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breeding fish is always a good sign, and great pictures. The two types will make an interseting pattern if you get fry.

-Vincent

Congratulations Garry!

this is very exciting, I hope you will have hatchlings

Week 6 Update

This week I have stayed out of the tank except for the water change (as promised)
I took Ingo's advice and trimmed & replanted 2 Giant Hygro stems that had reached the surface .
I will have to do the same again this week as the other 3 stems have now reached as well .
The Hairgrass is showing some die off in the centre of the plants , however it continues to spread,even underneath the Tennulus.
It has also sent out what appear to be seeds from a number of plants .
The Water Sprite has taken off this week and will require a trim very shortly .
The Wisteria has sent out a lot of different shaped leaves from the area that has been trimmed , which I've seen reported in other peoples logs .

On the fish front , no new additions this week and the only major interest was from the Angels .
The Breeders were not succesfull in getting any of their brood to wriggler stage . It appears they have a lot to learn .
They certainly defended the area very well however , even when I tried to get a couple of eggs .
I've never been bitten by one of my fish before . Quite an experience .

Thats it for this week , the plan for next week is to trim a few more plants and to add a few more fish .

On to the photos , firstly the tank as it was last week

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Full Tank this Week

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The Right Side of the tank , which shows Giant Hygro reaching the surface again , and the other Hygro in the centre reaching as well .

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Left side

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Down the river under the driftwood

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The Water Sprite , also showing the Pennywort growing well now its not shaded .

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The Hairgrass spreading under the Tennulus

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The Hairgrass sending off seeds ?? I think .

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Thats it for the plants this week . A couple of fish shots to finish . First one of the Gold Angels .

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And of course one of "Miss Molly" who continues to grow very fast . Best shot yet .

Thanks again for all your contributions and Help.

Garry

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Those "hairgrass seeds" are actually weed. They will overtake the tank if you arent careful.
I noticed some in one of my tanks a couple of months ago and now pull out handfuls on a weekly basis.
It is a pain because it anchors itself and breaks apart very easily.

Get rid of it quickly.

Good luck

Hi Country,
My only comment is that it's time to "get rid" of that
apparatus in the background. Some stem plants or something
that will grow to hide that ugly stuff...

Frank


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

You've had a lot of growth this week and your Angels (even if they do need more practice) have signalled their approval by laying. Better luck next time.

Cheers
TW

Dangerous Dave , Interesting . Do you mean that the Hairgrass grew like a weed ? I'm not sure that would be a problem
Can you expand a bit ?

Frank , yes I know . Its a temporary solution so I suppose you are right I should put up a screen of temporary stems
untill I can get time to fix up the UV to the cannister.
Thanks for reminding me .

Thanks Robyn, Hopefully they will keep their enthusism untill I get my breeding tanks set up next year

Unlike activated carbon, Purigen does not leach out phosphate or remove trace elements

Ingo , One for you . You asked where I saw the comments on Carbon leaching P . Above is a comment from the Seachem site .
I've also seen it on several other forums which I can't seem to locate now .
I've still got high P readings (+10ppm)even after not using Neutral regulator for 6 weeks. Only used at set up, not since and I do have carbon in the Cannister.
May be right ?
I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary to reduce the P levels . Just going to wait it out .
I'm not using any buffers at all at the moment and interestingly my KH is remaining fairly stable around 4 or 5
and the PH has reduced slightly from 7.2 to 7.0 over the 6 weeks .
I'm not drawing any conclusions as yet , just observations .

Garry

What I am saying is that what you have a photo of is not hairgrass seed. It is just a weed that has hooked itself on to your hairgrass.
In fact, it will hook itself on any plant and grow in clumps.
I would get rid of it ASAP before it gets right through your tank.
Be careful when you pull it out as it will break apart easily.

Garry,

DangerousDave is right. I have the same myerious growth in one of my tanks and there is absolutely no hairgrass in it! The plant is very resistant to abusive treatment like pulling out and it prospers there for several months now (happily growing ...). No idea where it came from

I also used to have this stuff in my tank. At one point I had a link that told me what it was. If I remember right it was a type of algae.

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

Thanks Guys , I will search & destroy .

