Jennifer

P44, with all that light and all that CO2, you will need to be adding boatloads of NPK and trace to avoid algae coming back. Something like: - day 1 NPK (e.g. http://www.seachem.com/Products/product ... brium.html) - day 2 trace - day 3 nothing - day 4 NPK - day 5 trace - day 6 50% water change repeat That increase in light and CO2 has taken your tank from a Toyota to a Ferrari but that mens that any small steering error will quickly cause a crash.

Congrats!! :bounce:

Connect Cafe http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christchu ... 3069858535

once

broken

Some nutritional deficiencies can cause anorexia (lack of appetite). Might it pay to try dosing with a vitamin supplement to see if that might help?

Just get a good trace fertiliser that has potassium. You don't want to overdose - just enough to help the plants outcompete the algae. I had a hair outbreak on one of my tanks two weeks ago, all other factors were exactly the same as other tanks but for some reason this one was totally green all over and I could hardly see through the glass as it had waves of green algae stuck on it. Now the tank is now perfectly clear without a spot of algae on the glass or surfaces, all residual algae on the plants has gone white. This is what I did: 1. minimise/eliminate feeding of fish for a couple of days, ensure no excess phosphate is added 2. reduce photoperiod by 25% (gradually increase back to 10 hours after algae problem is resolved) 4. increase surface agitation but keep up CO2 5. scrub all surfaces, vacuum substrate and do a 40% water change, repeat in 3 days 6. add Flourish excel every day for 7 days at a dose of 1ml per 14L (this the the algacidal dose rate) 7. add Flourish comprehensive at a dose rate of 1ml per 40L - indefinately until plants are seen to be growing well HTH

I couldn't agree more. That's why mine are all on 10 hour timers. 8)

I could be wrong but I tend to think of fast flow as better access of dissolved oxygen to the biological media (kinda like blood flow through the body) but if you have other means for oxygenation (e.g. wet dry) that may not be such an issue. Still, if your media are in an enclosed area, I wouldn't think the bacteria would be able to effectively colonise without access to good oxygen levels.

Check out the great hot chocolate that Caryl got today at elusive_fish's cafe in New Brighton.

They stay small, and like to eat algae, but they don't exactly spend a lot of time on the bottom. They also need to eat quite a lot - cucumber, algae tablets, etc. The embers will colour up quite a bit with good food...but they are only the one colour. As for other colourful small fish, maybe you might like a couple of fancy guppies instead. Or a couple of killies (they have amazing colours and there are a number of people on here who could 'hook you up.') If you really like neons, maybe you should go for them. I like them too but they can be very shy if they don't have any dither fish to give them confidence. I find danios very good and confident, very fun to watch as opposed to neons who often hide or just sit there in the water when you are looking at them! Celestial pearl danios would be great, but they cost a bit. :roll: You could always just go with some dwarf loaches. They are great to watch so even if your tank only had a group of them and an oto it would be quite interesting. Look up dwarf chain loach. They need to be in a group of at least 5, but they would look great.

celestial

Pygmy cories would be good but they are expensive and they need to be in a bigger group. They also don't tend to spend a lot of time on the bottom (they sit on plants and actually school more). Having to get a group of them would also limit the number of tetras you could get. If you get a smaller tetra, like ember tetras, they will look more in proportion to your tank and you can have a larger group of them. You could get 10 embers, 1 oto and a couple of sparkling gourami which is a nice combination that I have in a small tank. Or, you could get an oto and a few small danios (they are very active and some species are very small so you can get a nice big school of them which looks very impressive). You might already know this, but keep in mind, you will need to build up the bioload very slowly, especially since it is a small tank and thus is prone to instability. You say your tank is cycled, but are the bacteria getting any 'food' at present? If not, it might be good to provide the tank with a piece of dead shrimp or a some household ammonia to see how it handles the ammonia and nitrites before you add any fish.

:roll: Let us all be clear here so there is no confusion to those who may be considering taking this advice. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an indiscriminant oxidiser meaning that it will oxidise anything in its path including bacteria, healthy fish cells and plant cells. In addition, it is gone very quickly as it reacts to form oxygen and water so it has limited effectiveness but don't be tempted to use higher concentrations since even at low doses (3%) it is extremely damaging and potentially lethal to the biological filter, fish and plant tissues.

Aww, bless, he was a survivor.

Speaking from someone who took a video of the massacre of a poor defenceless earthworm....

Don't come back as a krib though or you may end up being live food...

Don't feel bad Caryl. You can only do as good as you can do. When you know better, you do better. Look at it this way, every day is a new opportunity to learn and improve...at least that is what I try to tell myself... :roll:

Yeah, in penguin rehab they were finding heaps of toxicities and deaths in those that had been fed bait fish.

Don't feed bait though, it has preservatives in it that are toxic.

spoon

oyster

Oh my word, I am so sorry for your loss. I know how much you both have grown to love Pepper and you must feel so devistated by the loss. I really feel for Grant right now. What a terrible turn of events.

I saw a spotted tail in pic two! :bounce:

Don't turn off your CO2, your plants need it in order to outcompete the algae. BTW, don't panic, it will pass. Keep your plants happy and they will help prevent other more hideous types of algae!