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It's only been running with the plants and everything for about 3 days now

Lookin_around,

We have a very good article [link=Here]http://www.fishprofiles.com/articles/freshwater/oto.asp" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link] about Otos, written by our member Calilasseia. This will answer all your questions. To sum it up, I would say given your tank conditions not for a while.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Otos are funny fish. Many people have problems with them, I have had very few. I had an oto for over a year in a 5 gallon tank with no heater and only monthly water changes before I moved him into my 72gallon.

In either case I would let the tank run for about a week before adding any fish. Do water changes from the get go once a week of 30 to 50%. That will decrease your algae problems and help any fish you put in through the cycle. Don't listen if someone tells you not to change the water while the tank is cycling. Most of the good bacteria is in the filter, gravel and plants not free floating in the water. I would also use activated carbon in your filter if your not doing so. This will also help until your plants get going.

My Scapes

ok, thnx I was just wondering about how long I'd have to wait. Just finished a 40 or so % water change, so I think everything is goin alright

Hey all...Just wanted to give an update on my tank. It's been about a week now, and I am beginning to see some algae on the glass and on the wisteria. I have noticed some growth from the wisteria, probably about an inch or so. On the algae thats on the glass, I have noticed there are little white things, that seem to look and behave like some sort of tiny organism, in the picture of the Wisteria you can see them in the background on the glass.
Tank
wisteria
Crypt Wendti(brown)
Ludwigia with some algae on glass
Editrypt pic was blurry

Last edited by lookin_around at 21-Nov-2005 20:56

This may be a silly question but is you co2 plumbed into your filter, and another silly queestion do you not use an air pump I see no bubbles...

Are the tiny organisms moving and/or multiplying?

I am very intrigued by the picture of the Wisteria. The right stem looks so different but I think I start to see that new growth on the left stem looks similar.

The Crypt is really beautiful.

Can you describe the algae? Form – Color – Length

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

This may be a silly question but is you co2 plumbed into your filter, and another silly queestion do you not use an air pump I see no bubbles...
Definitely not a silly question. There are many ways to put co2 into a tank, but it looks like in this case the co2 is simply going from a bottle thru airline tubing into the intake of his HOB filter. No pump.

My Scapes

Yes, the Co2 is running straight into the filter. There isn't a constant flow of bubbles, probably get 3 or 4 bubbles at a time, and its every 3-5 seconds.
I'm not sure what type of algae it is on the glass, and the stuff on the wisteria, looks a little like diatoms(from what I've heard about them) and today I noticed about 4 strands of string algae coming off of the java moss.

Edit: Today I cut back lighting to 10 hours instead of 12

Last edited by lookin_around at 22-Nov-2005 19:12

Hi,
Here is a site about the various types of algae, what
causes it, and how to rid the tank of it:
[link=http://www.otocinclus.com/articles/algae.html]http://www.otocinclus.com/articles/algae.html" style="COLOR: #FF00FF[/link]

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Well after I saw that I descided to plumb my co2 directly into my aqua clears i have done one and when I looked at it, there is a hole in the impeller plate that is EXACTLY the same size as air tubing so i drilled into case cover and it is plumbed straight in perfect and looks a lot better. I have kept my bubble walls i thought that fish tanks require the pumps... does the mass of plants in the tank make rich enough in o2 that they dont need the pumps?

Most of the time, fish don't really require airstones for o2, they are just their for decorate purposes. With or without plants there is more than enough o2 exchange at the surface of the tank where air meets water and from the filter return.

My Scapes

If it is only diatoms then I would not worry about them too much. Although they are not too pretty too look at they are not dangerous to your plants and once you introduce some fish they will actually like them as food (mine did and I am sure it has something to do with so many fry surviving in my tank).

4 strings aren&#8217;t bad either, it would be a problem if you cannot count them anymore . How long are the strings? Moss has been one of the main sources for string algae in my tank, actually all kinds of algae settled best on the moss (lots of surface to grab hold to). Are the strings hard to get off the moss?

Cutting back on lighting is a good idea, you will see if it has any effect. But you will have to be patient as it might take a few weeks to show results. There is always the quick fix that I learned from our friends here, Flourish Excel.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I may have to try the flourish excel. I've heard it is bad for anacharis plants....is it bad for any others?

lookin_around,

I have not seen any negative effects on other plants and I haven't heard anything the like either. Except: Anacharis is really called Egeria Najas and I found that it influences other plants from that group as well, my Egeria Densa withered away.

