40B Aquarium ~Sandy Oasis~ *Update 11/9* Starting new tank!

[TickleMyElmo]

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Hey everybody Well I had a saltwater tank for 2 years but decided it was just too much work to actually enjoy. I was then left with an algae encrusted eclipse 12 tank with minimal plants and minimal "wow" factor. I decided to upgrade to a 40 gallon breeder tank, and I plan to turn the 12 gallon into a rimless riparium at some point. Anyways, enough about that and more of the 40 breeder All plants came from the Swap and Shop right here on TPT...not really sure what style I'm going for...

Lighting
-2x39w Nova Extreme T5HO with individual reflectors

Co2
-10lb. Pressurized Tank w/ Dr. F&S Semi-Auto system (Azoo Regulator/Glass Diffuser)

Substrate
-100% Fluorite Black Sand

Filtration
-Rena XP3 x 1

Heater
-Marineland Stealth 250W (left over from saltwater tank)

Plant List
-Blyxa Japonica
-Rotala H'Ra
-Myriophyllum Mattogrossense
-Micranthemum Umbrosum
-Rotala Macrandra 'Green'
-Rotala Singapore
-Hygrophila Corymbosa 'Kompakt' (1 large plant in center)
-Polygonum Kawagoeanum
-Hygrophila sp 'Tiger'
-Ludwigia Inclinata var. Verticillata 'Cuba'
-Hemianthus Callitrichoides aka "Baby Tears"

Fauna
-3 Het. Rasboras
-7 Neon Tetras
-4 Rummynose Tetras
-1 Black Kuhli Loach
-3 Black Neon Tetras
-2 White Clouds
-3 Glowlight Tetras
-6 Ottos

Note: The fish aren't in yet, I'm waiting for the cycle to finish (just about there) and for my drop checker from GLA to arrive for fish safety

Sorry for the quality, I only have my BlackBerry for a camera...

2 Days after filling, only Blyxa Japonica...


Today, just after I planted the new plants that came today...








Good news is that my blyxa japonica is already pearling, at least there's some kind of sign that I'm doing something right....

Now for the hard part, waiting for the HC to grow in

[pandapr]

I like how you planted the blyxa. I always wanted a 40 breeder!!
good luck !

[khanzer22]

Your setup looks good, blyxa is already lush and healthy... It's a good start!

[TickleMyElmo]

Thanks everybody, I just noticed that almost all of the plants are pearling now, even the brand new ones

[VadimShevchuk]

nice start! I always like blyxa japonica, has a nice look to it. =D

[TickleMyElmo]

Update 4-13-10

Algae has taken over! I could really use some advice here. Keep in mind the tank has only been up about 2 weeks now, 1 of which was with plants. The cycle just finished a few days ago as well. I'm currently running activated carbon, as I was waiting for the cycle to finish but I plan on switching to purigen as soon as I can get down to the store, probably next week...maybe purigen will help? Maybe I'm having algae issues due to the fact there hasn't been any form of cleaning crew whatsoever in it until now? I just went and bought 5 otto's and added them to the tank tonight....so maybe they'll clear up the algae issues for me? They seem to already be voraciously attacking the diatoms, hungry little guys haha...


The first photo is what appears to be diatoms or brown algae/brown hair algae on the plants. Its all over the place, but especially on the sand. I hear this is common in new tanks and should go away on its own, but what about the hair/string like brown algae....is that the same thing and will it go away? I hear a main cause of brown algae is high silicates, which makes sense since my substrate is fluorite black sand and would explain why its mostly appearing on the sand...



The second photo is a small green spotty-type algae that has appeared on the glass of the tank. I've been brushing/rubbing it off with my fingers. Any ideas on a cure?



And the third picture is of co2 bubbles at the top of the water. Is that many co2 bubbles resting at the surface harmful to the fish? I have my spraybar pointed slightly upward to cause some surface agitation, but the bubbles do not pop and continue to swirl around. I seem to be having a hard time with the co2. My drop checker with 4dkh solution is green, but it just seems like theres too much co2 with plants pearling like crazy and that cover of co2 bubbles on the surface....

