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RunningWithScissors

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Everything posted by RunningWithScissors

  1. RunningWithScissors
    I defintely like the idea of some water sprite. I have had some before and it died off because it became coated in hair alage, but I think I should try again! CaryI, I would love to take you up on your offer, I'll get back to you at some point if I can, I've been looking for some crypts!
  2. RunningWithScissors
    Probably about September/November last year. The diatoms are slowly going away, but there was (still is) also another type of brown alage that was harder to get off.
  3. RunningWithScissors
    Sorry I haven't replied to this topic! After following all your advice the situation has improved a little, but I think my lack of plants may have been a big factor as to the excess nutrients. Thank you for all your help, and sorry I haven't replied for so long!
  4. RunningWithScissors
    Hey guys, ! I have a 70l tropical aquarium which I have had trouble keeping clean and stable recently. I have asked around about this on both this forum and other sites, and the feedback has mostly been an excess of nutrients and light, Since I only feed a small amount once a day, and now have quite a tight light schedule now, I don't think the problem is me overfeeding etc. Instead, I think the problem might lie in my lack of plants. Since I live in a relatively small area, I don't have a specialized aquarium shop, or a pet shop that sells fish/fish products at all and while trade me has been a lifesaver, it doesn't quite compare to being able to pick out your own plant specimens and assess their health before purchase. So, this week I am heading to a larger city where there will be plants, and I have quite a big budget, so am hoping to come home with a large number of aquatic plants, and possibly some new fish for the tank. I have a more detailed description of my tank and its contents here: http://aquariumworld.nz/forums/topic/44897-algae-cleanliness-problems/ with the only diffrence being I have brought a plain terracotta pot for the benifit of my catfish since then. I look forward to your aquascaping and stocking ideas and opinions! Thanks in advance!
  5. RunningWithScissors
    Hey guys! Before I get started, thank you for any advice or help in advance! Ok, so I have a single 70l tropical aquarium, which contains a single molly (who is going back to the store), six zebra danios and three albino cory catfish (which I have been lead to believe is relatively understocked). I have fine black sand as substrate, a couple of rocks, a sword plant of unknown type and some hygrophila as decorations. I change the water and clean the tank once a week, but it is still constantly dirty! The outlet and intake of the filter quickly become blocked with a strange dark brown alage to the point where the water stops flowing within a few days, that refuses to come off unless taken off and scrubbed vigorously. The plants quickly become coated and tangled in messes of a fine green hair algae, that once again is hard to remove. As well as all of this, the sand quickly becomes coated in strange white and brown dirt and various debri which I can only assume are feces and plant matter. No matter how hard I try, the tank always smells foul, and my test kits have run out, and my new ones will not be here till the 14th, but last time I tested the water, they where fine, with no ammonia or nitrites in sight. Still, surely there must be a reason for my tank running amok like this and some way I can fix these problems! If you have any advice for me that would be amazing!
  6. RunningWithScissors
    This is what happened to me, and I hope you can learn from it! I looked in the fish tank and found only four zebra danio's! Where was the fifth? He hadn't been wedged under a rock or behind the filter... he couldn't be seen in the middle of the java moss. He didn't seem to be anywhere in the tank! So we lifted up the lid of the filter and there he was, sitting in between the filter media. He had swam up the filter outlet and into the media holder! Fortunately, we put him back in and covered up the outlet, and he seems none the worse for his little adventure. Even though his story had a happy ending, the moral is: always make sure you filter is danio/fish proof. It seems that zebras are just a little bit too adventurous!
  7. RunningWithScissors

    Surprises, Surprises!

     
    Well, what a morning it has been!

    I looked in the fish tank and found only four zebra danio's! Where was the fifth? He hadn't been wedged under a rock or behind the filter... he couldn't be seen in the middle of the java moss. He didn't seem to be anywhere in the tank! So we lifted up the lid of the filter and there he was, sitting in between the filter media. He had swam up the filter outlet and into the media holder!
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    Fortunately, we put him back in and covered up the outlet, and he seems none the worse for his little adventure. Even though his story had a happy ending, the moral is: always make sure you filter is danio proof. It seems that zebras are just a little bit too adventurous!
  8. RunningWithScissors

    Zebra Danios-The Underdog Of The Aquarium World

     
    So far, and by that I mean less than 24 hours, my five zebra danio's have already impressed me.

