My aquarium

[John.D]

Hi all,

Having recently joined this forum, and seen the help readily available, I thought it best to start a journal where I can reach out to you guys for any help and tips.

Got a tank just over 18months ago for my kids. Typically, it then became my responsibility to look after. Turns out I quite enjoyed having this little piece of nature in my kitchen.

It was only a small tank, but I tried my hand at growing plants… had some success and failures. Managed to somehow breed a vast amount of shrimp without my guppies devouring them. YouTube helped me out a lot in looking after my aquarium and inspired me to go a little further.

This was my aquarium at the time.

 

[John.D]

At Christmas I got myself a Oase Highline tank. It’s got CO2, oase filter - all pictured below.

I went to aquarium gardens and the guys there were patient with me and got my all the stuff I needed to get set up and going. I also transferred some plants from my tank to the new.

I got the tank cycled, plants were growing great, slowly introduced fish. 50% water changes every week. And everything was going pretty well for while.
CO2 on at 11:00 off at 21:00
Light on at 13:00 off at 22:00

Fish:
More shrimp than I count
6 x Oto
16 x cardinals
6 x sparkling gourami
7 x guppies
5 x rams
2 x dwarf gourami
Loads of pest snails

 

[John.D]

Put a thread up here regarding some dying plants - got some advice on fertiliser and purchased TNC - I’m only on my third day of using it.

Still baffled with the ferts - chemistry was never my strong point. But just trying to do the best I can. Man has been growing plants since the dawn of time, so figure that I could manage it 😬.

I’m seeing more black beard algae every day. I do pick it out weekly off hardscape, but now seeing it on some plants.

Thinking of getting some Ramshorn snails and Armano shrimp to help.

And that’s where I am currently at….

 

[hypnogogia]

BBA is always difficult to deal with as the causes are not completely understood. Stability of CO2 certainly seems to play a role, as do excessive organics, hence the importance of weekly 50% water changes and regular filter maintenance on high tech tanks.

 

[John.D]

I do the 50% and regular filter maintenance. I have ordered a new CO2 indicator today, should come tomorrow.

I saw 2 Hr Aquarist by ADT looks to solve it via chemicals. Could be an option if I can’t get on top of it.

 

[G mac]

I'm a fan of and user of 2 Hr Aquarist products but the only chemical I've found that works on Blackbeard Algae is Hydrogen Peroxide.

The Fix has worked for me on Staghorn and other green algaes.

 

[Bradders]

@John.D - are you suffering from this sort of look and feel of the leaves?

 

[John.D]

Yes certainly looks like it’s heading that way.
@Bradders

 

[Bradders]

Yep, so don't be disheartened - i went through all that and more.

The fine gents and ladies on here advised me to trim the infested ones, mechanically clean, stable CO2 + nutrients and make sure new growth is looking healthy and good. The rest comes down to holding your nerve and patience.

Near the 6-month (as they predicted) it all started to balance out and all algae (visible algae at least) receded.

 

[John.D]

That sounds promising. I was thinking of ripping out the dying hydrocotyle tripartia and buying a new one.

Did you have black beard algae too?

 

[Bradders]

Staghorn, filementous, BBA and Cyno! And probably some algae I did not even know! At one point I had Cyno everywhere in my sand. (Have a look at the below sand in the pic, the day or two after a mechanical clean! And that was nothing).

I have also included another image or two below of what I was dealing with. It was breaking out everywhere - and plants just looked ill.

 

[John.D]

It fills me with confidence that I am not the only one!
I’ll keep on top of my maintenance and remove all unhealthy looking leaves and try and ride this out.
I might pick up a handful of Armano shrimp today to try and help out a bit. Maybe some Nerite snails. I like the look of Ramshorn snails, but don’t want to get overrun with them.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I like the look of Ramshorn snails, but don’t want to get overrun with them.

Get them, they come in a range of colours and you only ever need to buy them once.

There are no <"pest snails">, it is a myth put around by people who <"don't want us to know the truth">, and the truth is that Ramshorn snails (Planorbella duryi) are an <"unalloyed good thing">.

cheers Darrel

 

[John.D]

Based on dw1305 advice I have ordered some Ramshorn. Had to get them online in the end, I went to 4 LFS and none of them sell Ramshorns 😱
Got myself 16 amano to start earning their keep too!
More new growth is coming on the hydrocotyle tripartia and the Monte Carlo.

 

[megwattscreative]

Looking very gorgeous, as @Bradders said I expect it will all even out in time. Impressed you had to order ramshorns- I never added any to my tank and somehow they just ✨appeared✨

 

[John.D]

How does everyone clean their sand in their aquariums?
I’ve been using a cheap gravel cleaner, but to be honest I think it’s useless.
After spending a good 20mins or so filtering through it, another good mix with my hand brings up all sorts of crud.

Are the electric gravel filters worth it? I only have a ring of sand around my island. But I’m concerned of the crud building up in it.

 

[Bradders]

How does everyone clean their sand in their aquariums?

For me, turkey baster to gently blow through the sand, disturb it and watch the crud rise!

During a water change, I take the water down a little (enough to stop spillage with arms going in) and then use the turkey baster to stir up the sand. I then do the rest of the 50/60% water change and take out as much of the dirty water as I can. The following day, I then clean the pre-filter, which should have caught the residual mess.