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Ludwigia. The original pieces I had were just existing, not growing. I added four more bunches after I started fertilizing and all is doing well now. They appreciate the extra light too. Also, my narrow luds are finally putting out some new leaves.

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Anubias. This plant had been doing really well for the longest time and now look at it. I finally broke down and removed my first leaf from it. It is really coated with a thick, dense algae on some leaves.

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One more of the water spirte. The new leaves are so soft and bright. I love this plants, it is a great grower.

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Your water quality has to be really bad for your fish to be sick and your plants and tank to be coated with algae. Why do you think this is so?

My Scapes

I don't think my water is bad at all. I don't ever neglect my tank. I feed moderately. I do a water change faithfully every week. I have no sick fish and no deaths. They simply picked up a parasite, probably from some new plants.

Here are full current params to set your mind at ease:

Amm: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 8
pH: 7.4
kH: 5
Phosphate: .25

I think the suggested P measure is .5-1 ppm. So does this mean I actually need to add P? I'm suprised. I guess I'm going to be in need of an enema then. Can anyone tell me how to dose the tank with the Fleets?

Edit:
Saw on a different forum a reccomendation of 3 drops Fleet after water change, check at midweek, then add more if necessary. Does that sound ok?

I don't think my water is bad at all. I don't ever neglect my tank. I feed moderately. I do a water change faithfully every week. I have no sick fish and no deaths. They simply picked up a parasite, probably from some new plants.

First off, most test kits are crap. They simply don't work. If you have lots of algae issues and infected fish you have something wrong with your water. First thing I would do is siphon out all of the sand on top of your gravel. That's preventing the bacteria on the gravel from getting enough oxygen so they are dying off and releasing waste into the water column. You are going to continue to have issues if you don't remove the top layer of sand.

My Scapes

Lioness:

how are tank and fish? You haven't posted for a while, are the gouramis free of parasites by now?

hope everything is fine

Lioness , how are you doing. Everything all right? .
Lets us know how things are in your tank .

Garry

Well, I've no idea how the 55 is doing right now as it is in the middle of a blackout treatment for algae and is covered with a blanket. I did my regular 50% water change before starting it but didn't add any ferts. So no light/co2/ferts/fish food for most of this week. I hope everything comes out ok.

As much as I didn't want to, I did make an attempt at removing the sand. It quickly became apparent that that simply will not happen without completely tearing down the tank and starting over (which may eventually happen anyway). My substrate is over half sand so all the plants would be uprooted plus some flourite is mixed into the sand which means removing some good substrate too. The sand stays for now. I did add some MTS hoping they will help keep the substrate from compacting.

All three pearl gouramis and one oto were removed to a ten gallon hospital tank for treatment for leeches. Tried a strong salt dip first. No luck. Had trouble finding a parasite med locally so LFS recommended trying Furazone-light. No luck. Lost one female pearl. Had a word with the management and was given some Clout. Several leeches detached, though they didn't actually die, even after two treatments. Ended up removing the rest manually. The oto is currently in another fully planted 10 gal and the two pearls will stay in the hospital until the blackout is over. The color on the pearls is amazing and the male is building a cool little bubble nest in the corner. I think he's getting ideas. At least I know they've made a full recovery.

I did find out exactly how I got the leeches in the first place. Found the same critter on fish in the 150 gal plant sale tank at the LFS and pointed them out to the help. I was disappointed. This is usually such a great store! They are taking care of it now at least.

Will update on the main tank when the blanket comes off. Thanks for the concern Garry and catdancer!

Lioness,

don't dispair! The algae outbreak will pass, algae are a part of our lives, they are everywhere. Glad to hear that you figured out the source of parasites, they had to come as hitchhikers. Unfortunately, even the best stores are not immune to them and other bugs and the possibilities to acquire them are endless,espeically with new livestock arriving permanently.

I just changed the substrate in my tank from gravel with laterite to Eco Complete. It can be done rather quickly and my tank is up and running again!

Catdancer, could you offer any advice on the substrate changeover? It seems rather daunting. I sure liked the sand... It was for my cories, who now have the longest most beautiful wiskers. It does look a bit dirty though, especially when it settles on leaves.

Turned the tank lights back on this morning. It looks a lot better and all plants made it through just fine, except a bronze crypt which melted into oblivion. I think the vals actually added another couple inches and I've got lots of dwarf sag runners. The leaves which had the heaviest algae infestations (swords, sag, anubias, and wisteria) are mostly clear. Some still have some algae on the edges. I will probably trim most of that out. No more blue green algae to be seen! Checked all params and everything is fine. I have another big water change planned for today then fresh ferts and co2 again.

lioness,

Glad to read that most issues seems to have been corrected with the blackout, but keep in mind that if you don't correct the sources of the issues then they will come back.

If catdancer suggest that you change your substrate with fish and plants in the tank then I will say "I wouldn't do that" . It worked for her, but it is to risky for me, in particular because your tank is very sensitive now with regards to messing around after a blackout.

Keep us posted and add some pictures of the tank now.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

If catdancer suggest that you change your substrate with fish and plants in the tank then I will say "I wouldn't do that"

Hey! Where did I suggest that? No hopping to wrong conclusions, please
What I meant is: change of gravel can be done rather quickly w/o implying to keep everything alive inside!

I am not convinced that lioness' problems had anything to do with the sand in the first place (BTW, the Eco is surprisingy fine in grain and can give rise to 'dust' as well)

I am not convinced that lioness' problems had anything to do with the sand in the first place (BTW, the Eco is surprisingy fine in grain and can give rise to 'dust' as well)

Ever hear of the word suffocation. Nothing is definite, but putting a thick layer of fine sand on top of a gravel bed of nitrifying bacteria will deprive them of oxygen that is brought to them through water movement the same way the filter flow provides the bacteria in your filter with oxygen. That being said, the biofilter (that is mostly in the tank) will be limited and not be able to consume waste, etc. that will lead to additional algae problems.

