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See, I like dense tenellus. I have it in my 29G and if it wouldn’t be the perfect hiding place for platie fry (just found another 4 yesterday) then I would keep it very dens. I think it looked great when I had that setup.

And no, I didn’t expect the floaters on the apons . But I haven’t had a new one in 2 weeks now and instead 2 of the apons have flowers again .
But another thing I didn’t expect was the length of my crypt retrospirals leaves, they must be 30 inches or so. And these you cannot trim halfway down, you have to remove the whole leaf. Sometime soon I will uproot the plant anyway to separate the youngsters and plant them separately .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Maybe I jumped the gun on the tenellus, but in my case it was on the ugly side, I think because the mother plants that were all grown emersed never made it back - they all had some form of dead or ugly looking growth that never came in right even after pruning. What I just thinned out, I removed all the mother plants and replanted some of the best looking babies. Maybe they'll grow in nicer now.


And good to hear about the apons and crypts! Glad theyre doing better and the weird growth has stopped.

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Back in the saddle!

NowherMan6,

Do me a favor and try to describe the ugly/dead growth on the original mother plants some more. Some of my older tennellus has browning and thinning leaves but I now can see light green new leaf growth in the center of these plants (all only in the 125).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Sure.

The old (original) plants went through a few stages. First came the die off of emmersed growth. That I picked off easy enough. But, though i picked the stems down as close to the base as possible, there still remained some small stalks poking out of the subtrate. Those began to rot, so it was a pain clealing that out. Then very few new leaves grew out from those mother plants, and what did wasn't very good looking. It was dark and kind of limp looking, and started to grow BBA on it rather quickly, which suggests to me an unhealthy plant, since it appeared nowhere else. They all sent out runners and the runners for the most part look great, no bba, bright green growth very healthy looking. It may have been a complete die off from being emmersed, though slower than the original leaf die off.

Also, when they started to grow too close together, that's when i noticed some of the runners becoming sickly looking as well. I think it's when they bunch up like that, that's when they get ugly looking. That's why i decided to prune them and thin them out. When they have a little room they look great, bunched together they start to suffer. At least that's been my experience with it.


And just on a side note, I think that says something about plant and algae growth in general. It's been my experience that, for the most part, and with some exceptions, algae doesn't just grow out of nowhere on healthy plant leaves. It grows on plants that are unhealthy looking, where growth is stalled or abnormal. In other words, the algae doesnt slow the plants down, the slow plants invite the algae. It can happen in any tank, it's just a matter of giving certain plants the room they need to not become stunted, as is the case with the tenellus, IM(brief )E.

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NowherMan6,

Thanks for the detailed description on your tenellus problems, doesn’t sound like what I had going on in my tank in the last 2 weeks. I think mine might have been caused by my tinkering with the ferts.

About your generalization approach in the last statement:

So true, but common knowledge
You know I don’t mean it that harsh (right? ), but it is well known that slow growing plants are more e for algae than fast growers. Ergo, a leaf that is sick on a fast grower, and stops fast growth, is a slow grower, and as such more e for algae. Or is that not what you are saying?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yes yes, i realize it's common knowledge to you Plant Gurus, but that was just an "Aha!" moment for me. Ya know what I'm talking about, you KNOW something is true but for some reason you see it happen and it just makes sense and then you actually GET it? I dunno, it made sense to me. The bottom line is, the tenellus will be weeded once a month, conditions permitting

What do you think happened with yours?

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Back in the saddle!

Well,

As you may recall I made this experiment with cutting my ferts really low, in particular I didn't add this Plantex stuff for 2 weeks straight. Guess that could have done it .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nowher,
I know you said you wanted to see the media compartments of the eheim ecco so here ya go.

This is a pic right out of my manual.
These are the three models, mine is the 2235 to the right.
You could see the baskets with the different media in it.
The blue on the bottom is the coarse pad and then the biomedia (ehfisubstrate), and on the top is the fine pad and then the carbon. My setup is pretty much like this, but without the carbon. At setup eheim recommends the carbon for the first few weeks, until biofilter, etc kick in (Interesting).

Each of those baskets interlock by twisting so the whole thing could be pulled out of the cansister at once. You could see the top and media handle just above the carbon.

When I bought my 2235 it did no come with all that biomedia in the middle baskets, It basically came with 5 or so blue coarse pads, they have changed changed that and now the 2235 is sold as the 2236 with the setup you see in the pic. Big Als I know sells it as the 2236. If you buy the 2235 you just have to by the ehfisubstrate separately or use any media biomedia you want. Pretty much anything will fit in those baskets.




tetratech attached this image:


My Scapes

Hey tetra, thanks for the pic, that's perfect. I ordered a 2236 the other day - I figure you were right about getting the larger one

1.) because I can always turn the flow rate down

2.) more likely than not i'll wind up getting a larger tank in the future, so i'll have a suitable filter already


My moss came the other day, and it survived the trip from Singapore surprisingly well.

The new DW should be added within a few days, with rearranged rocks and moss added.

After that however, I believe I will be for the most part cutting back heavily on my posting to this log. I know, I know, hold back your tears everyone. I think in general it's run its course, and my heart hasn't been into it for a little while now. Plus I find I'm posting to others' threads far more than my own. I'll still post occasional photos, this isn't a full blown retirement, but it'll be a weekly or bi-weekly thing now, rather than every day or so.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out from the beginning, when this was a "Just a few questions" thread 300+ posts later, here it stands. I learned a great deal through the log method, and I highly reccomend it to others starting up tanks. As I said, pics in a few days. Cheers, and happy planting!

-Rich

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Back in the saddle!

I think in general it's run its course, and my heart hasn't been into it for a little while now
You pulling a Bensaf on us. He is a trend starter - EI, plants, diffusors, beer, occassional poster

I just want you to know that anyone that doesn't post on a regular basis it can be assumed that they are having massive algae problems and are too embarrased to post pics of their tanks.

My Scapes

You pulling a Bensaf on us.

Hey now, I'm not pulling a Bensaf - unless you mean, drink heavily, smoke like a chimney and have beautiful planted tanks with no algae... then yes, that's what I'm trying for.

But I'm not emulating the Great Bensaf Blackout of '05. Just cutting back on this one log, that's all. The only posts will be with regards to plant changes/ aquascape changes and problems. Since I move slowly on those fronts, posting will only be closer to weekly rather than daily.

