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Such a mess I hardly know where to begin !

I was reading some posts in FP this afternoon, which got me motivated enough to dip my hand in the tanks for the first time in over 8 months.

10g - on my bedroom dresser is now a snail and moss holding tank. I added about 20 Red Ramshorn snails last night bought off a local fishkeeper. Looking thru my 'bits' today I found 2 moss samples (Erect Moss and Vesiculara Dubyana (regular Java moss) that were dried up in their baggies but still green. Tied them to small driftwoods, then added a small chinese pagoda to give the snails a small hiding spot from the tank light. Done for now, shall be neat to see if the snails breed and if the mosses grow.

40g Plant tank - a mess - all the plants were buried under half a foot of moss, and najas grass (guppy grass on top). I was very reluctant to remove it as I suspected the plants underneath would be no more. Removed a red tiger lily as this plant was too large for the tank, separated the najas grass from the moss, then lifted and cut out sections of moss so as not to rip up any plants underneath. That took 2 hours. I have a 2.5 gal tank 70% full of packed weeping moss. Ok now i can see to survey the damage: The fears came true. My 2 red sword plants are gone, I had 11 types of crypts, there are still lots of babies but all the nice ones are gone and I can't identify the species that are left except maybe 3. A java fern 'lace' was intact, and some vals. Heavy black brush algae on the filter, driftwood cave, plastic cave, and rocks that will need to be removed somehow, a thousand mts shells which will have to remove by hand, and lots of green bits to remove still and some moss strands stuck to the gravel. So lots of work to do still I'm almost tempted to put a substrate into the 10 and pop all the baby crypts in there, then completely redo the plants in the 40. Also thinking a gravel vac would be good afterward but for a plant tank there will be a good buildup of mulm by now for nutrients, so maybe just a shallow vac ? Going to start picking up some shells and plant bits for the next half an hour or so. I guess I asked for this.

How do I get rid of heavy black brush algae in the fastest time possible ? Does this stuff scrub off ?




The Amazon Nut...

Algae info
This link should help. I don't think there is a "safe" quick method.
I personally think you have a lot of work to do start with the worst tank others wise if you leave it to last you will not feel like doing it at all.
Are the tanks too far gone and the best outlook would be a complete pull down?
http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9
Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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wow, that sounds like a serious mess moss... or well a moss mess even!

I wish you well... I guess it's like the old question "How do you eat an elephant?" "One bite at a time..."

lol good luck!

Oh cool! Good luck with the the tanks! I think you are pretty lucky to have such overgrowth problems! Are you gonna sell the excess moss and snails? Please let me know if you are!

Anyways, why are you getting black brush algae in your filter? Is it in the sunlight? Or is it the ferts? I think that you should manually remove it by hand. Also i would also think about getting a few SAEs. THey are the only things that might eat it.

Anyway, have fun, and dont think of it as tedious and something you "have" to do, but just think of it as something you "want" to do! Thats how i do my cleanings, water changes, and whatnot. They always seem fun to me now!

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Thank you Keith
It's brush algae and thick. The bleach soak sounds good then a scrub and lots of rinsing. The 10g is done for now, holding tank for the red snails was 20 min tying moss.

"Are the tanks too far gone and the best outlook would be a complete pull down?" The 40 was almost. Maybe 2 hours picking up mts shells and plant gunk then do a light vac.
A few hours for the Brush algae, clean one of the filters, replace the tubes, clean the cover. At that point I still have a cycled, lightly planted sparsely stocked tank. Get the water up to par, then get some fish I'll decide all the plant stuff later to keep it easier for me lol.

Yes ScottF it's a mess, but my own fault. Plant tanks take work and time and this is pay for my neglect. Karma! I've never ate an elephent but a cheeseburger sounds good

Thanks GobyFan I do feel I need some luck at this point lol. My BBA seems to only happen where there is little water movement, I'll take a look at that problem later. Add a power head maybe. Atm it's not fun. The fun for me will be when I get to add FISH I don't have excess snails atm and never shipped them before, but will be a moss ad soon.

Time for sleep.













