Flintstones

[alto]

Awesome update - I’d missed the last update so it felt like a lot has been happening
Tank is looking grand

For the back wall, you might try giving it a scrape to remove existing algae - which is apparently not to the Otos’ refined tastes (or they’re saving for a rainy day) - new “growth” may be more tempting


Return the glowlights - they are too agressive for the CPDs and do stress them, also can be difficult to get enough food to the slower eating CPDs without overfeeding

I’d go on a snail hunt, imagine them all laying 20-40 eggs and you see the tank takeover coming they do compete with the Otos for available food

 

[J@mes]

16 weeks

The pest snails took a beating today! They were winning until now. Their eggs are on all the hardscape & I now realise they arrived on the bottom of a bit of driftwood with a fern attached. Such a nuisance!

In other news the crystal bee shrimp had babies. I’ve seen 2 ... there could be more. Little tiny red and white shrimp, adorable.

I am back to using the air pump along with a twinstar. The maintenance schedule has stretched out to a full clean fortnightly. It’s a busy time of year for me.

 

[J@mes]

19 weeks

Come a long way since day 1! The shrimp are loving it, almost as much as the snails. Even the kids love it.

Some of the creatures have names now, like umbrella the oto. My twinstar seems to have given up and just flashed a blue light without doing anything. Probably the biggest single waste of money so far in the hobby...

The latest brood of shrimp has produced some nearly all black & all white ones.

 

[Harry H]

Your tank is maturing very nicely James, looking great.

Did you get another twinstar light?

 

[J@mes]

Your tank is maturing very nicely James, looking great.

Did you get another twinstar light?

Thank you Harry

Another one? No it’s the same one, it’s still going even though it’s been in the water a dozen times

 

[Harry H]

it’s still going even though it’s been in the water a dozen times

You cannot complain much then!

I am seriously considering switching to a twinstar 600 from my Kessil a160, I got the kessil with the tank, and plants are growing well, very little algae, and I dont want to fiddle with lighting, but man, the stupid fan on the Kessil is so noisy...

 

[Cheltster]

I siphon it all, poop, cuttings, algae sand and gravel at the same time & replace with new. The gravel & sand come in 20kg bags for £5 each from Homebase. Shout out to @Marc Davis for that tip

Are they the RHS alpine gravel and or Potting gravel bags?

 

[J@mes]

1 year anniversary since the start of the thread!

The tank is struggling with algae lately, I’ve come to view it as more natural to have a dusting of green on the wood & stone. The Otos and other inhabitants don’t mind.

There’s been some highs and lows, I’ll spare you the details but today I was up early and the pale morning sun caught a corner of the tank for a couple of minutes, amazing.

If I manage to get some good photos after the water change I’ll add more.

Thanks to UKAPS and thanks for all the good advice from the great people who frequent this forum.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I was up early and the pale morning sun caught a corner of the tank for a couple of minutes, amazing.

Brilliant, you get a great prism effect from the tank corner. I know it's simple physics, but I still find "rainbows" magical.

cheers Darrel

 

[Harry H]

Any updates on the progress James?

 

[J@mes]

Any updates on the progress James?

Hi Harry. Yes, thanks for asking. Here’s the situation;

All the flint has disappeared under a layer of algae!

The plants I’ve enjoyed most are the frogbit and buce. The plants I’ve enjoyed least are the grass and the ceylon.

The cleaning routine is fairly relaxed & water changes are 50% every 2 weeks. The dennerle ferts via the dosator are still in use & the CO2 is too. The twinstar Ozone device gets used occasionally but it’s got some yellow deposits between the meshes that I can’t remove.

The shrimp have bred numerous times & there’s now a blue & black one that might be from the 3rd or 4th generation.

Just heavily trimmed the stems and changed the water. The buce is flowering again & when plucking a few leaves off the fern I realised there’s more buce inside/ under the fern in really low light & doing great there.

Coping fine with BBA and the other forms of algae. It’s a live & let live arrangement that we’ve come to.

I need to buy some more Prime and some other equipment. My dennerle sponge is looking past best & a net would be handy.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Tankless]

Did you try the dosator with any other branded ferts?

 

[J@mes]

Hi folks, it’s been a while! This tank is still going. It’s changed over the years and I’m now of a mind to redo the whole thing. I’ll follow up with more detail before I rescape it.