And I will post pics to show that my tank is not embarassingly covered with algae... just slightly covered with algae, thank you very much.

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Back in the saddle!

I knew I could get you to post again

My Scapes

But I'm not emulating the Great Bensaf Blackout of '05

Bloody hell a guy goes into rehab for a few days .......

Funny about being a trend setter.... how come I couldn't get anyone else into a skirt and pom poms? But mention beer and diffusers and they all want in

Right I'm off to work on next trend, little leather biker jackets for the fish to wear.... I hear that's hot for the spring season and apparently pink is the new black

Think it might be time for another stint in re-hab.....

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

I hear that's hot for the spring season and apparently pink is the new black

:igh:: What would Johnny Cash say if he heard that... ::roll eyes::


That's one trend I'm happy to let you pioneer on your own

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You guys are getting a little weird.....what have you been drinking?? That stuff can't be good for you.

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

Well NowherMan6,

As sad as it is, I accept your decision to limit your entries to your thread (I have no other choice anyway ).

Getting over 300 entries together that cover all the changes you made and events that happened in just a period of time is not too shabby, come to think of – just a few months ago this would have been considered a reeeaaalllyyyy long thread (and still is if it wasn’t for tetratech and myself).

Just make sure that you cover the immediate enhancements (moss and wood) in the same details as you did before. This way you end this section in your tank’s development homogeneous and then you can start to switch to more sporadic updates. Which, in my opinion, is less of a Bensaf style and more of a Mattyboombatty style.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

So the eheim came yesterday and I'm a bit confused. Was a spraybar supposed to be included or is that something to be put together separately? From what I can see the outflow tube is just that one bent tube that sits just below the surface of the water, nothign attached thereto. What am i missing? Thanks

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Was a spraybar supposed to be included or is that something to be put together separately

I'm thinking back when I got my eheim. Yes that little bent piece is the standard return tube. I think I remember having a similiar reaction as you. I somewho got the filling the spraybar was included and I'm pretty sure I called Bigals and played "dumb" and said "There was no spraybar" and they sent me one no charge. Yes I definitely recall doing that "Not bad for 40 something"

My Scapes

(still trying to figure out which smiley is for LOL, as this one says "hyperactive" )

Well, you bought the basic set, that is the problem. I made sure that I bought the upgrade with media (4l bio and 2l mech) and the new spray bar system. Actually, I called Big Al's first to make sure that all of this stuff is in the set.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well thanks for the warning guys Hmm, some Planted Tank forum buddies you turned out to be...




I guess I'll give ol' Big Al a call and see if he can hook me up. I can't seem to find the spray bar on the Dr. Foster Smith website (I have a gift certificate for them)

p.s. has anyone else noticed: ROLL EYES IS BACK!!!

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Back in the saddle!

I know LF has that "fancy" intake and return kit that can be assembled in 50 different configurations. LF you are an animal.

All you need is this http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=24997;category_id=2627

Here is a bad pic of mine with some descriptions on how it's setup. The pipe should come with an endcap to close the flow and make sure you get the one that works with the ecco.

Attached Image:


My Scapes

I know LF has that "fancy" intake and return kit that can be assembled in 50 different configurations

Yeah, but what I really need is the 51st configuration, and that one was missing



Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well, looks like it's another ride out to absolutely fish for me... they have a pretty good parts department there, I think I'd be able to pick up a spray bar...

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Back in the saddle!

All I can say is:



You have to be ready to pay 100% more than at Big Al's.
(I hope Mike, aka Tainted Glory, doesn't read that - he works there)

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yeah yeah I know... but I figure mixing in the cost of shipping it works out about even...

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Back in the saddle!

NowherMan6,

You might want to give them a call first and see if they have a kit at all.

I went on the Big Al's website and cannot find a separate outlet / spraybar kit in their stock, hm.

I found a similar intake kit, and that was $20.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Drsfostersmith has this on their website, listed I guess as an upgraded spraybar outfit. See "Installation set 2"

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=9606&Ntt=eheim&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1

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Back in the saddle!

Uh,

Do you know which size you would need there?

Set 2 (12/16 mm)

Or

Set 2 (16/22 mm)

?

I think it would be the first one, but be sure to measure first (before going to the LFS or ordering online).

Also, if you go to the LFS (and they have it) be prepared to pay around $40 at least.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nowher,
Am I missing something. All you need is that $5.99 piece from BigAls. See if they'll send it to you first for nothing.

BTW you need the 12/16 size for the ecco.

Better yet just go to home depot/lowes and get any piece of rigid tubing. Take that bent return piece with you and see what tubing fits and punch some holes in it - custom spraybar - $0.99

My Scapes

Better yet just go to home depot/lowes and get any piece of rigid tubing. Take that bent return piece with you and see what tubing fits and punch some holes in it - custom spraybar -

I may very well do just that, great idea. I'm excited to finally get to install the new canister set up this weekend. I've had it with aquaclears and HOBs in general. That's three bad experiences in a row with them

it's probably better than payign through the nose elsewhere, as LF said. Besides, i don't need anything top of the line, I have a little tank and creating water movement wont be too much of a problem for me.

I also may get to set up my DW piece with moss, finally... /:'

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Back in the saddle!

I also may get to set up my DW piece with moss, finally

Did you get that on eBay?

You have Java moss, right?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Actually, I lucked out with this DW piece and found it at an LFS. Good find for a petland discounts...

But I do still routinely peruse ebay because hey, you never know.

Now as for the moss, yes i have java moss. I also have erect moss and mini-moss, which I'm trying to grow out to be used in my 7gal little planted tank sometime in the next month or so. The java looks great, so that'll go in the big tank with the wood, but I'm torn on whether or not to put the erect moss in the big tank just yet.

I originally wanted to put the java on the wood, and the erect near the base of the wood on some stones, but it seems to be PAINFULLY slow growing so I don't know yet. Right now it's in a 10 gal tank, 77 degrees, 28 W lighting, dosing NPK and excel and has shown little growth. The java is a big ball of growth right now.

And don't even get me started on the mini-moss - it looks equally slow growing, unless it's just taking a while to settle in.

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I still haven't fiqured out moss in terms of growth. I had java moss in a 12g eclipse with a 13watt light, no dosing and a ton of guppies and it grew beautifully. Rich, green and full.