     They are constantly active and swim at all areas and levels of the tank, making use of every once of space, which is rare in a species. They get quite easily bored, and always seem to look for new challenges. Even as I type, they are using the place where the current is strongest as a sort of treadmill, and one has buried himself deep in a clump of java moss. They have upturned mouths but are still just as happy to forage for food in the sand, and also seem content to munch on algae forming on plants and on the glass, even on the full stomach! Zebra's have a very tight knit group, but also happily and explore solo or in pairs.They seem to love being out of the bare breeders tank and being mine, where they can weave in in and out of plants and driftwood and the like.

    And that's just the personality. They are a awesome size and are a beautiful color and are also one of the most hardy fish around. After a community fish? Zebra danio's are definitely my favorite so far!
  9. RunningWithScissors

    First Fish!

     
    After about 2 hours of cleaning and siphoning, I finally have fish in the tank! I have 5 Zebra Danios in the tank now, and will be getting some more next week :)
     
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  10. RunningWithScissors
    Ok thanks.
  11. RunningWithScissors
    Sounds good, I'll try that. Will bring it back down suddenly to add fish slow down the bacteria or not?
  12. RunningWithScissors
    Its 26C and the PH is 7.4
  13. RunningWithScissors
    Ok, I was going to add my four Corys first but it sounds like the danios are better first to keep bacteria levels up! Again thanks so so much for the help! I'll post again after I've tested the water 24 hours after adding ammonia. Just a note, if the food is only producing a tiny amount of ammonia, am I better to add 1ppm for a start and build up to 3 as not to overwhelm them, or won't it matter?
  14. RunningWithScissors
    Thanks Shilo. I think I'm still going to go with the cloudy ammonia to check on whether it is in fact cycled, as from what you said the detergent levels are next to none, and I was planning on doing a staggered introduction anyhow, but species by species instead of specimen by specimen. I do think that 'artificially' cycling it is probably a lot less messy then using fish food, and quite honestly, even though I'm putting zebra danios in there, I'd rather be on the safe side and cycle before hand. I my opinion (and hey I could be wrong) exposing fish unnecessarily to toxins like ammonia is not good, as it might not kill them but certainly make them more stressed and more susceptible to disease. It many be a different story in a breeding operation where there are just too many tanks for it to be a plausible option, but this is my only tank and I have the time and the will to spend on it and do it this way. I also think that not doing a fishless cycle could be a scam by stores. If they don't tell you and your fish die, of course you are likely to come back and by another one, generating extra revenue. Despite this, some of the products that claim to help cycle are also a complete rip off. (unfortunately I know from experience as I used these when I trying to cycle a small tank a few months ago)
  15. RunningWithScissors

    It's a little awkward trying to explain to people who come round why your tank is full of fish food and there no fish in the tank.

    You see their face go blank as soon as you start talking about ammonia and the nitrogen cycle, so I just kind of gave up.

  16. RunningWithScissors

    The fish tanks are getting into the festive sprit! :D

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  17. RunningWithScissors
    Awesome! I'll get some as soon as I can!
  18. RunningWithScissors
    Hi! Thanks again! How do you find pure ammonia? Is it labeled as ammonia or something else?
  19. RunningWithScissors
    Perfect! That explains it, and no I haven't changed the water but I will as soon as it cycles.
  20. RunningWithScissors
    I might try that. Thanks!
  21. RunningWithScissors
    I've just found what I think is hair algae on my plants. Is it harmful and if so how do I get rid of it? Any help is appreciated! Cheers!
  22. RunningWithScissors
    Hey guys, I'm in a bit of a dilemma. So, I've been cycling a tank and I have some really weird readings. I've been adding fish food to the tank ( four or five decent sized flakes every day) for about two weeks ago. I got some seed material from a friends tank about a week ago. The water I tested just now was no ammonia, no nitrite and no nitrate. So everything I thought was; -It's impossible for me to have been adding food for two weeks and no ammonia be present so the bacteria must be using it. - I never detected nitrites before, so either they where never present, or the seed material speeded up the cycle so fast that I never saw the spike before it was processed by the second lot of bacteria. -I do have live plants so it is possible they are absorbing all the nitrate? What do you think? I REALLY need some help!
  23. RunningWithScissors
    Ok, thats what I thought. Thanks so much!
  24. RunningWithScissors
    Wow, awesome! I was really worried about it being harmful. The brown stuff isn't powdery though. Hopefully it's just a type of alage. Thanks so much for putting my mind at rest!
  25. RunningWithScissors

    Yayy, new plants! And an alage problem I need help with that would be awesome if you could help me with. Enjoy the pics anyway.

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