Nymox Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 It looks tired and messy, those angels will be gone tomorrow so it will have no stock either so Im thinking a complete revamp. Need ideas. Scaping, plants and stock, all up for change. I might keep the hairgrass seening as its finally gotten underway. Probably keep the black silica too which means its just the rest of the plants, a new bit of driftwood and the fish. Should I make it a species tank, maybe get some puffers A biotope of some sort could be an idea too I really just dont know where to start, only that something needs to be done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketman Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Me thinks dwarf gourami biotope, dark tannin stained water, chocolates, honeys, dwarfs, etc... that what I want to do for my next tank anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 I'd definitely keep the hairgrass too. It looks like the polysperma and macandra have funny looking leaves, maybe there is a light or nutrition deficiency? If you're keeping the hairgrass, I'd plant with one type of plant heavily in the background, probably as Rotala rotundifolia. A two plant combo looks really nice. Stock with a Betta or something. HTH 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brennos Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 I just converted mine into a Fighter tank, grass, small rock, black gravel, and a small piece of driftwood. It has 3 bristlenoses in it, but they are only there till they get a bit larger, then I will swap them out for 5 neons, and they can go in my guppie tank, with the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted April 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Me thinks dwarf gourami biotope, dark tannin stained water, chocolates, honeys, dwarfs, etc... that what I want to do for my next tank anyway. Sounds good, Ill have to think about that one, have never been a big gourami ran but if any its the dwarfs. I'd definitely keep the hairgrass too. It looks like the polysperma and macandra have funny looking leaves, maybe there is a light or nutrition deficiency? If you're keeping the hairgrass, I'd plant with one type of plant heavily in the background, probably as Rotala rotundifolia. A two plant combo looks really nice. Stock with a Betta or something. HTH 8) polysperma and macandra only just came in from another tank, which ever one the green one is I never liked it anyways, always grew messy like that. If possible Id like a plant that would grow thick and tall enough to cover that unsightly powerhead, or some way of getting rid of it all together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 I just converted mine into a Fighter tank, grass, small rock, black gravel, and a small piece of driftwood. It has 3 bristlenoses in it, but they are only there till they get a bit larger, then I will swap them out for 5 neons, and they can go in my guppie tank, with the others. Sounds nice! If possible Id like a plant that would grow thick and tall enough to cover that unsightly powerhead, or some way of getting rid of it all together. Tall eleocharis or val would be nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted April 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 Made a few changes, that wood will most likely leak some tanins in but Im not to concerned about that at the moment, might even like it. still not 100% happy with it, I think something else can be done/undone. Going to plumb in the DIY CO2 tomorrow to get the plants pumping so will see what it looks like in a week or so I guess I still havnt decided on stock either. Well not so much decided as much as have no ideas. Only thing on the table at the moment are puffers. Im not having any more fighters and I think these tanks have too much flow for them imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted April 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 Think I should try different plants in the background? Theres twisted val there but it will take a while to get going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 Leave it to grow a while and see how it looks then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted April 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 Set up the CO2 today, tanks looking better already. Strange light brown sediment forming around the base of the hairgrass now though, its not algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted April 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 Hairgrass isnt doing so good now, that sediment is building up more and dark green algae is forming on the tips. As there is no stock in there I could treat the whole tank with algaefix or something I guess. Heres the algae and brown sediment. Kinda hard to see the brown stuff as its hard to photograph being so tiny. It almost looks like mushy weetbix in too much milk. This has only occurred since I added CO2 and there is no gunk from the reactor getting in what so ever. I've found in the past, CO2 has eliminated the algae, I thought because the plants had extra CO2 they took up too much of the available nutrients for the algae to grow. I havnt had this dark green type before though so maybe its acually benifiting from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 Looks like detritus to me. I had the same problem with my AR380 and hairgrass, everything got caught up in it. I think some ground dwellers would have helped to stir things up so that it didn't all get settled there. Increased flow will also help (I used a canister filter on my AR380 just to get the circulation up). Is that algae blackbeard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted April 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 Its looking that way, Ive had it before in my 100 ltr and adding CO2 cleared it up right away. Its brought it on in this tank. I might leave it under 24/7 lights and CO2 add extra ferts and just leave it. If it takes over Ill just start again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 Flourish excel is very effective against BBA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted May 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Yuck its getting so bad lol. At least 3 different kinds of algae taking over in there. As there is no stock and it wont be stocked for about at least another month, whats something I could use to just smash the algae away completely without removing all the plants (dont wanna replant hairgrass would rather cut my losses with it) Surely theres something really potent out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Algae Rid from your LFS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Are you open to the idea of starting over? If you are; take your plants out, clean them and put them back in with more substrate - maybe even layered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted May 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Id happily start over but then it means no hairgrass, it was annoying to try get it going in that tank, took ages to take off and as soon as it did, BOOM goes the algae. Starting over would definetly mean biotope. Its a hard choice, these tanks are quite stunning when the plants are looking healthy. Will look into something a little out of the ordinary perhaps, open to ideas as always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted May 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Im thinking it would be best to go for a south american biotope. Val, swords and a shoal of cardinal tetras. As far as using swords and val, id prefer to have to have 2 maybe 3 kinds of plants in there, a tall one that can grow up the back and over the powerhead, and a shorter more grassy or bushy plant for the front. Can someone please give me the common names for some of the varieties we have here that I can use for this effect. I dont think Ill have any other fish then the tetras in there, even though these tanks can cope with a huge load, maybe a small school of corydora if I can get away with it, whats the smallest kind we can get here? Oh and P44 you mentioned layered substrate before, do you mean using something like daltons aquatic mix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Oh and P44 you mentioned layered substrate before, do you mean using something like daltons aquatic mix? Oh no, not at all. I just meant a nice chunky layer of gravel so you can have it high on the ends, or at the back or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted May 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 Ah yup I get what you mean it sounds like a good idea , while we are on the topic though is that aquatic mix worth doing on a well planted tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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