It was growing well in my open-top same tank and light as the guppy tank and then I changed the light and it started getting BGA and very dirty looking. It seems to not have any issues under lowlight. The higher light seems to make the water column "thicker" with a mix of things that interferes with growth.

My Scapes

Interesting about the java moss. I look forward to seeing what happens with it in my set-up.

It's the others - the erect and the mini moss - that I'm more anxious about. Java moss is tried and true, proven to be a good grower - thes eother two are kind of unknown. I should just be patient I guess, but I'm having trouble fidning good info on how to provide optimal conditions for these two.

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Back in the saddle!

Maybe DaMossMan can help here

You might want to shoot him a PM to point him to this thread, he might know a little about it.

Or we can ask the all- mighty Bensaf

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I have a big clump of Erect Moss. No special requirements. It takes a looonnnggg time before it does anything. Wasn't do keen on it at first, but once it settled I really like it. Seems to only grow to a certain height then it spreads outwards, almost like each strand produces a side shoot. So it get wider rather then taller. Makes it very low maintenance , in the 3 months or so I've had it it's never been trimmed. You need to take this growth pattern into account when deciding where to place it.

I've got it tied to a rock sized piece of bogwood placed on the substrate in open light. Seems to be happy with this. Nice light green color, lots of texture, quite brittle so handle with care.

Like all mosses try to keep the temp at about 26-27o. Does just fine with normal EI levels.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Thanks for the info Bensaf, I'll keep that in mind when arranging it. Nice to know that it'll take off eventually. Love the sig line, by the way


Well, it's been a while since I posted a pic, so here ya go. It's become very clear to me that I have a two tank thing going on, the right side being pretty full, the left side barren. I'm looking into other types of stem plants to help build up the bushyness and height on the left.



Also, if you notice the ludwigia looks pretty crummy and I don't know why. I may have bottomed out on N 2 weeks ago when I went away for 5 days and I think it screwed the plants up a bit.


And finally, I've made a decision on my stocking. I will no longer be adding another schooling fish, and I don't think I'm going for rams just yet. I've decided on Trichopsis pumilus, the Sparkling gourami. Saw some at an LFS, and they were gorgeous, graceful little guys. Like bettas but prettier and smaller. Since they're so small I'm thinking of getting a few, 4-6. Unless there's something I should know about them that would make this a bad idea?

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I'm looking into other types of stem plants to help build up the bushyness and height on the left

I would do just the opposite. Fill the right corner more fully and let it slope down to the left. This has classic corner slope written all over it. This landscape arrangement will make you tank look longer as well.

Nice Job

Attached Image:


My Scapes

I am pretty much with tetratech,

Having a triangular shape mightlook very nice. Or, you could try 2/3rd or heigh plants and then a sharp drop to a meadow.

About the Ludiwigia: I don't know what might be the reason, but here are two thoughts:

- if the bottoms lose leaves then it doesn't get enough light
- second, and more hypothetical as I am just beginning to observe this in my big tank. It seems that some plants (in my case the Rotala Macandra, don't like to be near the CO2 output. My stems are very weak in that area, but in the upper realm, about 10" away from the CO2 Reactor, the plant looks very nice.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I also agree with tetra on the 'scaping. The tanks has triangular look written all over it.

Good choice on the sparkling Gouramies. They'll be fine in groups they like company. They'll look sweet in that tank.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

I see what you all are saying, I see it too now, and I think I can make it work. For now my plan is to still add the branchy DW, but I won't plant tall around it. Maybe I'll see if I can get a sort of carpeting effect going over the course of a few months with the moss in that region. Or do you think it would be better to keep the DW out at this point and rpeserve the triangle? I dunno, I guess I'll add it now just to see what it looks like - if it throws everything off too much I can always take it out.

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NowherMan6,

Yeah, try it with the driftwood. As you say, you can always take it out again.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I went ahead and ruined a good thing this afternoon.

My tank, as you all have pointed out, had a nice sloping shape developing... but at the same time the rotala - the plant group that helped create that slope - was in desperate need of a trimming. So I went and did a hack job on the rotala. So right now it's kinda shapeless on the right side.

I also added the new branchy driftwood. I cut it down a bit and tied on some java moss on different branches. I'm actually kind of ashamed to post a pic because it looks really awkward right now what with the fishing line knots clearly visable and strands of java moss flailing about. Hopefully in a few days I'll work up the courage to post a pic, once it settles in a bit.

I also set up the new eheim and it works great, I love it already. I dont think Im going to bother with a spray bar, I seem to be getting good flow without one.

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Back in the saddle!

NowherMan6,

Get over your tank not looking super all the time. We all know that these things are works in progresses. Look at my tank. http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/4916.1.htm?107#

The first picture isn't much to look at but people give you a hand and things get better.

On a compleatly different note...someone take this bag of chips away. I just about ate the whole thing!!

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

NowherMan6,

Why should you be better off than any of us ?

I would encourage you to post a picture anyway as:

- it helps others to avoid the same mistake (if it even was one)
- it can be seen as a new starting point to get a nice aquascape together

The good thing about the fast growing stems is that mistakes of this kind are only a temporary setback that dissapears after only a few days. And you never know, giving it a severe haircut might make the group bushier than ever.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

yeah I guess you're right. yesterday I just had the same feeling you get when you go to get a haircut and it turns out a lot shorter than you expected and you stare at it in the mirror and go "Good Lord what have i done!! "

I ordered some new plants today, hopefully I'll get to it some time this week and it'll help even things in the the tank out a bit. Pics to come tonight.

And Wings, what can i tell ya. It's impossible to eat just a few chips at a time. My advice is to lower the impact on your heart and arteries by eating corn chips instead of greasy oily potato chips. then you can at least feel a LITTLE better about it... works for me anyway...

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Yup they were corn chips and I finished the bag off today. Hopefully I don't get a beer gut because I don't even drink the stuff.

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

I ordered some new plants today

Nowher, where did you order from?

My Scapes

I ordered from aquariumplants.com. In the fall I think they were a little behind on some orders because of the hurricanes but I think they're back to normal now. I'm going to call them up tomorrow just to make sure they ship right away.


EDIT: Just checked my order status on their website: order was shipped today. Yup, they're back to normal

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Yep, they are a good vendor. I got my regulator and my first round of plants from them. Last time I ordered from Aqua Botanic because they just happened to have some plants that I wanted to try.

