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Re-education.....
- Thread starter Ady34
- Start date
Thanks Konrad, and thanks again for the plants. They don’t seem to have been effected at all by their extra long trip 😳
Thanks Conor, yeah the sturisoma will be great, maybe too big if anything but I’ve wanted some for so long I just had to get them. To be honest, I just love fish, there are so many I’d like to keep but don’t have the space or correct tank. It’s already looking a bit hectic and eclectic in here 🙄 I would say I need another tank, but I know that one wouldn’t be enough and it would never end.......
I just have to be mindful of fish choices with the open top, I’d love some pencilfish in this tank but know I can’t as they will jump to their death. I think I have pretty much reached the cap for fish now, I was going to add some lemon tetra but think I’ll leave it as it is as the congo tetras have a bit of growing to do and it is already a bit busy for a traditional aquascape.
I do also have some sumo loach which I added too 😀 These are really fascinating little fish, especially at feeding time when they race around like they won’t ever get fed again.....
Cheerio,
Ha, sorry no commissions. Yeah the dwarf chain loach are starting to become less shy now so seeing some interesting behaviour, I have a group of ten which have been munching down on a slight snail population that had been developing 😀
TBRO
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- Joined
- 8 Feb 2009
- Messages
- 946
Yes, I know the tension between wanting to keep the NA look (shoal of one type of tetras/Rasbora) and wanting to keep cool and interesting fish!
I’ve had a small group of dwarf pencils and not had any jumpers but it’s always a risk.
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I’ve had a small group of dwarf pencils and not had any jumpers but it’s always a risk.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ha I feel your pain, I love the nature style aquariums but it's still more about the fish rather than the plants for me. There's so many rare and interesting species I want to keep but one aquarium at the moment means I have to be patient!
I think you could get a with adding more smaller interesting bottom dwellers and lurkers rather than open water shoalers. The loaches, catfish and the like are pretty hidden away and don't detract from the aquascape.
Cheers
Conor
Instagram filter makes it nice and warm.....but picture quality a bit fuzzy too unless you click on the image and look at it that way 😀
It’s been a while since the last update, maintenance has slipped a little recently, things have been busy 🙄 The Substrate becomes dirty quickly as the fish load has increased and water circulation isn’t optimised at the lower levels, this combined with no sand cleaning for a few weeks has allowed a little algae to develop under the substrate line. There is also a fair amount of filamentous algae developing in and from the fissidens which I remove manually with the twisting toothbrush technique. I still haven’t trimmed the fissidens so it’s a bit of a detrius trap too but i quite like the bushy look.
The chihiros has scaled up so I have swapped the mesh for the spare and will clean with a vinegar solution.
I will monitor the algae development with increased maintenance as I suspect the lack of it recently has been the main cause. I’m finding with this tank that the build up of biofilm on the inside of the filter pipes must be faster and greater as it has a marked effect on the efficiency of the co2 art inline diffuser which needs pipe cleaning regularly to maintain the fine mist, something that I never had to do in past systems with the up inline diffusers. I’m pretty sure this is standard procedure however and I just got lucky previously with a much lighter fish load.
Lights are at a maximum of 70% intensity now and if increased maintenance doesn’t correct the algae issue I will lower this 5% also.
Cheerio,
Hi Ady,
Filamentous algae are caused by ammonia, so Lazy maintenance, not enough biomedia in your filter, not enough plants are causing it.
Nothing to worry about 🙂
You can trim that fissidens to avoid propagation, btw fissidens is an filamentous algae magnet!
I love the new fish addition, those tetra Congo rocks.
Cheers
Filamentous algae are caused by ammonia, so Lazy maintenance, not enough biomedia in your filter, not enough plants are causing it.
Nothing to worry about 🙂
You can trim that fissidens to avoid propagation, btw fissidens is an filamentous algae magnet!
I love the new fish addition, those tetra Congo rocks.
Cheers
Java well trimmed and under high light and good CO2 is an awesome looking moss!
Fissidens too but that stuff is an dirt magnet, tips: clean it very often with turkey baster to avoid dirt accumulation and filamentous alge.
Yeah it’s definitely lack of maintenance, it has got quite bad 😱
I didn’t get into an increased maintenance schedule after the last post but have taken steps this morning with a good trim and cleanse. I must do better.
After shots.....
Pipes still need cleaning again but the fissidens has been trimmed and thinned, sand siphoned and water change done. On the plus side the mini java fern and bucephalandra are increasing in mass and the bolbitis is growing in well now.
Cheerio,
Yeah the fissidens is a bit more than stubble but much shorter than the full beard it was. I’ll try and keep on top of it now 😀
Hey Ady, any update on this beaut mate?
