A Couple Of Issues

[Gruntle]

I reported in the past that I have my lights on for 11 hours a day (turn them on on my way to work, turn them off on my return) but now I'm having green algae problems.
 
I see two options (and the possibility of a third, which is combine the two):
 
- Reduce the hours of lighting by using a timer.
- Reduce the amount of feeding.  I think I've been overfeeding because I have a few juvenile Rainbowfish, I've dropped to one feed a day but have not given them a fasting day for a few weeks now.
 
Which do you think would be appropriate? I am about to move house for a couple of months while renovations take place, so everything will be scrubbed before I reassemble the tank, and I sincerely hope that I will remove most of the algae at that point, but now it's a matter of keeping on top of a regrowth.
 
Secondly, I have removed the dark blue sheet from the back of the tank because with my Rainbows, I was unable to appreciate their full colour, the black on the edge of their fins was blending into the dark colour.  The fish are a lot nicer to watch now, but I have the issue of seeing the cord from the light and heater at the back of the tank now.  I'm wondering whether to put a light background on the tank (maybe one of those ones with all the plants painted on) or to somehow get a print of some light coloured rocks, laminate it and stick that to the back.   Or to arrange my decorations better and add more plants. Decisions decisions...
 
And I hope to post a thread on the tank breakdown and move, highlighting any issues I encounter and any lessons learned, because I'll be moving the tanks back again in a few months. Luckily the move is only about a 20 minute drive, but I think I'll be taking a whole day to bag everything, drain the tanks, move, reassemble, let things settle and start again. At least I have a cooler to put the fish bags in to keep their temperature stable, and about an hour or two shouldn't worry them too much. I'll be starving them for a coule of days beforehand just to keep the poop under control.
 
Wish me luck.

 

[sawickib]

Best thing to do would be to go and buy a timer for your lights so you dont have to do either.

 

[daizeUK]

Agreed, a timer set to about 6-8 hours would be better.  You could also set it for mornings or evenings so that you get to see the fish with lights on?
 
I like to use a frosted film backing on my tanks with a backlight behind the tank.  This gives a really light attractive background but it works best if you have a white wall or piece of white card behind the tank.  The frosting helps to blur the wires and I paint any equipment behind the tank white to make them even less noticeable.  

 

[Gruntle]

Thank you all, I will investigate a timer (should be easy to find) and will look into frosted film. I think the local hardware store sells the stuff to stick onto windows (making clear glass semi-opaque). I never thought of painting the wires, shame almost everything you buy these days has black cords...

 

[daizeUK]

Yeah, ideally your wires/hoses would come down the side of the tank so they're not visible through the back - but I can't do that with my tank, the only holes are at the back!

 

[Gruntle]

Once I'm sorted I might get some 3M cable clips and secure the wires along the seams of the tank, I'm just a but scared of tying everything down in case I have to do something like take the light off to do a full tank clean. But the 3M seem easy to clip in and out so they might be worth a try.
 
At the moment I have a couple of healthy Blue Strictas that I have strategically placed so they're in front of the wires. I guess it's just a part of having a healthy tank to have all the mechanics and there's only a few things I can do to hide them..