Freshwater for the Kids! Build

[JIM]

Love this thread. Building something for your kids, and advancing the hobby all at the same time is, or should be worth a trophy :)



There you go !! :)

[Roshan8768]

Looks good, more plants will definitely help you fight that algae! Everything except for the baby tears looks in great shape. Not sure on the anubias variety, but it's definitely better of in the shade.

[troy tucker]

A couple albino bristalnose plecos would eat that algea.
The plant is a small tipe of anubias. can't remember the name.
The molly is prego.

[AHP]

So here is an update.
Everything is so so... I gave away the red tail shark and had to re-scape the tank because of it.




Then I ended up losing one of the red cherry shrimp and a Siamese algae eater (I just can not find the body of the siamese). I think they died because of string up the sand and getting an ammonia spike.

So here is an issue I need help with.
ID this algea? I think this is Green Spot Algae but I am not sure because I am not using CO2 and the lights are on 50%.



So here are the plants.
Baby tears (I don't think they are doing very well)


Amazons (Doing ok, still getting new growth but leaves are starting to turn brown) - I am guessing they need potassium but not sure




Ludwigia ovalis (I think)




anubias barteri (I am guessing again. I had to move this to shade because the leave were getting what I think is black algae, not sure.)

a different Anubias, is this algae or bad nutrients?


I am not sure what this is but would love for someone to ID this. Seems to be growing great.




Water Wisteria



Crypt Parva




Fish are doing great, I ended up picking up 4 Otos two weeks ago and they are doing fine.
As I was looking around I noticed that I think my Gold Dust Lyretail Molly is prego but not sure...








So yea that's it. Any help on the plants, algae and molly is very welcomed.

[AHP]

Thanks to the both of you. It’s always nice to have people to talk to about this.

Roshan,
Absolutely I should be back from ND by then and would love some clippings.

tpark.
Great resources thanks for posting.

I will see if I can take a pick of it over the weekend. It is not much but I want to be very aware of what is going on in this tank so I can learn good lessons and catch problems early.

All-in-all I think me picking up about 3-4 Otos and some more plants is something that my tank needs soon.
Ludwigia repens - think I have some of this mixed in with some moneywort. Matter of fact I pulled on up last night to see if it had algae on it and the roots had to be about 6 inches long, they have only been in there for 2 weeks.

[tpark]

To me it sounds like the algae he is having since its just on wood and rocks is fairly normal. Probably just need more algae feeders. EI dosing will help too as most forms of algae flourish in low fert conditions, its mainly your hair algae, and string algae that flourish in excess fert conditions. That is the main idea behind EI dosing- too provide excess so plants flourish and out compete algae. Going the EI route will save you a lot of money, the only negative is having to do more regular water changes. If it was me personally I would stay away from weed plants (ex. anacharis), unless your looking for a plant to fill in your tank cheaply. I would suggest some Ludwigia repens, its a very nice looking plant, and easy to grow. If you want some root tabs just message me, I made 1000 of them over the summer, and have them in bags of 25 if you want to try them out. No charge.

Roshan is very right on CO2, it will work wonders but definitely is something to mess with. You really have to dial it in correctly so that your fish/shrimp don't suffocate. Again though, that metricide stuff is awesome, and soooooooo much cheaper than Flourish Excel.

Here is a good resource on algae:

http://www.rexgrigg.com/Algae1.html

Here is a good resource (pictures) on identifying algae:
http://www.aquariumplants.com/Articles.asp?ID=111 (scroll to bottom)

[Roshan8768]

I keep adding plants here and there but I am nowhere close to how I want it to look. I know it’s going to take time but I would like to encourage my plants to grow out and fill the tank in. So I guess I need to look into root tabs, either commercially produced or DIY.

I think I am right in the same boat as you when it comes to setup. Low-tech, low maintenance let the fish work.

I guess the only reason why I started to think about fert and root tabs is because I am starting to see algae grow on my DW and rocks. I don’t think the Siamese algae eaters are doing their job, might have to look at Oto's along with root tabs.

As mentioned above C02 will work wonder, but I personally don't want to mess with something like that. If the algae is really bad, remove as much as you can physically. Honestly I've always had a little algae in my tank, but it is hardly noticeable. I think the key is to have a lot of plant mass in your tank. I have some pictures of my tank up in the photography section if you want to take a look. Until you have about that % of plant mass relative to you tank, algae will probably always win the battle (especially if you have a lot of fish and a lot of light.) Note that you want more stems and floaters (fast growers that pull excess nutrients out of the water column) than rooted plants like swords that feed primarily from the substrate. I'll have a bunch of trimmings in a couple of weeks if you're interested

[tpark]

http://www.amazon.com/MetriCide%C2%AE-28-High-Level-Disinfectant-Sterilant/dp/B000XYVEDA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1380221702&sr=8-2&keywords=metricide

This is a concentrated version of Flourish Excel, way cheaper in the long run. I have CO2 injection on all my tanks, so I use it mainly to kill algae, but I know quite a few people that substitute this for CO2. You can dilute it, or just dose more lightly. I use an irrigator and fill it up, and squirt onto diatoms, and black hair algae---- WORKS WONDERS. The active ingredient is the same in Excel, or CO2 plant booster etc. No harm to fish. Some people have claimed that it can harm shrimp, but I have not seen that first hand.

[AHP]

I keep adding plants here and there but I am nowhere close to how I want it to look. I know it’s going to take time but I would like to encourage my plants to grow out and fill the tank in. So I guess I need to look into root tabs, either commercially produced or DIY.

I think I am right in the same boat as you when it comes to setup. Low-tech, low maintenance let the fish work.

I guess the only reason why I started to think about fert and root tabs is because I am starting to see algae grow on my DW and rocks. I don’t think the Siamese algae eaters are doing their job, might have to look at Oto's along with root tabs.

[Roshan8768]

Seachem Flourish is good for trace elemnts, and Excel is a good carbon source. Personally I find it to be too much work and like my freshwater tank to be as low maintenance as possible. I just have root tabs in the substrate, and dose some of the Flourish once every month or so with the water change. Also, unless you've added a bunch of new plants, you probably don't need to dose... most of what you have takes up the majority of their nutrients from the roots. EI dosing is really more for stem plant heavy tanks with a lot of plant mass. Just stock heavy and don't change the water too often, your fish will do the work for you

[AHP]

Yea. I have 5 right now.
by the way i noticed some algea on my drift wood near the water line. Vary small amount so i turned my lights down.

Side note: I have also been doing alot of reading about fert (EI Fert) schedule. I would be interested to hear about someones results with Seachem Flourish.

[troy tucker]

I had forgoten about the shrimp. Have you thought about neon tetras? I had about 40 in a tank. the way they school and move. it's like a swimming rainbow. Just a thought.

[AHP]

I was thinking about a golden ram or 2 but wouldn't want to lose my shrimp. lol
But never the less I would love to swing buy and see your setup.

Also does anyone reading this have some good plants or clippings they might be able to part with. I know there are a couple of people on this form that enjoy plants like myself.

[troy tucker]

A large group would. Maybe Geo.s are a great pick.

[AHP]

I may comes see what you have Troy.

Don't get me wrong but wouldn't a cichlid tear up my planted tank?