Thailandia Sunset

[Happi]

No it's all good. However I can't acess that website. I get this:
View attachment 199893
Can you please post a screenshot? I guess the website doesn't like me being in Thailand.

According to google: If you're getting an Error 1020 Access Denied message, that means the website's firewall believes your IP address is a threat. You can try accessing the website from a different browser, adjusting your browser's settings, restarting your router, or toggling your VPN to fix a 1020 error.

 

[Hanuman]

That was pretty much my point about high grade compounds. No way I would ever buy that. And this is just Ca. Some can way more expensive.

According to google: If you're getting an Error 1020 Access Denied message, that means the website's firewall believes your IP address is a threat. You can try accessing the website from a different browser, adjusting your browser's settings, restarting your router, or toggling your VPN to fix a 1020 error.

That won't change. Thailand is known to be a source country for spamming. These types of access denied things is not uncommon here.

 

[Hanuman]

I got an extra cheap nearly full ADA BACTER 100 bottle from a fellow aquascaper. I read the leaflet inside which says the following:

in case of abnormality of microorganisms in filter or substrate is found, apply one spoonful of BACTER 100 with supplied spoon in the package for 20L of water, directly to the aquarium" Overdose does not have a harmful effect. BACTER 100 activated the effective microorganisms by getting into filter ad substrate

Because I like to experiment and mostly because it says that overdose does have a harmful effect, I decided to add some in my tank. I under-dosed it though because these companies tend to be heavy handed when it comes to their products....
Anyhow, needless to say things are not going well. For the first 3 or 4 days I didn't see any effect (why would I anyway) but then I started noticing this haze in the water. Strange. I did 60% WC last Saturday and the water was crystal clear again. That only last 1 or two days. Now the water is completely opaque. I have a gigantic bacterial bloom. See for yourself:



We can't even see from side to side.


I know bacterial blooms usually get sorted out usually by themselves but this is such an eye soar. I am tempted to use some flocculating agent (like Seachem Clarity) but my major concern is that I have a very low KH and adding this product could drop my PH to the point where fish and shrimp could suffer.

What's everyone opinion?

 

[hypnogogia]

What's everyone opinion?

I’d leave it as it will sort itself out. As you say, adding Clarity will result in pH drop and, in my experience at least, not clarify the water.

 

[MichaelJ]

What's everyone opinion?

I wouldn't add any chemicals... The only thing I believe will help is WC's and time. You can accelerate the process with an UV filter until it clears up, if it is indeed a bacterial bloom and not due to some chemical reaction in the water column.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[John q]

Fantastic advert for bacter 100 💯 lol.

Can't imagine why you'd add it to a "mature tank" what were you thinking,... maybe plant health would improve?


Master po, the water is cloudy,...
"Caine.... maybe change the water"

 

[plantnoobdude]

I don't know why, but water changes always seemed to aggravate bacterial blooms. Just my 2c stick to WC regular regime and use UV That'll clear it.

 

[MichaelJ]

but water changes always seemed to aggravate bacterial blooms

Yes Noob, I have noticed that as well, occasionally that a WC sparks somewhat slightly cloudy waters... never for more than a day or two... I do not know if it's bacterial bloom. I pretty much run my UV all the time.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Hanuman]

I’d leave it as it will sort itself out. As you say, adding Clarity will result in pH drop and, in my experience at least, not clarify the water.

I wouldn't add any chemicals... The only thing I believe will help is WC's and time. You can accelerate the process with an UV filter until it clears up, if it is indeed a bacterial bloom and not due to some chemical reaction in the water column.

Cheers,
Michael

Looking at S. Clarity's recommendations they say one can half dose in case of low KH. But yeah better be safe than sorry and not use anything.

I don't know why, but water changes always seemed to aggravate bacterial blooms. Just my 2c stick to WC regular regime and use UV That'll clear it.

Yes Noob, I have noticed that as well, occasionally that a WC sparks somewhat slightly cloudy waters... never for more than a day or two... I do not know if it's bacterial bloom. I pretty much run my UV all the time.

Cheers,
Michael

Unfortunately no UV available at home and I can't be spending money.
Anyhow, thanks.