The Amazon Nut...

Well, now I don't feel so bad that I missed my last water change.

I guess this can happen to any of us at anytime...... temporarily loosing interest in our tanks for a period of time. I'm glad you've renewed your interest again. It's nice to have a hobby to keep you interested in something.

I agree the work isn't going to be fun, but the anticipation of new fish will keep you going till the job is done.

Glad to hear DaMossMan is coming out of the DaMossMess now. /:'

You know it's funny. I began all gung ho and really stayed with things for the first few months, but at about 4 mos, I lost my zeal... mostly due to the new job. But, I kept up decently with WC and vacs so I didnt cause any major problems. But, oddly enough, I am back to feeling quite addicted now lol. That's a good thing!

DaMossMess - LOL !

That's so on the mark it's scary.

A good days work and this tank can be up to par, but making it 'an hour here, an hour there'. Didn't have time to work on it today, but it was a good feeling to come home and able to see into the tank

The Amazon Nut...

Yep! Thats what happened to me. I had full and complete on-the-dot maintenance rituals! That had continued until i had finished school in the summer, and started my many vacations, turst me, over half of my summer break was all going to places like Hawaii and the Florida Keys, and California. Now, i had done 25% WCs every week or week and a half, and i did a 50% WC before and after the vacations. I had my grandma feed them, thank you grandma, and i tried to keep up monthly maintenance. After abouot 3/4ths into the break, i started losing bits of interest in my tanks, and i started to slack! I let the snails just live in my tank for a long time, until finally there was a point when i just fed the fish, and topped off the water. I one day, just randomly started to pop back on FP and i read a couple of posts, chatted a couple of times, and finnally i got enough motiviation to test for nitrates. When i saw the results, i was amazed at how much 1 month of lack of maintenance had cost me! Nitrates were at 100-120 ppm! I was lucky i didnt lose a fish. However, fish loss finally caught up with me, even if i did do 25% WC every other day.

Well, i hope my anecdote reflects you situation in a small scale. Have fun redoing your tanks, and look foward to the fish! BTW, what are the fish you intend to get?

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For the 40g I'm leaning between german blue rams or apisto agazzisi double reds for group 1. Probably albino longfin bristlenose plecos for group 2. 7/8 fish at the most, so a lightly stocked tank, plus the snails. Plants will follow, I'll stick to the low requirement stuff.






The Amazon Nut...

hey mossman

Do you have any idea what the nitrates are like in the 40g? Is it possible that they are a little high?

My 180g seems to have an outbreak of beard algae whenever the nitrates start climbing. Once the nitrate levels are lowered again (with slightly larger or more frequent water changes and thorough gravel vacs) the beard algae starts to die off.

May not be the case with your tank, but worth a check.

G_T


Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

Hey Troppo

You made a good point on the nitrates. I know they will be very high from months of my slacking

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I'm doing this in little steps to make easier, plus not shock the the remaining critters in the tank.

Did this so far tonight. Cleared mts shells, bagged up the najas grass so it's out of the way,
picked out lots of moss strands and najas bits.

New discoveries: I have 2 amano shrimps, not one
The bn munches bba.

Started shallow vaccing the flourite to remove remaining plant detritus and some top layer sediment.
Was slow going with the cleaner getting full of plant gunk. About 1/6 of the substrate done and 3 buckets
of water changed 7.5g then topped off the tank. Refilling water aging tank to get another 10g ready for next time.
It'll take about 4-5 more rounds of this and will still have to manually pick out alot more moss bits.

Well it's a start at least and the bn looks happy

**note to self- never ignore tanks for long periods of time








The Amazon Nut...

Sounds like you are well on the way to having sparkling, beautiful tanks again. And it's great that you haven't given in and stripped them bare for a complete re-do... you obviously like a challenge every now and then.

Were you thinking of attacking the algae with a brush or bleach? If it were me I wouldn't bother doing that just yet... improve the water quality as you go and see what happens... I think you will see an improvement fairly quickly and it's one less thing on the "to do" list. Just make sure that whenever you do water changes you run the vac over anywhere the algae may be to suck up the dead / dying stuff.

