flyfisher

Ok plant gurus I'm at a loss as to why I can't get stem plants to grow in my tank.I can grow just about anything else but stem plants quickly fade away and rot usually just above the surface of the substrate. Setup is as follows: 75g 2" of flourite red topped with 1"of plain gravel. 2 x fluval 405 1 x normal discharge at the surface,1 x DIY discharge is hooked up with a Hydor 300 watt so warm water is discharged across substrate and helps with circulation throughout the tank. 1 x aquaticlife with two new coralife 54 watt 6700K lamps sitting on OEM legs 4" above a glass top. I use a modified(when I remember LOL) EI to dose with WC every week to 10 days,root tabs,& excel/mericide. So I have tried two types of Hygro,water sprite,ludwigia all meet with same results rotted stems and leaves every where. Present stock Red Melon swords, Amazon swords, Java fern, Java moss 2 types of Aponogetons & Spiral vals all are thriving Apons are even flowering. So what am I doing wrong?

I have a 10g set up with a 50 watt heater, Aqua clear 20, plain hood with single light flour.no substrate.I like to have some structure in the tank to help fish feel safe few small rocks & some plastic plants. I QT all fish 4-5 weeks,I like to be proactive while fish are in QT so I treat all fish to: 1st week let fish get use to a routine and feeding 2nd week treat with de-wormer (Lev.) wait 2 weeks de-worm again. last week I like to treat with Seachem Paraquard. When complete scoop and drop in what ever tank I like.

BUMP Oh no same start time as Nascar race from Bristol TN.decisions,decisions.

Lays gold eggs?

Just an observation but wow just about finished my latest quarantine with a trio of Black Lyre Tail Molly's I have never seen three fish produce so much waste,even more than the last pair of Brittle Nose Plecos. I hope the plants enjoy the fishy ferts. LOL

I had something similar show up on some new Mollys while in QT it looked like damage but refused to heal.I just stayed with 25% WC every day and treated with Seachem Paraguard every day finally after eight days I'm noticing some improvement.Glad I noticed in my 10G QT tank would have cost a fortune to treat large tank this long.

Lots of conflicting info. on the net about life of T5HO lamps,but once you do a side by side comparisne of 1 year old lamps and new it is a eye opener.I have also noticed some " no name" T5HO lamps included with new fixtures do worse than the brand name lamps.I guess when a company has their name on the lamps quality control is stepped up.

Best thing I have found for getting wood water logged was an old Coleman cooler, thrown in the wood fill to the top with hot tap water and close the lid repeat every day for a week clean water logged wood.

Don't forget to double dose on the Prime 15ml or three cap fulls will help detoxify the nitrites.

Jorg is still working with them . Some of the males are turning out very nicely. One thing he has noticed is that the wild caught guppies are not nearly as big as the typical domestic line breds. The males just get to an inch or slightly bigger. Thanks for the update I do have a weakness for livebearers and would be interested in something different.

Unfortunately I have accepted this worm is part of the hobby and the only way to combat it is to QT everything.Yes it can take weeks for it to show its self, when it does you can consider your entire tank as infected.I now QT all fish for a month and de-worm.

Water changes every day and toss those test strips they are horribly inaccurate .

Hi Harold I was wondering how those wild guppy fry were turning out Jorg was raising from your last Colombian delivery.

This topic is taboo in LFS just mention it and watch the reaction some are honestly unaware a lot are.They should try to treat in store but this could prove difficult considering the variables involved the life cycle of this pest,central filtration,etc.I wish they would carry meds and some good advise for customers to treat themselves.

floatys use to drive me crazy too,I was using the polishing floss pads in my fluvals(other makers have similar) but found they clogged up very quickly in a planted tank and opening up the canister a couple times a week defeated the purpose of have a canister filter so I just stick with DIY sponge prefilters over the intakes and rinse out in warm tap water once a week during WC and learned to live with or ignore the floatys .They do seem worse in the winter months for my tanks?

Wow prolific would be an understatement they could teach guppies how to get busy.I spotted the 1st fry at the beginning of Jan.today I noticed another smaller batch of fry which now makes four groups of different sizes.All from one female I was wondering how often they can spawn in a month?I don't have the ideal set up three males one female dominant male and female on one side of the 20g bachelors on the other separated by a rock pile with Java fern glued to it.

While I do enjoy watching young fish grow & mature if like me and have my luck,so far out of five bristlenose purchased at three separate times all have turned out to be female go figure.

You would be surprised at how far they can flip flop & wiggle I once found a Kuhli loach behind my bathroom door almost eight feet from the tank,didn't consider this a suicide but a escape attempt.

I would be hesitant to use this compost tea in a closed system like a aquarium.Not all compost is created equal (to many variables)I have composted everything for years for use in gardens & lawns and seen the results some good some bad.So caution would be required in this experiment but would be interesting.

Google gammarus they are common in most body's of water in Alberta they are a major source of food for most sport fish in our lakes and rivers.Can even be found in winter when ice fishing.

Panacur if I remember is a powder and can be a pain to dissolve in water try to get some Safe Guard it is in liquid form.I was able to get it from my Vet who has been treating my dog for over ten years and was interested in my fish experiments.I have read that some vets will and some won't but if you have a good relationship and provide them with some info they will accommodate. The dose she looked up for me was 6.75ml for 75 gallons once a week for three weeks. It didn't harm any fish or shrimp but destroyed the MTS & pond snails.

I think this was a uncalled for comment. I found the exchange of opinions very informative it is obvious both Rainbowric and RD are both knowledgeable on the subject and we can learn from their conversation and even form our own opinions so keep it coming guys I enjoy the read its a nice change from some of the fluff, and classified ads for equipment and livestock. FLY

It looks like mold or fungus growing on some uneaten food or waste.That sponge will need a good cleaning and a bath in bleach like ckmullin suggested tank could probably use a few major water changes.Have you done any tests on water parameters?

I have used H2O2 to spot treat BGA in planted tank with inverts.Then kept an eye on nitrate levels to keep it away.

Thanks I hope they continue not use to seeing such an empty looking tank.