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ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (month 5)

Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

pariahrob said:
I should just add that before the nitrites raised a little the CPDs were eating fine. Just in case it's relevant. Nitrites are falling again now, slowly but surely.
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Rob when you say they are falling slowly but surely, how much of a spike did you get ? I thought you just meant there was a little rise associated with adding a few fish. It sounds more like it went sky high from your above comment.
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

Hi all,
I have noticed this morning that he didn't shoot off and hide when the light came on. Maybe he is acclimating after all?
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Rob, I'm very worried now, this is a bad sign, healthy Hypancistrus will always retreat to their cave in the light. Any nocturnal Loricariid out in the day time would worry me, and Hypancistrus are much more strictly nocturnal than either Ancistrus or Peckoltia spp.
Last night I put in half a wafer (the ones my lfs suggested, hikari) and that has all gone. A couple of cherries had had a sniff but no way they could've eaten it so my hope is he got it.
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I'm not trying to be funny, but I don't care what the LFS said to you, I can't put it any more clearly, half a Hikari wafer isn't going to help, he needs something more substantial. You need to offer him some high protein meaty feed as soon as possible, or he will die. There is nothing wrong with Hikari Wafers, Tetra Prima etc as a component of his diet, but they aren't what he needs at the moment.
This brings me on to something else. Wood. One of the links and a few other people have mentioned putting wood in the tank for him to chew on. This seems species related though and vtheir is some debate over what he is, somi wonder what to do. How much of what kind of wood is right?
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No, you can ignore the wood, Hypancistrus don't eat any wood, they haven't got the right teeth. I have wood in all my tanks as a surface for biofilm development etc. and some softer wood in the tank with Ancistrus L100 in it as a food source, but none of the Hypancistrus have ever grazed either the wood, or the biofilm.

The cochliodon group of Hypostomus and all Panaque spp. are obligate wood feeders, some of the other herbivorous genera like Lasiancistrus eat some and Baryancistrus spp. and many Ancistrus spp. graze the biofilm on woody surfaces and may take some wood fragments. Panaque spp. have big chisel shaped wood processing teeth, and the herbivores teeth like a pad of velcro, but Hypancistrus have relatively few peg shaped teeth, see image below.

Dentition_05.jpg


If you can get hold of it the "Back to Nature - Guide to L numbers..." by Ingo Seidel is a really good buy (should be some on Ebay). It is out of print in the English Edition, so even if you don't use it you may be able to sell it at a profit later on.

cheers Darrel
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

Well, it went from 0 - 2ppm over the couple of days following adding the fish. I thought it was due to adding them but then it may be something to do with adding more bio media to my filter too. I was told that it is a good idea to mix a variety of bio media, as each brand is better for different bacteria.
So I now have some fluval media in there with the API bio stars. My feeling was that as these become colonised the nitrites may have increased.

If I have this blahblahblahblah about face then please say. I have to learn.
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

Sorry Darrel, I was typing while you replied.

Ok, I have a fe snails I can give him plus some micro worms (I think they might be too small). On the plus side he is now back in his cave avoiding the light.

So, what is the best way to give him the snails? Or even worms out of the garden? Will he realise they are food? That sounds like a daft question but after reading those links I'm not so sure.

Any advice at all is more than welcome. The last thing I want to do is stress my fish, or worse!
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

Hi all,
So, what is the best way to give him the snails? Or even worms out of the garden? Will he realise they are food? That sounds like a daft question but after reading those links I'm not so sure.
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Don't feed the microworms, they are too small, although your CPD's will probably enjoy them. With the snails, I would just crush them between thumb and forefinger, and drop them near the cave entrance. Same with the worms, if they are small and whole I would wait until lights out, as otherwise they may bury into the substrate and become inaccessible, if they are larger you can pinch them into sections. Ideally you would want bits big enough to still have a bit of wriggle, if you are squeamish you can use scissors rather than finger-nails.
Will he realise they are food? That sounds like a daft question but after reading those links I'm not so sure.
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Should do, that is the advantage of feeding natural food, the fish doesn't have to learn that it is edible. If you have food with some movement that helps by stimulating the natural feeding response, and I'm pretty sure that L201 was one of the Hypancistrus species that eats snails naturally. I don't have any Ramshorn snails in my tank with L333 and L129 in it, but that may be a water hardness issue rather than predation.