Garry

Garry,

I did spend a little (that I did not really have) on the Seachem website and searched for the quote above with regards to the Phosphate leaching. I could not find it, please link to the page directly. I checked the Purigen product page and it's FAQ page, not a word about activated carbon leaching P (but you quoted it so it must be there somewhere). I found some reference on the Matrix Carbon product page, in detail:

"While all carbons contain phosphate, regardless of false claims to the contrary, MatrixCarbon has the lowest detectable leachable phosphate content of all major carbon brands tested."

And

"Leachable Phosphate <0.00001 g/cc"

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Week 7 Update .

Not a lot of activity of the good kind this week . Unfortunatley I ran out of Pottassium this week so the Fert Schedule went slightly out of wack .
Seems to be a lack of Seachem ferts in this part of the world at the moment ( I'm sick of the word's "Back Order".)

Algae growth ,both Green and Black is starting to get to be more than I would like .
Still haven't made any changes to lighting or Ferts to address it .
My Phospate level is still too high which could be the problem ,I haven't added any phosphate to the tank.
It appears to be lightening off by the colour of the test solutions .
I know these things are hardly very accurate, but I'm reluctant to add more phosphate when the test tells me that the level is +10ppm.
The Fert Schedule is Excel everyday, N, P, K twice a week , Flourish twice a week , Iron 3 times aweek and Traces once a week.
Light is 11/ 12 Hours per day .
If anyone has any suggestions , they would be appreciated .

As far as plant growth is concerned , most the fast growers ( Giant Highgrow, Highgrow, Water Sprite )were trimmed during the week .
As you will see from the photos they look like nothing was done so the growth has been substantial again .
The Crypts are very pleasing as they all look very healthy .
The Tennulus and Hairgrass are powering ahead and I have added a whole field of Tennulus to the 60g .
The Amazons continue to put out lots of new leaves as well as spikes with babies ( Most of which I'm putting in the 60g until they get some more size ).
I've let some of the Ceratopteris Pteroides float to the surface . It has powered on both there and in the substrate.
Both Ludwigia's appear to be colouring up as the weeks go on although growth is quite slow .
The Java Fern and the Anubia's continue to be very slow as expected but the Annubia Barteri appear to be starting to put on some growth .
The Unknown plants in the river seem to be recovering as well . Older leaves are dying off but some new leaves appearing and doing well .

I cleaned the Fluval and the Sponge this week which is always a mistake . Dumb me .
The Fluval was putting out micro bubbles which was annoying me greatly .
So I pulled it apart and gave it the once over . Of course all the media was cleaned in Tank water .
I must say that the pump out function and the arrangement of the baskets made this much easier than with the Eheim on the other tank.

On the Fish front , we have 2 pairs of Angels breeding this week , none of the eggs survived for more than a day .
No fish were added and all seem very healthy .
Have not seen the BN for a week but there are plenty of places to hide .

On to the Photos , firstly the tank as of last week .

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Full Tank , this week

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The Right Side

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The Left Side

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Down the River

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On to some detail shots of the plants .
First the Annubia B.

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Amazon Baby

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The Ceratopteris Pteroides floating . The Gouramis like to hide under it .
Obviously gives them a feeling of safety from above .

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The Crypts and Unknown plants both doing well

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Giant Highgrow , some of those stems are the trimmed ones from a couple of weeks ago reaching the surface again .

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Hairgrass area showing great spread , but the centre of each plant can easily seen to be black from either Algae or die back . Its hard to tell which , only time will tell .

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Highgrow in the centre of the tank taking off again after trimming

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Ludwigia on the Left colouring up

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The Tennulus Field . I am thinking of pulling the Hairgrass out of this area as suggested by Tetra .
Its growing ok but you have to look closly to see it . Might move it to another spot .
Will be a difficult job as it has spread quite a lot in spite of the tennulus over growing it .

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The Water Sprite , growing again after trimming

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Close up of the Ludwigia Ovalis , showing good colour as well as some new growth

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Last Plant shot for this week showing the Pennywort getting squeesed between the Water Sprite and Wisteria . Will need to trim both again this week

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On to the Wildlife . First a couple of shots of the biggest group in the tank . Snails

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Another, showing a group working on Algae . I Hope!!!!!

