thats too bad, hopefully youll sort things out soon
The weird part is that the Otocinclus affinis I have in there haven't had any problems, and usually (at least in my experience) those are very sensitive fish.
Jeffrey's "Little Man" -ADA 60-P
- Thread starter jmhart
- Start date
The weird part is that the Otocinclus affinis I have in there haven't had any problems, and usually (at least in my experience) those are very sensitive fish.
"Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah!... Lala how the life goes on..."
Well, aside from the devastating news above, I've been a little busy for updates for a while, but I find myself with a little time.
Took about 5 weeks to cycle, even with a lot of plants and a seeded filter. As I approached the end of the cycle, I started messing with the co2 trying to get it down to safe levels for my livestock. I'm a big believer in pH controllers, and for whatever reason, the one on this tank wasn't working for a while; somehow it just started working one day.
Anyway, after some tweaking, I'm landed on 6.1 for the ideal pH for this tank, which is funny because for the entire time I was cycling (with lights at 6 wpg) I had co2 so high that my pH was 5.4.
I came to pH 6.1 by using my pH controller, drop checker, and by watching the first fish I put in for signs of struggle. 6.0 was too much.
Photoperiod is: 12pm -3pm ON @ 55w, 3pm to 5pm OFF, 5 pm to 7 pm ON @ 110w, 7pm to 8 pm ON @ 55w, 8pm OFF
I had a TON of algae, but after I got the co2 in order and cut down the photoperiod most of it died within a day or two, and the rest of it(as seen in the pictures below) is slowly receding/providing plenty of food for the inhabitants.
The HC is still growing in. Rotala macrandra and Rotala sp 'green' had a bit of a struggle during the algae battles, but they've come back strong. Anubias petite 'nana' each put out a new leaf about once a week.
The first inhabitant:
I threw this guy in as my test to make sure everything was golden, and well, for him, it was. Then came the aforementioned parotocinclus...and that's all I have to say about that.
Then I received some CRS from kvntrn.
Well, aside from the devastating news above, I've been a little busy for updates for a while, but I find myself with a little time.
Took about 5 weeks to cycle, even with a lot of plants and a seeded filter. As I approached the end of the cycle, I started messing with the co2 trying to get it down to safe levels for my livestock. I'm a big believer in pH controllers, and for whatever reason, the one on this tank wasn't working for a while; somehow it just started working one day.
Anyway, after some tweaking, I'm landed on 6.1 for the ideal pH for this tank, which is funny because for the entire time I was cycling (with lights at 6 wpg) I had co2 so high that my pH was 5.4.
I came to pH 6.1 by using my pH controller, drop checker, and by watching the first fish I put in for signs of struggle. 6.0 was too much.
Photoperiod is: 12pm -3pm ON @ 55w, 3pm to 5pm OFF, 5 pm to 7 pm ON @ 110w, 7pm to 8 pm ON @ 55w, 8pm OFF
I had a TON of algae, but after I got the co2 in order and cut down the photoperiod most of it died within a day or two, and the rest of it(as seen in the pictures below) is slowly receding/providing plenty of food for the inhabitants.
The HC is still growing in. Rotala macrandra and Rotala sp 'green' had a bit of a struggle during the algae battles, but they've come back strong. Anubias petite 'nana' each put out a new leaf about once a week.
The first inhabitant:
I threw this guy in as my test to make sure everything was golden, and well, for him, it was. Then came the aforementioned parotocinclus...and that's all I have to say about that.
Then I received some CRS from kvntrn.
Two reasons:
In my experience, if you have high intensity lighting that otherwise could cause algae issues, two shorter photoperiods are better than one long one.
The other reason is so that I can spread out my photoperiod. At the intensity I want, running from 12-8 would give me algae issues, but I want to view my tank starting at 12, and up until 8 pm.
Co2 is really planted aquarist crack.:shocked:
One hit and you're hooked, even if your go cold-turkey and think you've kicked the habit. The itch is always there, just waiting for you to make some room and purchase another tank. And somehow you purchase more plants, after swearing them off and wanting an easier system. Its a curse... but fun as hell.