Have a look at this link: <http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=2767> where it mentions the natural diet of Hypancistrus contradens.

cheers Darrel
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

pariahrob said:
Well, it went from 0 - 2ppm over the couple of days following adding the fish. I thought it was due to adding them but then it may be something to do with adding more bio media to my filter too. I was told that it is a good idea to mix a variety of bio media, as each brand is better for different bacteria.
So I now have some fluval media in there with the API bio stars. My feeling was that as these become colonised the nitrites may have increased.

If I have this blahblahblahblah about face then please say. I have to learn.
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Thats quite a high jump. (IMHO). Let me guess. Your LFS advised you to get a variety of media ? :rolleyes: Adding new media (as long as you are not removing old) should not create a nitrite spike such as that. Its most likely from adding the fish, but you didnt add many so I am surprised it spiked as much and for as long. I only ever see a glimmer, maybe .25ppm and then only for a few hours (when I can be bothered to monitor it, as I am confident enough that my filter can handle it). Did you REPLACE media or just ADD ?
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

It wasn't my LFS but somebody I know who has kept fish for years. If it had been my LFS I'd have suspected a quick sale was being looked for.

I added the media. The existing bio stars were left in.

I've done a test today (I know, I know. Tests aren't always accurate) and the level has dropped a bit more. It's at a touch over 1ppm if it can be relied on.

Hopefully the next few days will see it drop back to 0 and I can quit worrying.
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

pariahrob said:
It wasn't my LFS but somebody I know who has kept fish for years. If it had been my LFS I'd have suspected a quick sale was being looked for.

I added the media. The existing bio stars were left in.

I've done a test today (I know, I know. Tests aren't always accurate) and the level has dropped a bit more. It's at a touch over 1ppm if it can be relied on.

Hopefully the next few days will see it drop back to 0 and I can quit worrying.
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OK, well I personally don't see the point of having a load of different media, but as long as you are not replacing and only adding I don't see it making a difference. I would however, always consider media that has a higher surface area like Siporax or Matrix, or even alfagrog at a tenth of the price. Or even Eheim substrat pro (although I think it leads to a greater reduction in flow than Siporax). With fish in and 2ppm I would have been doing 50% WC daily to help reduce it. This might have meant the bacteria took longer to get up to speed but it would at least have been keeping the toxicity levels in the tank lower. Sounds like you only have a couple more days till its ok again. Then I would leave it at least a week before adding anything else :thumbup:
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

Quite right! I have been doing daily water changes, just to alleviate some of the stress where I can. I've reduced the feeding as well, in a bid to lower any waste pollutants.

You mentioned the siporax before. I'm certainly going to look into that in the future. At some point I'd like to set up a shrimp tank (plus there is the 120 to plan for), so will use some of the existing media to start off the new filters. At that point I'll probably add some siporax to this one.

Yep, no more fish for a while once this sorts itself. I need to let the tank catch it's breath. Hopefully a couple more days will see it start to balance out again.
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

Good news! He's eaten a bit of snail now and is currently checking out a slice of cucumber. He's not tried it yet but I'll leave it for a couple of hours and see what he makes of it.

I'll do the same again tomorrow night with the water change and live food. Maybe he just needed to see something wriggle (he's a wriggler himself).

Thanks for the tips all!
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

Got home from work today and tested my water. Looks like it's back to normal at last.

Fish are all looking good too and seem happy.

Next task for me is to clean the glassware. I'll order some superge and a brush and keep on top of that. I have a very slight green tint on my stone and the ceramic of my diffuser and I'd rather keep on top of it so will start a regular maintenance schedule for that.

I'm working from home tomorrow as well, so may extend my lunch to do a little pruning as my blyxa and varpula have decided it's time to have a growth spurt!
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

I may be imagining it but they look happier. Even marvin is more active. I just and watched for half an hour as he sucked and wriggled his way across the front of the tank.

Now the water is back to normal I can start feeding some microworms as well. I'd been holding off to reduce the load during the spike. I bet the CPDs will appreciate them!
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank (new week 3 photos)

I've just been having a good look at my tank and planning some maintenance later today. I think I will be chopping the roseafolia quite a lot and there is some new root growth at some node levels (is that the correct term?).

If anybody would like a little I'm sure there will be some spare. Let me know and I'll pop it in the post. I doubt there will be much so it will be first come first served.
 
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