Any Tips

[Basilius]

Hello, fresh to posting but long time lurker of the forums
Looking for any feedback on my setup

it started with the fiancee buying a male fighting fish in a tiny little plastic bowl/tank then he needed a friend he looked lonely, then they needed a bigger tank it looked depressing, then we needed a bigger tank cause bigger is easier(i was told) now im playing around trying to get a bit of a eco system not sure lol

it has morphed into a bit of a riparium with the water level dropped 2 inches and the aluminium plants growing from the coral shelf and out through a gap in the lid

Will post photos tonight when i get home

Ph 7.8 -Naturally high ph tap water
ammonia just over .25
dosing 1 cap full of seachem flourish once a week
Tank been running for roughly 3-4 weeks
Water change 10% Weekly
12 hr photoperiod
nitrates ect not sure as havnt brought the test kits yet due to way over budget and angry fiancee hehe

Tank and Parts:
3 bags of eco complete substrate
200l ar850 tank
fluval 206 canister filter
sera flore co2 reactor
pressurized co2 with regulator and bubble counter ,1 bubble a second
Eheim jager 300w heater set to 28 degrees
remote ballast kit*2 for lights
hagen t5 tubes *4, 39 watt (2 hi growth, 2 color enhancing)

Plants:
2*corkscrews
1 soon to be 3 blue stricta bunches
2 amazon swords-not looking the greatest
5 bunches of hair grass, spreading nicley
3 dwarf green rushes (not true aquarium plants but giving them a chance)
2 Green rush (again as above)
1*suction cap acrylic coral plug shelf holding several aluminium plant stems out of the water, (leaves in air, stems in water)

Animals:
2* Pond snails, dunno where they came from
4 apple snails
4 tiny Siamese algae eaters
5 corydoras of differing patterns, 2 old 3 young
10 cherry shrimp, hurry up and breed you awesome looking things

i have 2 female and 1 male betta fighting fish in my original 20L tank, wanting to add them to the big one once the shrimp have multiplied and the plants have grown to give plenty of cover

then i want to use my 20L as a shrimp breeding zone


Main Problems is algae
i have green dust algae on the glass mainly on the back so not bothering me
but i have quite a bit of green beard algae (i think) in my hairgrass and green dwarf rush, i heard the Siamese are good for this so brought them, this algae also forms in patches on the glass

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Hi there,

Sounds like a nice set up!

I see a few small issues with your set up , first with the bettas. Males need to be kept solitary (they can be kept with other fish, but no other BETTAS). As they get older they will terrorize females and can kill them. Other than for breeding they should always be kept separate. In the wild they live in rice fields and there are lots of hiding spots, but not so much in out aquariums!

Females can be kept together in a "sorority" , those are interesting as the girls will form a hierarchy.

Algae usually comes from too much light or fertilizer. In your case u think it's the fertilizer. I'd try and leaving it our altogether, and look for roof tabs instead which are much better as they feed the roots and not the algae! JMO

 

[Basilius]

with my bettas its the other way around we have 2 females and 1 male and he is bullied and bashed, but then again our female is the biggest and oldest fish we have, the ferts i only just started last week but the algea was before then so maybe its the light, i might try cutting down on the photo period

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Just be careful!

Yes probably the lights then.

 

[Fresh2o]

Increase your water changes to reduce the occurrence of BBA. The accumulation of waste tends to fuel BBA.
You could also spot treat the BBA with Excel or CO2 Booster. If none of those are available, spot treating hydrogen peroxide might hep.


