Andrew_W Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 1st Problem, my t5's are making the water to hot. the heater is set to 27ish (I have never seen it some on during the day) anyways with 4 lights on the temp goes up to 28-29, and with 6 tubes on it goes to 29+. I'm not worried about the temp being two hot for the fish, although the BN probably isn't that happy. (fish are discus, cory, clown loach and GBA) As far as the fish go, with the temp drop after the lights off are the fish going to be affected? As far as the plants go, are they going to be happy with the temp cruising over 29? as far as the lights go, is heat generated by the tubes or the ballast? 2nd question. I'm going to try using Algaefix to control my rather bad algae problem. directions say to use every 3 days...If I'm doing a 50% water change every day, should I dose with algaefix after every change, or try to resist doing a water change for a few days? I have left the tank totally sunlight free, and added heaps more plants to try use up all the algaes food. And the algae is still bad. so using algaefix is sort of a last resort. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtur Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 Have you got any way of raising your lights above the tank. Are they sitting on top of the glass? I have just got standard t8 lights and I have resorted to putting blocks of polystyrene under the ends to raise them up 3-4cms and it seems to help a lot. I would leave the water change for a day or two to give the algaefix time to do its job, as otherwise you will just dilute its concentration below what it needs to work. If you have added lots of plants it will stiil take a little while for the plants to use up the available/excess nutrients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
land_lubber Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 Have you got glass lids on your tank? if so take them off so the heat can escape. That should help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 I think algaefix is copper sulphate and can be toxic to many fish. It also should be used only with water of a minimum hardness. I would be very wary of using it. Many shops down here have stopped selling it because of the number of people who come back complaining of dead fish. Please ignore the above. I was getting confused with snailrid so all of the above is total lies and completely untrue so please don't sue me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 Is this the discus tank from your other thread? If so the discus like it 28-30 so set the heater higher to keep it constant.. Otherwise elevating the lights above the tank would help get some airflow above them (as (Curtur suggested). As for the algae, I wouldn't stress about it too much maybe leave 2 tubes on and let things settle. Has this tank been setup and is it fully cycled etc? (hoping so because it is overcrowded already and wont take much to kill your discus although 50% daily water changes will help alot) Adding new plants wont instantly get rid of the algae, the plants have to get established soak up the nutrients and the algae has to starve and die off, it might take a while to happen. Are you overfeeding at all? Have you tested your water for phosphates or nitrates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_W Posted January 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 The lights are over 100mm away from the water. And I dont have a glass lid. The tank had fish in it for a month before I added discus, and before there were fish in it, I was adding fish food to the water and lots of TLC, along with gravels, and crap from the filter of my other cycled tank...so I would imagine by now its pretty much cycled. Do you mean overfeeding the fish? I dont think so, but i was away for 2 weeks, so maybe they did while I was away, i'll test nitrates now. Nitrates, are 0 LMAO and the hood I made broke last night :oops: , so only using 2 tubes now anyways Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 Discus are well know for jumping out of tanks. I would advise using a lid at all times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_W Posted January 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 Discus are well know for jumping out of tanks. I would advise using a lid at all times. They cant get out, its enclosed by lights, I'd rather them jump up and potentially hit the plastic on the bottom of the light than smash into a piece of glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 They cant get out, its enclosed by lights, I'd rather them jump up and potentially hit the plastic on the bottom of the light than smash into a piece of glass. My tank isn't lidded either - the lights cover it. My temp is set at 29 degrees but has been hitting 32 occasionally over the last couple of weeks. The fish are fine - I do run an airline as well which seems to keep the bn happy as they come up for air when its too hot without it. Wheres the algae - in the water, on the glass, or on the plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_W Posted January 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 On the glass and plants Long green stringy hair, on the glass and plants dirty brown stuff, on the plants and there was some thick snotty green slim on the wood, got some pills from brent for that, worked a treat. Using an airline would defeat the purpose of Co2. I'm more than happy to run the tank at 29, as long the plants don't die...or BN he's my longest living fish, and has survived all my accidents :oops: haha. I can always put him back in the other tank, if it looks like he cant handle it. Can anyone tell me if the heat is from the tubes or the fitting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 Lights - I can't help you with. I run T8's. If you don't have them on the plants with high light requirements won't grow. My hair algae (long stringy stuff) disappeared when I changed from a sump to a cannister - because of the way my sump was running I think it was more water movement within the tank that caused it to go. At that stage the tank was about 5 months old. It has not returned. I have discovered that green algae on my glass happens when the filter is becoming clogged. Cleaning the fine wool causes it to disappear. Black Beard Algae I keep under control with flourish excel and have used SAE which did a good job when they were young but then became too fat and lazy. Dirty brown stuff on the plants could I suppose be this becoming established. I don't use CO2. My plants - val, queen marble sword, osiris (I think) are fine with the higher temp and my val tolerates flourish excel. My java fern is hopeless and so is the windelov. Don't know why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.