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Richards First Scape

Am considering a larger tank, but would need to sell mine and move all the plants, soil etc. I have a Plec cave which is at the back of the tank. Am taking the Bristlenose back this weekend as he has been digging.
 
Or throw a spanner in the works get a couple of angel fish and keep neons?!
No

Though angelfish that are raised from very small juveniles (1 cm body size) to maturity with a group of small tetras will often not predate THOSE small tetras (I tried to increase my shoal of harlequin rasboras twice, each time all the “new”rasboras disappeared, finally caught the angels nighttime hunting :eek: - they paid the rasboras no apparent attention during daylight hours), keeping just 2 angels is often a fraught adventure
(You could begin with a group of 6 angels, then keep the most stable duo, while they may possibly still have a “breakup”, they’ll often remain compatible)

I’d recommended a tank height of 50-60cm for angels, they can get BIG with tall fins (standard fin angels will have significantly shorter fin height than veil fin angels)
 
Am considering a larger tank, but would need to sell mine and move all the plants, soil etc. I have a Plec cave which is at the back of the tank. Am taking the Bristlenose back this weekend as he has been digging.

It’s much easier to
remove fish to a temporary bin,
carefully remove all plants and store appropriately,
transfer soil to new bigger tank,
add the additional soil and rescape (you’ll want more hardscape materials as well),
plant (extra plants too),
allow tank as much time as possible to settle (2 days - 2 weeks),
transfer fish (some of which could be kept for more a few days together in the bare Aqua One 80, though I suspect all of them together in a bare tank for more than a couple days, would be stressful if not subject to aggression - obviously you could move the small tetras over earlier, then include some plain terracotta pots/plastic pipe etc for hiding places in the bare tank)

Definitely not as easy as setting up a tank from scratch (when you’ve no fish etc to consider)

Given your current tank is 80cm x 40cm x 47cm (H), I’m rethinking the EA 900 (which I always think is 50cm tall), you might do better with a 100 x 50 x 50cm aquarium (it seems a fairly standard size, and would be cheaper than a 120cm length), though most wont be optiwhite glass (like the EA 900)

Or perhaps a second EA 600 aquarium for the Apisto’s ;)

But really, I’d just downsize the current inhabitants and run your present tank for a year or so, before considering bigger/more tanks
Most of those fish are ones which could be purchased again when you’ve more tank space
 
Which option were you expecting?!
That you’d ignore mine and create your own :D

There's so many plants in there, not really room for caves!
Plants will grow over and around caves :)

Arbitrarily choosing AG for example
Bogwood, small to med, you can combine small piece to create a larger cave, I’d expect the Apisto and plecos to dig what they wanted given the wood base to start
River wood, small
etc

As Conort2 pointed out, check that your present pleco cave is suitable for your L236
 
As already mentioned a larger tank would be much better with your current stock. The L236 will require a rock cave or specialist plec cave, wood has been mentioned but all the hypancistrus from the Rio xingu really need rocks. They’ll use wood if there is nothing else but rocks should really be used. Not sure how big it is but that and the bristlenose May cause issues with digging up and disturbing plants.

cheers

conor
What type of rock do I need to buy? Taking the Bristelnose back this weekend and 8 neons.
 
That you’d ignore mine and create your own :D


Plants will grow over and around caves :)

Arbitrarily choosing AG for example
Bogwood, small to med, you can combine small piece to create a larger cave, I’d expect the Apisto and plecos to dig what they wanted given the wood base to start
River wood, small
etc

As Conort2 pointed out, check that your present pleco cave is suitable for your L236
Can you send a pic of a typical cave I need to buy and bog wood?
Taking the Bristlenose back this weekend so left with the L236
 
What type of rock do I need to buy? Taking the Bristelnose back this weekend and 8 neons.
Anything pretty substantial, when I kept hypancistrus I used rounded boulders however these don’t look the best for aqua scaping. They would probably be happy with something like mini landscape rock or even drags on stone provided the pieces are big enough for it to hide under completely.

I would stack them a few rocks high to form some nice natural caves, as @alto mentioned the plecs will happily dig their own caves around the rocks too.

cheers

Conor
 
So Twinstar is only at 50%. Been using Ei fertiliser kit with macro and micro nutrient bottles for recommended about each day. 23ml for 135 litre. I’ve started to get some black beard algae on the driftwood. What am I doing wrong? Started to get some decent plant growth other than the carpet at the front.
 
