penguinleo

Dry... :lol: Nike or Adidas?

Just a funny thought. If I added around 50 fresh water shrimps to my tank, would they be able to help me in eating the algae? :lol:

And another question. I have performed a 40% water change. This time I haven't added any types of fertilisers. Tested my tap water and it had a iron content of 0/ppm. It was 0/ppm for a few days now. Just wondering whether you recommend me in adding some Flourish iron just to about 0.2/ppm since I have macrandra, red lotus and red pine in my tank. Or maybe I should add only Flourish since it does seem to have a bit of iron in there as well. I am thinking of still adding Flourish Potassium. Please post your thoughts and recommendations! :bounce:

Thanks Evil. But can you tell me how you use and dose it? Used for horses huh? :lol: Do you find it actually works? Does it kill snails? And can it harm plants? Thanks. And to everyone updating this thread, I have added 400mg of erythromycin to my tank. There are tiny white particles from the medication everywhere but it is dissolving. Lets see what happens. Oh, and does the blue green algae float to the top or die and sink to the bottom? And I just siphon the remains out right? Well, does the algae it actually fall off the plants? :lol:

So evil, you basically kill all algae and nasties off the plants, and then rinse them before planting them right? Good idea. But where do you get potassium permanganate? :lol:

Thanks for your replies. That is reassuring Antwan...that someone has had it in their tank with erythromycin. So I think the problem is getting worse so I am going to add it today and see how it goes.

Thanks for all the help. I will try to answer on all your comments: Suphew: I have Arcadia 39W x 4 T5 plant pro bulbs. I don't know if my tank is that new. It is very developed now. And your erthromycin statement was what I was worried about. Reef: I think my tank has (or had) too many nutrients too. My CO2 rate is only at 1 bubble per second so I'm think it should be alright, don't you? When I set up my tank I did not use CO2 for around a month as well, but I added fertilisers but only at the recommended dose. 20 Otocinclus? :lol: That is a bit too much for me. But they don't seem to eat away at blue green algae do they? And the flying foxes are supposed to clear the hair algae. I am going to do a water change today and lets see what happens. And no, I don't use Di or Ro for water changes. Evilknieval69 and Dimebag: Just wondering what types of plants you had in the tank you used erythromycin in. Plants such as Micranthimum Micranthemoides (Commonly known as pearl grass) that I have in the tank is highly sensitive to medications and will melt away if used. Alan: Hydrogen Peroxide. So it actually works as efficiently as erythromycin? I will try get a suitable dosage rate from my LFS. So it does not harm plants or fish? Phosphate reduction for my tank, I believe is not necessary. Well, not at the level it is at. And thanks, keep me updated. Jn: Excess iron causes algae blooms. That is what I was told too. Fishboi: Tank is 100x50x40. Only a tiny bit of sunlight. Not really direct. Just light that comes in from a window. And the light is 156W in total. Thanks to everyone.

Some members may already know that I have set up a new heavily planted tank. I am suffering some (quite bad) algae problems. It is quite rare to have algae problems in heavily planted tank but here I am with it. It is green and blue algae and some hair algae (I think). Blue green algae is covering most of my Red pine (turned to green pine :lol: ) and is slowly taking place in other plants. The hair algae has a greenish ting to it. Very fine threads around 3-6mm long and in some places it has covered my driftwood like a small thick and compact lawn. I need to know what is causing this. I have asked many plant experts but not many seem to know. Here are some things to consider: Nitrate: 0/ppm (Due to Purigen in filter. Will remove it tommorow as I need some nitrates) Phosphate: 0.5/ppm Iron content: 0/ppm (I was adding iron about 2 or 3 times a week but after the algae came in large numbers I discontinued for a while which maybe the reason for the 0/ppm. I heard that too much iron can cause algae and I was adding it more than once a week) Just started to add Potassium. Adding Flourish every week. Have 2 black-line flying foxes, 3 Otocinclus, 2 GBAs. CO2 running I was going to add some erythromycin but just after some research today I found that it can melt some medication sensitive plants such as Micranthimum micranthemoides. Is there any other way of getting rid of blue green algae? So what do you think is causing the algae??? If you need to know anything else please ask and all help will be appreciated.

Thanks everyone. So generous.... :lol: If anyone has some left overs or spares they don't need I am open for more as I need quite a bit. The more the better! :oops: (not to be too greedy...) :roll:

some plant bunching lead? You know that highly malleable grey metal-lead thing that holds and sinks bunches of plants in fish stores. Or does anyone know where I can obtain some? I am needing quite a bit and maybe a long coil or many many small parts of it would be good. Thanks and all help will be appreciated!