My Scapes

I like those guys, I've tried other places but I always go back to them. Like I said, they had some supply problems that affected shipping times but they seem to be back to normal now.

Anyway, here goes nothing: a new tank shot. The DW is covered with a bit of java moss, which I plan on keeping shorn close to the branch once it grows in more. It's pretty wild now. The vals and the tenellus in from will be going once the new plants arrive. My idea is to go along with the right left slope and keep the plants around/below the DW quite low so the slope stays in tact. The DW kind of even keeps the slope shape if you look at it closely. What do ya think?



Attached Image:

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Nowher,
Looks goods You filled in the right corner. I can't get a feel from the pic, but does the new DW piece go from back to front. Also if the tips of the branches were going toward the front of the tank the ends covered with moss won't interfere with the plants crossing thru it.

Not sure why you put so much moss on the wood. Am I missing something here.

Are you going to move the intake? You could really put that in the right corner and put your return on the left or even on the left glass and have the glass diffusor right under it with a clear tubing.

I think your definitely on your way. Looking forward to seeing the new plants.

My Scapes

NowherMan6,

You made it sound so much worse than it is when you described the current tank status. But I understand this, as you are the one right in front of the tank with the face pressed against the glass and looking at every tiny imperfection .

I see the rock that holds your wood down and I also see the fresh cuts on the branches. How long did you soak it before you added it to the tank?

I also would suggest you copy tetratech and get his stealth CO2 tubing . I am sure he doesn't mind .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hey,

Thanks for the tips and comments.

I can't get a feel from the pic, but does the new DW piece go from back to front.

It goes right to left and back to front. I'll take a picture from the top down so you can get a better idea. Should've done that already

Not sure why you put so much moss on the wood. Am I missing something here

Well i made it very clear in earlier posts that when it comes to 'scaping with moss I'm quite clueless. My logic was, "take strands of moss. flatten them out. tie on with fishing line. rinse and repeat." I mean to eventually go through and trim off the hanging strands, but I figured I'd give it some time to grow in. I put so much moss on to begin with just to give it a good head start I guess. i want the branch to be pretty mossy eventually, that's why there's so much real estate on the wood itself dedicated to the moss. Is that what you meant?

In any case, it shouldn't interfere with plant growth because the plants in that area will be kept low.

Are you going to move the intake? You could really put that in the right corner and put your return on the left or even on the left glass and have the glass diffusor right under it with a clear tubing.

No plans on moving anything right now There's limited space behind and beneath the tank as it is, I had to use all my powers to fit the cannister filter with UV hook-up, plus the CO2 set up in the cabinet, and this way allows me to do it cleanly. Frankly the intake doesn't bother me that much and the diffuser will have rotala growing in front of it so that'll be hidden in no time.

As for the tubing, do you mean clear tubing or "stealth" tubing as LF calls it, like so. If you mean the second one, I'm not sure this is CO2 proof, so I'm wary of trying it...neat idea though.

I see the rock that holds your wood down and I also see the fresh cuts on the branches. How long did you soak it before you added it to the tank?

Yes yes I know, the cut in the branch. It's not really a fresh cut, more like a break. As in, I broke a piece off while taking it out of my closet Hopefully that blemish will be covered in java moss before too long.

I soaked it for a day, drained the tub, scrubbed it in bleach solution, rinsed, soaked for 2 days with a triple dose of Prime. There was also one little piece that I had to cut off, it's on the front poking low branch.


Thanks again for the encouragement.

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Back in the saddle!

I broke a piece off while taking it out of my closet

At least you didn't buy the wood on eBay for $500 .

I like the idea of having a wood fully covered in moss, as seen often in Amano tanks. But on the other hand, plain wood looks very good as well and sticks out more from the surrounding vegitation .

I guess a rule could be (who am I to make rules ) that driftwood branches surrounded by vegitation should stay blank, branches that are in the open can be covered.

Or something like that

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I guess a rule could be (who am I to make rules ) that driftwood branches surrounded by vegitation should stay blank, branches that are in the open can be covered.

Actually that makes perfect sense, and it's what i figured anyway. The tall plants will be on the right, sloping downward-ish. The branchy DW the plan is not to have it poking out of vegitation, but have the plants below it/ around it kindof, and semi-cover the branches in moss.

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Back in the saddle!

Update:

Made some plant additions yesterday. First, remember that little unknown plant that was sprouting up in the front glass? Well, turns out it was a crypt wendtii, rising from the dead I decided to get him a few friends, which are now planted on the left where the tenellus used to be. They look pretty nice with the rocks in the background.

I also added some pennywort to the left corner - probably a temporary move. Once it grows out I may leave it as a floating plant - with the idea being to leave some cover for the sparkling gourami, maybe it'll keep them up in the tank level, since the other plants in that section of the tank will be kept low.

The "make or break" plant I added is Hemianthus micranthemoides. I wasn't sure if my light levels were enough for it (everywhere I read says medium to high light...) But I thought I'd make a go of it anyway. I don't need it to stay all that low, I know I don't have the light to make it creep along the bottom, but if it grows at all and stays healthy I'm going to prune it to keep it 5-6" or so tall. I just noticed Dr. Bonke has some in his tank that's growing the way I'd like mine to (shorter actually) and he has lighting similar to mine, so that gives me some hope for now. In my tank it's planted at the base of and around the branchy driftwood (but I was careful not to put any under the DW, trying to give it max light), giving it a "green meadow" look. It's pretty neat, actually, and if I can get it to grow and stay relatively healthy I may have a nice look on that side of the tank on my hands. If that happens I'd like it to go all the way to the back of the tank, keeping that side low and completing the slope idea you guys have been mentioning. The other bit of encouraging news is that it started pearling nicely after being planted - but I guess all plants do that after being in a dark box for 24 hrs. In the mean time I'm going to stick some seachem root tabs underneath it and keep N up a little higher than normal, like tetra did with his startgrass - I've read HM isn't that great of a competitor for macros, so I'll do all i can to give it a good shot. Pics to come later tonight when I can resize.

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NowherMan6,

I like my Amano Pearl Grass a lot, it grows nicely (although not flat either), not too fast, is easy to trim, and doesn't give me any trouble when I have to replant the tops (stays nicely anchored in the substrate). Good move, although now everyone will say that I copied my layout from your as I intend to use it similar than you and the good Dr.

