[jacob_can]

This will be a journal of tank changes since adding C02 and ferts. My short term goal is to remove the remnant of the Hair Algae remaing from pre-C02 days. Once that's dealt with, the future is anybody's guess.

Tank Specs:

• 36x18x12 33 US Gallon tank
• 36" Hagen Glo 2 x T5HO canopy
• Fluval 205 (needs upgrading)
• 10lb + 5lb backup C02 tank http://i.imgur.com/vTb7S.jpg
• Green Leaf regulator, bubblecounter and solenoid
• Generic glass drop checker
• Homemade inline C02 reactor
• Dry Ferts (KN03, KH2P04, CSM+B)
• Miracle Gro potting soil capped with sand and Flourite
• 10 mature Tiger Barbs
• 3 Corydoras
• 2 SAE's
• 1 CAE
• 5 Apple Snails
• 2 Rams Horn Snails
• An unknown number of Malaysian Trumpet Snails and Pond Snails

I've gone ahead and pruned back a substantial amount of the Amazon Sword that was heavily covered in HA, scraped all glass surfaces, waterchanged 75% and begun pressurized C02 delivery and dry fert dosing. C02 levels are around 30ppm according to my drop checker.

Pre-pruning and cleaning

Post-pruning and cleaning + addition of more plants

I'm still getting hair algae on things so I plan to give it a week or so and see how the dosing and C02 impacts the algae.

Here's an unnecessary amount of photos in the meantime.

I'm growing some bamboo in the tank currently that will eventually be planted in the back, however the plants I got were too short to have both planted roots and leaves above the waterline. Since bamboo cannot be grown completely immersed, this is a temporary situation.

I am unsure of the type of plant in the front right but the ones in the rear are Ludwigia red and Amazon Sword.

The unknown plant.

Front and centre. This is a solid root bundle of a dead tree with a hollow log draped across it. The hollow log extends down to the dirt and is a favourite hideout of my SAE's. The Java Moss is gaining a good grip on the logs and hopefully as time goes on it will cover both in a thick carpet.

A native Ram Horn Snail poking along.

The temporarily placed root bundle of one stem of Bamboo. All three plants have great new growth and are getting taller.

Tiger Barbs and a Cory

More to come down the road. Feel free to offer insight as to what you would change or what you would do in my position.

 

[devilduck]

Good to see someone with this often ignored "beginners" fish. I love tiger barbs, they colorful, hardy, have a lot of character.

 

[jacob_can]

I have some sort of love affair with Tiger Barbs and have had them in several tanks over the years. In a large group as the main species, they're incredibly entertaining and inquisitive fish who have their own personalities that keep the tank active. They're always sparring, flirting, eating or schooling to watch me when I'm near the tank.

Today when I was doing a bit of plant maintenance, they all swarmed my hand and began cleaning and nibbling my skin. Neat stuff.

 

[driftwoodhunter]

haha - there's no such thing as an unnecessary amount of photos! The more the merrier. Your tiger barbs look great, btw. I too love the look of tiger barbs, but mine only hover at the front glass. I have 4 in a 29g (used to be in a 40B and the behavior was the same) and they have never done much more than hang out in the front, no matter how much space they have. I've had them for 4 years now so I guess it's just their way. They are also the most peaceful things, never even acknowledging the other fish in the tanks which have included neons, rosy barbs, and celebes rainbows. I have thought about putting them back in the 40B and adding to their group, making it a species tank - maybe I don't have enough of them together to get them to be more active.

 

[Lil' Swimz$]

Love tiger barbs! I'm always afraid that they would tear the plants. They're beautiful and look great in planted tank.

 

[jacob_can]

Love tiger barbs! I'm always afraid that they would tear the plants. They're beautiful and look great in planted tank.

They don't bother the plants at all short of nibbling at dead plant matter.

 

[jacob_can]

So it's been a couple of weeks now since the major pruning of the Swords to get rid of the bulk of hair algae on the leaves. The same period of time has passed since I've begin pressurized c02 delivery and EI dosing.

I have great plant growth but I'm still having an issue with algae forming on plants and tank surfaces. c02 is green as per my drop checker and I'm assuming EI dosing is doing its job but I've also cut back the photoperiod to six hours, noon to 6pm.

What am I doing wrong in trying to rid myself of this pest?

 

[jacob_can]

Time to update since there have been some pretty substantial changes in the tank. I went ahead and did the The "One-Two Punch" Whole Tank Algae Treatment" from over in the algae forums and I can't believe how much the tank has changed. I completed the treatment about a month ago now and so far, short of a bit of black brush algae, nothing has returned. Unfortunately, the H2O2 dosing killed many of my snails, including my two Apple snails and my Rams Horn snails. Fortunately for the latter, there must have been a few batches of eggs because I have small Rams Horn snails now beginning to mature. MTS and Pond snails did endure.

I ended up cutting off all of the Amazon Swords with algae covered leaves, the majority of the Ludwigia (I left a few nodes but cut off the bulk) and cut back the Lilly. The Lilly all but disappeared for a couple of weeks and I was certain it was dead, but one day a new sprout emerged and it took off. The Ludwigia began to grow from the top most node and the Swords began producing new leaves, even the plants that had been cut off at the substrate level.

As you can see, the effects are pretty drastic compared to the original post in December. The plants are pearling constantly with bubbles nearly streaming to the surface and the growth rate is going to get out of hand very shortly. That (unidentified) plant I have on the substrate has all but covered the bottom, and moves laterally nearly an inch per day. (If anyone can identify it, I'd be grateful). I don't really track water parameters and do the majority of my tweaking and dosing based on plant response and growth.

Now I'm finding my Tiger Barbs are no longer suited to this tank because I desire to have a community of shrimp. I'll likely rehome the Barbs and bring in smaller, more docile community fish in the next month or two and begin adding shrimp as I think they'd enjoy the thick undergrowth.

Anyway, pics!

 

[fishboy199413]

Tank looks great. What happened to your fish?

 

[jacob_can]

Tank looks great. What happened to your fish?

They're in there under the log. My wife was vacuuming and the noise wasn't the most exciting thing for them.

 

[jacob_can]

I'm beginning to think that because I didn't start this thread from tank inception that nobody cares about established tanks, only the workup and pre-filling.

What do I need to do to get people to recommend things, talk about the setup or contribute? Are my photos of poor quality or uninteresting?

 

[defender.TX]

Looking great! I too have been battling black beard algae ever since some came in on a Java Fern from the local shop. Since my tank is uninhabited, I've been able to overdose Flourish Excel which is killing it slowly. It's almost all gone now, and I've been contemplating whether I should use the H2O2 method to finally finish it for good so I can move in some red cherry shrimp.

 

[Adamson]

I think the Tiger Barbs add a cooler effect than shrimp would! Tank looks great, I like the lilly pads!

 

[jacob_can]

Something big is happening. More to come.