scotty Posted May 1, 2004 Report Share Posted May 1, 2004 hi all i was given my tank about two and a half yrs ago by an old guy who had had enough of it, it was literally filthy and over grown.I did not realise how many fish were in there ,besides an eleven inch algae eater, (could some one remind me of its real name), and what was keeping it company , about 2 to 300 swords and frie popping out daily,ive worked it out that it is around 320 ltr,s.I kept about six and the algae eater died (could of been the move or the clean out i gave it).well getting to the present,, I have started to strike problems and i am learning, i never knew you had to put conditioner in the water , change the water so often, the problems i have struck are in another post in freshwater // fish dieing thanks to all that have helped me on that one ,i took some water in to get checked and everything was ok, now have contracted white spot or something similiar and have started treatment with spot off,so even though i have had the tank for over 2 yrs i am a beginner . QUESTIONS WHAT IS A GOOD PLANT CONDITIONER ( MOSSY STUFF STARTING TO GROW ON PLANTS AND BOG WOOD GREY/BLACK FURY LOOKING STUFF) HAGAN PRODUCTS PH TESTERS ETC, GOOD, BAD , BEST HOW MANY WATER CHANGES FOR SUCH A BIG TANK AND HOW OFTEN I HAVE 2 FILTER SYSTEMS 1ST A SECOND NATURE POWER WHISPER FILTER (DOUBLE ) THAT CLIPS TO THE BACK OF THE TANK THE 2ND IS A CANASTER TYPE ONE WHICH SITS BESIDE THE TANK/// WHICH WOULD YOU CLASS AS THE BETTER HOW OFTEN SHOULD CHARCOAL BE CHANGED AND IF THERE IS ANY OTHER HELPFUL HINTS OUT THERE PLEASE LET ME KNOW once again a big thank you to all the people that have helped me so far scotty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 2, 2004 Report Share Posted May 2, 2004 OK, let's deal with your questions one at a time. Plant conditioner? You can get plant fertiliser or water conditioner but they are 2 different things. No conditioner will do anything for mossy stuff growing on plants and wood. Water conditioner is used if you have chlorine added to your water supply. Plant fertiliser helps the plants grow. Since the mossy stuff is algae and algae is a plant, it will make it grow faster. Can't comment on different test kits as my experience has been limited. I have Aquarium Systems test kits and a big JBL selection (won at conference). I don't know whether some are really good or bad. Watch for use-by dates on them. Water changes depend on tank size, filtration and stocking levels. The more fish you have the more you should do water changes and everyone disagrees :lol: I have a medium stocked tank which only gets a change every 2 or 3 months. Most suggest either 10% once a week or 20% every 2 weeks. More water changes may help get rid of the algae too. My tank is OK but would be a lot better if I did more frequent water changes. Both of your filters are fine and one is not necessarily 'better' than the other. I run both canister and HOB (hang on the back) filters on my tank too. The HOBs are easier to clean and a lot less hassle IMO. Do not use carbon unless you are removing meds from the water. Short term use can make the water crystal clear but it should not be used long term as it doesn't last long and ends up putting more impurities back into the water than it originally removed. Lots of plants help keep algae down too as they use the nutrients needed by the algae. A few algae eating fish are always helpful too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_Tank Posted May 2, 2004 Report Share Posted May 2, 2004 hey scotty, you were lucky to be given a tank that big i wish someone would give me a big tank anyway, lets start on these questions WHAT IS A GOOD PLANT CONDITIONER ( MOSSY STUFF STARTING TO GROW ON PLANTS AND BOG WOOD GREY/BLACK FURY LOOKING STUFF) that sounds like black brush algea. a good way to get rid if that would be to go to the LFS and buy a couple of siamese algea easters :lol: Caryl said: Plant fertiliser helps the plants grow. Since the mossy stuff is algae and algae is a plant, it will make it grow faster. I'm going to have to disagree with you there Caryl although this isn't personal experiance, i have heard alot of ppl say that plant fertiliser will actually kill algea don't take that as gospel though HAGAN PRODUCTS PH TESTERS ETC, GOOD, BAD , BEST I'm going to presume that hagan test kits are pretty good cause they are the most expensive, but i'm not going to recomend them when you can go into picies aquarium and get a ph test kit for $11 HOW MANY WATER CHANGES FOR SUCH A BIG TANK AND HOW OFTEN I'd say 20% a fortnight would be sufficient I HAVE 2 FILTER SYSTEMS 1ST A SECOND NATURE POWER WHISPER FILTER (DOUBLE ) THAT CLIPS TO THE BACK OF THE TANK THE 2ND IS A CANASTER TYPE ONE WHICH SITS BESIDE THE TANK/// WHICH WOULD YOU CLASS AS THE BETTER cannister filters are usually classed as better filters because they have more media room. I would run both filters though as you can never have to much filteration (unless