My 10g planted tank and questions

[Mr. Limpet]

Ya! I wonder if u take them out and plant all ur plants at once will confuse them enough to not mess with it as much but that would work best if the plants have time to establish their roots!!

How do u cure pure silicon?

I tried hiding delicate plants behind anacharis and it didn't make any difference, Dexter just pushes thru it and went for the others to rip them up. I guess he doesn't like my aquascaping lol.

It cures over time, couple weeks maybe less I'd guess.

 

[Hubert90]

I tried hiding delicate plants behind anacharis and it didn't make any difference, Dexter just pushes thru it and went for the others to rip them up. I guess he doesn't like my aquascaping lol.

It cures over time, couple weeks maybe less I'd guess.

Haha I gotta give it to ya! I love the names u gave Ur fish! So far ive heard Dexter and Elvis! I love it!! My goldfishes are called megabyte and gigabyte! LOL because one is alot bigger than one!! Hahaha

Silicon is outta the question them. Not gonna be possible to remove my ottos without stressing them! Haha

 

[Hubert90]

I have more questions. Currently, i have 3 ottos, one Betta. I want to add more top, middle dwellers any suggestions? My Betta seem to be cute timid and not as aggressive, maybe because he's still a juvenile.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Cardinal tetras work great for me with Elvis. The main thing you want to avoid is long flowing tailed fish. Your betta will take them as other males from what I've heard.

Shrimp are a good addition too, I have a pair each of AES, Ghosties, CRS and RCS in and they all get along. With your plants, it'll give them lots of places to hide when the want to.

 

[Hubert90]

Cardinal tetras work great for me with Elvis. The main thing you want to avoid is long flowing tailed fish. Your betta will take them as other males from what I've heard.

Shrimp are a good addition too, I have a pair each of AES, Ghosties, CRS and RCS in and they all get along. With your plants, it'll give them lots of places to hide when the want to.

Ah yes shrimps. Ill have to sponge my intake don't I? Im yet to find out if sachem trace will harm them. I'll look into cardinal tetra. Thanks

 

[Mr. Limpet]

With the CRS and maybe the RCS, but the others get too big for it to be an issue IME. I have AES & ghosties in my BW tank filtered with a Fluval 305 can and no problems for me. I just serviced the 305 can and found about 100 pond snails in it, but no shrimp lol.

Can't say about trace, but Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive is OK, I use it in all my tanks (Excel too).

 

[Hubert90]

With the CRS and maybe the RCS, but the others get too big for it to be an issue IME. I have AES & ghosties in my BW tank filtered with a Fluval 305 can and no problems for me. I just serviced the 305 can and found about 100 pond snails in it, but no shrimp lol.

Can't say about trace, but Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive is OK, I use it in all my tanks (Excel too).

Ah ok sweet. Is Ur amano shrimp breeding successfully? Coz I'm more concerned for the babies than the adults. I'm gonna email seachem regarding trace.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Ah ok sweet. Is Ur amano shrimp breeding successfully? Coz I'm more concerned for the babies than the adults. I'm gonna email seachem regarding trace.

They've only been in BW for a couple weeks, so I'm not sure. Even if they do, I'm not gonna sponge my filter because I need the flow to keep the tank clean rather than worrying about shrimp fry.

 

[jetajockey]

i'd put a sponge prefilter on there anyway, I have them on my shrimp tanks. The shrimp like picking off of them, plus any shrimplets will get sucked into an intake strainer.

 

[Hubert90]

They've only been in BW for a couple weeks, so I'm not sure. Even if they do, I'm not gonna sponge my filter because I need the flow to keep the tank clean rather than worrying about shrimp fry.

Blackish water? I never though amano shrimp needed bw. I'm actually looking to get ghost shrimp or some inverts to clean up all the poop made by my ottos. Thou I've heard that my plants will actually use those poop as a fertilizers. Not sure if it's true.

 

[Hubert90]

i'd put a sponge prefilter on there anyway, I have them on my shrimp tanks. The shrimp like picking off of them, plus any shrimplets will get sucked into an intake strainer.

Ya haha if I want a successful colony I'm gonna have to sponge the intake.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Blackish water? I never though amano shrimp needed bw. I'm actually looking to get ghost shrimp or some inverts to clean up all the poop made by my ottos. Thou I've heard that my plants will actually use those poop as a fertilizers. Not sure if it's true.

