Jennifer

Some filters will allow you to adjust flow rate. Is there a lever somewhere between the hoses and the canister? if so, try shifting it to see if the flow rate changes.

Is there air an air bubble/air lock in the tubes or canister? This has happened to me on occasion (but I have never had that brand of filter) and I solved the problem by filling the canister and tubes with water and then hooking it up and trying again. Not sure why that happens and I have no idea if my fix has anything to do with the problem but it seems to work. Anyway, that may not be your problem... :roll:

Well said

Mmmmmmm, hangi........

I use this for cornbread (it seems to be in all the stores around here): Ironically I am making cornbread tomorrow too! ....Had some great swordfish tacos with homemade corn tortillas, jalapeno salsa and chipotle sour cream tonight. Mmmmmm Anyway, I have a cornbread recipe that is absolute heaven, crispy buttery edges. Just add lashings of butter and a dollop of honey if you are so inclined. it goes amazingly well with the white bean and bacon Cowboy Stew I am making tomorrow. Best Cornbread 115g butter 2/3 cup white sugar 2 eggs 3/4 cup milk 1/4 cup plain yogurt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup cornmeal 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1.Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Lightly oil a 20 cm ovenproof skillet and place it into the oven to heat up. 2.Combine melted butter and sugar in a bowl. Quickly add the eggs to the bowl and beat until well blended. Combine milk with yogurt and baking soda and then stir into egg mixture. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. 3. When oven and pan are hot, remove the pan from the oven and add about a tablesppon of butter to the hot pan. When it melts, pour the batter into the pan and place the skilliet back into the oven. This whole process should take less than a minute so the skillet remains hot. 3.Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Looking good Ant. Maybe you can float the stem plants instead?

It's looking pretty good! Well done.

IMO it is probably stress. They need more room to fly and it would be better to have a larger group of them. Daily baths and good food will help too.

that's awesome.

Agreed with all of that. Sophia I have a few of these filters and I cut the sponge in half and place eheim pro balls in the top half of the filter (sponge hole blocked off with a piece of sponge so the filter balls do go down the hole). It gives me confidence that when/if I ever have to rinse out the sponge that I am not getting rid of everything and you really can't go wrong with eheim pro substrate anyway. It lasts forever.

+1 Agreed. The dissolved CO2 in the new water will cause CO2 fluctuations that can cause an algae outbreak. Perhaps you can do a tiny amount every day so that the levels are as consistent as possible, or don't do it at all (unless you absolutely have to).

Great news about the green spot. That is the best kind of algae to have. I agree, it will take the plants a couple of weeks before they can utilise the new kick of CO2, ferts and lights. Don't let the CO2 fizzle out too low or you will have an algae outbreak due to the CO2 fluctuations. Try to time your water change with replenishing the yeast mixture (the dissolved CO2 in the new water will help make up for the lack of CO2 generated from the new yeast mixture). If you doubt that lights can be the key try placing your tank in the sun for a couple of hours, you will see pearling like you have never seen before! 8) (of course I wouldn't recommend that since it can overheat the tank for the wee Otos). Remember, as you increase CO2, the plants' light demand will also get higher. Also, the 'faster' all of these factors go, the more maintenance and careful monitoring will be required to keep it all in balance.

Beautiful Milena! They look awesome!

That is like a million dollars worth of otos!! (retail of course - I am sure those blokes only got about $100 for the lot)

Yes, Panacur is fenbendazole and it works like praziquantel AND levamisole combined.