Can't wait for the picture,

Ingo

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NowherMan6,

The Hemianthus Micranthemoides is in my tank very easy to grow; even during the times when I didn't take very good care of the tank and had it completely overgrown, the Hemianthus grew like a weed. It grew upwards, not sideways, but growing it did I'm sure it'll do fine in your tank as well. When it starts growing up instead of sideways, just take out the scissors and cut away the offending sprouts

Martin

Thanks LF and Doc. That makes me feel a little better already. I'm excited to see how it grows.

Good move, although now everyone will say that I copied my layout from your as I intend to use it similar than you and the good Dr.

Meh, we're all copying from Amano somehow so it's no big deal... and he's copying from nature so.. everybody does it

But seriously, I think we're going to use it a little differently. since the left side of my tank will be kept low I envision this plant going from front to back, keeping the whole side low. Yours, as with Dr. Bonke, I would think would be put in front of other taller plants, no?

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Yours, as with Dr. Bonke, I would think would be put in front of other taller plants, no?

I guess so, at least right now I see it somewhere in the new driftwood jungle

Ingo

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It's too pretty to leave out. Such nice small leaves. Now I see why bensaf is sometimes preaching about small leaves on plants, and how it makes the aquarium look better

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NowherMan6 is in love, how cute

Small leaved plants are nice, but I would say that larger tanks need larger leaved plants as well in order to come together.

Ingo

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Small leaved plants are nice, but I would say that larger tanks need larger leaved plants as well in order to come together.

Fair enough, but for those of us without 125s small leaved plants suit us much better

And even in a large tank, a amazon sword would still be a behemoth in terms of root system and the size and width of leaves. I guess it's all relative

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Now I see why bensaf is sometimes preaching about small leaves on plants

Preaching ???


Educating, my friend, educating

Can I help it if you guys are slow learners

Or maybe you just think Uncle Ben is some old duffer full of hot air who wanders around muttering stuff to himsel while looking for his mis-placed pom poms ?

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

nice looking tank Nowherman

i'm thinking of going for moss on my large piece of bogwood - i'll first see how you get on!

what is the best way to tie it down? without having it wire etc on show?

long long does it take to take hold of the bogwood?

Karl

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

NowherMan6,

Looking nice. I can see a triangle

Shekoi - I would tie it down with a cotton string, preferrably one that is dark brown or dark green and blends in. The thread is supposed to desintigrate after a few weeks (months), but mine so hasn't done that. Also, check out this rather short thread of My 29G. Here you will be able to see all from the addition of moss to wood, through its haydays, to a recent breakdown and a new start .

Ingo

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OK, so i said i was goign to put up pics last night, but who knew beer could taste so good watching a nice hockey game at my local?

Bottom line is, i came home a little under the weather, shall we say, so processing pcitures wasn't as high on my list of priorities as "eat leftovers" and "go to sleep"

So without further blathering, here are some pics.

NOTE: please disregard the green spot algae on the glass, haven't given it a scrub in a few weeks. I guess my phosphates are too high... or not high enough... either way, they're not juuuust right...

This first one I think gives the best shot of the left side layout with the height of the HM etc. I like it



another:



And one more, a pearling shot:

HM.jpg" border="0">

Now for a few harley shots. Most of the males were gorgeous looking, all colored up with great sheen to them:



this one's a little blurry, but you can still see the neat schooling group:





And finally, one of what I think is the dominant male, far more red than anyone else. Compare him to the first harley pic - both are males, but this guy is almost solid red.



Any comments welcome as always.


P.S. holy crapola, that green spot algae is bad!
i didn't realize it til I posted the pics so large Rest assured, a good cleaing is in order tonight

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I love them

Nice pictures NowherMan6,

I was waiting for you all night to post the pictures so I can add one of mine, but now I am at work and it would have to wait until tonight and by then the thread has probably moved on .

Ingo

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Thanks LF. I'll try to take a full tank shot tonight so peopel can see how the whole layout looks. But do you see what I mean with the low HM around the wood? I'd eventually like to have it take up the entire area back to the glass to cmplete the "meadow" effect.

And are you mad?!?! Post those pictures of the espei here if you want! I think it would make for a cool comparison of the two closely related species to get pics of them close together. If I remember, there's at least one male of yours who's always lit up very dark red like mine, right?

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Nowher and LF,

You guys should post some of your pictures up in the profiles for your fish. You have great pictures and the profiles are lacking.

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

Thanks Wings. I was actually toying with the idea of doing that very thing since I noticed now you can just upload your photos straight away rather than sending them to someone to review. Makes it easier to submit them, though I'm sure they still get reviewed before going up there. I really like the first harley pic I posted above, I have to try to PS that spot algae out of there though!

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NowherMan6,

I don't think I am mad

Will post one tonight then

Wings, I submitted an Espei Picture a few days back, I have no idea what happened to it or how to check.

Ingo

EDIT: And I think you are right on with "who is the boss"

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I have noticed the same thing with my common harlies, one male has deeper coloring, he is also the one usually 'on point'. The rest hang back in the current and watch him, suddenly they'll all swarm over and they'll all be together for a bit then they go back to where they were. It's fascinating to watch!

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

Given that my group is a little larger than any mentioned by you folks, I have more than one male who colors up quite a bit. I think there is one though that adds a little bit extra color.

Having them "fight" for the Boss title is a nice thing to observe, I wish people were like that. Never does anyone get hurt, just show off how great you look, compare with the other, and win or lose, it is that easy .

Here is a male on an average day (couln't get him at his best):

Attached Image:

Male Espei

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Nice pic, LF thanks for posting it. When they color up like that they look very similar to male cherry barbs, I think.

And now I will counter with a pic of my own -





I got 8 of them last night. One didn't make it through the night, but the rest were very healthy and nicely settled in my morning. They were even eating, so that's a good sign. I'm thinking of getting a few more of these guys eventually. They're so graceful, haven't colored up yet but I saw flashes of it here and there.

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www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Nice algae NowherMan6

You got 8? Wow, that is quite a load.

I have followed your thread about them rather closely but I don't remember if their sozial behavior was discussed when in such a large group on a rather small space.

Being Gouramies after all, I would have thought that this will cause problems.

