McTurtle

Welcome. Looking forward to hearing how the new setup goes.

Well the algae problem is pretty much resolved. I've removed 99% of the java fern and moved the anubias to be in the shadow of other plants. The otos are happily munching up the rest of it. I've had a frustrating week. I lost one spotted cory do to my own stupidity. The tweezers I was using were sitting on top of the tank and I bumped them with my elbow. The of course fell into the tank and must have fallen on the poor cory. He wasn't doing much the rest of the next day and had died by the next night. I'm still mad at myself. I get attached to the little guys. I've been worrying over the others all week and when they don't come out after 20 minutes of my sitting there I really start to worry. Night before last I could only find 2 maximum, so I replanted the tank and did an extra 20% water change. Turned out he was just hiding. I ended up removing a bunch of star grass and a lot of the camboba. The camboba is growing, but it just isn't happy squished in with other plants. I have one bunch that has a clearing around it left in the tank and the rest I'm trying to rehome. The star grass, water sprite extras etc are going to their new home this afternoon. I do have some roots/stems from the pogostemon stellatus up for grabs if anyone wants them. I finally laid the driftwood down so it's not poking up so high into the tank. I also re-planted the foreground. The grass is doing very well but I think the cories have uprooted almost all of my baby tears. I need to take a new picture. The ramshorn snails in my tank are still growing. I've noticed that their shells are very smooth and almost see through now. I'm guessing it has something to do with the water conditions or their insane growth rate. The shells aren't pitted so I don't think it's a CO2 issue. CPDs are finally getting some red in their fins. I've been feeding baby brine shrimp the last few days and they love it, as do the guppies. I think the cories are slower to come out because they aren't as hungry for the pellets after vacuuming up the bbs.

Sound like it's going to be a stunning tank. I had to look up HMF. Great thing about this forum, always more to learn.

When I was using Excel I had no algae, but it melted some of my plants. Once I hooked up the CO2 I cut out the Excel and most plants recovered. I maybe wrong, but I think metricide is just a stronger version of Excel... so I can't use it and make my plants happy.

I've seen a bunch of "how to" postings for making one out of mesh. I like the idea that I could just have the one heater. I might go that route but make two dividers with a gap between and put a fake plant or java moss between the dividers. I'm going to have to put lids on so they can't jump from one side to the other too...

Thanks!

I'd like to make a divider for a 10 gallon tank. Any suggestions as to where I can purchase the glass and have it cut to fit? I'm also wondering if there's a paint that's safe for the tank or if anyone knows if frosted glass is available. I'd like to have 2 bettas in the tank and I don't want them flaring at each other all of the time. Thanks!

The algae levels have dropped since I upped the CO2 and extended my light period. I'm still getting some algae growth but my ferts may not have been in balance since there were floaties in the jar. Just made up a fresh batch with sterile jars/ water last night so I'll know soon.

Yest the pogostemon stellatus seems to be very happy. It's right at the top of the tank now, so I've been trying to figure out if I should trim it back. If it will widen without trying to grow out of the water then I'll just leave it. The top most leaves are starting to take on a pink shade.

More pictures, sorry they're not great since I didn't scrape the glass first. Cory cats at dinner time 2 new plants - central one = free due to excessive damage, but I think it's coming around - small pink leaves to either side also new names anyone? Giant ramshorn snail. Has doubled in size since I put him in the tank. I've never had a ramshorn snail this big. The moss on my rock seems to be doing alright but the moss I tried to get going on the driftwood that spikes up is a fail. The algae just overwhelms it. I don't know if I'm going to keep that piece of wood or try to rearrange things again.

OK, no more plants allowed. I wanted one plant for the back corner and I ended up with ... 4! I haven't looked up the names of them yet. One is a red lily looking plant, one has broad red leaves and an amazing magenta colour, one has small leaves with pink colouring and the fourth was free because it is so beat up, but is green with very fine leaves. I will post pictures and see if I can figure out the names. I'm not sure the magenta colouring is going to remain, but we'll see. I added 5 Otocinclus on Saturday and they all seem to be quite content. They have very full round bellies from scrounging all the algae. The CPDs seem to like having them around. I bought two zebra nerites, on for my 10 gallon and another for the 65 gallon. The one in the 10 gallon is happily munching and it's kind of funny to see his mouth pattern where he's scraped off the algae. The one I put in the 65 gallon I'm fairly certain did not survive. I have no idea why. The ramshorn snails in there are enormous now. There must be something the nerite is sensitive to. I forgot to put the timer on last night and the CO2 went for ~3hrs with the lights off. (Normally it's all automated but I was messing around with it a little during the day and wanted it on for a longer period). The fish seem OK. I shut it off and left the lights on for ~2hrs. Hopefully nothing to drastic occurs.