Can you post a few pictures?

That’s always easier than the back and forth questions :)

Where is the Twinstar located?
Which plants are in the carpet? and has there been any fish activity causing growth loss? or is it light related?

I assume your CO2 has remained on the yellow side of green?
Do you see the dropchecker solution changing color? eg, more blue after CO2 is off?

Water changes (one of your most effective strategies against algae during tank startup)
How often? How much?

Wood
New? this seems quite fast for BBA - can you take a decent shot of the algae (during a water change with lowered water level maybe)

Are you comfortable treating with Excel or peroxide?

You mentioned returning the neon tetras (& bristlenose) this weekend, I’d suggest further reducing your bioload, not just for the fish (which has been my main concern) but also it will make establishing the tank with minimal algae, easier
 
I’ll post a few pictures after work tonight. I’ve been doing a 50% water change every week now, usually on a Sunday.
Twinstar is located in the middle to cover the whole tank. Plants in the carpet are Eleocharis acicularis. I think some of it has lifted and I’ve tried to re plant, some had been moved because of the BP.
The CO2 is coming on at 12, lights on 4, has been a lime green colour at this point. Not really checked the colour when turned off.

The wood is the same piece of driftwood since the start. Treat with excel??? You mean to the water?

I’m taking the 8 glass catfish back as well to further reduce numbers to 20.
 
Ohhhh the glass cats - I’ll miss them :(

;)

Good for you making some choices :thumbup:
(not easy)

Now that you see visible algae, increase water changes, at least 50% - daily if you can, remove any melting/damaged leafs (careful not to “pull” to disturb developing roots) - pick up a cheap “waterproof” electric toothbrush for cleaning the wood etc (George Farmer demonstrates in a recent video :D)

Pick up some Seachem Excel (more stable than some alternates), sort out the volume for your tank (I just use the tank volume and don’t worry about the slight excess re safety margins in dosing, you can always add half the dose, monitor fish etc, then add the second half dose)
https://www.seachem.com/flourish-excel.php

Use a syringe to deliver the Excel directly to the BBA, if wood is out of water during water change, even easier, syringe Excel onto BBA, wait min or so, refill tank as usual

Excel Tx of algae
(there are other examples, but FO also has a follow up video some days later)
 
I know love the glass catfish as well

I’ll use the electric toothbrush tonight and start to do a 50% water change daily. How long will I need to do this for? I’ll be able to take out the wood and can clean it and add the seachem Excel to the BBA out of the water.
 
If you can treat the wood in situ, this is probably better - can’t imagine lifting wood without disturbing the substrate and stressing fish - also returning it to position

If you see algae, continue increased maintenance - usually water change is one of the cheapest and most effective treatments
Also rinse filter weekly if possible (again while actively combatting algae)

Once tank settles, and you see good growth on all plants, and algae is less visible, start down shifting maintenance schedule
 
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That neon hasn’t been skipping any meals :lol:

definitely BBA - is this after the electric tb?
I’m lazy so I’d just add Excel to treat
After 1-3 days you’ll see the BBA turn purple though pink depending - shrimp etc will often clean it up at this stage
(you could also add a few small SAE to worry at the BBA, but they get big etc so you’d need a rehoming strategy (also they naturally consume more meaty foods as they mature) - this is an easy technique for a shop, not so efficient for individuals
 
Yes hes an older neon that I've had over a year!

No I tried the electric tooth brush but it's very stubborn! I will add excel tonight with a syringe like you said. I've bought some mini landscape rock which need to arrange this weekend also. All the other plants are showing good signs of new growth.

I've had 2 SAE before and have taken them back to the LFS a few weeks ago, they got massive!
 
So Twinstar is only at 50%. Been using Ei fertiliser kit with macro and micro nutrient bottles for recommended about each day. 23ml for 135 litre. I’ve started to get some black beard algae on the driftwood. What am I doing wrong? Started to get some decent plant growth other than the carpet at the front.

Gut instinct here but that sounds like an awful lot of fertiliser for your tank size!!
 
Couldn’t get anything but algae with those ferts...plus you’ll need to put the twinstar at 100% to get the plants to eat all that liquid food.

I would recommend stop dosing N and P, just dose K for now
 
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