it is somthing crazy like a 2000lph filter on a 20l tank :lol: ) HOW OFTEN SHOULD CHARCOAL BE CHANGED I think once a month is the norm....don't quote me on that though one thing i'd like to add.... as crazy as it sounds, i htink your fish are getting sick because of the sudden cleaning they would have adapted to the dirty water and all this sudden cleaning has shocked them....making them sick....not much you can do about it now though good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 2, 2004 Report Share Posted May 2, 2004 Just read your original post re the dying fish. I am wondering if the massive water change (and possible filter cleanout?) has meant your tank needed to cycle again and you had an ammonia spike. Have the fish continued to die since your original posts? FT: Why would plant fertiliser kill algae? I have never used plant fertiliser so can't comment from experience either The norm for most people I know re charcoal is - don't use it unless it is required :lol: . It is expensive stuff to replace! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_Tank Posted May 2, 2004 Report Share Posted May 2, 2004 don't ask me how it works caryl :lol: all i know is several ppl said the same thing so i'll belive it untill experiance says differant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 ok to kill that algae you will have to buy some Flourish Excel !! it works very well double the dose the first time you put it in. but if you have fish that don't like med's keep and eye on them as some fish do not like the double dose, if that happens just do a water change.also if you have alot of air going into the tank e.g. airstones turn them down or off as it works faster if you do that. the Hagan ph test kit (wide range) is very good!! don't use carbon in your tanks but if you have to most of them need to be changed every 2-3 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 I found erythromycin works awesome at killing blue green algae. Actually, it seemed to kill ALL the algae in the tank. Pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 erythromycin ???? that is an antibiotic used to combat Campilobacta How did you get it and how did you find out it kills algae ?? cheers Robbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 erythromycin is the best way to remove blue green algae, just dont over do it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 it was easy to get but now the vets are not selling it as freely , but if you get on with your vet he will sell you some. i have knowen people to go to their dr's , bga is a bacterial algae so that why it works so well. but alot of human med's are used to save fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 I work for a GP who gives me a few tablets of it when required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 Kim has got it right the best way to kill the black beard algae is to use Forish Exell. use double the recommended dosage. it will take a while but it will kill the algae. be prepared to shell out $60 if you have a bad case of algae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 I got mine from Caryl. Still got a couple pills left. It's pretty well known that antibiotics are effective agaisnt blue green algae. I didn't expect it to be effective against any other algae, but it was. Not sure if it's secondary effect though that effected the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Being a bacterial killer, do you realize that you now have a tank that will have to re-cycle. It can't tell the diff between the goodies and the baddies, so be warned. Also by using it, you can help develop a bacteria that is a "SUPER", means ya can't zap it with normal means, it has become resistant. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 How much erythromycin per what quantity of water do you use? How often, just one dose or more? Cheers Robbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 No, I didn't have to recycle. And given that it takes a lot more than an occasional zap with erythromycin to develop a resistant strain I think the risk isn't worth worrying about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 if you use 500gm tabs that will treat 90L without killing good bacteria. do it twice and the algae just dies . thats for the blue green algae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Kim, like I say, it can't tell the diff between the good, the bad and the ugly. If it hits the GBA it will hit the good bacteria as well. That, by the way, is not my speak. It's from a chemist on another site. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted May 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 thanks all , i think i will try kims first, then if that fails the other one and if that fails does that aqua roundup work that they sprat around rivers and stuff,,, only joking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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