Diary of the 29G planted tank... New pics 4/28/07

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, I did a major algae cleaning today, and will do another tomorrow. Hopefully the Bolovians don't mind, lol.

Question, do you think maybe I just don't have enough plants? Will more plants help maybe? Just a thought.

I'm not real good at the LaMotte's test kit for the phosphates. I put it up to one light, and it gives me a 0ppm reading, then another light and it gives me 2ppm, lol. Then I do the window, but the sunlight is just too bright, not giving any color. What's the best way to determine the actual ppm?

The nitrate test kit seems alright though. It's easy to tell, no mater what light I'm using.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Update:

Well, I hope I solved my algae problems. We'll see in a couple weeks. What I did was doing my calculations for my 10G dosages, and found my Phosphate dosages to be off for all my tanks. In fact, way off, lol. For my 75G, according to Travis' dosing, I should be dosing 30ppm. Now how in the world did I come up with 3ppm? Same with my 29G. 1/10th of what I was supposed to be dosing. Now, with the plants being so thick in my 75G, and some of the decaying plant matter in the botom of the jungle, my dosings are probably ok, as I have eliminated just about all the algae in the tank. But my 29G, well, it was bad. But since my last real good clean-up, and corrected dosings, things are looking pretty good so far. But I'm going to continue for a couple more weeks with the corrected dosings to see if that was my problem. Basically, plenty of nitrates, and no phosphates. We'll see.....

 

[travis simonson]

I've read that LaMotte comparators work best when you hold them away from direct light. Point it at a wall or some other light diffusing surface, but never try to read one through direct light, whether it be sun or lamp. Of course I'm color-blind, so what would I know

 

[mr funktastic]

your colour blind? that is something we always take for granted. i find it amazing u can put togehter such a beautiful aquarium and not even know the colours u are mixing!! compared to me who can see the colour and mine looks like crap compared to yours.

 

[JustOneMore20]

i find it amazing u can put togehter such a beautiful aquarium and not even know the colours u are mixing

Color blind doesn't always mean you can't see any color. Many times people just mix up similar colors, like blue and purple or red and orange. I'm not sure how it is for him, but I'm just saying that its not always like people think. It would be sad if you couldn't see any color though.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, after soaking my driftwood in Hydrogen Peroxide solution a few weeks ago, the driftwood still doesn't have any algae on it, lol. Even though the plants and everything is covered in algae, the driftwood is algae free, lol. Wonder why that is, lol.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Boy I hate algae, lol...

Early in the week I reset my tank parameters with 2 large PWC's. Then I decided to do the EI method. Yesterday I dosed macros per EI for 20-40G aquariums with high light. Got some algae, but not bad. Today I dosed micros per EI, and Bam. When I got home, I had so much algae that I couldn't see some of my corkscrew vals. Now what in the world is going on. I now decreased lighting as well. I had 130W on the 29G using Excel. Now I'm running just 65W with Excel. I don't get it. And now getting BGA bad as well, and I have lots of current flow in the tank, the XP2 churns it quite well on full blast and don't think some of the fish really appreciate it.

Well, I finally ordered my CO2 regulator tonight. Should have it in a week or so. Once I get it, as well as the ViewTainers I ordered, will try to make my own powered reactor. With the powerheads I have, I just don't have the 90 degree elbow for mounting in the viewtainer to give it a cyclone effect. Will figure something out though.

 

[dskidmore]

How does your tap water test out? (Check your city/county web site for a water report if you don't have all the test kits.) Perhaps you have an oversupply of something in your water, and you should cut back on dosing that?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I tested my tap. 0 Nitrates and 0 Phosphates, kh 60 and gh 60. also 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Did a major cleanout tonight. Here's some new pics as well.

Also made another big change, moved my Bolivian Rams back to the 75G with the other male. They just completely stopped spawning, and I think they just need a little more space. So if I get things going in the 29G, which is looking better, I might move 2 male and 4 female GBR's to the 29G. But we'll see. I'm also thinking of getting my last 2 10G tanks this weekend and put some GBR's in them as well, either 1 of each or 1M and 2F. So here's the pics....