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I love the sand and have never had an issue in the past however I think a combination of the wood used and adding bristlenose to this scape have exaggerated the substrate issue. I think the wood bark is disintegrating and adding to the issue.....that and my lack of a solid maintenance schedule
Not so much of a beaut, these are the best angles currently
Couple of the fish when it wasn’t too messy....
I haven’t managed to consistently maintain the tank and it shows, the hair algae is taking a stronger hold and a tear down may be the only way. I’ll hang on and see if I can get it back on track, maybe reduce lighting intensity down to try and allow for a little leniency in the upkeep, however I know it’s entirely on me as I haven’t even been regularly water changing which is a simple task.
This is an in tank shot to show the slip
....
The chihiros isn’t working so efficiently now after cleaning. I used a vinegar solution however it doesn’t seem to have the same level of output. Is this something common or is there a better way of cleaning the reactor?
Cheerio,
Ady.
G
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Still looking good tho' Ady.
I had filamentous/hair algae growing on my moss, it was a bit of a nightmare to control. As soon as I got rid of my Rams it disappeared. The reason, all the little cherry shrimp came out of hiding and ate it, they're constantly picking over it now not a trace of algae left.
As far as the Chihiros and Twinstar go, once you have to start cleaning the reactors their days are usually numbered https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/twinstar-what-is-it.28335/page-43#post-560158
I had filamentous/hair algae growing on my moss, it was a bit of a nightmare to control. As soon as I got rid of my Rams it disappeared. The reason, all the little cherry shrimp came out of hiding and ate it, they're constantly picking over it now not a trace of algae left.
As far as the Chihiros and Twinstar go, once you have to start cleaning the reactors their days are usually numbered https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/twinstar-what-is-it.28335/page-43#post-560158
I suggest a severe trim of the mosses - they will regrow from just a scraping left on wood
That should remove most of the algae
Maybe a Seachem Excel algaecide dosing scheme
Then add an army of shrimp (not sure they’ll manage much under all the interested fish eyes) or Clithon corona snails (or assortment of Nerites, Mystery and Clithon)
As the white sand always shows the mess (and then you try to look somewhere else) maybe switch to a darker sand (grey, mixed black/natural etc)
Make water changes easy - what method do you use at present?
Unfortunately sometimes the wood breakdown is just too much - can you feel a soft outer layer? (that’s easily scraped by thumbnail - and plecos!)
I have some pieces of twiggy wood I love, but the snails love it even more - not too unsightly with aquarium soil but tank definitely needs the large weekly water changes then
That should remove most of the algae
Maybe a Seachem Excel algaecide dosing scheme
Then add an army of shrimp (not sure they’ll manage much under all the interested fish eyes) or Clithon corona snails (or assortment of Nerites, Mystery and Clithon)
As the white sand always shows the mess (and then you try to look somewhere else) maybe switch to a darker sand (grey, mixed black/natural etc)
Make water changes easy - what method do you use at present?
Unfortunately sometimes the wood breakdown is just too much - can you feel a soft outer layer? (that’s easily scraped by thumbnail - and plecos!)
I have some pieces of twiggy wood I love, but the snails love it even more - not too unsightly with aquarium soil but tank definitely needs the large weekly water changes then
Thanks CooKieS, I’ll give it a go if I can’t shift it with better husbandry.
Mmm, suspected that with the chihiros, I’ll have to order more.
As for the shrimps, yep I have a similar problem, they all get eaten with my current fish stock. I’m hoping better maintenance will help control it however I remember the difference adding all my crs to my NAtural Jurassic scape made to the fissidens and coral pelia, they were pristine.
yep, I’ve toothbrushed it out of the fissidens to a degree which works ok as the fissidens is fixed to the wood but other mosses just get pulled away.
Yeah the moss needs another trim as I did it before which helped. The shrimp do get eaten and I have some nerite snails. The sand I like but I guess I’ll just have to maintain it better, I have bristlenose plecs but I’m not going down the route of wood eaters as they make a whole new level of mess
I had a L190 with my discus and he ate my expensive wood and turned it into 5x as much waste Here he is when he was quite small....
My water change is easy so no excuses there, I’ve just been lazy
Thanks for all the tips, I’ll try harder and if all else fails I’ll give the algexit a go.
I did a part maintenance yesterday with a major trim and thin of some plants which has improved circulation again. Still the pipes and glassware to do and the substrate line but with twisting the thick of the hair algae away it at least feels nicer. The tank is dirty though, the amount of detrius in the plants is quite embarrassing, I think there are several factors at play, each making the situation a little bit worse. I’ve reduced the lighting intensity slightly also.
The plants had become quite thick and rooty with the emerged growth taking advantage....
Anyway a couple of shots this morning after the dust settled.....
Fissidens looking a bit better after removing the thick of the hair algae and washing the dirt out. Needs a trim but looking much better.
Cheerio,
Ady.
