McTurtle Posted July 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 OK, time for new pictures. Today has been pretty rough. I found the nerite, he had died. I have no idea why I cared so much about that snail I have been in a pretty awful mood tonight. I got in the rest of my plants today. I had to remove 2 pieces of driftwood with the attached anubis/ java fern to fit in the new stuff. I don't know if I like the new set up better or not. I might see if I can sneak the smaller piece back in, especially since the corys seem bent on up rooting as much of the dwarf baby tears as they possibly can. I've heard mixed reviews of housing amanos with CPDs. I think I'm just going to have to re-home the 2 that I have. OK, pictures! Last picture New pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 looking good...like the background color change too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTurtle Posted July 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 (edited) Thanks! So I put in an air stone at the opposite end of the tank from the spray bar. I've read conflicting reports of how much oxygen it will add. Most sources say not much and that it will cause CO2 loss. I like that its forcing air into the system since I have a covered tank. It also adds a little upward flow and I like the bubbles. I'm changing the normal airstone for a bubble bar tonight. The fish are much happier with the reduced flow of the Eheim canister but I don't know how the plants at the bottom will fare. Cory cats = scaredy cats?? If I move at all they all dive for cover and won't come out until I've been sitting motionless for at least 10 minutes... Blew through another $100 on "fish stuff" at the lfs. Gotta stop the spending.... Way over budget in this tank! I decided to try and hatch brine shrimp for the CPDs & bettas. Yet another project.... Must stop and vacuum house... do chores that are not aquarium related.. Edited July 21, 2013 by McTurtle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 I used to use air pumps for oxygenating when I first started in the hobby but the noise of the pumps got on my nerves not to mention the co2 loss. Plus all the bubbling and splashing up onto my stock canopy lighting was reducing the effectiveness of the lights because of the water stains it leaves on the bulb. sounds about right for cory cats. I hardly ever see mine unless I am motionless for a few minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTurtle Posted July 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 (edited) The air pump is surprisingly quiet. Nothing like the ones I had as a kid. It makes far less noise than the canister, though I'm thinking the canister might need a new impeller. The 2213 I have upstairs is so quiet I don't even know it's running. The 2217 downstairs makes a steady thrum. All the fish occupants seem to be doing well. I'm doing 50% water changes every other day and ~ 20% on the off days for now just in case there is an ammonia/ nitrite spike. I think my API master kit has had the bun. I don't remember when I bought it, but I get different readings on the same water. I rinse the tubes out twice with vigorous shaking before I do the test. Last night one tube said my nitrites were zero and the other said that there was a nitrite spike (one shade darker, I can't remember the ppm of the top). My nitrates keep reading just over zero despite the fact that I'm EI doing. I'm going to have to take some of my tank water into the LFS and compare my results to theirs, but that will have to wait until the weekend. I'm getting really sick of brown algae. My christmas moss is struggling because the netting keeps getting covered in brown algae. The roots of the Java fern are also collecting it. It wasn't a problem when I was dosing with Excel, but that will melt a bunch of the new plants. The 2 ramshorn snails that are in there have almost doubled in size. I'm hoping the snail population will expand on its own. Once I'm sure the tank is stable I'm going to add some ottos & cherry shrimp and hope they will eat some of it too. I bought a small siphon which helps remove some of the algae, but if I get any of the small substrate into it, it just sucks it up instead of washing it and dropping it down again. So I'm going to have to be careful to avoid the substrate and any plants that aren't firmly anchored. Next purchase has got to be a comfy chair to watch the tank. Lying on the floor or sitting on step stool both fail for extended periods of fish watching. Question: Can pygmy corys be kept with larger corys? Will the larger corys "play nice" or scare the little guys? Edited July 23, 2013 by McTurtle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperGuppyGirl Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 Hmmm good question. Biggest i tried was with pandas, wasn't an issue as the pygmy and hastatus swam mid tank. The habrosus is only a little smaller that the pandas, so played well besides barrel rolling each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTurtle Posted July 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 I have 4 punctatus (at least that's what I ordered) & 2 black guys (colour variant of C. schultzei?). They're all about the same size. The black guys are very very shy. The only time I see them is when the main lights are off and the blue LEDs come on. Even then I have to sneak into the room to catch them out and about. I'm hoping they'll relax a bit with time. They're not bothering the pearl danios so maybe they'll leave smaller corys alone too. I'm not adding anything else to this tank for a while, but I'm still scheming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTurtle Posted July 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 So my CPDs have turned dark grey/black. I hope that means they're happy/growing up. I need to take new pictures. Their spots really pop now. Hopefully they start getting red fins soon. I finished the 50% water change last night. I think the algae growth rate is slowing down. I spotted one of the black corys out in "the day". The corys seem to like the Northfin Kelp wafers. but the Hikari wafers are more popular and don't fall apart as quickly. The CPDs like chasing down microworms but have ignored any other food I've put in the tank. I was supposed to start the brine shrimp hatchery this week but I've been lazy so it's going to have to wait until next weekend. The guppies will eat anything. My ramshorns (grand total of 2) are huge, but I haven't seen any baby snails yet. I've been dosing 30mL of ferts each with each 50% water change. I hope the Prime I'm adding isn't binding to many of the micronutrients, but the plants are growing and seem to be doing well. Side note - I rehomed the spixi from my 10 gallon and my plants are starting to recover. I can't believe how much of the plants that one snail mowed out of my tank. The other spixi is living with a betta. The only problem is that the betta is making himself fat eating the wafer I put in for the snail... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperGuppyGirl Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 What is your current cory stock list? I have 7 black Cory's, and they are shy still but more active. They might school with others of similiar size but...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTurtle Posted July 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 There are 4 puctatus & 2 black. 2 punctatus school together & the other 2 sometimes hide out with the blacks & sometimes school with the first 2 & sometimes wander as individuals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTurtle Posted July 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 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.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTurtle Posted July 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) 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. Edited July 31, 2013 by McTurtle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 That is filling in quite nicely and looks great! It looks like your tank has so much more depth compared to your original planting pic. You can try to stimulate new leaf growth on your java fern by snipping a couple of the algae covered leaves off above the rhizome. Are you still doing an 8 hr photoperiod with all 4 T5HO bulbs? just curious. I am also having a hard time getting my red cabomba to be anything but green. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTurtle Posted July 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) 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. Edited July 31, 2013 by McTurtle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 With the amount of light you have avaialble, 100% O2 saturation is very possible and easily attainable. Get your fertilising ballanced (EI or MCI makes it easy). I always like a 10-12hr cycle, w. a min 3 bbls/sec CO2 (drop the air pump, or only turn it on for lights off). If your plants are flurishing, algae goes away and O2 levels sky rocket. If you're going planted, aim to keep the plants happy - they'll take care of your fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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