I'd love to see before and after pics of this project posted, if for no other reason than to show that sometimes you can bring a tank back from the edge without having to start over completely.

G_T

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

Hi Troppo

Yup I do like a challenge now and then. Taking a break today, back and neck is sore. The tank WON !

With the tank still having a few inhabitants and cycled I didn't want to tear down. To throw them into my 10 may have caused a mini-cycle too I think. Less problems this way. Less time too I think.

You're right on the mark about the water quality etc the bba can wait. Hitting with Excel in the meantime and considering making a batch of diy co2 & at least change the sponge piece on the filter to get the water moving more.

I have my camera batteries charging. Need to put the camera software back on the pc (err, and find it)
Don't expect a miracle on the before shot lol.


The Amazon Nut...

Partway thru the cleanup. Sorry for the mess, glass not even cleaned up. Try not to cringe too much Nothing shipshape yet, just want to give you an idea what I'm working with and closeups of the bba too.
Can you find the BN pleco ?























10g red ramshorn snail and moss holding tank.











The Amazon Nut...

hey moss.

they tank looks good. a litle sparse, but will be nicer nc ethe live plants fill in.

i however am not a big fan of what looks like a fake rock in the corner though... sorry!

nice tank though... what kinda fish will be put in here?

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Hi Brand

Yes it is sparse. That's why it's BEFORE SHOTS
The left cave is fake, was a gift. I'll be pulling the fake plant stuff off to make it appear more 'natural'
The right side is a mopani cave. Both have yucky bba atm.

SERIOUS thought crunching tonight as to stocking.
Thanks to Keith and Nerissa for making me aware of
Spotted bn's and Flag Cichlids. (Damn you guys !)

Possible setups: The main fish
1 - Laetacara curviceps(Flag Cichlid)& German Blue Rams
2 - German Blue Rams and Apisto Agazzisi double reds.
3 - Laetacara curviceps(Flag Cichlid) and Keyhole Cichlids

Already decided: 'accessory fish'
Endlers for dither fish and occasional cichlid snacks.
1 pair spotted or albino longfin bristlenose plecos.
Fancy Mts snails and red ramshorn snails

Possibly Otocinclus Niger (zebra otos) when tank is fully planted, grown out and mature.

With flag cichlids and keyholes you can't tell them apart until mature so it's get an adult pair, or 6 juveniles.

The 10g will become a simple moss, snail, driftwood tank perfect for endler or cichlid fry should I be lucky. I have fine turface gravel for it, would also make a home for those baby crypts you see in the 40.

Also reached my good friend Crazygar who I'll most likely be getting crypts from before he moves. May have reached him just in the nick of time.



The Amazon Nut...

thanks for the clarification on the BEFORE picts... sorry i didnt thouroughly read you thread as it was kinda long and was just skimming and relaying some feedback onto what i did see. i like your tanks and i am excited to see haw they turn out... both have really good potential and i really like those red ramshorn snails... gonna go try to find a coupl of my own for the 29g tank...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Oooh! Get the spotted BNs! They rule! And also, they have a white trim to their tail fin, and it looks so fancy! Ill try an upload some more pix to here! Ill show you mine! (Note: In the new pix, the BN still looks like it has yello spots. In real life, it has white spots)

Nice tanks! I can finnally see it coming together! Just a few more steps uphill, a few on top, and then it is all downhill from there! Naturally, i would think you will change your mind if you read too much about the different fish! Its soo hard to decide, right? I would go with number 1 on your stocking list. Then, i would consider getting 6 of them, if you have enough territories for them and other fish. Then you can have lots of fry!

For the BBA, i would go along with GT, as i think that they are going to be affected if the water gets better. Also, if you get the faster growing plants, it will outcompete the BBa, i think. Maybe a powerhead will work?

Good luck and Congrats!

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Thanks for the pics

It doesn't look as bad as you've made it sound. (I know you've done a lot of work already though)

You have the start of a couple of really nice setups there... can't wait to see how this all turns out.

G_T

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.