Ingo

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Sparkling gourami are actually pretty social for gourami. Everything I've read about them suggests keeping them in groups of at least three. Just from watching them for a few minutes this morning they interact with one another, never any aggression - and they're so small! The only way I could count them all was when i dropped some food in the water - then they all floated up from their spots in the plant mass. They're about the size of my rasboras, I think the harlies actually have more mass to them, and the sparkling gourami only get 1.5 inches, give or take. Plus in that thread I started about them a few people noted they have 5 or 6 in 20gallons tanks - CoryAddict even said she thought that many could go in a well planted 10.

Very very cool fish - I'm even considering using them in my 7 gallon set up instead of those hard to come by dwarf rasbora. We'll see.

As for the algae, I know I said i would clean the glass, but tonight is the night. You know you're a plant nerd when you stay home on a friday night to clean the glass and do a water change

Something funky is going on in my tank right now, everything just seems off. There's bits of BGA popping up, plant growth is very slow, lots of spot algae on the glass, soft green algae growing other places. Nitrates were kind of high on my test kit, which i don't necessarily trust - I think I need another big WC to reset everything.

I can honestly trace this back to that long weekend I took when i didn't dose anything for 4-5 days. Something dropped out and threw everything off. Plants haven't been the same.

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Back in the saddle!

and thanks for the harley pic, shekoi, nice shot

New premie colors there, i see...

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Hm, hope all gets better NowherMan6

Shekoi, congrats on being a premie , I commented on your picture already in your thread

About Harlies of all kinds (regular and espei, at least): as much as I love them and all, don't you guys agree that they have a face that looks like they are really grumpy? Like something it ticking them off and they are muttering some curses that only fish can understand.

Ingo

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Like so...





Attached Image:

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Hillarious

Ingo

PS: I take it you agree with me then

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Attached Image:

Grumpy Old Man

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Completely agree with you. I noticed the same thing - they're not happy and playful, it looks like they're always frowning.


When I saw your second post the first thing i saw was the file name "grumpy old man" and for a second I thought you were going to post a picture of Bensaf

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"grumpy old man" and for a second I thought you were going to post a picture of Bensaf

Oi, less of the old there if you don't mind

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Mine are plotting to take over the world! It's serious business world domination!

"It's Pinky, Pinky and the Brain!"

The betta gets to be pinky.

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

OK, SuperBowl sunday update:


Did a good front glass scrubbing, removed the ludwigia group, which was covered in a bit of BGA. Sparkling gourami continue to to do well and to impress. Great little fish!


Also measured CO2... my ph was around 6.2, maybe under , so CO2 was VERY high, probably far higher than I needed - maybe that's what was causing some algae problems?

Anyway, it just goes to show you how well those glass diffusers work, here I'm running the thing and it's emptying the bubbles straight up, not hitting the filter outflow or anything, or plants for that matter, and I'm getting huge levels of saturation. Amazing.

Here's a pic. As you can see I'm continuing to work with the right side to get the sloping back up. Cath you all after the game!

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Looking like a triangle

Hey, what is your current KH?

You must have loads of CO2 with a ph of 6.2 or less.

Ingo

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Nice pictures LF and Nowher! By the way its about time that you cleaned your glass! Now we can see that your tank is looking pretty darn good.

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

maybe that's what was causing some algae problems?

Most definately not. Low Co2 yes, high Co2 nope.It's always in favor of the plants.

Tests can be inaccurate, as can the KH/pH table. If the fish aren't stressed it's fine and you more then likely have less co2 then you think.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Tests can be inaccurate, as can the KH/pH table. If the fish aren't stressed it's fine and you more then likely have less co2 then you think.

That is so true. Do you really think you know exactly what your ph is with a standard test kit? Your PH might be 6.2 but it might also be 6.5. that is big difference in your co2 number and if your kh is off by .5 or 1.0 than you could be way off. As Bensaf said you could really push it and see where it affects the fish. Remember high co2 does not displace o2, so with the co2 going in you should have more o2 coming off the plants.

My Scapes

Well I have to say, the fish never showed signs of stress. No gasping or anything of that nature. I thought they were OK, but when i saw the test results I kinda freaked.

My other question has to do with EI. I was re-reading the article and I'm not sure what's meant by "Inhibition" on this chart, taken from Tom Barr's website:

http://www.barrreport.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=34

Does this mean that if there's too much N, for example, plant growth will actually slow?

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I think this is what that means, but I can't explain it right (at all).

I would assume for the too much light part: Once you reach really high lights then you would need tremendous amounts of ferts and CO2 to keep up with it. And that would not be feasible in a tank.

And for the Nutrient Part: I think to remember that too many nutrients create a blocking effect on the plants ability to take them up.

That's what I think, at least.

Ingo

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And for the Nutrient Part: I think to remember that too many nutrients create a blocking effect on the plants ability to take them up.

Interesting. I think I had been dosing too much KNO3. I may be overthinking here, but a few days back I posted that there was somethign weird about my plants, they just didnt look as lush as they used to. Well before my last WC I measured N (I know, test unreliable etc.) but basically the color was in the neighborhood of bright red, which generally speaking is high. Did the WC and dosed less N than normal and after a day I've noticed a marked growth spurt in every plant, particularly the HM. So whatever was going on, the WC helped take care of it. I wonder if it was too much N, but I guess I'll never know...

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Only seeing the chart I can't put in context.

But, yes , some nutrients will cause problems at high levels. Toxicity becomes an issue. How high those levels are is hard to say Mr.Barr thinks they are pretty high , over 100ppm. But these vary from plant to plant. Rotalas can be a bit touchy about high NO3.

High levels of certain nutrients, No3, Mg maybe K will cause issues with the plants uptake of other nutrients. You can end up with a plant looking like it's deficient in conditions where one particular nutrient is very rich.

Some plants don't too well in high GH, ie lots of Ca/Mg.

But I think is point is the range for deficiency is very narrow whereas the range before we hit toxicity problems is very very wide. Much wider then we need with our typical dosing.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Just to open another door here:

It could also be that your water change added a bunch of goodies (micros and phosphates) that have been missing and that is why it was growing better after the new water was added.

Ingo

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But I think is point is the range for deficiency is very narrow whereas the range before we hit toxicity problems is very very wide. Much wider then we need with our typical dosing.

Right, which is why it's probably very unlikely that I slipped into one of those inhibition ranges. It just made me think for a second, that's all. The important thing is the plants seem to be doing better.

LF, I was thinking this myself, but I know I've been adding flourish and the occasional 1ml phosphate (once a week, if that) pretty consistently... if it were the case that the WC helped out then I guess I'm not adding enough of these things It's hard to fight the "be cautious with ferts" bug...