Ingo

And make sure you follow the bottle instructions regarding the dosage.

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hey guys...well...I got my ottos, and I got 4 of them. They are pretty small, but hopefully they will be able to help out with the algae
aren't they pretty?, lol

They look so tiny! I'm getting ottos for my 10g tank, I had already decided that but that pic just reinforces my decision. They're so cute!
I read in another thread here that ottos particularly like diatoms and can keep them under control really well. Great choice! Did you acclimate them over a long time? I have read that is the best way to do it. And also to be sure they have a steady source of algae or they will starve.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

I just put the bag in the tank for about an hour so the temperature would be the same as the tank water.

All 4 have made it through the first 24 hrs now

Edit: Little_fish, heres something to keep your brain curious, it does mine...check out the growth on this wisteria

Last edited by lookin_around at 27-Nov-2005 02:31

lookin_around,



Wow, that is an interesting growth form of Wisteria. I know it has a versatile leaf structure depending on how much light it receives, but this one looks like it doesn&#8217;t get enough light to serrate. I don&#8217;t remember (maybe you didn&#8217;t say) what the K temperature of your 65W PC light is, but I would have expected that more than 2 wpg should be sufficient light. I wonder if tetratech knows more about this, he&#8217;s the Wisteria God.

I wish you good luck with your Otos and I hope that all 4 make it through. But don&#8217;t be disappointed if you lose some in the next 2 weeks (I guess this timeframe). I found that in particular small ones have a hard time making it through the import. Do you happen to know when they arrived at the LFS?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

My wysteria did that same thing till it got to the top 4 inches of my tank and now it looks like a proper wysteria. Actually it looks like a tree. I am at .75wpg I think in that tank, on occasion I move another grow lamp into that tank I have to build a hood for the top. Otto's are the cutest little suckerfish around imho, I have one in my 2.5g and he isnt keeping up, I need to get another one for it or two. Is that a rock he is sitting on or is it driftwood, either way it looks great!

Wisteria God
Did I get a promotion from "Wizard"?

That wisteria plant was probably grown in very poor conditions at the LFS. Most of the LFS grow their plants in very low light because they don't need to worry long-term. My guess is that plant was there a while and continued to live but grew differently due those conditions. You could see the long space between nodes.

I would imagine that whenever a situation is created that isn't in the range of it's normal growing conditions you will get different grow patterns, Afterall the plant is called difformis for a reason.

Here's an overhead view of my wistera, You could see differnt leaf shapes as well, but I believe mine is doing that because it's crawling and not growing toward the light.





tetratech attached this image:


My Scapes

Yea, I hope my ottos make it through too. I don't know how long they were at the LFS though.
My bulbs are rated at 6700 K, which should be good right?
Is there anything I should do to the Wisteria?
At least its growing, lol

A little update. I've taken a few pictures, and have noticed some more Hair algea(I think) on the java moss. wanna see?
Ludwigia Repens is growing nicely
whole tank after almost 2 weeks

Edit: I just saw my ludwigia repens beginning the pearling process! I tried to take a picture, but its hard w/ the white things on the glass behind it, so the bubbls are the ones that are kinda blurred, sorta like little white lines
Yay

Last edited by lookin_around at 27-Nov-2005 18:33

lookin_around,

Overall it looks very nice

The algae that you show looks like staghorn to me.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

lookin_around,

Your tank is looking pretty darn good. Could you take a picture of your Co2 going into your filter? I would like to see how you are doing it. I might start a second Co2 bottle that I would run into my filter. thanks!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Thnx for the compliments. Here are some pictures of the co2 setup. First, for all of my connections,(ie, line into the filter intake, and the line into the bottle caps) I am using these little plastic pieces with no glue at all. If you see the lip on the plastic piece, it is on the inside of the cap, with the airline on the outside, therefore, the more pressure exerted on the piece, the more airtight it is, and it seems to work quite well.
here is a picture of the co2 bottles, and how they are setup

And also, here is the filter intake it is kind of hard to see, but the lip of the plastic piece is inside, so that with the airline on it, it holds itself in place

Just a little update. There is a new leaf on my anubias, which I thought I'd share. here it is

Nice CO2 setup, lookin_around

I have one question about it though, if you don't mind.

Do you have a return valve built into the hose? If not, is there any chance that your tank water would fill up your bottles, like when you turn off your filter for maintenance or when the bottles become &#8220;depleted&#8221;?