 

[Hanuman]

Update. Quick and dirty.
I removed urea from my fert soup. It was creating too many problems. Increased GDA and hair algae.I didn't see any significant advantage in using it honestly. More problems than anything. So I reverted to front loading and using standard NO3. Since, all is back to normal or close to. GDA is completely gone. Still have some hair algae but very minimal. Plants are doing fine. Experience was fun and I am sure urea has some good use case but I think it's too finicky to use easily other than if you dose it in low amounts regularly. My dosage was not that high but I guess it could have been lower and more spread. Not willing to test that at this point. I'm happy with 100% NO3. It does the job just fine.

And I forgot, I got rid of the bacterial bloom with a UV steriliser. I bought the cheapest one I could find for 25USD. I had no patience to wait multiple weeks for this to get resolved by itself since I am propagating plants for sale. I left it running 24/7 for 4 days. Did 1 massive water change, added floss in the intake during the whole period which I washed daily. Replaced the sponge in the pre-filter with only floss which I also cleaned daily.



Slightly re-scaped last Friday as everything was overgrown:

 

[VarunA]

Absolutely fantastic. Love the quality of the plants and your approach to growing them. Love the colours of that Buce as well.

 

[MichaelJ]

And I forgot, I got rid of the bacterial bloom with a UV steriliser.

Thats great @Hanuman

I bought the cheapest one I could find for 25USD.

What UV filter did you get?

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Hanuman]

What UV filter did you get?

SunSun JUP-23. It's a 13W UV in-tank sterilizer with a small adjustable pump integrated. Their largest in that model range. I needed something that did not require re-piping my system and was easy to use. Plug and play. It's not the best in terms of quality but does the job. You need to make sure the glass tube is properly set in to avoid water getting in the bulb chamber. I added some silicone grease on the large o-ring as a precaution.
After use I also noticed that the plastic inside the cylindrical chamber which is being exposed directly to the UV light had some black powder on it. This is the UV basically degrading the plastic. I read on Selecting an Aquarium UV Unit that you could add an SS sleeve to prevent this. I didn't have the hardware nor wanted to spend more time and money for this. I'll probably do it at some point in time to avoid the plastic being damaged if I use the sterilizer again.
I also added some corse sponge on both intakes to avoid shrimps getting in. It has worked great. I also used it on my Amano shrimp breeding tank since I also had added some Bacter 100 in that tank and also had a bacterial bloom. Everything was resolved in 3-4 days but it was the most intensive work I have ever put in these tanks. Had to clean the floss everyday to remove all the dead material. Floss were basically brown every evening.

 

[Hanuman]

Absolutely fantastic. Love the quality of the plants and your approach to growing them. Love the colours of that Buce as well.

The plants thank you sir for flattering them.
There is a story to those bucephalandra. The bigger bunch in the center is supposed to be Browni Ghost 2011. I got it 3 years ago but the plant never really expressed the color which is supposed to (iridescent purple), like the ones you can see on the right and left. The early rhizome I acquired was always grown in heavy NO3 so I always assumed that the higher nitrate prevented the deep purple from coming out. I am now 85% sure that this is not the case and that this is probably Browni Ghost TC. Many people have had the same experience with BG TC. The plant genetically mutates and then fails to show the deep purple it is recognized for. The one on the left comes from Dennis Wong himself and the one on the right comes from another local plant seller. You can see how they both produce deep purple leaves.
You may ask why I said 85%, well that's because bucephalandra sometimes takes quite sometime to adapt to new environments and to fully express itself in terms of color and form. I have been growing it with around 10-12ppm of NO3 for the past 4 months and I am giving it maybe 2-3 more months to make a final call on it.
Here is a picture from the top:

 

[VarunA]

The plants thank you sir for flattering them.
There is a story to those bucephalandra. The bigger bunch in the center is supposed to be Browni Ghost 2011. I got it 3 years ago but the plant never really expressed the color which is supposed to (iridescent purple), like the ones you can see on the right and left. The early rhizome I acquired was always grown in heavy NO3 so I always assumed that the higher nitrate prevented the deep purple from coming out. I am now 85% sure that this is not the case and that this is probably Browni Ghost TC. Many people have had the same experience with BG TC. The plant genetically mutates and then fails to show the deep purple it is recognized for. The one on the left comes from Dennis Wong himself and the one on the right comes from another local plant seller. You can see how they both produce deep purple leaves.
You may ask why I said 85%, well that's because bucephalandra sometimes takes quite sometime to adapt to new environments and to fully express itself in terms of color and form. I have been growing it with around 10-12ppm of NO3 for the past 4 months and I am giving it maybe 2-3 more months to make a final call on it.
Here is a picture from the top:

