Newbie question on filtration and other stuff

[Bosco72]

Work in progress.

 

[Bosco72]

Black gunk on various parts of my tank, can I just clean it off? Or will this make matters worst?

 

[jlk]

Looks good! Yes, just wipe the any black or brown stuff off with a clean paper towel (easiest to do when your doing a water change) or purchase a new kitchen sponge (no soap/additives-rinse well before using) & add it to your aquarium supplies for cleaning glass, etc. The sponges that have a scrubby side work well.

 

[Bosco72]

Does it have a name? And is there a way of preventing it?

Cheers.

 

[jlk]

The brown to dark brown stuff is usually diatoms-common in new tanks. It typically burns its self out as the tank establishes itself. Easily wipes clean so its more of a cleaning nuisance than anything. A soft bristle toothbrush works well to remove it from plants & decor.

 

[Bosco72]

Cheers for the advice, I will give it a good clean. My worry was spreading the algae around. Been doing some research into algae so panic over.

 

[Bosco72]

Yet another question,

I have started choosing rocks for my setup, I have bought a rainbow rock and cleaned it (boiling water only, then soaked in some tank water). It looks nice but it was costly.

My question is this, can I use any rocks I find as long as I clean them? Or is there a rule to which rocks that don't change the parameters in a dangerous way?

Thanks in advance

 

[jlk]

I am not an expert on rocks. I know shale, granite, obsidian, quartz, & glass are non-reactive. Some rocks (such as limestone) will raise your ph. I believe theres a vinegar test you can do to check rocks but you will have to do some searching on here/google for more info on this & other types of rock that are not suitable.

 

[Bosco72]

Cheers, I will do some more research.

 

[Bosco72]

I had a strange thing happen today, one of my fish had a piece of gravel stuck in its mouth, not a nice sight. It was very distressed, my first thought was to see if it could deal with it itself, but it didn't seem to want to come out. Then my second thought was to intervene but I decided I might cause more damage then good. Luckily it popped out, is this common? I've never seen this before and I've been keeping fish for a while now and when I was younger kept fish for about five years.

 

[jlk]

I keep goldies & this is a big issue with them. They constantly pick up gravel in their search for food & risk choking if its its small enough to fit in their mouths. I have never kept tropicals but i imagine the possibility exists for them as well.

 

[Bosco72]

What is the best course of action? Let them deal with it? Change the substrate? It worked itself out for me today but not sure what I would do if it was prolonged suffering.

 

[jlk]

A tiny pair of forceps (tweezers would probably work too) & manually remove it if it is definitely stuck & the fish can not dislodge it after a period of time. Hopefully, this was just a fluke thing that happened!!!

 

[Bosco72]

Fingers crossed!

 

[Bosco72]

My java ferns are weighted with roots/rhizomes exposed to do whatever they want. Is this ok or should I anchor them to some bog wood/small rock?my plan is to have larger pieces of bog wood (centre pieces) and then behind background plants weighted or anchored to smaller pieces so the whole set up up has some maneuverability. I have also ordered some flourish excel, never used it before and it seems to get a mixed review in this forum.

I guess my question is, weighted or anchored?

 

[jlk]

I think this is just personal preference of what works best for you & your particular situation- feel free to try both & see which you prefer.

 

[Bosco72]

Will do, I'm looking to get as much out of my live plants as possible. I have read they are a very good surface area for bb's

 

[jlk]

Plants will help across the board (they use the bad stuff in your water as food) and provide greater surface area for bb. They also use CO2 in the water & exchange it for oxygen. Good luck with your plants!

 

[Bosco72]

Is there anyone you could recommend on the forums to buy plants from? I already have about 15 bunches of java's but I was looking to get some anubias for the foreground. I have ordered some small bog wood and some small lava rocks then i will start tying them off.

 

[jlk]

I would check the classifieds here/post a wanted ad- I dont know offhand who exactly sells them. You can also try a site such as Aquabid or check craiglist in your area for local sellers. Another idea would be to google local aquarium clubs in your area & see if there are any local growers. The petco in my region does occasionally sell anubias but not very often.