I have no idea about how puffers take Excel, sorry. I do believe it is safer than people give it credit for, if handled correctly and introduced so that the fish can get used to it. Perhaps you can try increasing it and watch very closely for any signs of problems (do a water change immediately if you see problems). If you're worried, don't do it. Hair algae is not killed as easily by Excel overdoses anyway. It will help the plants to get a good foothold though so is worth continuing. It might pay to decrease your photoperiod a little more. Clearly the light demand of the plants is limited by something and the algae is taking advantage of that. What sort of plants do you have going in there? If they are slow growing you are going to have problems. You need to get some fast growing stem plants in there to soak up the nutrients. Algae is mostly caused by fluctuating CO2 levels - it takes the plants a while (several days) to create the enzymes which utilise the increase in CO2 and in the mean time the algae can take over if there is enough light. Excess nutrients won't cause algae by themselves but if the plants are not using the nutrients and the light is good enough the algae will take over. So, to make a long story short, you need to ensure a stable CO2 level, keep it running and make sure it doesn't slow down. Dose with trace nutrients - plants with deficiencies cannot utilise CO2. Keep the light down a little (but not off) until the plants can utilise the increased CO2. Make gradual changes and make sure there is no ammonia (ammonia is the one nutrient that will cause algae). Be patient. The plants don't change overnight and it will take some time to get things in balance.

Do you have any fish in the tank? If not, you can try lowering the water level to just above the substrate and in a month you will have a thick carpet (and no alage). Then you can gradually raise the water level and add a couple of fish.

Metronidazole treats protozoa and metazoa, things like ciliates and single celled organisms. It is partly effective against some bacteria as well. There are two primary types of dewormers and these drugs are an example (there are many other types of drugs): Praziquantel treats cestodes and trematodes, flatworms like flukes and tapeworms. Levamisole treats nematodes, roundworms like callamanus. Each of these categories of parasites has species which can be internal or mostly/partly external. Some have direct life cycles where parasites are passed from fish to fish (usually the faecal/oral route) and some have indirect life cycles that involve intermediate host organisms like crustaeans or mollusks. A few will produce cysts that will survive in the environment and resist all but the strongest chemicals, most extreme heat and even weak UV light. Most deworming medications are usually most effective on the adult stage of the worms which are actively in the fish's body (in other words, the medication may not kill the worm, it may just paralyze it and make it lose its ability to resist the hosts's immune system or digestive processes). Protozoal life stages are a bit different and the time that they can survive in the environment varies between species. Regardless, we generally treat the host, not the environment, just as it is with other animals. Oral administration is almost always best, but obviously it isn't easy to make a fish take a pill. Homemade gel foods are a great way to get oral medication into your fish - it is well worthwhile to get your fish used to occasionally eating gels so that you can medicate them easily if it is ever warranted.

A 1:20 solution of bleach for 15 minutes will work wonders for the ornaments and is dirt cheap. Rinse very well afterwards until you can smell no more bleach. A slightly higher than normal Excel dose of 1ml/14 litres works well and is safe for most fish. Use a little less to start out with to see how they go before upping the dose. For those interested in algae, here is a useful kink to Tom Barr's forums. The first two stickies are quite interesting: http://www.barrreport.com/forumdisplay. ... tive-Index

I would be thinking about his relative activity e.g. is he less active than he was yesterday. He might be stressed or he might be in pain when he swims or if he is suddenly less active he might be developing an infection. If he is developing an infection his appetite might decrease. He might be less stressed to have some company, especially now as he has had a few days to heal up.

Yeah that looks like 'midnight from Petstuff101. awesome stuff: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=44887

It is Flourish Excel that you have to worry about, you don't have to worry with Flourish Comprehensive which only has trace minerals, amino acids and small amounts of macronutrients. It is like adding a multivitamin to the water.

Imbalance of nutrients can cause all sorts of problems. Your plants will really appreciate a daily or every other day dose of ferts and it will help get the tank in balance. I prefer Flourish Comprehensive because it contains macro and micronutrients in the proper ratios. Easy, and unlikely to cause any problems at all when used at a dose rate of 1ml/40l/day.

Hmmm, I like to see my fish happy and interacting with their environment. :roll: Undulating gravel = happy GBA. :lol:

Is it cyanobacteria? If so you need to correct the water conditions or it will keep coming back. Faster flow in the areas that it grows can help to get rid of it too. If it is black brush algae (aka black beard) then excel will kill that. Might pay to continue with excel because bba is often a sign of not enough CO2 so the liquid carbon in excel will help sort that problem too (unless you want to use DIY CO2 or something like that).