New tank with green water

[dwayne.aycock]

I'm no spring chicken.... I am 48 and have a 2 year old. My first, last and only kid. I want my daughter to be a S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) kid as these are the ones that will have a bright future. The science part is the aquarium and all the biology and chemistry that goes with it. I completed my engineering degree (electrical) in 1987, so I should be of assistance on that front. My Wife is an accountant so maybe the math hurdle will be a smooth one, and with the internet...technology is a given. Currently in the Army I am a Psychologist so there is another science. Maybe my 2 year old will be OK...only time will tell.
Will follow your advice about the R/O. Where might I get the Indian almond leaves? I am currently trying peat... but with little success. PH has not budged! Local Florida fish are born and raised in PH 8.0 water, but I would like to have the ideal surroundings.
What do you think about my neighbors suggestions?
Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

I have a grandbaby that old... yikes, but then I started a tad earlier than you. Hope lil girl got the best of both genes cause if she did she'll be doing good! I'm retired now so have alots of time to devote to the tanks. Thats the only reason I tackled such a big planted tank, before this one my biggest tank was a 90g. But once you get things right you'll be glad you have a bigger one.

My tank cycled without any fish, but I think it did it so fast because of the organic potting soil I used, and the fact I did 7 days of 100% WC's after the tank was filled. Then when I planted so heavily the plants just sucked up the rest of the nutrients right up. I mean by day 10 I had no ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates. I actually had to start dosing ferts lightly just to keep nitrates in the water. So honestly I think if you get those larger WC's done you might find your cycle is moving faster than you think. The fish can't hurt, just make sure you keep that ammonia and nitrite lower with your WC's.

Are you going to use Ferts... I forgot this thread has gotten so long. If you do I can give you info on the dry ferts which are so much more economical for a larger tank. I got my leaves from the UK but let me check something out and send another post. I ran across the name of a place/guy that a bunch of betta people use that is supposedly really well priced.

You know the leaves and peat take a long time to soften water. The reason I'm beginning to have an easier time now is my tank has a heavy peat organic soil substrate and finally months down the road the peat is actually beginning to lower the readings. I noticed last week my readings dropped so looks like I am going to be going heavier on tap water now with less RO. I also found a couple plants I grow only do well in the softer water, plus my angels, rams, and threadfin rainbowfish have all spawned. Hoping the tetras will eventually too. You can use more leaves but you will have dark water, which is actually what an Amazon Biotope looks like. Okay, will go look for that site and post later.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

I got a fert tablet from the UK called sonoplant. It is a 3 in 1 treatment. One tablet treats 13.6 gallons and has CO2, Iron, manganese and other vital trace elements. It is a very slow dissolving tablet with a low specific gravity, meaning that it settles to the bottom and binds to the gravel. I added my new plants today...12 inch (x3) amazon sword plants, 4 addidtional java ferns, 4 square inches of X-mas tree moss, and finally 3 stalks of dwarf lilly. Fish I added yesterday are looking good and very active. As I am not going to have and large fish, I am going for the smaller amazon fishes and maybe 5 veil angels. I looked them up and they are absolutely beautiful and graceful. They will be the premeir fish in my tank.
Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

Check out Mellow Aquatics, he only does angelfish and you pick the angels you want from pictures. I got all mine from him this time and they all came in looking good and healthy.

 

[Rivercats]

Forgot to add.... let me know how those tablets work out, now I'm curious!

 

[Rivercats]

Here is the link to where a bunch of betta breeders get their Indian Almond leaves from...
Buy Indian Almond Leaves, IAL, Indian Almond Leaves, Terminalia Catappa

I got mine from Tyne Valley Aquatics in the UK, brought in 100, plus he sent extras to make shipping worth it. They were really nice big leaves and I was very happy. Pricey compared to the guy above. I know you can get them on ebay too. You have to replace them every few weeks, usually when they start breaking down, or some let them just breakdown totally. I've heard some shrimp and plecos eat on them. I've actually caught my Longfin albino bristlenose pleco scraping on them a few times. If you ever get any German Blue Rams they like to spawn on them. I put 10 big ones in my 220 once and within hours you should have seen how fiesty all the fish got. Had a couple angel pair spawn and a pair of rams within 48 hours. They made the water alittle darker than I like so haven't used that many again at once but I always keep them in there.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

The tablet fert I am using is from the UK as well. The product is called SANOPLANT. I got the tabs on ebay / UK. They were not expensive, just took a little while to ship. The tabs break down slowly and you don't have to worry about the fish eating them...fish might try to eat them, but quickly spit them out. I guess they don't taste very good. I tested my water levels again this evening and they still were not very good. My ammonia has dropped quite a bit...down to 0.25, but my nitrite was very high as well as my nitrate, so I did another 30 gallon WC. After a 40 gallon WC and a 30 gallon WC tonight, I have moved 100% (minus displacement for rocks, driftwood, inlet tubes, return tubes etc) in just two days. I am glad that I did as many posts I have read have strongly recommended LWC at this junction of my process.
Thanks so much for all your help! Though I don't personally know you, you have been a great friend and mentor as I get my sea legs again. After an almost 10 year lay off, I feel like a beginner again.
Thanks for all you do!
MAJ Dwayne Aycock
Chief of Current Operations
U.S Army / Medical Service Corps
Pinellas Park, FL
(I live in Riverview, Florida...near Tampa)

 

[dwayne.aycock]

I found the Indian Almond leaves on ebay from a seller in the U.S. They were very reasonable. Seller even talked about how the leaves were selected, harvested, sterilized and packaged. Thanks for the advice!