I am not an expert on DIY CO2, so my question is more out of curiosity .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

No, I do not have a return valve on it, as I didn't want to create any resistance for the co2. I have had some tank water flow back into the bottles, but that was only because I sorta squeezed the bottles when I was screwing them on, which created a syphon. Other than that, it never syphons back into the bottles, as long as I tighten the bottles at the top of the neck where I cannot squeeze them.

I would like to do a pressurized system, but not now. my parents would have a heart attack if I spent too much more money on this tank. I still have a truck I gotta get fixed up to were I like it by the end of the year

Last edited by lookin_around at 28-Nov-2005 12:57

lookin_around,

Thanks for your pictures. I might start up a second bottle for my tank. Right now I have a 40 Gallon long, running with one 2L bottle and a bubble lader as a diffuser. So far things seem to be going pretty well. I am using a bit of flourish excel but nothing else at this time.

Here is a link to my thread I have running right now.

P.S. You have to be careful about squezing and tipping the mix bottles over. I have squezed mind once but the water didn't make it that far up the hose. I did though tip my bottle over a bit and got some of the mix in my tank. I did it one night right before I went to bed and the next morning the tank was a little cloudy. All my fish and plants seemed to take it pretty well. I did a couple of water changes and everything was back on track.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Sweet setup! How funny! I just purchased a 29 gallon tank with Coralife freshwater 65 watt strip. I'm going to use a Aquaclear 50 for filtration and a 200 watt heater.
My substrate is Eco Complete mixed with regular gravel.
I will also be using C02, but not at this time.

Kewl...Good luck with that, what type of plants are you going to be doing?

Sorry if I highjack the thread for a second.

dharris,

I think you would be underfiltered and overheated

That is just my opinion though. I would use an AquaClear 70 and a 150W heater. Don't have much time though right now to discuss details.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I'm not sure about the filter, but he should be fine with the heater of 200 watts, as thats what I have in mine....Ijust have it set to almost the loswest it can go, and my tank is a t about 76-78 all the time...it is kinda overkill, but when I was shopping for one at wal mart, it was either 100 watts or 200, so I went with too much instead of not enough

Hey all...Havn't posted in a while...I've been busy with school and family visiting. Well its been almost 3 weeks now, and the tank is going alright. I still just have the ottos...and so far all 4 have survived. I just placed the order for Flourish excel tonight since it is not available locally so it should help with the algae. This first picture is after a water change, and I've trimmed the Wisteria, and the "staghorn algae" off of the moss, sinc I cannot remove it with my hands. The ludwigia repens is growing nicely as it is now above the driftwood, and I have seen it pearling before.

I am not so sure about the Valisneria though. I think it may be too shaded from the Anubias but i am not sure. I have seen a lot of dead leaves from it, any ideas? maybe the flourish will help
whole tank
Java moss(with algae) and Ludwigia

lookin_around,

Your tank seems to be growing in quite nice! I like it and I can't wait to see pictures later on!

Flourish excel can and will be your best friend! Trust me.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

lookin_around,

I think it looks very nice. Yeah, I guess the Vals could have a problem with being shaded. Give them some more time to become taller and hopefully that would solve the problem. If not then this might not be a good spot for them. Maybe a less light hungry crypt (or a few of them) could go in its place.

Besides that Excel that you will add soon, do you use any fertilizer for the water column? How often and how much water do you change?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

yes I add ferts to the water. I add KNo3, and Khpo4...and also a sloution of plantex +b...I do 40-50% water change once a week.
I dose about 3-5 ppm Kno3 every other day
1ppm every other day of Khpo4
and 1 ml of a plantex solution of 2 tbs in 1000 ml of water(I think, I am at school so don't have my notes with me) on the days that I don't dose macros

lookin_around,

Could you please verify your Plantex dosing when you have a chance. That looks very little to me.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ok I'm home now and sorry....it was 4 tbs in 1000 ml of water on the plantex

I looked for cardinal tetras everywhere around here, but couldn't find anything, so I got some Neons...3 of which went straight into the moss when I put them in, and dont look so good. I let the bag sit in the water for about 30 minutes to level out the water temp and then just dumped em in...any suggestions?

Last edited by lookin_around at 07-Dec-2005 21:57

update...ones dead, I think I will just wait a day or 2...and see how many more die, and try to return them all if I can. I don't like these too much. I think I may get some rasboras