Brackish water (low SW) for my GSP. They're my cuc and not in for breeding and AES are FW/BW safe. I plan to get another EBI kit just for shrimp/breeding in the future. Yep, plants will use the leavings as food.

 

[Hubert90]

Brackish water (low SW) for my GSP. They're my cuc and not in for breeding and AES are FW/BW safe. I plan to get another EBI kit just for shrimp/breeding in the future. Yep, plants will use the leavings as food.

Ah sweet thanks. Ya I need some cuc! I'm now getting fuzz algae i believe and the link u sent says. Low co2 and most probably low nitrate. Im really stuck here. Can u increase my excel dosage? I'm currently doin 1ml each day.

 

[Hubert90]

I've read on many algae website saying that Otto will eat fuzz algae but mine doesn't seem to be touch them at all.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I've read on many algae website saying that Otto will eat fuzz algae but mine doesn't seem to be touch them at all.

Mine didn't touch any algae in my goldie tank, they went back and I decided to try some AES and ghosties instead. While I was there, I found a white mystery snail too .

 

[Hubert90]

Mine didn't touch any algae in my goldie tank, they went back and I decided to try some AES and ghosties instead. While I was there, I found a white mystery snail too .

Ya Ottos are real picky eaters. It's a shame coz they cleaned out my diatoms so nicely! Ive got told by my Lfs to not feed it zucchinis which will force them to eat the fuzz algae. But I don't have the heart to do it! Haha

Snails, that's another thing I was looking at. Something to eat dead rooting plants, as well as (hopefully) fuzz algae. I've read about Malaysian trumpets, ramshorn and nerite. White mystery snails sounds interesting I'll research that.

And do u think I can double dose my daily excel?

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Yeah, I had no luck with ottos and BA .

MTS are good and if you have sand they help keep the gasses down (I have yet to see any gas pockets, anyways ). The nerite in my Betta tank is a machine and cleans everything including plants, while leaving the leafs in tact, plus the zebra strip is a great looking shell . Mystery or Apple snails (one in the same?) are cool to have around as pets, but not much for cleaning IMO. I have a black & white one in my big tank now, we named them Yin & Yang lol.

Can't say about double dosing excel, since I 1/2 dose every other time. You might wait for others to comment on that or do some research at Seachem's website, but IMO, I'd say don't do it.

 

[jetajockey]

The only thing I've ever found to eat black brush algae is true SAEs, and they only eat new growth. It's really unreliable in all and manual removal is the best method by far.

I wouldn't overdose excel, it's an effective algaecide at higher concentrations, but it'll kill fish just as well.

If you do want to use excel I suggest spot treating with a syringe.

 

[Hubert90]

Yeah, I had no luck with ottos and BA .

MTS are good and if you have sand they help keep the gasses down (I have yet to see any gas pockets, anyways ). The nerite in my Betta tank is a machine and cleans everything including plants, while leaving the leafs in tact, plus the zebra strip is a great looking shell . Mystery or Apple snails (one in the same?) are cool to have around as pets, but not much for cleaning IMO. I have a black & white one in my big tank now, we named them Yin & Yang lol.

Can't say about double dosing excel, since I 1/2 dose every other time. You might wait for others to comment on that or do some research at Seachem's website, but IMO, I'd say don't do it.

O MTS is next on my stocking list. But I've already ran into problems with a few hour of research. Firstly my water I believe is soft (ph 6.6). Thus will affect it's shell development of something. So my initial solution to this is to introduces calcium into the water via crushed shells. Not sure how effective this method is. Another problem is that ive read on other forums that baby trumpet snails get sucked into filters easily. So I'm more concerned for my impeller than the snails. How's Ur take on the latter statement?

 

[Hubert90]

The only thing I've ever found to eat black brush algae is true SAEs, and they only eat new growth. It's really unreliable in all and manual removal is the best method by far.

I wouldn't overdose excel, it's an effective algaecide at higher concentrations, but it'll kill fish just as well.

If you do want to use excel I suggest spot treating with a syringe.

Hmm I don't have hair algae in my tank, I believe mine is called fuzz algae?

And ya I better not double dose my excel then hey