peaches
Member
Alto, Im trying to get my head round the surface skimmer. I havent got one, but can you explain why it will help? I am rinsing the finer filter material twice weekly now, I was rinsing it once a week initially.
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Havent got lighting and CO2 thing right, brown algae.
- Thread starter peaches
- Start date
Alto, Im trying to get my head round the surface skimmer. I havent got one, but can you explain why it will help? I am rinsing the finer filter material twice weekly now, I was rinsing it once a week initially.
lazybones51
Member
The only place i've been able to get Otto's is Pets at home. As others have mentioned it appears to be diatoms, manual removal and patience with see them gone.
peaches
Member
Im not keen on that shop, but called in Crystal Peaks one about a week since and they didnt have them. I have ended up mail ordering them, which I dont like to do. The amano shrimp arent doing much algae removing.
lazybones51
Member
I avoid the place like the plague normally. The only times i've bought stuff from there was when I wanted Ottos and when they had 3 for £10 on Tropica 1,2 Grow plants.
Hi all,
cheers Darrel
They will eventually go away.
Definitely "yea", if the Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) is growing well just let in cover ~2/3 of the water surface, if it isn't you could try either Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) or Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum), or both.
Take the fine filter wool out of the filter, it just impedes flow and doesn't help. Personally I don't like any mechanical filtration material inside the filter, I like it in an easy clean pre-filter sponge on the filter intake, the bigger the better.
cheers Darrel
Can you not manage daily water changes & manual removal?
this will see the algae off with less plant damage (being covered in algae, even diatoms impacts leaf health)
As for the Amano's not doing much - 6 isn't enough of a group for them to feel secure re the dwarf rainbows - which I assumed to be a pseudomugil species but am now wondering if you mean M praecox ... if the latter they will definitely have given the shrimp some serious investigation (depending how interested they are, even 20 Amano won't be out doing any work)
Another consideration, once female shrimp are berried, especially as eggs mature, they begin to play least in sight - especially if there is any fish notice
My personal observation with mature Amano females, they just hide out, then scramble out for fish food, hassle any smaller (cherry) shrimp & leave any work to the boys (Amano male shrimp are the smaller - in contrast I find them quite busy)
I've seen Amano females working in shop display tanks but very few or no fish (ie no fish food really)
If you look at ADA etc tanks, there are loads of shrimp, nerites (Jurijs mit JS), otocinclus introduced soon after startup just in case of (extreme) algae issues - there's no doubt you have a bad case of diatoms for whatever reason
Unlike Darrel I prefer underwater "auxiliary" plants but I also have 55cm tall tanks & substrate PAR is always a consideration (I have Kessil A160 so no chance of "high" light), I also prefer fine filter material inside the filter rather than an intake sponge (my filter needs to be seriously gunked before there's a noticeable decrease in flow or apparent algae effect)
There's a thread here somewhere with diatoms as bad (or worse) than yours - I'll try to find it later
CO2 I suggest you run this 24/7 until tank recovers - increase CO2 for light period, but also leave some reduced level of CO2 during non-photoperiod ... I just checked my (very) dim corner tank and the Rotala H'ra is sitting with open, expectant leafs trying its best (despite my photoperiod routinely starting 5-6hours later)
this will see the algae off with less plant damage (being covered in algae, even diatoms impacts leaf health)
As for the Amano's not doing much - 6 isn't enough of a group for them to feel secure re the dwarf rainbows - which I assumed to be a pseudomugil species but am now wondering if you mean M praecox ... if the latter they will definitely have given the shrimp some serious investigation (depending how interested they are, even 20 Amano won't be out doing any work)
Another consideration, once female shrimp are berried, especially as eggs mature, they begin to play least in sight - especially if there is any fish notice
My personal observation with mature Amano females, they just hide out, then scramble out for fish food, hassle any smaller (cherry) shrimp & leave any work to the boys (Amano male shrimp are the smaller - in contrast I find them quite busy)
I've seen Amano females working in shop display tanks but very few or no fish (ie no fish food really)
If you look at ADA etc tanks, there are loads of shrimp, nerites (Jurijs mit JS), otocinclus introduced soon after startup just in case of (extreme) algae issues - there's no doubt you have a bad case of diatoms for whatever reason
Unlike Darrel I prefer underwater "auxiliary" plants but I also have 55cm tall tanks & substrate PAR is always a consideration (I have Kessil A160 so no chance of "high" light), I also prefer fine filter material inside the filter rather than an intake sponge (my filter needs to be seriously gunked before there's a noticeable decrease in flow or apparent algae effect)
There's a thread here somewhere with diatoms as bad (or worse) than yours - I'll try to find it later
CO2 I suggest you run this 24/7 until tank recovers - increase CO2 for light period, but also leave some reduced level of CO2 during non-photoperiod ... I just checked my (very) dim corner tank and the Rotala H'ra is sitting with open, expectant leafs trying its best (despite my photoperiod routinely starting 5-6hours later)
Hi all,
Same applies to the mechanical filtration, I'm pretty lazy so I like an easy clean solution, and I'm not too bothered about the aesthetics of having a sponge block in the tank. Flow is the key, you need to make sure that the speed of flow in the filter doesn't decline to the extent that the water in the can become de-oxygenated.
