Complexity's 90g Planted Tank Journal

[Complexity]

Thanks, algarciajr and Steve! I want to add more rocks to the tank, but I hear the place that sells the rocks is cleaned out. I still have some left over from before, but they're larger, and it would be quite an undertaking to completely rescape all the rocks to get the larger ones at the bottom so the smaller ones can be at the top. I'll try to work something out.

I was told by someone else that they thought the plants in the tank were fake. They're not. They're real plants! The fish do nibble on them so the plants look a little ratty when seen up close, but it doesn't detract from the overall scape. It's funny because a lot of the fish use the plants as if they're rocks and caves. The yellow labs sleep in the leaves of the plants. It's really cute to see the plants with yellow labs looking out at you!

[Complexity]

I hadn't updated my journal in a while, but I've been making some changes. A number of the juvenile fish I had bought ended up being females so I sold them to make room for some new males. Since most of my fish are blue and yellow, I wanted to mainly add more color and patterns to the mix.

Went to City Pets and got 4 new fish. Two turned out to be too aggressive so I returned them. That left me with just an OB and Sunburst peacock.

I then got a couple of small Livingston haps and a gorgeous Red Shoulder peacock at Fish Ranch.

I hope to rearrange the rocks tomorrow. I'm also changing some of the plumbing. Nothing major. Just switching out the jet sprays for spray bars. I did it on one side already and was amazed at how much more suction the intakes had when I did it so I'm going to do it to the other side now. I have to custom make the parts to go the way I want them so it'll take another day before I can get the other side done. I may run the spray bar across the bottom, as well. I can decide that when I rearrange the rocks.

I'll post pics of the new fish in a little bit.

[Complexity]

Oh, the other major change in this tank has been my fight against algae. While studying in school, I didn't maintain this tank as well as I should, and algae got the better of it. When I began trying to clean it out, I was discouraged to find that all my efforts were thwarted by a highly aggressive algae that grew back and coated everything in just a matter of days. This algae coated the fake plants, rocks, glass, and even the intake screens, blocking them from doing their job correctly.

I finally identified the algae as BBA and Oedogonium algae. Oedogonium algae is a type of filamentous algae, sometimes referred to as fur algae or fuzz algae. It's similar to hair algae. It grows very fast which is what I experienced in my tank.

I finally got control of the algae by doing a thorough clean up of the tank, including cleaning both canisters. I normally don't clean both canisters at the same time to not hit the bacteria too hard, but in this case, it was necessary. Eight days later, the canisters needed cleaning again because of all the gunk I was throwing into the water column with my tank cleaning.

I also used H2O2 to kill the BBA and O algae. I used a combination of direct contact and full tank method by directly squirting 1.5 cups of H2O2 onto the BBA, waiting about 20 minutes with the lights and filters off, then turning the lights and filters off, but not doing a water change. This allowed the H2O2 to filter throughout the tank and filtration. I've had to keep up with keeping the tank clean of the dead algae, but it's definitely paid off.

I also added phosphate remover pads to my canisters which I think is helping.

Now the water is sparkling clear! The algae is no longer taking over everything in sight. I still have some BBA remnants on the rocks which I will clean off when I rearrange the rocks.

The main thing is to keep up with the tank maintenance so it won't get so bad again. Unlike planted tanks, this tank requires much more vigorous work to remove the detritus and then clean it out of the canisters. I had thought a non-planted tank would be easier to maintain, but I'm finding it's actually more difficult in some ways.

[Complexity]

Here's pics of two of the fish. I'll try to get a better pic of the OB.

The first one is a Sunburst peacock. He's a hybrid which is probably the only way the get a red colored fish in the mix. Hybrid or not, he's really pretty.



And here's my OB. Again, my goal was to add red to the tank so I picked one with lots of red coloring.


Both are settling in the tank nicely. There was a bit of shyness from the Sunburst at first, but he's beginning to come out more and more now. Neither are aggressive, and while they get chased a little, it's not that bad. I think they'll be a great addition to the tank!

I'll post pics of my other fish a little later.

[Crude]

Looking good! Love that sunburst flaring it's fins sounds like my algae issues were nothin lol

[barrettsline]

Finally some good news on the algae issue!!! Those to fish looks awesome. I think they will make very nice additions to your aquarium.