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Pic update time. First, a new full tank shot to show the growth over the past week compared to the week before. The triangle shape is starting to fill in a bit more now, nice!





The white-balance in the second one is off, looks kinda weird, but it is what it is The HM has filled in nicely around the branch, but the wisteria is threatening to pull a tetra on me and spread across the entire bottm

And now, in addition to the shots found in my thread in photobooth, I want to post some sparkling gourami pics. They've really colored up over the past few days, that's what feeding omega one and NLS will do, I guess They really are great fish, fast becoming my favorites. Lots of personality, they can hold their own but they're quite peaceful... and they croak like tiny little frogs after lights out. I hear them when I'm laying in bed, I want to see if I can cath them in the act some time, see if it's territorial or what. Very glad i got them



This one below is my favorite shot, maybe one of my favorite aquarium shots. Shows their personaility real well, how they hang in and around the plants, peeping in and out. Love the beautiful reddish ring around the blue eye as well:




(p.s. - see what I mean about shallow depth of field? The head is in focus, the mid body is not, that's less than a centimeter away!)

And some more, showing the great colors:

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NowherMan6,

Nice growth, but we really have to work on that GREEN filter intake and the oh-so-visible BLUE CO2 tubing .

What is the plant that appears to be floating on the top right?

And nice shots of the frogs, eh - sparklers .

Ingo

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LIKE THIS:

Attached Image:

Hide Them

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Thanks, LF. Growth is coming along nicely after a little hitch. The wisteria leaves and HUGE and lush.

The plant you mention that's floating the Pennywort. The gourami love it, hanging out under the leaves and nibbling on the hanging roots. I'm goign to try to keep it on the opposite side from where it is now, it makes the right side look messy. A floating lily pad type effect would be nice on the open left side.

As for the equipment, let me say this: I'm one of those people who always roots for the wrong people in the movies (I was pro-Jack Nicholson alll the way in "A Few Good Men", for example) thus, I always learn the wrong lesson from a situation. The lesson i learned from your comments and picture isn't to move them so they're less visiable - now I'm just going to photoshop them out of all subsequent update pics so that you and tetra don't complain Everybody wins!

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Nice growth, but we really have to work on that GREEN filter intake and the oh-so-visible BLUE CO2 tubing

Nowher has no interest in coming to the darkside.
I don't understand why they make that co2 tubing in that green color and eheim purposely makes the intake in that color so you buy the super deluxe intake kit that you bought LF.



My Scapes

Seriously, I'll think about moving the intake to the other side. my major concern is that this will create a huge dead zone on the other side as there will be NO movement whatsoever over there down low.

As for the tubing, i've seen black stealth tubing but I don't know if it's CO2 proof. If anyone can confirm this for me I'll be the first to go for it.

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Nowher,

BTW - Tank looks great. It's on it's way to being a real beauty.

I'm actually using you basic "Lee's Black Stealth tubing" with my diffusor right now. You could probably see it in my diffusor pic. It seems to be fine. It will probably breakdown over time. Right now I have a wall of tiny bubbles coming out so I'm not concerned.



My Scapes

super deluxe intake kit that you bought LF

Actually, I didn't buy any extra kit. I ordered my Eheim from Big Al's and they had a special on a complete setup with extra media and the new filter kits (intake and spraybar). All together was barely more expensive that a plain filter on most other sites.

NowherMan6 - the one thing I see is that your driftwood will very soon be consumed by your plants and become invisible in the tank (maybe except for that one branch that sticks out towards the front). Anyone else sees that?

Ingo

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Yes, I noticed this as well. It seems to me more and more that the java moss has to go, which is a shame because it's starting to come in a lot better now. If the branch was bare it would contrast much more with the plants and thus would be more noticable. The moss makes it blend in too much, especially when viewed from the front. The HM covering the base of the branch, if you remember, will be trimmed to keep it at about the same height it is now, so most of the branch will be exposed. Good comment though, LF

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I bet you could play around with the wood alittle so there is enough of a clear spot between the plants and the moss to make it work, especially toward the left end of the tank where the plant mass is less.

My Scapes

Just one thing to report now, and I started a thread about it in the hospital forum. if anyone has any ideas, let me know. Basically one of my sparkling gourami has developed this lump on the right side. Pics below:







More info in the Hospital thread, so if anyone has ideas feel free to let me know. Thanks

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Wow,

This is quite a big lump.

I will check the Hospital Thread, but probably can't say anything that would help (sorry).

Ingo

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Yeah, so far the only thing said is that it could be cancer - which begs the question, should I just put it down?

The wild card in all this is that I have the UV running, so how could it couldn't have been anything free-floating that caused it. That means it came in with the fish, but I didn't notice anything wrong with any when i got them, and they had been at the store for a few weeks under observation.

I'm very confused

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I would think it's bacterial, but the strings throw me off.
Sorry to hear about your fish, but it brings up a question. With a UV running is there any advantage to a quarantine tank.



My Scapes

Sorry to hear about your fish, but it brings up a question. With a UV running is there any advantage to a quarantine tank.

I would think so, for two main reasons:

1.) if the fish dies when I'm not there, whatever parasites/ bacteria could be passed along if the other fish eat the body

2.) any parasites in the fish's droppings could still be "mouthed" and spat back out by the loaches, still transferring the nasties to the fish.

I guess I'll set up a little Q tank. I just wish i knew if it was bacterial/ parasitic. The white thing hanging out of the fish is droppings, it fell off yesterday. White stringy droppings usually mean parasites, but it could just be from any infection. I've been treating with Metro. in case it is parasites, I've never had a problem with metro. affecting other fish negatively. I don't want to just start dosing anything though...

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NowherMan6,

As harsh as it sounds, I am not in the mood anymore to care for severly sick fish. I went through too many worries over my Neons that eventually died anyway. If I see one of my fish having dropsy (happened to some Platies a while back) or beginning to separate from the group and becoming pale (the Neons) then it is Good-Bye.

Your situation is a little different as your Gouramie is, based on your description, active and feeds well. If nodody soon suggests some fail safe treatment (or at least a 100% ID), then you may want to consider going my way.