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A few Fishies , firstly showing some facinating Angel Breeding behaviour .
First the Female Angel depositing eggs

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Another of the Female Angel at work

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The Male following up

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The Male in full flight protecting the breeding site

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One of the other Males who doesn't have a partner . Looks a little sad to me .??!!!!

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Gold Female from the other pair protecting the other end of the tank

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The SAE's showing off again

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An Otto working over the Unknown plant . Still have 10 out of 14 of these little fellas . They all have fat bellys!

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Last shot for this week of the Female Angel looking a little forlorn after lossing all of her second lot of eggs.

Next week will see some more trimming of the fast growers as well as moving of the Hairgrass .
I will probably introduce some more residents from the other tank .

Thanks again .

Garry

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As always, great pictures, Garry. What happened t othe second batch of eggs? Got eaten by the other inhabitants?

Garry,

Looks like your plants are filling in really well. Quite fast for not doing any CO2. Though I know you are doing Excel which I have seen help the growth factor a lot myself.

Wonderful pictures too! I think you are giving LF a run for his money!

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

Garry,

All seems to be ok with the tank, that is good news.

Just two quick comments:

- Your fish shots are really nice, in particular the one with the Oto seems very 3 dimensional, great. Also, having caught the Angels while laying eggs is very special (to me, at least).

- Somehow I am a little uncertain about the plant you call Pennywort. Mine for sure looks different, larger leaves and growing up towards the surface much faster. Pennywort is in the family of Hydrocotyle and I have seen it labeled as Hydrocotyle ranunculoides and Hydrocotyle leucocephyla. Your plant though seems to me more like some form of Bacopa, or am I looking at the wrong plant?

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

What happened t othe second batch of eggs? Got eaten by the other inhabitants?

Cat ,Just dissappeared overnight . Not sure that the others could get near the way both pairs were defending their areas . So it may have been the parents . Who knows ?

Wonderful pictures too! I think you are giving LF a run for his money!

Thanks Wings , not sure I'll ever be in that class.

Somehow I am a little uncertain about the plant you call Pennywort,Your plant though seems to me more like some form of Bacopa, or am I looking at the wrong plant?

Ingo , you are looking at the right plant and you could be right . It's not the plant I ordered (substituted by the plant supplier) but it came labeled as "Green Pennywort"
That was one of the reasons I asked about the plants at the back corner of your tank as your Pennywort seemed to have much bigger leaves than mine .
LFS's around here are lucky to know if they are aquatic plants let alone the name ??????
When I look on line some Pennyworts and Bacopa look very similar ,Not sure myself ????

Thanks everyone for the compliments on the photo's .
We seem to have got the white balance & exposure pretty right now .
Just going to try to improve the depth of field with some tips Cassielia gave the other night .

Enjoy
Garry

Garry

Im in shock, that is a beautiful tank you have there. I cant believe how far it has come along. I hope that my 35 gallon will get looking like that at some point. Wow again.

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

beautiful photos mate- especially the angels. i love the river!

As always, enjoyed the pics. Agree with Ingo, the parents laying eggs is a special shot indeed.

Better luck next time wiht survivors.

Cheers
TW

Thanks folks for the nice comments .
Week 8 Update
This week as per my comments last week , I trimmed the Water Sprite , Wisteria &
Hygro quite hard. I also pulled most of the hairgrass out from under the Tennulus .
This left me the problem of where to put it .
I decided to let the Ceratopteris Pteroides just exist as a floater and replaced it in
the substrate at the front left with the hairgrass .
I placed some of the trimmed Giant Hygro Stems at the rear under the equipment .
All of the other plants continue to perform as expected except for the Amazons
whose new leaves are not getting the same height as the original leaves which are
all showing signs of rotting away .
I will probably trim a lot of the taller leaves in the next week or two.

As far as the Algae is concerned , there has been quite a lot of green spot
which I have mostly wiped off the glass and a little black algae on some of the plants .
Nothing that I'm overly concerned about at this stage .It does not seem to be growing
at an increased rate .I'm still interested in adjusting my Fert Schedule
( I posted it last week)if anyone has any ideas on anything that I haven't got quite right .