+1 on maintenance. But im starting to believe thats why we do this, is because we must maintain and protect an isolated enviornment.

[Complexity]

Yeah, the algae issue was nothing once I figured out what algae I had. At first, I thought it was all just BBA. I hadn't experienced Oedogonium algae before. Really aggressive stuff. I've never seen an algae take over a tank so fast before.

I love the spray bar idea! When I removed the jet spray assembly and added the spray bar, a bunch of crud got thrown into the tank. It only took a few minutes for it all to get cleaned back out. I had no idea that the jet sprays were actually limiting the suction of the filters. The difference was quite dramatic. I wish I had tried this long ago!

[Complexity]

+1 on maintenance. But im starting to believe thats why we do this, is because we must maintain and protect an isolated enviornment.

The whole reason I decided to go with a cichlid tank was because I knew my time would be limited while I was studying. I wanted something less demanding than planted tanks. I foolishly thought a fish only tank would be easier to maintain. Ha! I've learned that lesson!

Cichlid tanks have larger fish with no plants to help purify the water so while the maintenance itself may be easier, the requirement for regular maintenance is more demanding.

[barrettsline]

The whole reason I decided to go with a cichlid tank was because I knew my time would be limited while I was studying. I wanted something less demanding than planted tanks. I foolishly thought a fish only tank would be easier to maintain. Ha! I've learned that lesson!

Cichlid tanks have larger fish with no plants to help purify the water so while the maintenance itself may be easier, the requirement for regular maintenance is more demanding.

Cichlids just don't understand you want a nicely decorated tank along along with the beauty of the fish. I've tried talking to them, they don't listen!

Lol!


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.543298,-95.136049

[Complexity]

No kidding! They destroyed the nice plants I gave them. Then they crapped all over the place. They eat like pigs. Just can't teach them manners for anything! Remind me of having kids!

[barrettsline]

So ungrateful! Yeah reminds me Of the kids sometimes.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.532005,-95.157867

[Complexity]

Get the popcorn! Got some more pics. Here's some of the ungrateful children in the tank.

First, the two Livingstons. Got these from Fish Ranch.



This is my favorite find. Got him from Fish Ranch, too. He was marked as a Red Shoulder Peacock, but he has so much color, I have to wonder. This bad boy was the best in the entire tank so I just had to have him. He is simply gorgeous!



The rest are fish I already had. I just got a few extra pics. Of course, we all know what yellow labs look like. Got these as little ones. They've grown up nicely and breed like bunnies. I have no idea how many I have in the tank, but there's a lot, not counting the babies hiding in the rocks.



This is my Neolamprologus brichardi. I'm guessing she's a girl, but she's still really pretty. She's actually quite peaceful in the tank as long as no one takes her spot. I've always wanted one so I'm glad she's done so well.



This is one of my main bad boys of the tank. He's my Blue Regal. He and my Bicolor 500 own the tank.



Last pic is my Electric Blue Hap. Got him as a juvenile. Out of 3 juvies, just one ended up being male. He's really pretty. He's becoming the 3rd bad boy of the tank. When he got his colors, he wanted to mate with every female in the tank. I'd wake up to find all the fish on one side of the tank while he tried to breed with his latest female conquest. He's settled down a bit now that the females are gone, but his colors are still really pretty.



Here's the obligatory FTS. I took this before I got the last 3 fish. It doesn't look like many fish in there, but they're there. They just were behind rocks and plants at the time since I had been messing with the tank. I'm not a big fan of fake plants, but it helps break up the line of sight for the fish so I use them.



There's lots of other fish in the tank, but that's what I could get pictures of this time around.

[barrettsline]

So these are the guilty ones who don't listen to mommy!

Beautiful fish, love the scape, I would do more in mine but my 12" giraffe nose catfish thinks they get in the way!


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.531970,-95.158077

[Complexity]

Yup, those are the chil'ren. Got lots more, but they get rather shy when I start pointing a camera at them.

Hopefully, today I'll have a new scape. More rocks, less fake plants. At least that's the plan.

[Crude]

Oh man, those are gorgeous. Your Blue Regal is my favorite

How many fish are there total?