Sorry,

Ingo

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As harsh as it sounds, I am not in the mood anymore to care for severly sick fish. I went through too many worries over my Neons that eventually died anyway

Yep, I'm in the same state of mind, although a gourmai is more substantial (from a treating standpoint) than a neon, but I do agree with LF. If I may quote a famous line "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few ".

My Scapes

No, believe me, I'm in your camp, and I appreciate the advice. Right now the gourami isn't hurting anyone else in the tank, and is definetely still feeding/ alert etc. I think the situation deserves at least a few more days of observation and treatment. My biggest concern is that it could be fish TB

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Looks like an ulcer or tumor of some sort. Lost a Blue Gourami to something similar a while back. It started like that and eventually burst and turned into an open sore.

I had to put the fish down, had her over a year and was my favorite fish at the time But never found a way to treat it and she looked really miserable.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Nowhere,

One of my sparkling gourami had a similar lump, except it was more centered, right below the gills. He was eating and acting normally otherwise as yours did for a few days, then he was isolating himself more and more before I found him dead one morning. I didn't treat him with anything though (I don't have access to internal medicines). I hope in your case the Metro works. Also, I'm not sure if quarantining will do any good, because if it's internal parasite (which I suspect it is), then it's probably already in the other fishes in the tank. Sad to say, but I've never had a sparkling gourami that last more than a couple of months. All died similarly: fine one day, then suddenly isolating itself/not eating before expiring. The frustrating thing was that I don't think I could've done anything different to prevent the deaths.

Anyways, sorry I didn't mean to be overly pessimistic. Best of luck with yours!


-P

Thanks bensaf and upikabu. I guess things don't look too good for my little sparkling gourami

upikabu, it's funny you mention that yours went into hiding more and more, because last night I noticed mine was always the last to come out of the plant mass at feeding time, and the first to go back in, seems it's isolating itself a little bit.

Also tried feeding it junglemeds anti-bacterial food. They went after it at first but snubbed it later. Sigh. Spoiled picky fish

I'll see how she looks after the weekend, if it gets worse or no improvement then, well... gourami heaven.

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NowherMan6,

What's the word on the Gouramie?

Ingo

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Hey LF,

I actually just put her down this morning

She didn't respond to any meds, metro., melafix etc. The bulg got bigger and was opening up a sore on her right side. Don't know how to explain it but she just looked unhappy and disoriented. Didn't come a beg at the front glass during feeding, just hung out on top by herself. She looked uncomfortable so I just put her out of her misery. RIP little gourami.

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RIP,

You did well, NowherMan6

As sad as it is, if nothing helps then this is the way to go.

Still sorry though,

Ingo

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Thanks LF, the others seem to be OK for now, by the way.


Anyway, time for another pic update, it's been over a week. Did some trimming of the rotala and the wisteria, little bit of the bacopa. It's still working its way towards a shape right now. The only thing I haven't touched yet is the HM. It's taller than I want it to be right now, but Im waiting juuuust a bit longer before trimming and replanting the tops. The tops will be used to fill out the left side, behind the DW and rocks.

Another tank problem ahs come up, see this thread. Any ideas?

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Back in the saddle!

Well, another pic series. Here we see a form of nasty algae that has started taking over. Is this hair algae or staghorn? I know I have plenty of NO3 in the tank, as well as detectable ammonia. Actually, the reason I checked for ammonia was that this stuff started to grow wild... and we know KNO3 doesn't cause algae... CO2 is also quite high. I have been adding some Flourish iron once a week, just a bit though. Does excess iron cause this stuff?





And finally, a shot of the one fish I've never shown before. Yes, that's right - the elusive BN. For some reason he came out yesterday evening, as usual, only cleaning his piece of DW and not touching the rest of the tank. Lousy mooching BN...

Anyway, I always wondered if anyone could give me a definitive yes or no on whether this is a male or female. I know females sometimes have bristles, and even though he is well over a year old - I imagine more like 2, he was big when I got him - his bristles seem small for a male, no branching like you normally see with males. Any input aprpeciated

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Back in the saddle!

NowherMan6,

Looks like Staghorn to me. Hair usually does not branch within the thread and this one seems to do that.

I guess it could be caused by the Ammonia (most likely) and maybe by the Iron. I found all the previous discussion about Iron levels rather vague and non-convincing . While all agree that some raised level would most likely not be bad, nobody seemed to have had a clear idea of how much is safe and what happens after that point is crossed. Plus a reliable and affordable Iron Kit does not seem to exist.

Bristlenose, know nothing about them.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

They should rename these fish from BN to BM

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All this is making me realize that I wish I had stocked my tank differently when starting out. I guess I didn't realize how strong the pull of a planted tank would be, as that's the part that comes first now, rather than the fish if I had known I certainly wouldn't have gone after such large waste producing fish such as the yo-yos and BN. Ah well, live and learn I suppose.

LF, you're right about the iron causing hair algae or staghorn, info is sketchy at best. Most of th einfo I've found usually goes something like this: Control your nutrients... as if that means anything to me now I do control my nutrients, thank you very much... lacking a better explanation I'll blame the ammonia, which seems to be climbing my you-know-what list by the month

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Back in the saddle!

All this is making me realize that I wish I had stocked my tank differently when starting out. I guess I didn't realize how strong the pull of a planted tank

Congrats! Your moving from Mega Fish to Mega Plant!

Most aquarists are into fish first and the plants are the support, but I for us (well for me) now the fish are the support. That's why in certain setups you will only see one big school of small fish because it looks better with that look. I did the same thing. When I started my old 46g planted I started buying al kinds of dwarf plecos and BNs. Then I put in hairgass and they ruined it. Look at Amano, he has little shrimp and little otos. I don't think you even see corys alot, if it all.

More mass and a stronger bio-filter. Add more eheim substrate to the filter if you can. Put in the Purigen if it's not in all ready and yes add more floaters and mass. I wouldn't dose EM to solve the problem. Do water changes twice a week for a while. When I started to get BGA in my 12g I added as much eheim substrate from 72g into my HOB filter on the 12g, keep shoving wisteria into the tank and did twice a week water changes for a while and the tank is completely clean of BGA and the only alage is alittle spot.

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Nowher,
When we were discussing NH3 spikes in my log it made me think of something that might have caused your spike. I think you said you were treating BGA chemically. If it was successful and killed off your BGA. What do you think is released into the water from dead BGA? Yes that's correct, NH3, so even if the EM didn't kill your biofilter there might have been an NH3 spike from alot of dead BGA.

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