As I said last week, I introduced some new residents this week , most transfered from
the 60g .They are 2 Rainbows , 3 Golden Barbs and 2 Sharks . I also happened on
some Dwarf Loaches at one of my LFS's and I couldn't resist . They are such cute little guys .

The only sad news is we lost another Otto and still have not seen the BN ,he maybe gone as well .

On to the photos , the Full Tank as of last week .

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Full Tank this week

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Some detail shots of the plants , Firstly the Annubia Barteri which has some new leaves and looks to be coming on nicely .
But you can see some black algae .

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One of the Annubias on at the base of the Driftwood , also showing some black algae .

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THe Chain Sword field which looks pretty disturbed , the unavoidable result of removing the Hairgrass.

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Giant Hygro Stems planted to hide the Equipment for the time being

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The Giant Hygro reaching the surface again , I swear this stuff grows in the dark

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The New Hairgrass Area

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The Trimmed Wisteria

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The Water Sprite trimmed and showing the Bacopia/ Pennywort ?? and Ovalis growing nicely

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Just realised that I didn't post the Right and left side shots .
So here they are : Right Side

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The Left Side .
Thats it for the plants this week , next a few shots of the new residents .

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A few Fishy Photo's , The New Dwarf Loaches

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One of the Golden Barbs

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The Rainbow Shark

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The Red Tail Shark

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Lastly a couple of shots of the Rainbows , First one taken with the flash .

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This shot showing their more normal colours .

Thats it for this week , Thanks to everyone for the comments and if anyone has any ideas or suggestions please don't hesitate to let me know .

Enjoy
Garry

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Garry,

Sorry I havent visited in a while. I have been busy. But I am back to admire your log and work on my panda log

Anyway, the tank seems to be doing great, not sure what your algae problem is, seems the hairgrass is being affected the worst by it?

You have some great fish shots there! The barb shot was my favorite. Congrats on the loaches too, I want some.
What kind of camera do you have?(Lol you knwo how much I ned a new one, just seeing the kinds I like)

You arent afraid the floating plants will be shading the plants below it?

Any other plans for fish other than the ones in your 60? Or do you think they will just be a suprise like the loaches?

The chain sword seems to be proving itself a nice groundcover, I have been looking for a groundcover for my tank. Hairgrass is nice too.

Congrats on the angel spawns! Great pics of them too!

Looks great! Keep up the good work./:'

Ryan , Thanks for stopping by.

not sure what your algae problem is, seems the hairgrass is being affected the worst by it?

Yes well it appears so , not sure its a major issue as yet as that bit of Hairgrass is spreading well . We will see in time .

What kind of camera do you have?

Its a Cannon EOS 350D Digitial SLR.

You arent afraid the floating plants will be shading the plants below it?

I thought about that and did some pretty serious culling tonight actually . Will just have to keep on top of it I guess .
The Gourami's love to hide under it. So its good for them to feel safe

Any other plans for fish other than the ones in your 60?

No not at this stage . Once I get the Tigers , Big shark & George the Cockoo Cat out of the 60g I plan to redo the 60 as a small fish haven with a couple of big schools in a revised scape .
So I'll probably just let the big tank sit and settle for a few months .
We will see if I can do that though

Thanks for all your compliments , (I like the Goldy shot as well , looks like he's checking me out )

Garry

Spectacular, Garry! Are you still running this tank w/o CO2 injection? I am amazed by the healthy growth of the plants (despite the height of the tank and the initial concerns about enough light reaching down). The fish provide colorful contrasts and I like the Rainbow shark. how did you get the tenellus to form such a nice carpet?

Are you still running this tank w/o CO2 injection?

Cat Thats correct , I'm using Excel as my carbon source .

how did you get the tenellus to form such a nice carpet?

Well , thats what it did. All I did was plant it on the second tier on top of about 4 inches of Gravel with Florite as a middle layer and it just took off .
12 of them were planted about 4in apart .
I've had so many babies that I've started a carpet of them in the other tank .