It's already looking good. I'm sure the end result is going to be amazing!

Looks good to me too. Is there a plant behind the moss? If so, I would move it to the other side of the tank. I love the marimo ball.

Wow, that is a beautiful scape. I love the dimensions too.

I've upped the light to 9hrs and the bubble count to 3/sec. Plants seem happy. The Nesaea crassicaulis is collecting a lot of algae on the lower leaves. I'm hoping the otos I'm planning to add tomorrow will help munch it up. I removed another piece of driftwood/ java fern from the left side and replanted most of the left side of the tank. I'm pretty happy with it, but I need a background plant for the left corner. Problem is that corner is mostly gravel instead of eco-complete because I had planned for the driftwood to sit on top of it. Any suggested for a tall plant that could take up most of it's nutrients from the water? Black corys are getting braver but they seem really fat! I'm feeding 1 hikari algae wafer or northfin wafer per night. 2 guppies and 6 catfish feed on it and it's gone by morning. Does that sound about right? I also put in a tip of a toothpick of microworms for the CPDs but they also pick up some of the wafer that's kicked up into the water.

I guess I'm boiling some mason jars this weekend. I love Otos, but I've been waiting for my tank to stabilize before I add them. Maybe this weekend. Razor blade? I'll have to look that up.

Yep, I'm going the EI route. I've been skimping a little on the dosing since my plants were small/ tank wasn't fully planted. Now I think it can probably handle the full dose. CO2 is usually 2 bps. Maybe I'll try to up it again.

Question 1: I mixed up my dry fertilizers into 500mL tank water and stored them in jars in a cupboard. I've noticed there are some floaties in there and I'm thinking I might be better to store them in the fridge. Does anyone else mix up stock solutions? If so, how do you store them and how long are they good for? Question 2: What is the best way to remove algae off the glass? I hate the scraper I have. Worst design ever. The sponge pad is held on by a plastic prong through the centre and it constantly falls off. I'm thinking of investing in the magnetized scrapers but I'd like to know what others have tried/ like best.

Thank-you! I'm much happier with the layout now. Yes, I'm still using the 8hr cycle with the 4 lights. I cut back my CO2 a bit the last few days. I've been dosing with melafix because one of my CPDs has either fighting wounds or bacteria. I think it is fight related since he's the only one with it. Anyhow, the guppies were hanging out up at the top and seemed to be a little O2 deprived when I dosed the melafix, so I increase my flow a little and dialed back the CO2. Plants don't seem to mind so far and the guppies are back to normal. I cut back the java fern a lot when I put it in the tank and I have a lot of growth, but it just can't compete with the algae for amount of light it gets and there's no where I can put it that it's shaded. I moved the center piece into my 10 gallon - 2 fluorescents/ middle light and it's much happier - no algae. The piece that was on the right is in a 5 gallon bucket awaiting pickup tonight. I still have some Java fern on the left side of the tank, I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it. I might move things around so that it's under my driftwood tripod. Maybe increasing the micronutriets will also help the cabomba? I really like the shade of green it's taken on, but I'd love to have the red colour.

New photo - just to show how HUGE the Pogostemon stellatus are! Please excuse the crud iphone quality. I'm going to have to trim them soon if the keep growing. I think they've about tripled in size since I got them a month ago. No signs of red or purple on them yet, but maybe I need to up my micronutrient dosing. The Camboba red are growing well but are mostly green. I guess there's just not enough light for the deep red. I think 4 bulbs is my maximum for now, but maybe I'll invest in better bulbs once these ones need to be replaced. The star grass also seems quite happy now. The Nesaea crassicaulis is very red still. I put one at the back behind the bubbles and it seems to be happy but I don't know if it will grow to be as tall as the Pogostemon, so maybe I'll have to switch things around. The green temple (cherry leaf?) is also back there and seems fine. I'm having far less of an issue with algae now that I've removed the driftwood/ java fern on the left side. The moss on the driftwood is not doing very well. It's constantly plagued with algae. The algae on the rock on the right seems to be doing alright though.

Hello and welcome.

Hello & welcome.

Great photos! You have beautiful shrimps.

Wow! It's so lush, gorgeous! What is the short orange plant at the front?

I'm debating if I should remove the driftwood on the left side of the tank. The Java fern is getting too much light and is continuously swamped with algae that I'm getting tired of manually removing every night. I have some green temple (some variety of Hygrophila corymbosa) that I could move in from my 10 gallon. It's not very tall now but from what I've read it should reach the top of the tank/ do well in the background in time. I can't find much information on how it does in high light. (My 10 gallon is medium/low light and it does fine.) Anyone have it in high light/ know how it fares? (PS. There will probably be driftwood/ java fern available this weekend in the classified forum. I'll take pictures when I post it.)