I don't know how you went about removing the sand, but I can tell you an easy way that will create no dust and will actually clean your tank at the same time.


My Scapes

lioness , So pleased to hear that you appear to have solved your problems with the Parasites on the fish.
Sorry to hear that you lost a Pearl though
Glad the blackout worked for you . Remember though you will always have some algae!!!!
You need some food for the Otto

I would agree with Ingo on trying to work out the cause or it might just return as before .
If there is anything any of us can do to help just let us know .

As far as removing the sand , I'm not sure why you want to do that . You've got it over Flourite so that should be good for your plants .
Whats the issue ?
I've got to say I would be reluctant to do it myself .

Anyway lots of good news , so be happy and enjoy .
Garry

Here's a nice little update for you all.

The tank is doing very well at the moment. I finally got some P in the tank, it is sitting at 1.0 at the moment. Nitrate is 10. Last week I removed the anubias, the bleheri sword, and one marble queen sword and gave them a bleach dip as they all had ridiculously tough algae on them. The anubias came through perfect and clean but I got distracted and accidently left the swords in for 10 minutes! They became perfectly clear bleach plants. I replanted the root balls anyway and already have nice new leaves coming up so the plants are definetly pulling through. I have been on a trip the last three days and as I only have one of my lights on a timer, the tank only got half strength lighting while I was gone (just over 1 wpg). Some of the plants look a bit paler but almost all of the nasty algae is gone. There is plenty of green spot type on the glass but that is to be expected and is easy enough to deal with. The tank looks very nice. All plants are healthy and thriving. The smaller swords in particular (red melon, oriental, and rosette) are looking incredible and are sending out lots of new leaves. In my absence the water sprite hit the top of the tank! Yay! Finally a tall plant! I've been despairing that I would never get anything to grow taller than half the tank. There has been some slight change in decor. The bleheri sword was moved for the first time since the begining of the tank when I took it out to bleach it. I planted new baby water sprites all along the back in the sword's old spot and moved the sword farther forward and to the right.

I'm very pleased with how the tank is doing right now. The right side looks very bare because the new water sprite is so short but once that grows in it should be pretty nice. All fish are healthy and beautiful! I hope I can get this to last.

I may dare to post some pics later.

I took a few pics but nothing came out very well except for this one. It is a new baby cory cat. Note the happy sword plants he is sitting among. I lost one adult cory during a heater malfunction and so have added three little ones to boost my herd to 8. They are doing great and schooling happily with the big cories, which look like absolute monsters next to them! I love cories...

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nice photo! good to hear your happy with your tank

lioness, Fantastic news , I'm so glad its all going well .
The shot of the Cory shows up the nice healthy sword indeed .
Well done .

Garry

Lioness, this is great!

The leaves look extremely healthy and the little Cory very happy. BTW, what type of cories are you keeping and at which temperature? I am having very bad luck with my cories (out of 7 only one is left!).

I would also like to know lioness. I have only 3 Panda Cories left out of like 10. I would like to try a different species of cory.

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Sorry to hear about your cories... I am by no means the cory expert around here but here are a few ideas.

Mine are Paleatus (common pepper variety) and the tank stays ambiently around 78-80. This is on the high end for a cory but I can't keep the tank any cooler without a chiller during this summer heat. Too much heat is hard on cories, I think I read somewhere that it damages their slime coat. My tank was over 90 when a cory kicked the bucket and I had been gone a few days so have no idea how long it was like that.

Being bottom sifters, cories are the first to be affected by any mulm building up or other nasties in the substrate. Some species of cory are very delicate about this. Pandas are notorious. They need very regular gravel vacs. Another problem with being a bottom sifter is food. Are they getting enough? Sometimes just leftovers are not sufficient. Also, what kind of substrate do you have? Sharp gravel will tear up their whiskers, it could run their systems down and make them sick. Don't know if that in itself is enough to kill them.

So far my experience with my cories is that they are very tolerant of water chemistry. They were the first fish in the tank and have thrived since day one.

I'm sorry you are having bad luck! Any ideas what could be wrong?

Lioness

Also, what kind of substrate do you have? Sharp gravel will tear up their whiskers, it could run their systems down and make them sick. Don't know if that in itself is enough to kill them.

I have peasized gravel in the aquarium. It is not sharp at all and i have some smooth larger rocks, i have some slate and i have some Petrified wood also, none seem to damage the cories.

Being bottom sifters, cories are the first to be affected by any mulm building up or other nasties in the substrate. Some species of cory are very delicate about this. Pandas are notorious. They need very regular gravel vacs. Another problem with being a bottom sifter is food. Are they getting enough? Sometimes just leftovers are not sufficient.

I Add Alage wafers every other day and my omother in law adds the odd piece of Zukini now and then also. I also add frozen brine shrimp every now and then as a treat.

I have also added an extra tube to my intake so that its at the bottom of the tank. I gravel vac 1/4 of the tank each week.

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

There are so many variables that could be causing your problem. Maybe something as simple as a weak batch of fish. Or they could have been carrying a disease. You need to think about things such as: how soon after purchase did they die? Did all die at once or was it gradual? Are other species affected? What symptoms did they display prior to death? Were any other factors changed around the time of death? New fish/filter change/new decor/etc...

I'm sorry but this is a bit off topic and I don't have all the answers for you. Try a post with all this information in the Hospital or maybe the Bottom Feeders board. Your questions will get a lot more attention there. I hope your remaining cories are doing good, don't give up!