I like my Sharks as well , even if they can be a bit crancky with each other at times , they never really hurt each other .

Thanks for dropping by

Garry

Garry

I use a Cannon XTI Rebel, i cant get those kind of shots out of my Tank. I dont know if its the light or what. However you have some beautiful specimens in your tank. I love how much your tank has to offer. I wish i could get the same kind of difference in my tank. Having a 35 Gallon is a bit restrictive.

Shane

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

you gotta get some snakeskin gouramis!

theyre the best looking gouramis you can get n you got enough room for them!!

otherwise your tank n fish are mad.

Fishmonster , Well thats a pretty good camera , but once you take your shot
it comes down to the software you use to manage the Jpeg file .
You want to go for an 800x 800 pic size and you need to get it under 98kb .
The way to do that is to increase the file compression . There should be an
option to reduce the quality of the file with the save as option thru jpeg
compression in the software's options .
I've found that these things as well as the Exposure & Colour corrections
in the photo program make all the difference .

Anyway you can take good shots no matter what size the tank is ,
have a look at the shots that Tetra & Ingo take of their small tanks.
A little research and you'll be a great photographer before you know it .

Coop, Never seen any Snakeskins in my area . Love to have some though .
Thanks for the compliment ( I think )

Garry

Week 9 Update .
Not much to report this week so only a short update.
Trimmed the Giant Hygro once again as well as the Water Sprite .
Growth continues Ok .
Algae continues to be a problem , still have not made any changes .
Just trying to wait it out .

No new fish intro's .

The Full Tank as of last week .



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Full Tank this week

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Right Side

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Left Side

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Just a few Detail plant shots mostly to highlite the Black Algae which is becoming more of a problem .
Firstly the Water Sprite area. This area has great growth of all plant types.

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The Amazon leaves showing the older leaves being badly affected by algae

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The Ludwigia on the left side is getting very sparse and not growing well . It may need to be trimmed and replanted .

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The Tennulus Field getting very overgrown .

Thats it for this week , next week I will be Trimming the Tennulus field , Ludwigia and removing a lot of Amazon leaves that are degrading and being affected by algae.

I will also introduce my Tigers and the last of the Sharks .

Thanks for all the support and comments .

Garry

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Garry

You could try floating the ludwiga for a while, it worked for me, i got some nice new root structures from letting them float.

Shane

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

The Amazon leaves showing the older leaves being badly affected by algae

Garry, you have no idea how 'badly affected' can be!

Sorry, I don't want to add salt to injury with my sarcasm, just speaking from experience

I had problems in the past and by no means will I claim that my tank is 'algae free', I guess it is a never ending struggle. (You might get rid of it for a while but the danger of a new outbreak is always around the corner in a tank with several big fish.) However, I can proudly claim that without any doubt the situation in my tank improved significantly and algae is losing the battle for now. The only change I made was to apply a different lighting schedule. One might argue that it is the otos, fast growers, the usual little helpers, but I don't think so.

Shane
Thanks for that advice , I might try that . When I pulled it up it was well rooted down
so I'm not sure thats the problem . Could be the position under the filter so I moved it
slightly , will see how it goes .

Cat , I'm sure there are lots worse off than me ,what did you do with the lights ,
I assume you cut back to fewer hours ?

Thanks for stopping by .

Garry

Nope-

I introduced a midday break with the lights off. It is in my log and works extremely well. It is successfully used by some European aquarists, the idea is that algae unlike higher developed plants need much more prolonged periods of light for successful photosynthesis to generate energy (I remember something like that from plant physiology I had to take ages ago). By introducing a middday break you deprive the algae of their 'fuel', while plants get easily by with shorter periods for photosynthesis. Works also quite well with my schedule - I see the tank in the morning and the lights are on longer at night.

got to run

Cat , Thanks for that,very interesting . I didn't pick up on that in your log ,
Dumb me , have to read more carefully
I think I might try that .

I emailed Seachem last night as Keith has said he's done, will see if they
have some thoughts as well.

Thanks again for the help .
Garry

Week 10 Update.