 

[Glenc]

Looks great, nice and clean. It's going to fill in really nice, love the Repens in the left corner, that wisteria is gonna go nuts on you! Neons look cool in there too! Good luck with the algea pain in the butt, with those fast growers in there, you'll soon be rid of it.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I'm still deciding on how I really want it to look, lol. Been debating of whether to keep the L. repens on the left, or pull the corkscrew vals from the back and the L. repens and put the repens along the back up to the driftwood, and the corkscrew vals up front on the left side where the repens is at now. The only problem I would see is when the repens gets tall, it's going to be tossed in the output of the filter spraybar.

As for the fish, those are Cardinals. I decided on them rather than the neons, as if I put them in with bigger fish, the neons would be lunch. The cardinals do look great in there. I also moved my Bolivians out to my 75G. They just won't spawn anymore in the 29G. So I gave a change in environment by putting them in the 75G with the 3rd male. Will see how things go from here and see if I can get them to spawn again. I'm hooked on babies, lol.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, it's time to say nighty-night to my 29G. Going into a 5 day blackout. I think I got a good foothold on some of the algaes. but the only one that keeps coming back is the BGA (cyano). And the stuff really stinks, lol. It's kind of a florescent green, and gets on the glass, gravel, and the lower plants. So now that I think I got the other algae's beat, if I can finish off the BGA, I should be good. It took a bit to do, but I changed my dosing, and it seelms to have helped a great deal. I also would like to get another powerhead just to blow across the front glass down at the gravel, but not sure yet. Will see after the blackout.

Also, the Wisteria in there is huge, lol. It took a few days to get settled in, then Boom. I cut a huge chunk off and gave it away. Hope they understand the power of Wisteria, lol.

So now the count-down begins for the blackout, starting now.

 

[Glenc]

Good luck LWB. Good news is, the blackout will work. You'll start again with a nice, clean tank. Everytime you have to do something like this you learn more about how to keep a beautiful planted tank healthy. Sometimes I think it's a real pain, hours and hours of trail and error, very slowly getting better, (sometime worse ) at this planted tank thing. But then I sit quietly watching my tank, full of healthy fish and plants, colours dancing, and think of all the countless hours of pure enjoyment when it goes right, and it makes it all worth it.

 

[mr funktastic]

i totally agree with that glen. my tank annoys the heck out of me sometimes but then when i look at it and all the growth i get and the happy fish it makes it worth while.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Update:

Well, I uncovered my tank tonight. Was day #5. Here's the stats......

No algae on the glass....
No algae on the L. repens. Plants looking pretty good still.
No algae on the Corkscrew vals. Vals are pretty yellow, and seems to have suffered the worst.
Sword is algae free, and has suffered some, but not bad.
Wisteria is algae free, and is as green as ever, lol. In fact, it's even grown, lol.
Dwarf sag is algae free. Suffered greatly, not sure which is worse, it or the corkscrew vals.
Cabomba is algae free. Yellowed a little, but still looking fairly decent.
And best of all, BGA is GONE. And no algae on the driftwood.

Now the fish:
Most all suffered. Cardinals were the worst shape. Almost colorless. No shine to them at all. But within an hour, their colors are beginning to come back. Serpae Tetras were actually grayish in color. but now the orange is starting to come back. The Blue Flame Tetras, same as the Serpae's. Otos suffered the least, just as healthy and fat as ever. But when the lights came on, they were zipping all over the place.

 

[Glenc]

That's great news LWB, tank is on the way back. The ride starts again!

 

[JRagg]

I hate BGA with a passion. Glad you were able to knock it out.

Can't wait to see an update after your plants recover.

 

[travis simonson]

That is good to hear man Blackouts work great but I hate not being able to look at my tank

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Now my question is, I asked in the breeding section as well, will my fry be ok with my tetras? They are now between 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch. Is it still too early to move, or would they be better off in a larger tank now?