cheers Darrel
It doesn't really matter where your auxiliary plants are, floating ones have access to aerial CO2, but have a greater shading effect, so it is swings and roundabouts really.
Same applies to the mechanical filtration, I'm pretty lazy so I like an easy clean solution, and I'm not too bothered about the aesthetics of having a sponge block in the tank. Flow is the key, you need to make sure that the speed of flow in the filter doesn't decline to the extent that the water in the can become de-oxygenated.
cheers Darrel
peaches
Member
I'm managing water changes every couple of days with manual removal. My new shrimp arrived I now have 14 in total. The new ones are smaller and are eating algae as we speak.
The rainbows are praecox and still fairly young.
My fish mail order was mixed up and I somehow got 2 ottos only a third was dead and they made the numbers up with Cory but I got a refund. So with only 2 ottos I need more. I have found some 40 minute drive away and will make that trip. I now have a situation where I either have to increase the group size of the Cory or swap them. I also got 5 nerites.
But as we speak, algae is being eaten.
The rainbows are praecox and still fairly young.
My fish mail order was mixed up and I somehow got 2 ottos only a third was dead and they made the numbers up with Cory but I got a refund. So with only 2 ottos I need more. I have found some 40 minute drive away and will make that trip. I now have a situation where I either have to increase the group size of the Cory or swap them. I also got 5 nerites.
But as we speak, algae is being eaten.
peaches
Member
I took the second filter wool out. Its one of those Fluval filters which annoyingly has the carbon attached to the back of the filter wool. After 5 hours the water looks a lot more polished. I think there wasnt much flow because the fine filter was clogging up all the time. I may have mentioned it before, but I have a bad back and have also spent many hours on the floor with previous external filters that had problems with the spindle on the impeller or wouldnt prime and I decided they are too much hard work. If I can maintain the internals without bending over, I will continue to do that. I also have a 6 inch JAD air driven sponge filter. Thanks Darrell.
peaches
Member
Just have to say that since the second lot of shrimps were added and 2 otto (even though I ordered 6) the tank is shiny bright. It is almost as if the new shrimp showed the old shrimp how to do it. There are still a few brown bits in the hairgrass but the way they have worked on everything else has been fab. Im really pleased. When I can get out again, I will hopefully find some more ottos, but the two I have are happy and work and swim together. I am just conscious they should be in a larger group.
doylecolmdoyle
Member
Good to hear the diatoms are clearing up, Oto's do prefer to be kept in decent numbers 5+ would be ideal, they dont have a really long life span and also find it hard to adapt to new tank conditions, so it can be hard to keep the number of fish up, I have 2 (originally had 6) in a 12g tank and the pair seem happy enough, tho I should really add a few more. You may find once all the algae / diatoms are under control you will need to supplement the oto's with algae wafers etc
peaches
Member
The tank is now beautifully clear of the brown stuff. Extra shrimp and otos did it.
peaches
Member
I havent found any locally so I ordered 6 by courier. Unfortunately I was sent 3 otos (one dead) and 3 corys which I didnt want, so I got a refund. I have asked my LFS to let me know when the otos are in, but apparently they are wild caught and it might be August before there are any more. I know I need to get more. I have put in algae wafers and sinking pellets, but these do seem to be hoovered up by the shrimp. I keep dropping a small wafer in where the otos are in the hope they will get it.
I totally agree with the Otos, nerites and amano approach.
When my father got ill his tank got neglected and the algae started to grow. By the time I got around to sorting it the two end glass sides and all the hard scape and quite a few plants were covered.
I got 3 Otos, 3 amano and a nerite from the great Castle Aquatics. A few weeks later the tank is looking awesome.
When my father got ill his tank got neglected and the algae started to grow. By the time I got around to sorting it the two end glass sides and all the hard scape and quite a few plants were covered.
I got 3 Otos, 3 amano and a nerite from the great Castle Aquatics. A few weeks later the tank is looking awesome.
