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Problems with 3 small tanks

ellena

Member
Joined
14 Apr 2009
Messages
40
I've been plodding on with these, but they're not going so well, so any advice appreciated :)
Tank 1
Size-25l cubeish
Time set up-5 weeks
Filter-fluval 1, mature media from LFS added with fish. Sponge baffle to slow flow
Substrate-plain clay cat litter under sand
Plants-twisted vallis, water sprite, amazon sword and 1 unIDed (be great if someone could ID :))
Light-11w on for about 6 hours a day
Fish-1 male betta
Dosing-0.5ml TPN+ 0.25ml easycarbo daily
Pic-
4096106974_3736c4f670.jpg

Problem-brown algae, both loose patches and attached to plant leaves. I can't up the flow due to the betta. I was doing twice weekly water changes up to this week as the fish was new. I'm going to go back to that as the algae wasn't at problem levels when I did them. Does light and dosing sound OK? I started with the easycarbo as the vallis wasn't settling in well. I know it's not supposed to work, but on another forum someone said it worked fine with theirs so I decided to give it a go. Can't say it's made a difference to the vallis either way. Still cutting brown bits off every water change.

Tank 2
Size-21l tall hex
Time set up-5 weeks
Filter-built in trickle, kept cycled by feeding ammonia daily after last fish died
Substrate-plain clay cat litter under sand
Plants-cabomba, amazon sword, moss ball, ludwigia
Light-9w on for about 6 hours a day
Fish-1 male betta
Dosing-0.5ml TPN+ 0.25ml easycarbo daily
Pic-
4081857499_497eca3bdd.jpg

Problem-plants dying. I had a buch of wisteria that just rotted to nothing, then the ludwigia did the same. That is just hanging on in there though, with a bit of new growth. I've killed 2 bunches of elodea. The cabomba is good at the top, but the bottom 1/4 is a write off. Could it be light not reaching the bottom strongly enough?

Tank 3
Size-25l bowl
Filter-built in, fishless cycled
Plants-All plastic plants except a java fern and a moss ball.
Light-Not sure on light wattage, maybe 15w, on for 6 hours
Fish-10 male endlers
Problem-dark green algae on the plastic plants. I did have some cherry shrimp in there briefly and they sorted it out a treat, but then they died along with half the fish and I've been letting it settle down before getting any more. The 'no copper' thing was also a bit of a faff when I was treating the mystery disease that wiped them all out.
So, get some shrimp, or try to solve it another way?

Thanks for any tips :)
 
Thanks for the links Flyfisherman :) The cat litter I used isn't like that in the thread, it's clay which would totally muddy the water for ever! It's a thin layer topped with a good few cm of sand.
Looking at the algae on that link, it looks most like the black brush, but doesn't have the definite bristley appearance, more like a carpeting effect. I'll try and get a pic tomorrow although my camera with macro setting is out on loan.
 
Thanks guys-yes, it looks like a Hydrocotyle, thanks for that.
I'm going with every other day water changes to try and keep the algae down and because the betta has bitten his tail. I'll keep with the dosing unless anyone advises otherwise?
 
Thanks fred, I'll carry on with that then :thumbup:
I thought the water sprite has got brown algae on, but now I think some of it is starting to die. There was a little die back when I first bought it, but it's been lovely since, until now :(
 
Few updates
Tank 1
Still doing every other day water changes. I'm hoovering up the very top of the sand which is brown with algae, and discarding it. I shall replace if I ever get rid of the algae. Vallis is picking up, lots of new green leaves and a new little plant on a runner. No change in the algae and the hydrocotyle leaves are covered. The water sprite is def. dying off. I got past the die off from the shop and it was looking fab, now it's going brown again. It's odd though, there are bits of new green growth on the dying brown stems?
Tank 2
Ludwigia still shedding leaves with just a few healthy ones at the top of each stem. How long should it take to pick up?
Cabomba is long and thin. I've trimmed the tops and replanted the trimmings. There's some sort of brown gunge coating it most of the time, but no algae on the glass or sand.
Tank3
Not surprisingly, as I have done nothing to it, no change. Still thinking of some shrimp. I have bought 6 what look like amano shrimp which are currently in a tank which has never been dosed with copper. In tank 3 I've just run a course of sterazin for suspected internal parasites, so I'm trying to work out the best way to remove the copper then I will add the shrimp. Do amano shrimp eat most algae? In the tank they're in, they seem to only be eating the indian almond leaf! I'm putting some hikari shrimp cuisine pellets in, but I'm not sure if the betta is eating them, he's v.fat!

Thanks for any tips :)
 
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