Plants are all showing good growth, I had to trim the Water Sprite, Giant Hygro, Hygro
& Green Pennywort. I pulled up a lot of Tennulus as it was starting to get out of control.
Some of the runners have gone right around the back of the driftwood. The Ludwigia
was pulled up and cut back quite severely due to rotting of the under parts of the plant.
It was very well rooted down but did not appear to have been growing very well over
the last few weeks. I have repositioned a little to the right away from the filters to see if
it was a position problem.

Java Ferns seem to have got a bit of a kick along both on the top of the Driftwood and
behind in the substrate. Quite a lot of new growth as well as a couple of babies.
I must admit to ignoring it a bit over the last few weeks and when I had a close look I
was very surprised at how well they were doing.
All of the Annubias, Barteri and Nana's are doing well and the Crypts at the base of the
Driftwood are now powering. 2 of the Unknown plants in the river seemed to have
recovered well and are showing good leaf development, the smallest seems to be just
hanging on.

I had planned to take out a lot of the Amazon leaves that were decaying and being badly
affected by Algae. However 2 Female Angels decided to lay eggs just before and whilst
I was doing the Water Change. I got sick of being bitten so I gave up after about 5 minutes.
None of the eggs survived the night. One interesting thing that appears to have happened
is that the One male was fertilising both females eggs. The female who had partnered the
other male last time chased him away this time. Both females worked together to protect
the area, which I also found very interesting.

No new fish were added this week,time just got away.

Algae in the tank is still a problem. Phosphate levels dropped below 5ppm this week,
hard to tell from the test kit, but could have been as low as 2ppm.
I still had to take a lot of Green Algae of the Glass .

Lots of good photos this week so here we go with the shot of the tank as of last week


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The Full Tank this week .

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The Right side

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The Left Side

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The River at an angle

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A shot from the left end of the tank

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Now onto some detail shots of the plants .
Firstly the Amazons , showing the Good ( lots of babies and new leaves )
and the Bad ( Algae and rotting on older leaves)

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The Anubia Barteri also showing new growth
but Algae on the older leaves.

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Annubia Nana on the Driftwood, same issue's

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The Java Fern on the Driftwood , Notice the Tennulus on the left side a long way from where its supposed to be .
Will be cut back next week

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New Hairgrass field seems to be taking Ok . But the Wisteria is encroaching and will need to be cut away from the area this week .

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Green Pennywort doing well and had its first trim this week

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The Wisteria showing lots of different leaf shapes as it regrows from its heavy trim a couple of weeks ago .

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The Water Sprite keeps growing to fast for its position . May have to reconsider where it should be .?????

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The Ludwigia or whats left of it .

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The Unknown plants in the River doing well .

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The last plant shot for this week is Ctertopis Pteroides acting as a haven floating above the Gourami's . They love it . Had to remove a fair bit this week .

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On to some shots of the Fishies .
Firstly a couple of the New Dwarf Laoches . Love these guys they are so active racing up and down the tank . They wear the Otto's out trying to keep up .

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Another Dwarf Loach at rest .

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A couple of Golden Barbs as usual checking me out as I take the Photos .

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The Red Tail Shark

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The Rainbow Shark

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One of the Aussie Rainbows, these guys have really coloured up since they have been in this tank

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One of the Angels , my wife calls this one Stumpy because of his short fins . Bit of a loner this guy .

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A female Angel coming over to see if I've got any food .

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And now begging

Thats it for this week .

Next week will see some more trimming of the fast growers , maybe a move for the Water Sprite. Also some new residents if I get time .

Hope you enjoyed the update and thanks to everyone for contributing .

Enjoy

Garry

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Lovely shots as always, Garry!

I really enjoy pictures of your fish. Now to the plants. Is it possible that you have some nutrient defiency going on? You have a lot of fast growers there and the plants that show the worst algae problem are anuias and amazons which take a little bit more time. Some the leaves look also a bit pale, but that might be just the photo and misleading. These are my $0.02 and I am by no means an expert, rather a rookie...
I would not worry about the green algae on the glass (your little algae menchers need something to eat), it is the black algae that is worrisome, especially if it is spreading. Hope you get a handle on this soon. Did you get a response from Seachem?

P.S. Stumpy ... poor fish!

