My First Attempt at a Planted Aquarium

[StandbySetting]

The issue with juwel tanks is the intensity, I love their equipment, nearly every tank I've had has been a juwel as the quality is unparalleled, but the stock lighting is just over kill and always causes issues with algae in planted setups without injected CO2. On all my juwel tanks I block out one of the tubes with a reflector mounted upside down, seems a waste but the LED lights on these tanks use little power anyway. This will more than likely cure your algae problems long term.

 

[Fishfinder1973]

Your tanks coming along great.The hygrophila is a very fast growing plant,just watch how much you trim off of it as taking too much off can shock it and stall its growth rate.
Pentazona barbs are a great fish to have in a tank,very strong fish (health wise).I’ve never had any problems with mine in two years.

 

[VeryFatbloke]

Thanks for the tip @StandbySetting, I’ll bear that in mind. I love my Pentazonas @Fishfinder1973, they’re easy to keep, look great and are very peaceful.

 

[VeryFatbloke]

Blimey, is it really 15 months since I was last here.......My tank was overrun by a) Endlers and b) hair algae. My son moved 6 Endlers from his Betta tank about 9 months ago and they multiplied to around 60, they never stopped breeding. I was very lackadaisical with my maintenance as well and the hair algae kept re-appearing, I was taking it out by the handful. The other fish in the tank had trouble getting a look in food wise although I was adding more food than I needed to so as to ensure that they did actually feed.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I saw a post on Facebook from one of my local fish shops saying that they did maintenance and rescaping work. It's a shop I've used quite regularly and the staff are very knowledgeable. I went there and explained the situation, the lady told me what she could do and I bounced some ideas off of her. The bottom line is that I decided to have the tank completely cleaned and rescaped. I know that this is not an option for a lot of people, and it's certainly not meant as a humblebrag, as it wasn't cheap but in my mind it is money well spent to bring the tank back up to it's best. All of the Endlers have gone to the shop to be sold. I'm going to the shop over the weekend to pick up some more fish to enhance the community, now that the Endlers have gone hopefully the Pentazonas, Ember Tetras and Cardinals will feel more relaxed. I also have a Clown Pleco, Snowball Pleco and two Cories. I'm looking to add some more Cardinals, Pentazonas and Cories.

I have been left with instructions of what to add to the water to help plant growth, and I intend to follow them.

Here's two pictures, the first one before and the second one afterwards.