Hi. The forum says it's been a while since I've posted, and that I ought to remedy that. So, here I am...
I've got planted 75g and 29g tanks. The 29 ended planted with clippings and some crypts from the 75. Anyway, I've been running on autopilot with these tanks for about three years. Add some Nu Salt and Fleet enema now and then along with some Flourish. Hadn't done a single water test in ages.
About a year ago, I started having trouble with hair algae. My 29 was looking like an algae farm. I mean 29g of hair algae. That stuff stinks. No really, it does stink. The 75 was never that bad, but it was starting to get out of control too.
Anyway, it's been a really cold, boring winter here lately, so I've gotten more into tank maintenance over the last couple months. My son and I picked the 29 as clean as possible. Then, I purchased the semi automatic co2 kit for the 75 from the good Drs Foster and Smith. (Wasted a little money there, but not too bad) Purchased a 5lb cylinder from the fire extinguisher shop next to where I work, and started running co2 for a couple days.
Then, I broke the little glass diffuser, so I ran the co2 into an extra Filstar XP3. Didn't like the way that sounded at all, so I shut it off completely after a couple days. It stayed off while I compiled the pieces to build Rex's reactor. Now that the reactor is built, I'm up and running co2 again. I run the output of the extra XP3 through the reactor.
At the same time, I've been running a double dose of Excel in both tanks to try to help rid them of the hair algae. The 29g is actually pretty darned clean at this point, and the 75g looks tons better. I no longer have hairy Java Fern. I was thinking of buying some Otos, but I don't think I need them anymore.
I also decided to run some tests again. Everything except the Phosphate was just as I expected. The po4 was at 5mg/L according to my Hagen kit. Apparently, the city has started adding phosphate to our water since I last ran a test. I won't be adding Fleet anymore.
As it stands, I still have some issues with the co2 reactor. I'm not dissolving all of the gas (aka small bubbles still exist), so I think I need to add some more bio balls. I also need to change the 5/8" tubing. I bought the cheap crap at Home Depot, and the wall thickness is too thin. I could barely get it to stop leaking with a stainless steel hose clamp.
Some lessons learned. More to come...
Sorry for the long post, but I guess that is bound to happen when you only speak up once a year or so. You're lucky though. I had several more paragraphs in me.
TFo
My tanks if you're curious:
10g my son's goldfish won at a school carnival
29g albino bristlenose pleco & 8 diamond tetras
75g includes
breeding pair bristlenose plecos + couple offspring
breeding pair(s) diamond tetras - started at 6, have about 50 now
2 black angels
2 serpae tetras
125g cichlid tank
11" Red Tiger Oscar
8" Male Red Devil
6" Green Texas
2 Silver Dollars
Plants include hygro, red ludwigia, various crypts, java fern, java moss, Alternanthera and moneywort
I've got planted 75g and 29g tanks. The 29 ended planted with clippings and some crypts from the 75. Anyway, I've been running on autopilot with these tanks for about three years. Add some Nu Salt and Fleet enema now and then along with some Flourish. Hadn't done a single water test in ages.
About a year ago, I started having trouble with hair algae. My 29 was looking like an algae farm. I mean 29g of hair algae. That stuff stinks. No really, it does stink. The 75 was never that bad, but it was starting to get out of control too.
Anyway, it's been a really cold, boring winter here lately, so I've gotten more into tank maintenance over the last couple months. My son and I picked the 29 as clean as possible. Then, I purchased the semi automatic co2 kit for the 75 from the good Drs Foster and Smith. (Wasted a little money there, but not too bad) Purchased a 5lb cylinder from the fire extinguisher shop next to where I work, and started running co2 for a couple days.
Then, I broke the little glass diffuser, so I ran the co2 into an extra Filstar XP3. Didn't like the way that sounded at all, so I shut it off completely after a couple days. It stayed off while I compiled the pieces to build Rex's reactor. Now that the reactor is built, I'm up and running co2 again. I run the output of the extra XP3 through the reactor.
At the same time, I've been running a double dose of Excel in both tanks to try to help rid them of the hair algae. The 29g is actually pretty darned clean at this point, and the 75g looks tons better. I no longer have hairy Java Fern. I was thinking of buying some Otos, but I don't think I need them anymore.
I also decided to run some tests again. Everything except the Phosphate was just as I expected. The po4 was at 5mg/L according to my Hagen kit. Apparently, the city has started adding phosphate to our water since I last ran a test. I won't be adding Fleet anymore.
As it stands, I still have some issues with the co2 reactor. I'm not dissolving all of the gas (aka small bubbles still exist), so I think I need to add some more bio balls. I also need to change the 5/8" tubing. I bought the cheap crap at Home Depot, and the wall thickness is too thin. I could barely get it to stop leaking with a stainless steel hose clamp.
Some lessons learned. More to come...
Sorry for the long post, but I guess that is bound to happen when you only speak up once a year or so. You're lucky though. I had several more paragraphs in me.
TFo
My tanks if you're curious:
10g my son's goldfish won at a school carnival
29g albino bristlenose pleco & 8 diamond tetras
75g includes
breeding pair bristlenose plecos + couple offspring
breeding pair(s) diamond tetras - started at 6, have about 50 now
2 black angels
2 serpae tetras
125g cichlid tank
11" Red Tiger Oscar
8" Male Red Devil
6" Green Texas
2 Silver Dollars
Plants include hygro, red ludwigia, various crypts, java fern, java moss, Alternanthera and moneywort