Garry

I agree with CD, lovely shots of the plants and especially the fish. Love Stumpy btw hes the best out of the lot..hehehe

Anyways I was wondering if there might be deficiencies in the water colum. Anyways we would love to hear back on that.

Shane

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

your fish pictures are excellent!
and your plants algae or not are filling in very nicely.


-Vincent

Cat , I changed my lighting schedule as I mentioned in your log .
I was a bit old school just leaving my lights on for 10 to 12 hours a day .
So now I'm going to try the following
9am-11am 384w (2hrs)
11am-2pm 576w (3hrs)
2pm -5pm No Lights (3hrs)
5pm -7pm 384w (2hrs)
7pm-11pm 576w (4hrs)
A total of 11 hours all up .

Seachem has not replied as yet , been about 4 days .
I don't want to give the impression that I'm overly worried about Algae
or that its terrible or invasive . Its not that bad , you have to look pretty
hard to see it. I just want to stay on top of it and keep learning

Shane , Yes we love Stumpy as well , he's one of our favorites and
always comes running when we are near the tank.

Vincent , hello . Long time . Thanks for the nice comments ,
great to hear from you .

Thanks Again everyone for the nice comments

Garry

Hi Garry:

I think there is nothing wrong with being worried about algae. IMHO this pest is better dealt with right away. I am (again) impressed by the lighting, the sheer number of watts made me swallow, but your 240 G tank certainly needs it. I hope you see a positive effect due to the new lighting schedule soon! I certainly did rather quick but impatience made it still appear a long time

Let me know what Sachem suggests as well - finally I had to start with fertilizing applying the majority of their products (another splendid opportunity to make mistakes).

Good luck and keep posting!!

Week 11 Update
This week I pretty much left the plants alone. Only trimmed the Wisteria & Water Sprite
where it had started to shade the new Hairgrass field. Pulled out some more Amazon
leaves that were decaying. Lots of Amazon babys now getting quite big and sending
down roots from high up in the water column, so I intend to leave them alone to see
if they will pull down into the substrate. Also plenty of new leaves at the base of all the
Amazons. All other plants continue to grow well.

This week I introduced my Black Shark and the Tiger Barb crew (9).

Algae seems to have lessened this week (could be wishful thinking) but I seem to have
wiped less of the glass. Black Algae on the plants appears to be no worse. Hopefully
the new lighting schedule and phosphates being down to 1ppm are having an effect.
Time will tell. Seachem have not replied to my email as yet.
So onto the photo's, firstly the tank last week.


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Full Tank This week

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The Right Side

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The Left Side

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River Shot , Also showing part of the Tiger Barb herd in their favorite hang out .

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A few Plant detail shots now , Firstly a couple of shots of the Crypts which were very small at the start and nearly melted away in the first couple of weeks . Its very hard to get good shots of this area so apologies for the quality of the shots . I'm really very happy about how well these are doing .
This one contains a good shot of an SAE .

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A wider shot of the area around the crypts also showing the unknown plants in the river continuing to do well.

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Another plant that was nearly dead in my other tank was rescued and put in this tank to see if would recover . I think the name was Stellata ????? or something similar . It appears to be making a recovery . Can anyone can identify it properly?

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A shot of the biggest of the Amazon Babys

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The Old Hairgrass Area , showing it is still spreading well . You can clearly see the Algae affected clumps which is the site of the original plants .

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Last plant shot , a close up of the Green Pennywort new growth ?

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Now a few Fish shots , Firstly the big boy himself , The Black Shark . Had to put him straight in as he was too big for my plastic bags . He's about 7 to 8 inches. I've never seen him swim about so much since he's been in this tank .He'd gotten to big for the 60g . He's has become very responsive to his adoring public .

Another interesting insight is that all 4 sharks seem to be much happier in this tank and so far there is very little trouble between them . Only the Redtail seems to get cranky now and again . But he does little but chase the Redfin and Albino occasionaly.

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Another shot with his top fin up .

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And being a good boy saying hello to me .

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Now a couple of shots of the Tigers, First a group shot . A bit out of focus , they never stay still long enough to get them all in focus This is about the best shot of a big group of them out of about 200 I've taken so far .

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