Wow! That is interesting to hear. It is truly incredible to see how plants express their phenotypes and how certain imperceptible changes can occur upon repeated divisions that can have dramatic downstream differences.
I was wondering if you have any input on algae? I am having a terrible time with stag horn algae in my 60F which has got be stumped. Although I am now thinking it is due to small ammonia spikes or lack of appropriate substrate (I am using fluorite black and caribsea sand): All my stones are full of ugly stag horn algae despite me following my usual water changes and lean fertilization with Tropica premium/specialized nutrition. I also think the filter media might have peaked and requires complete replacement (Eheim 2215 with stock media set that is over 4y old now).

 

[Hanuman]

I was wondering if you have any input on algae? I am having a terrible time with stag horn algae in my 60F which has got be stumped. Although I am now thinking it is due to small ammonia spikes or lack of appropriate substrate (I am using fluorite black and caribsea sand): All my stones are full of ugly stag horn algae despite me following my usual water changes and lean fertilization with Tropica premium/specialized nutrition. I also think the filter media might have peaked and requires complete replacement (Eheim 2215 with stock media set that is over 4y old now).

It's honestly a bit complicated to give precise advice on your setup without much information on it. However I can recommend in general the following:
1. If you haven't cleaned your filter in 4 years, perhaps it would be a good idea to do so. It has probably accumulated a good amount of organic material. I clean mine every 3-6 months. I know people who do it every month or even twice a month. By cleaning I mean simply rinsing it with tank water while giving it a good shake. I don't think media needs replacing. It can last a lifetime.
2. Make sure your CO2 is stable (if you are injecting any) and in suffisant quantity and that you have proper water flow.
3. Vaccum the upper layer of the substrate. I do this at every water change each time on a different section of he tank. You could also use Flourish Excel to help out but I would suggest you to first try to solve the underlying issue which in my opinion are related to CO2, flow and organics in your water.

I would recommend you to create a journal so that you can detail everything on your tank. This will be easier for everyone to help.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

If you haven't cleaned your filter in 4 years, perhaps it would be a good idea to do so. It has probably accumulated a good amount of organic material. I clean mine every 3-6 months. I know people who do it every month or even twice a month. By cleaning I mean simply rinsing it with tank water while giving it a good shake. I don't think media needs replacing. It can last a lifetime

I also think the filter media might have peaked and requires complete replacement (Eheim 2215 with stock media set that is over 4y old now).

I rinse my filter media occasionally, but I have sponges that are 15 years old, and things like "Eheim Substrat Pro" are good for all of eternity.

All my stones are full of ugly stag horn algae despite me following my usual water changes

We think that staghorn algae (Compsopogon caeruleus) might be <"encouraged by high levels of dissolved organic matter"> (DOM).

......... and lean fertilization with Tropica premium/specialized nutrition.

What do the plants look like and, if you have them, particularly your floating plants?

cheers Darrel

 

[14548]

Great farm tank, I really like this ludwigia meta.

I got some ghost 2011 too and it’s definitely darker and purple color on comparaison to other brownie ghost ,
Especially the fake ones from Aquaflora for example. It’s actually quite bigger too

 

[Hanuman]

Great farm tank,

Thanks. Truth be told. I don't put much work in arranging plants. Not my forte.

I really like this ludwigia meta.

Indeed. It's way more forgiving than Pantanal and stunts much less when trimmed.

I got some ghost 2011 too and it’s definitely darker and purple color on comparaison to other brownie ghost

Indeed. Can't confuse them for other bucephalandra. Older mature leaves are actually close to being black. I'll probably end up selling the middle patch as Browni Ghost "Bronze" 🤣 - Yeah just made that up!

 

[Tomasz]

Hi @Hanuman, I struggle with the same green hair algae. Can you confirm they have gone when you minimised ammonia as a source of nitrogen?
I dose 16ml of green Tropica (TSN) and 12ml of yellow one (TPN) per 145l of water in my tank. I found that TSN sources half of N from ammonia and perhaps this causes that my screens, driftwood, substrate, and some plants quickly cover with green meadow. I was thinking about switching to APT3 but it has strange N to P ratio and might not work with my tap water containing 2.5ppm of phosphates.

Perhaps I will try to reduce TSN dose increasing TPN within next weeks and see whether it will inhibit a growth of hair algae.