[zeek21]

I have a twenty long that is covered with co2 bubbles daily with no harmful effect on the fish.
Tha algae usually just takes time.My planted 90 gallon took a year to go through about every type of algae known to man but in the end the plants won

[TickleMyElmo]

Figured I'd give an update...

Everything's going pretty good. Not so sure the HC is doing so hot though, covered in diatoms but it seems to be slowly growing so hopefully it takes off. The Hygrophila Corymbosa 'Kompakt' disintegrated on me. Not sure what I did wrong, the leaves started turning partially black and would come off with the slightest touch. Moved it to the back of the tank and it only has a few leaves left but I left the roots in the substrate in case it decides to spring back to life.

Moved some things around as far as stems go. Ottos are cleaning up the diatoms really well. Only real issue I'm having is keeping the fish happy with co2 levels. The fish start gasping even when the drop checker (with 4dkh) says the co2 level should be perfectly fine. Of course, it might just be that the drop checker hasnt caught up with the excessive co2...It seems to be pretty consistent that everything starts pearling about 4 to 6 hours into the 8 hour light cycle so I was considering turning off the co2 about 4 to 6 hours into the light cycle. Would that be reasonable, or would it cause an algae farm?

I also bought some purigen today and added it to the filter...

Fish are in now, as well as a few new residents that I added today. Tank is now fully stocked, with the exception of a few shrimp that I may get...I know theres a lot of fish, but they have a lot of free swimming space as well as plenty of hiding spaces. Plus the tank is overfiltered, so everything should work out....

New official fauna list:

-3 Het. Rasboras
-7 Neon Tetras
-4 Rummynose Tetras
-1 Black Kuhli Loach
-3 Black Neon Tetras
-2 White Clouds
-3 Glowlight Tetras
-6 Ottos

Pics...

[defiant]

hows your brown algae situation? take a look at my 90p iwagumi madness journal and tell me if its the same type. I used excel and bought me some SAE's. the sae's did more help on the brown hair like algae than the ottos. the ottos just mainly stuck to the glass. i was also told it was the sillicates that was causing the algae but the darn thing wouldn't go away even after 3 week of constant water changes so i finally used excell and ottos and sae's.

looking nice so far keep up the good work.

[TickleMyElmo]

Well, just got back from a one week vacation recently. I left the lights and co2 off since I had noticed the co2 tank had dropped from 1000 PSI to 500PSI two days before I left ( Yeah, thats my luck lol )

Anyays, I returned to some staghorn algae and some minor green algae, and a severely overgrown tank. Plants were out of the water and growing sideways so I got my co2 tank refill today and did a trim and replant.

Oh, I finally got a "real" camera (DSLR) so I figured Id give a little update. HC carpet didn't work out so well. Kept getting uprooted and/or floating. I'll have to buy some more and re-try.

[CL]

Incredible pictures, and very nice blyxa.
What kind of camera did you get?

[nemosreef]

Tank looks great.

[Digital]

Tank looks really good, pics are nice and clear as well! Since you got a DSLR now, make the pics larger... 1024x768 would suffice to show the quality.

Reference either of my journal threads to see.

[TickleMyElmo]

Originally Posted by CL

Incredible pictures, and very nice blyxa.
What kind of camera did you get?

Why thank you to both comments It's actually "only" a Nikon D40, but I've only had it two days now and I'm already VERY impressed with the image quality from this "entry level" camera...

Originally Posted by IC3D

Tank looks really good, pics are nice and clear as well! Since you got a DSLR now, make the pics larger... 1024x768 would suffice to show the quality.

Reference either of my journal threads to see.

Good idea! I didn't want to make them too big and blow up anybodys monitor but since you're egging me on I'll go update it and make them bigger now

[Digital]

Yes! The new pics are so much better!