Complete Newbie needs a bit of help

Shermanator said:
Unfortunatly the company who produces these three products are not online. Well the local Aquarium shop is using these ones so it mush be ok I guess. I havent seen any adverse re-actions in the tank and everything looks pristine since yesterdays 25 percent syphon and refill.

Upon closer inspection I have found our taps do have a small assembly that you may be able to connect the python up to- so I think I am going to purchase it and see how it goes. Your link is probable the best place to start rbishop.
Hi shermanator can you give the address / telephone / fax number of the company that produces your bio additives please?
 
jjanoch said:
you've already bought them.....but those algae guys were probably not the best course of action. Cutting back on your light and making sure you don't overfeed would have cleared up the algae. Those algae eaters are attempts to solve the effect, not the problem.

Since plants use their stored energy slower than Algae it is advisable to never go beyong 12 hours....with 8-10 being plenty of light for most plants. Assuming you have enough watts of light they will grow fine.

Just some hindsight thoughts that are too late to mean anything. Now that you have them....you must keep in mind they must continue to feed, and eating your algae growth will not always be a long term solution. Hopefully your system balances and algae growth will die off. Plus many "algae eaters" stop doing that job as they grow older. So buying discs for them is a future probablity.

I had hair algae growing of the leaves of the plants. So it appeared to me that my plants were somewhat getting suffocated. I tried to cut back on the light from 12hrs to 9hours but it was still their. As soon as the algae eaters went in they cleared up the algae from the plants in a couple of hours. One things for sure they are pretty active little fishes and they swim around at extraordninary speeds. I don't intend to toss them off once the job is done as they do add to the atmosphere of the aquarium. What do you mean by discs?
 
slspyker said:
Hi shermanator can you give the address / telephone / fax number of the company that produces your bio additives please?

Ok Companys name is
Biotope Pty Ltd, P.O Box 134, Kallista, Melbourne Victoria
Ph - 03 9794-5144

I don't have a fax number for the guys but your best bet is to contact them directly.
 
I will try to upload some pictures of my aqaurium today if I can figure out how to do it.
 
sorry....I was talking about Algae waffers or discs or rounds. Seen several names for them, but basically they are food for those types of fish.

I normally have to put them in at night when the lights have been out for an hour or so. Otherwise my other fish see them and they will harrass the bottom feeders & algae eaters trying to steal the meal.

Not sure how long your "new" light schedule is, but I founds it took several weeks to reverse my own algae problem. I saw slight improvements every few days, but it was not something that went away as quickly as it originally appeared.

Also I forget if it is the CEA or SAE but I know one type can get quite aggressive as it grows older. So I personally have tried to stay away from either one, and combat my algae with other means. (mostly by self control with my feeding & cleaning...plus my lights are down to 8 hours per day)

If I am reading this thread right, your only about 2-3 weeks into this new tank. As your tank balances out (which can take a few months) you will go through stages like sudden blooms of algae. I think you acted quickly to the problem, but I did the same thing, so my opinion comes from doing the same thing. While I might sound harsh, it is not meant to be.
 
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Ok here are the images of my Aquarium. As you can see the bottom are my plants in question that I am having some trouble with. Any advise would be great.

PB250072.JPG PB250073.JPG PB250074.JPG PB250075.JPG PB250076.JPG
 
jjanoch said:
sorry....I was talking about Algae waffers or discs or rounds. Seen several names for them, but basically they are food for those types of fish.

I normally have to put them in at night when the lights have been out for an hour or so. Otherwise my other fish see them and they will harrass the bottom feeders & algae eaters trying to steal the meal.

Not sure how long your "new" light schedule is, but I founds it took several weeks to reverse my own algae problem. I saw slight improvements every few days, but it was not something that went away as quickly as it originally appeared.

Also I forget if it is the CEA or SAE but I know one type can get quite aggressive as it grows older. So I personally have tried to stay away from either one, and combat my algae with other means. (mostly by self control with my feeding & cleaning...plus my lights are down to 8 hours per day)

If I am reading this thread right, your only about 2-3 weeks into this new tank. As your tank balances out (which can take a few months) you will go through stages like sudden blooms of algae. I think you acted quickly to the problem, but I did the same thing, so my opinion comes from doing the same thing. While I might sound harsh, it is not meant to be.

Nah absolulty no offence is taken mate. I know one thing is for sure you learn from mistakes and trial and error is pretty much expected. It is trully an interesting hobby and I am glad I got into it. I have also bought Tetramin Tropical Tablets. Thats what the LFS bloke sold me for the bottom dwellers if the aglae is not enough. As you can see on the plants the algae has been scoffed up but the brown and yellow residue on the leave is left which is a bit unsightly. The green plant has sought of wilted at the bottom. Anyone know whats happening to it?
 
I think plants can go through a bit of "stress" just like fish when being transported and put into a new home. Give them some time (weeks-month) to get used to their new home.

Prune out any dead or bad looking leaves, so the energy of the plant can concentrate on the good & new growth. Obviously taking care not to "over" prune a plant.


Everytime we add chemicals to our tanks we push the currently balance out of wack. Sometimes that is necessary when the current balance is BAD for the tank. But once established many tank owners don't add anything other than a decloro when doing their water changes.

Looks like your tank is setup.....just sit back and let it settle. Do your tests to watch for any serious changes, and get yourself used to the water change schedule. And mostly resist the urge to "fiddle" to much with it. That is the part I found to be the hardest.
 
Just did my 25 percent water change/gravelvac. Alot of sediments are floating around. I am just curious about water paremeters. My chlorine is nil so I decided to just do a cholorine level check on my tap water. Either the test kit is not working properly but the chlorine levels is extreamly low in my tap water coming out from the tap. I thought their it would be really high but its not. Its almost nil- Just wondering if it is right or not.
 
10 X Plateys went in today to bring some contrast to the aquarium. Am I going to fast? I guess I will monitor the Ammonia/Nitrate levels and see how I go. Its looking ok
 
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