Help please - deaths in my new tank

[Scottishnewbie]

No nothing on Walls or glass.

 

[Scottishnewbie]

I said Walls because I have that 3drock wall stuff you silicone onto the tank instead of a background poster thing.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I said Walls because I have that 3drock wall stuff you silicone onto the tank instead of a background poster thing.

Yep, BA doesn't discriminate on what it'll attach to. Check out that link for help.

 

[Scottishnewbie]

I came home from work today to find more brown stuff all over plants and sand and the water a horrible brown colour too. Readings were still normal and fish seemed happy. I did 50% pwc and used vacuum to get up most of the brown "blooms". The plants were the worst but it came off easily when I knocked them.
Water looks good now but I'm changing the poly pad of my filter every two days at minute as it was brown when I checked it today, but seeing colour of water I'm not surprised! I have no ammonia in tank at all but is there anything else I can do? I read the link but it doesn't say what causes it. I'm confused

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Heavy tea water tells me your driftwood (DW) is leaching tons of tannins into the water column. BA will collect on anything solid and even when I scraped mine it never made the water murky. Tannins won't hurt you fish (unless it's really thick), but PWC will clear it out. If there's a way to remove some of the DW and soak it to get rid of tannins, you might want to consider it IMO/E.

Sounds like the poly-fil is doing it's job if it's clogged full of gunk/tannins every 2 days and I'd replace it as needed, since more in the poly-fil means less in your tank.

 

[Scottishnewbie]

Thank you! It's looking ok after that pwc but I might do another tomorrow or the next day just to keep on top of it. I'll try and take a photo of the stuff on the bottom to let you see.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

It's kinda hard to tell from the pics (could be poop too) but unlike gravel, everything sits on top of the sand so it's more noticeable. When doing a PWC, I'd suggest using your vac to pic up as much gunk as you can and if you do the tooth pick trick on the vac and you'll be surprised just how much you can get.

But just so you know you're not alone, I had BA, tannins and my goldies shredding every plant in my DT all at once lol . Now it's just the plants getting shredded .

Darn good looking tank and I still covet that DW arrangement lol.

 

[Scottishnewbie]

I don't think it is poo cause when you see it close up it looks more like a brown see through snowflake!! Kinda weird description I know but best I can think of!!
What can I get to clean the sand that doesn't get too big? I'm getting a fighter next week. It's called a lyretail I think - it's red and purple - stunning!!

 

[Mr. Limpet]

AES (amano shrimp) work great for me. They're forever picking thru each grain of sand and polishing them after they're done cleaning my plant leafs or DW. Best part is they clean 50x more than the poop so they're the best of both worlds in my book.

Some algae eaters poop so much they're negligible at best and you have to feed them wafers to supplement their diet, so there's more waste going in than coming out IMO. Other swear by them, so you have to decide what's best for your tank.

 

[Scottishnewbie]

How many shrimps would I need in my tank? It's 190 litres (not sure in gallons sorry)
Do I have to be careful about what I put into the tank with them?
I thought shrimps were for marine tanks or am I thinking of something different?
Could I still have cory's with shrimps or would I not need them?
Sorry for all questions but it's not as easy as it first seems...

 

[Mr. Limpet]

It can vary I think. I have 6 or so various shrimp in my 8g and they all seem to find something to eat (I don't supplement food for them). Ghost shrimp are a good option too and I get them at feeder prices (AES 2.99 each, ghosties .18 each)

As for what might get them, I'm sure there are some fish that might try, so maybe research the fish/shrimp. I can tell you that my puffers (GSP) tried when I first put the ghosties & AES in and promptly gave up since the AES have this kinda kung fu/TKD jump that scared the GSP but good lol. With the DW and moss (I'd suggest adding some), they'll have a place to escape to if need be (mine don't and there's nothing meaner than a puffer IMO).