NinjaTetra
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2012
- Messages
- 298
Well on the lower side if you got a plant that would fill in the area close to the glass, the potential catfish would like the open area to swim in....
Coralline's 20 gallon rescape
- Thread starter CorallineAlgae
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Billbug68
Aquarium Advice Addict
Is that c wendtii on the left of the driftwood? I'd say move half to the right of the driftwood and let it fill in and start surrounding the driftwood. Move the small plant on the right side to the front middle of the driftwood, move the tiger lotus over and forward a little bit where the small plant was and start trimming the background plant and moving some over to the right of it to start filling in behind the driftwood a little more.
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CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
Billbug68 said:
I'm a little worried that might shade off a lot of the dwarf baby tears. You can see, where it's growing on the left it's a little sparse. The c wendtii shades just enough to make it grow far slower. Maybe I could buy a shorter plant to grow around the driftwood (I have some four leaf clover around the wood now but it's just starting out). My only real concern is shade over the HC. I certainly could move some of the wendtii. I already had to harvest a bunch just 3 weeks ago. It grows fast. Does anyone else think I should plant some to the right of the wood? The way I have my light setup it may not shade it all that much.
I may just have to listen to Rivercats and be patient. My main concern is that there's a flaw in my design and changing it now may be easier (while the plants are small) But if I'm just being over critical I could do more harm than good to it.
Is the wood working or should I change it out for a more branchy piece? Or even a large stone?
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CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
Okay... I'll just let the tank grow in for another month or two. I think I'll get the glass cats next time the shop has a healthy group and quarantine them for a while before popping them in. That'll be my next addition and the last for animals. Thanks again Rivercats.
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CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
Update: I'm getting a bit of brown algae on my HC. Probably from overfeeding. Still getting higher than normal nitrates from the Osmacote Plus but it's manageable with twice weekly water changes. The shrimp are reproducing and growing well.
I still haven't made it to a fish shop for some glass catfish. Well, I went to one but they only had adult ones. Thought it might be easier on the system to buy smaller ones.
I still haven't made it to a fish shop for some glass catfish. Well, I went to one but they only had adult ones. Thought it might be easier on the system to buy smaller ones.
Have you thought about maybe getting a breeding net and putting some duckweed in it? Duckweed will suck up nitrates like crazy and if you keep the duckweed in a breeder net where it can't get out into the tank it would be easy to do. Just a thought.
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CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
I used to use it when I had my 55s but the nitrate is getting easier and easier to deal with. In another month I thing the strong effects of the Osmocote will be over. The Brazilian pennywort is growing like crazy and I think it's helping. I really love it in the back left now.
Thanks for the tip though. I'll keep it in mind next time I have a spike.
Thanks for the tip though. I'll keep it in mind next time I have a spike.
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CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
Does anybody know how best to fight silk algae? I had a lot of ammonia leach out of the Osmocote a while back and I started to see a few strands but now it's invading my HC. I hit it with Excell and plan on doing that every day but I'm not sure about other approaches. Any ideas?
Are you talking about that long single strand thread algae? If so you need to get a new toothbrush and twirl it around the strands and manually pull out as much as possible. Are you still getting alot of ammonia? So manually pull it and keep spot treating with excel.
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CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
I'll get one tonight. Thank you. No, I haven't had ammonia in a while but it was strong for the first two weeks and mild for a while after that. My nitrates still climb quickly from the fert but it's getting better. I just do twice weekly water changes and don't dose nitrates. The algae is super thin and seemingly transparent.
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CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
The silk algae is going away as quietly as it came. Oh yeah!
Here's a few pictures.
I added three glass catfish (all the shop had). Here's a shot of two.
I also added two Kuhli loaches but will add a few more when the store gets more in.
A full tank shot.
Here's a few pictures.
I added three glass catfish (all the shop had). Here's a shot of two.
I also added two Kuhli loaches but will add a few more when the store gets more in.
A full tank shot.
Brian_Nano12g
Aquarium Advice Addict
Wow... Looking great! Aren't you worried about the Kuhli Loaches uprooting the HC?
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CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thanks guys. ^_^
@Rivercats The tiger lotus is growing beautifully! I had to cut about 5 super large floater leaves already. I'll get a good pic of it after the sun sets (reflection).
@Brian I really was worried but I just love Kuhlis. Considering that I didn't actually have any bottom feeders I decided to give em a shot. The HC grows so low and deep with these LEDs that I'm hoping they stay under. Time will tell but so far they haven't uprooted anything. Do you think they'll cause a problem at some point?
@Rivercats The tiger lotus is growing beautifully! I had to cut about 5 super large floater leaves already. I'll get a good pic of it after the sun sets (reflection).
@Brian I really was worried but I just love Kuhlis. Considering that I didn't actually have any bottom feeders I decided to give em a shot. The HC grows so low and deep with these LEDs that I'm hoping they stay under. Time will tell but so far they haven't uprooted anything. Do you think they'll cause a problem at some point?
Kuhli's aren't usually a problem with that but the other loaches are killer on it. I had to pull mine up in the 220g because the yo-yo loaches wouldn't stop pulling up the edges up and rooting under it (they just knew there had to be something good under there). Drove me crazy and after 4 months I just gave up. Plus angelfish love to nip and nibble on the tender little leaves too.
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CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
Every now and then my Eastern American newt will bite a snail off of the HC and uproot some of it. Maybe he likes a salad with his meat! lol
Test results:
Nitrate = 15-20
Phosphate = 1.75
dKH = 11
GH = 9
Test results:
Nitrate = 15-20
Phosphate = 1.75
dKH = 11
GH = 9
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CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
Red Tiger Lotus
It is! I cut off the tall leaves but here it is from the side. At first the leaves were coming in a bit to green so I added some of the iron under it from an old bag of Flourite and the new leaves have more color. (I got the iron by running a magnet through the Flourite and collecting the particles)
It is! I cut off the tall leaves but here it is from the side. At first the leaves were coming in a bit to green so I added some of the iron under it from an old bag of Flourite and the new leaves have more color. (I got the iron by running a magnet through the Flourite and collecting the particles)
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