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[Basilius]

would changing water changes to 10% twice weekly be enough?
and reducing photo-period to 10 hours?
i will look into buying excel but i want to keep a little for the Siamese algae eaters and the bits on the rocks make them look more natural its just the unsightly bits on the hair grass, ill post photos tonight as they would show it better than my rambling

and yeah our bettas are weird in age order its
female
male
female
and the old female knows exactly who is boss and its her she is humugas and built like a brick house, we have had to move our male to the little 1L hospital tank a few times due to fin damage, he even looks depressed like he is stuck in a marriage that he doesn't want to be in (in fact he kinda looks like me after i have told the fiancee how much this setup has cost me sofar)

 

[Basilius]

Algae is completely gone, i cut the lights by 2 hrs a day, and gone to 2 water changes a week, plus the Siamese algae eaters

thank you guys

now i do have a bit of a pond snail problem pulling out 5 or so every other day, what would be good to put in that can be brought in australia that would eat them

and what other tank mates could i stock up on

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Algae is completely gone, i cut the lights by 2 hrs a day, and gone to 2 water changes a week, plus the Siamese algae eaters



thank you guys



now i do have a bit of a pond snail problem pulling out 5 or so every other day, what would be good to put in that can be brought in australia that would eat them



and what other tank mates could i stock up on

Glad to hear you won the algae battle!

Pond snails are pretty hard to get rid of.... I've heard loaches will eat them, as well as Assain snails (these reproduce very slowly, and are very nicely colored.

As to stocking, first you could add a few more cories....

A school of rainbow fish, or tetras would look cool. Both have Hundreds of different species! Danios are another favorite. I would google "rainbowfish" (or tetras) and go on images and see if you see anything you like then research what it needs, if it's suitable etc.....

 

[Basilius]

Photos are here, sorry for the delay been crazy busy

Aquarium - Album on Imgur
if that dosent work
BasiliusErrant's albums - Imgur and then navigate to my albums

Newest updates:
Every little spec of the BBA algae is gone, i can not find a single bit
Pond snails are still being crushed at around 5 a day
Added around 40-45 ghost shrimp of varying ages, size and sex, found a local who was breeding them and selling them at 20 cents each compared to the LFS that quoted me $7.50 per shrimp, i paid for 25 and he just kept pouring them in so lots of freebies
i also got off him 3 spider crabs (Amarinus Laevis) that have been bred through several generations in fresh water

Plants have taken off and are growing rapidly altho the hairgrass is yellowing a little bit
the aluminium plants are loving the hydroponics set up and are growing up through my lid

feeding 2 algae tablets and flakes each day
and 1 cube of frozen blood worms each week
i want to know the opinion of people that have blanched vegetables for their shrimp and snails, what works best what doesn't i want to keep their diet interesting and healthy

 

[Basilius]

Update and pics

Photos are here, sorry for the delay been crazy busy

they were to big to upload here so they are on my imgur album link below
BasiliusErrant's albums - Imgur


Newest updates:
Every little spec of the BBA algae is gone, i can not find a single bit
Pond snails are still being crushed at around 5 a day
Added around 40-45 ghost shrimp of varying ages, size and sex, found a local who was breeding them and selling them at 20 cents each compared to the LFS that quoted me $7.50 per shrimp, i paid for 25 and he just kept pouring them in so lots of freebies
i also got off him 3 spider crabs (Amarinus Laevis) that have been bred through several generations in fresh water

Plants have taken off and are growing rapidly altho the hairgrass is yellowing a little bit
the aluminium plants are loving the hydroponics set up and are growing up through my lid

feeding 2 algae tablets and flakes each day
and 1 cube of frozen blood worms each week
i want to know the opinion of people that have blanched vegetables for their shrimp and snails, what works best what doesn't i want to keep their diet interesting and healthy

 

[fishenthusiast]

Small Rasboras, Honey Gourami, tetras, and the list goes on. There are many options. You just have to pick fish that won't eat the shrimp, so I'd stay on the small side for fish. Threadfin Rainbowfish are cool, but are hard to find and times and need to be introduced into an established and aged setup for best success.


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[Tropical Aquarist]

Wow that's cool with the ghost shrimp! Tank is looking great as well!

Zucchini, spinach and red leaf lettuce are the most commonly used. Some people use carrots with Cherry shrimp. I would avoid anything too sugary(Apples, bananas, most berries, strawberries will work) too acidic (all citrus, oranges can be used but are very messy), or not very nutritious (iceberg lettuce and cucumbers don't offer very much.

Make sure to blanch first, put them straight into boiling water, and boil for a short time(depends on what you use) and then place into ice water.