MTS and plant safety :)

[Jill]

Hi.

I am considering purchasing some MTS to stir up the sand in my aquarium for me. However, I'm concerned that they will uproot some of my plants. The smaller circular plants up front have a habit of coming up without any disturbance. What do you guys think? Opinions greatly appreciated, and I apologize for the poor quality of my pic.

 

[Atxpunx]

The Malaysian trumpet snails should be okay. They aren't rough or anything. All my tanks are planted and have mts in there and I've never had a problem with them.

 

[Jill]

Thank you for replying. I hope I'm able to find MTS. The guy at my LFS thought I was crazy for wanting them. Do they help to stir up your substrate?

 

[mudraker]

They aerate roots and help keep down debris on the surface. They will also eat some algae.

The guy thought you were crazy because in an overfed tank, they can overpopulate very quickly. If you don't overfeed, that will not be a problem at all.

 

[Jill]

Awesome. As you can probably see, I do have a problem with surface debris. I think I usually under feed my fish for fear of over feeding so I should be okay there.

One more question... . My texas holey rock has green algae on it. I did have an algae problem at one time, but I decreased the light, and it went away EXCEPT for on a couple of rocks. Any suggestions other than a thorough scrubbing? Or would I be wasting my time to try and scrub it off? It really doesn't bother me all that much, but I would prefer a nice white rock to a green one....lol.

 

[Discusapisto]

If elbow grease is out of the question, than you could try nerite snails, oto cats, clown pleco's. But I never add fish strictly for algae control because various fish like the ones I mentioned prefer diff types of algaes. So I'd figure out the cause of the algae outbreak and correct that first before adding more fish waste to the tank. Than a few of the guys mentioned assuming you have stocking room for them for control of algae between maintenance days is fine plus the ones I mentioned are great to watch and are nice looking fish/ inverts.

 

[Discusapisto]

Oh and mts are great for your sand but if you are worried about a plague of them may I also recommend assassin snails they eat pest snails and burrow in the sand plus they have beautiful yellow and black shells. Once they eat any pest snails feed them meaty foods or bottom feeder tablets. Nice thing with assassin's is their population like the mts can be controlled by careful feeding of your tank. I just find the assassins a bit more beneficial because they give you that added pest snail removal if any hitch hike in on new plants. If you miss any during acclimation of new plants. Hope this helps take care.

 

[Jill]

Thank you! My LFS does have assassin snails....I looked at them yesterday. I do have the little snails that hitchhiked in on my plants, but they're not a problem. I think my little girls might freak out if a big snail ate them all....lol.

I do have room for an additional cleaning crew member. I currently have a SAE and ghost shrimp, and they do a great job except for on those 2 stubborn rocks.

 

[Discusapisto]

Just watch those hitch hiker snails some species can destroy delicate plant leaves. But as far as your rocks go try some oto cats they are small and peaceful do best in small groups. Nerite snails consume green spot algae or encrusting algaes so that may work for you as well but like I mentioned before find out what is causing algae on your rocks. Sae's don't eat the algae in question and ghost shrimp are more scavengers than algae eaters unlike their cousins the Amano shrimp(much better at algae control). To a degree that is, sometimes Amano's get used to regular aquarium fish food and start to ignore the algae you put them in their to control which brings me back to my point of fixing algae issue first before dumping in a clean up crew of fish to see which one eats it or not.

 

[Jill]

So any suggestions as to what might be causing the algae? Let me give you more info on my tank, and thank you again for helping me.

First of all, I have a 30 gallon cube sized tank (so VERY tall). The included light is puny at best so when I first got my low light plants, I just knew they would die. I added a desk top style lamp with a fluorescent bulb, and the plants took off.....so did the algae.....bright green algae and brush algae. I decided to take away the desk top lamp and let my puny light have a go at it alone. I also upped the flow from my homemade canister filter (I also have a HOB filter that runs this tank has a lot of filtration). Algae died (except for the spots on the rocks in question), and plants survived wonderfully.

What else should I do? Buy more plants to compete with the algae?

Thank you again!!

 

[Discusapisto]

So any suggestions as to what might be causing the algae? Let me give you more info on my tank, and thank you again for helping me.

First of all, I have a 30 gallon cube sized tank (so VERY tall). The included light is puny at best so when I first got my low light plants, I just knew they would die. I added a desk top style lamp with a fluorescent bulb, and the plants took off.....so did the algae.....bright green algae and brush algae. I decided to take away the desk top lamp and let my puny light have a go at it alone. I also upped the flow from my homemade canister filter (I also have a HOB filter that runs this tank has a lot of filtration). Algae died (except for the spots on the rocks in question), and plants survived wonderfully.

What else should I do? Buy more plants to compete with the algae?

Thank you again!!

What wattage/spectrum /Kelvin rating was the desk bulb? Once higher light was added you would have to introduce co2 or add more plants to out compete the algae. You still can add more plants that do well in lower light, like most crypts,anubias,java fern, and various mosses. Flourish excel works great if co2 is not an option for you. Just follow the dosing carefully as recommended on the bottle. How tall is your tank btw? Ever consider a bettter light like led or t-5? And what kind of bulb is on puny light lol! How new is it?

 

[Jill]

I can't remember the specs on the desktop although at the time I did check all of that. My puny little light is a 15w GE for planted aquariums from Home Depot. It's been in use for about 4 months. My tank is 20-21" tall. I'm actually shocked that my plants are surviving in such a tall tank with so little light. (And that the stupid algae won't DIE....lol).

I looked at T5 lights yesterday so that is an option, and I don't mind dosing ferts....that would be new for me. I think my husband could build the CO2 thingy if need be, but using it would be a foreign concept to me. I wouldn't want to get in over my head. Dosing ferts and CO2 will help the algae problem?

 

[Discusapisto]

Well the co2 will help your plants grow faster which in turn they would out compete the algae also balanced co2 keeps algae at bay. The ferts will be necessary once the plants start to take off for optimum growth but I think lighting and co2 is your limiting factor in such a deep tank. But honestly stick with low tech low light if it's working for you a few rocks are easy enough to clean without the added expense of what I've mentioned so far just one of many suggestions of things you can do. Par value of your bulb is important too it should listed on the box the bulb came in. Once higher light is added if that's the route you go make sure some sort of co2 production is added at the same time. aqua Chem on here can give ya some more insight as what to do he is more versed than I in lighting specs i hope he sees this and jumps in here I hope we can get this thing worked out for ya !

 

[Jill]

Just found this on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Marineland-Do...?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1329153835&sr=1-9

I'd love to be able to afford 2 of them, but right now only 1 is an option. I could use it in conjunction with my fluorescent hood for more lighting. Guess my hubby better start reading up on DIY CO2.

 

[Discusapisto]

I myself haven't tried that light yet but my good friend mike has one on a 20 long with great results he does run DIY co2 on that tank and he uses flourish and flourish trace on that tank. Poor hubby better get building it's looking like lol! Post pictures if you do update I'd love to see it keep me informed

 

[Jill]

I def will. Who knew fish could be so addictive??

 

[Discusapisto]

I def will. Who knew fish could be so addictive??

I knew I knew(hand in the air lol!)