10 gal on no budget (Algae Free!!!! 4/29/09)

[frogmanjared]

Originally Posted by I Ate A Cake

What plants do you have in there?

It looks nice.

On the wood is a moss (not sure what type, native to WI) and Java fern. E. tenellus and Süßwassertang in the foreground, and C. retrospiralis.

I might be getting some corkscrew val from my bother in law sometime in the near future, thinking of putting it in-between the Crypts, and to fill in the empty spot between them and the wood.

I just got a great shot of the 2 female RCS, they finally came out of hiding!

[frogmanjared]

I've been battling what I think is staghorn and bba for a few weeks... I need help! This isn't the best pic because the leaves are next to the filter outlet, but you can tell the staghorn in white. It seems to only be affecting the older leaves of the crypt and a few dying E. tenellus leaves. I have 5 RCS in the tank, so I don't want to do anything that might harm them. Any ideas on how to slow the growth of these algae down? (I'll get a FTS tonight to show the progress of the tank as the room is too bright to get a quality pic during daylight in that room).


I had my best female berry on Sunday, but she got her eggs caught on some moss while she was laying, so she only has 1 or 2 eggs in her swimmerets

[frogmanjared]

Here's a FTS... I trimmed a bunch of Subwassertang, and planted a bunch in the front right. I might be bringing home some spiral val for behind the driftwood this weekend.

]

[frogmanjared]

Well, I was so pleased with how my other 10 gal turned out after a major cleaning and bleach dipped plants, that I decided to do my other one today! Here are some before and after pics.
Before:

Another before:


The thread/hair algae turned red... I hope it's enough to kill it! If not it'd better stay red, it looks really cool.



When I get a couple new compacts tomorrow, I'm going to the if petdumb has any plants to help suck out the nutrients in both my problem tanks...

[Karackle]

I have to agree, the red does look kind of cool! But of course, I do hope it goes away!

If you need some nutrient suckers, I'd be happy to send you some guppy grass if you just cover the shipping ($5) I have lots of it growing in my fry grow-out tank, if it could be of some use to you, I'd be happy to send it. I also have some foxtail growing in there I could send too (another good nutrient hog). I'm going to need to thin it out soon, even if you won't keep it in there permanently, i'd rather see it go to some use before it gets thrown out!

[frogmanjared]

Ok, so I've been having some baby mollies die for some time... just thought that they had bad genes, but now I found a dead RCS this morning. The mollies are dying like they're losing motor skills, swimming in circles and what not. The temp shows at 76, but it felt a lot warmer than that, I've got the front flap on the cover open to help with that, but I think the filter might be the cause of that, It just doesn't have as much kick to it even when I clean it.

The other issue could be the rocks. I got those cheap black ones and the color seems to be wearing off. Could the residue from the paint be killing of the tanks inhabitants???

I do everything the same with all my tanks, and all the babies have THRIVED in the others so it's something with this one tank, I don't want to tear it down and call it quits (have no money for new gravel @ the moment) Please help me before the remaining babies and RCS die!

[wendyjo]

Have you checked your water parems? I'd test my water before doing anything else.

[Karackle]

Sorry to hear about the die-off, I don't think it's the rocks, I have the same ones in most of my tanks with the color wearing off slightly and it doesn't seem to cause any problems. I agree with wendyjp that you should check your parameters.

My other immediate thought is residue from the bleach dip to get rid of your algae (unless it started before you bleached dipped the algae).

That's all i got at the moment. Good luck!

[ddtran46]

I cant see any pictures(if any).

[frogmanjared]

Originally Posted by Karackle

Sorry to hear about the die-off, I don't think it's the rocks, I have the same ones in most of my tanks with the color wearing off slightly and it doesn't seem to cause any problems. I agree with wendyjp that you should check your parameters.

My other immediate thought is residue from the bleach dip to get rid of your algae (unless it started before you bleached dipped the algae).

It did start a couple days before the dip, so count that out. I put some water lettuce in there to soak up anything toxic (they're great for taking up hard metals also) THis would be the one case where I'd actually buy a test kit, but I have no money so thats out of the question. I had a pair of cherry barbs in there and they bred, so they found the water fine... maybe the baby mollies have bad genes and some shrimp are just randomly dying...

[frogmanjared]

Two of the babies have survived their trauma... after I put the water lettuce in the tank they have been getting better and are eating today!

[Hilde]

I like the sponge. Where did you get it? I am using a similar set up.

Does it have a flange above the output that you can point upwards. Try stuffing the inside of the sponge with floss.

Are any gasping at the top? That is a sign of nitrites. How about adding some anarchin? Just do a lot of partial water changes until you see the fish aren't stressed.

[frogmanjared]

Originally Posted by Hilde

I like the sponge. Where did you get it? I am using a similar set up.

Does it have a flange above the output that you can point upwards. Try stuffing the inside of the sponge with floss.

Are any gasping at the top? That is a sign of nitrites. How about adding some anarchin? Just do a lot of partial water changes until you see the fish aren't stressed.

I got the sponge filter at Petco, and you can change the direction of the outflow.

The remaining babies have miraculously turned around and are eating well. The shrimp have not seen any deaths either.

[frogmanjared]

After months of battling BGA and staghorn, I just let the tank go, water changes once a month. I killed all the staghorn with a bleach dip, which killed ~60% of the plants. Then a friend gave me a piece of hornwort which has killed off all the BGA!!! Oh yea, there's also a ton of small ramshorn snails, they won't get any bigger than 1/4 inch (they love to chomp down on the BGA, which is strange. There's new growth on the E. tenellus so it might start filling in soon.


My brother also gave me a plant, which is in the middle of this pic...he doesn't remember what it was though, any one know?

[frogmanjared]

After months of disappointment... I found a tiny leak in the corner of the tank! It wasn't enough to make the dresser top wet, but enough to make water stains on the glass and to make me worried it would erupt any day. (I probably shouldn't be so excited, but I'm glad I don't have to get angry trying to figure out what's wrong with the thing). I tore it down and spread the salvageable plants into other tanks. This is the end of a terrifying roller coaster and I'm glad it's over!