Ha. I got to admit that when I got my first loaches (clown loaches) I was suprised too. Thought they all died...

The Torpedo barb is one of the most peaceful barbs you can get. They do not bother any other fish in my tank, which includes dwarf cichlids, algae eaters, tetras, and cories. They are easily thr biggest fish in the tank and they are don't bother anyone. One thing you should note. When I first got these guys I bought 2. The slightly larger one started to harrass the smaller one and continously attack it. It was quite a problem so that is why I bought 2 more and now, the fighting has completely stopped. If you can only get 2 you might want to consider just one and if you are going to get more, the better.

Thanks to you all The Torpedo barbs grow to around 15cm. Some say 20cm but somewhere around there. They are great aren't they? :lol: They all have different personalities. I am training them to feed off my hand. Should not be too hard as they are not afraid people walking around.

Rosy barbs huh? I personally never kept any type of barbs besides these torpedo barbs and black line flying foxes. Do all barbs rip plants apart? :lol: Hope these Torpedos don't! And adodge, I have a layer of fertiliser under the gravel. Not mixed together. The ground fert. seems to boost plants root growth significantly. Maybe even too much...I pulled out one of my amazon swords to replace it with a Ozelot sword and the root was at least 35cm long. And that was for a plant 1/3 that length. 8)

Thanks Torpedo barbs are currently my favourite fish as well. But a bit expensive.. :-? What fish do you keep that strips down your stargrass Caryl? :lol:

< UPDATE (27/01/07): > Quite significant changes with the tank and it's inhabitants. Here are some of the major changes that have occured: *My Red Lotus has changed colour to a deep pinkish red. (Refer to previous page to compare the difference) *The position of some plants have changed. *Bit more algae here and there. *Bought a UV Sterilizer (Pondmaster 9Watts) and managed to CLEAR the water from the major algae bloom! And no serious damage was inflicted on my plants or fish. *Added some new fish: 1 more Otocinclus, 4 Tri-line (red line) Torpedo barbs. Very cool fish.. *Added some new plants *My female Apistogramma Peba jumped out of the tank a few days ago. Managed to save her just in time.. The male died by the way, (refer to previous page) and I bought another pair from Phil. Arriving on Tuesday. And finally here are the photos. Used Photobucket this time so everyone should be able to enjoy! :bounce: New Ozelot Sword Moved to foreground New UV Sterilizer powered by the canister filter. Took me at least two hours to get everything installed. :roll: Tri-line (Red line) Torpedo Barbs Will keep updating

Awesome stuff Reef. I really love your photos. Especially that small school of baby Pterapogon Kauderni! Although I do not keep any marine tanks, that new light system looks very interesting. Many innovative features. Would probably be effective in a freshwater tropical too I guess. Update us when you get the new light in. And do you know how much it will cost?

At the moment, I am not using any Flourish Excel (I have a CO2 injection) instead and I am dosing Flourish and Flourish Iron 1 or 2 times a week.

Just wondering what you people do. How much flourish iron dosing do you do a week? I am wanting some more redder plants and am thinking of adding flourish iron maybe 3 times or more a week. Would that be okay? No stress to the plants or fish? I don't have an iron test kit so I am just wondering if it would be safe. Thanks.

Like Warren said, you can use nylon, but some people had a real hard time with it. Nylon almost always falls apart while being regenerated. You will lose all of the purigen inside as well. Personally, I would just get "The Bag" as it is much more stronger. Like it states, durable non stitched seams, resealable locking closure, 180 micron mesh, and resistant to bleach, caustics and acids, which are all used in the regenerating process. Very costly I know for a small plastic bag..but I would rather reduce the chances of the nylon splitting in the filter or some other terrible situation. And besides it lasts for years, and it may even be cheaper in the long run than getting many panty hoses! :lol:

Wow, where did you see that many? At my LFS there are around 10. :lol: Some of them look TOO thin which isn't healthy obviously..

Does anyone know how to determine whether a torpedo barb is a male or female? Help will be appreciated

Sorry. No updates yet. Well, the ambulia has reached the top. :lol: I am currently having trouble with a massive algae bloom in the water. I can't see anything through the left and right sides of my tank. All green. :-? I went to my LFS and talked to the staff about it they say it gets really annoying and hard to get rid of without affecting the biological bacteria. So I got a UV Sterilizer and am planning to install it today. Also a 45% water change tommorow. :roll: Really hating this.

So do you think, we will ever be able to get them in NZ?

I was just wondering...why can we not get any types of shrimps into New Zealand? We only seem to have the cold water species. :-? Is it just because of DOC or fears of diseases or mass deaths? Curious...