and not spread till yesterday and I’ve also ordered some BGA treatment. I’ll keep you all updated on that. I’m also still having a little trouble with limpets which seem to increase and decrease daily. I’m hoping this is just a phase and eventually most will die off but, some days they do get annoying especially when there’s like 50 on the glass.

Overall, I’m really happy with how things have come along! My partner is currently in the process of building a custom stand for the tank but due to a rise in work, the build has been postponed till Easter. The tank is currently sat on some thick ply and has a mat underneath. There is absolutely no signs of pressure so I believe it will be fine till Easter though, I am very exited to be able to take full tank shots with a proper stand! I think, later in the year when I’ve finished uni and have some more money, I’m going to rescape the hardscape and incorporate some stone and different wood but, for now, I’m just loving experimenting with different plants and finding which I can grow well. I’ve also thought about changing the co2 diffuser to a ceramic as I really don’t like how ugly the reactor looks but, it’s done such a fantastic job - I’d love some opinions on this, I have looked at the Twinstar diffuser.

I think I might start a journal for this tank now that I’m happy with it. I’ll post a link below when I’ve set it up if anyone would like to follow.

Also, I’d like to say thank you to everyone who’s helped me so far on this website, you have all been so polite and helpful in helping me get my tank to this stage!

 

[jaypeecee]

I’ve found a spot of blue-green algae today but I’ve noticed it every now and again the past few weeks. I thought it was something else till I found a patch elsewhere today so I’m going to knock the intensity down.I’m not too worried as it has been sat in my tank for about a month and not spread till yesterday and I’ve also ordered some BGA treatment.

Hi @Leah95

May I ask which treatment you intend to use?

JPC

 

[Simon Davey]

That's a lovely looking tank, I'd be happy if it were mine.

 

[Leah95]

Hi @Leah95

May I ask which treatment you intend to use?

JPC

I’ve ordered some Easy Life Blue Exit. I saw a few people recommend it so I thought I would give it a go. I’ve also removed as much as I can from the Java fern which is where I initially saw it and cut it from the moss. I think the cause is because I have almost no nitrate in my tank. My tap water is incredibly high in silicates and was contributing to a diatom algae problem so I used nitratex which solved that but stripped my nitrates to 0. I currently dose daily with AquaVitro Synthesis but I think the BGA may have appeared in the week gap between me stripping the nitrates and the synthesis arriving.