My Introduction :)

[SimoUK]

Hey guys,

SIGH, well I did just write about 500 characters on my fishkeeping experience how it started and about how iam going to get into more complicated plants, until my browser decided to crash and I lost it all. Sorry.

So i'll just start from here, I have been fishkeeping since I was 15, and iam now 17.5, It started with a 2 gallon acrylic tank with a black-moore and 5 WCMM's, which after research I learned was not large enough at all to keep those fish, so I upgraded that tank to a 20 gallon. This then progressed onto me buying a tropical 180 Litre tank 2 Years ago, 6 months into my fishkeeping experience. It was off ebay, came fish fish, equipment and everything needed from someone who was emigrating. Recently my tanks had started to go downhill, still very healthy, they just looked a big mess as I have been swamped with coursework and constantly losing interest in the hobby, so I wanted a new challenge, I recently decided to try and get a nice planted tank going, I have always had plants in my tanks, but only Java ferns and Java moss, so i want to try some harder to keep plants.

Here is the 180 litre tank that I will be adding more variety of plants to:

The Tank:
180 Litre
Rena Fistar XP2
CO2: Flora-Grow CO2 Nano 50 <--- Basically bought this to try co2, dabbled with DIY co2 in the past, but it was too much work for me, this is basically a little 9gram cyclinder that you open to fill the diffuser, and then leave it to diffuse into the tank. I plan to upgrade this to a bigger 90 gram kit in the near future.
Dosage: I also dose with Kingbritish - Aquatic Plant Food every two weeks.
Lighting: Very basic, 2 x 30w Bulbs (I plan to upgrade this but need some help with that)

Plants:
I have a huge collection of java fern that I have since the tank was purchased on the right side of the tank that continues to grow in a big bunch, and I like that.

I need your help to ID what the two plants I recently bought are on the far left of the tank.

Hopefully with this forums help I can improve this tank, and add some more exotic plants. Just thought I would Introduce myself

Simo

 

[ian]

welcome to the planted side of the forum, Simo. As for those plants on the far left, can you get a better pic? I'm sure you learn loads over here. If there's any questions give us all a shout.

 

[Littlemonkey]

Tell you what. I nearly thought I've got a stalker in my home. Your tank is not far off my 4ft. Love the Congo tetra's. Have you done the same as me and ended up with two males. Even if you have, mine get on great together. I like the look of your tank. All I've got is a deep layer of gravel, no CO2 just a spray bar, and I have to keep cutting and splitting my plants. I must admit though. Amazon sword do really well for me. Hoping to get some more real plants soon. My light source is plain tubes from an old 3ft tank. weird isnt it.How things turn out?

 

[SimoUK]

welcome to the planted side of the forum, Simo. As for those plants on the far left, can you get a better pic? I'm sure you learn loads over here. If there's any questions give us all a shout.

Thanks, ive got a couple of questions ill put in here tommorrow when I can get links to help, and ill upload another pic of the two plants Need to havd a read of that planted resource centre too

Love the Congo tetra's. Have you done the same as me and ended up with two males. Even if you have, mine get on great together. I like the look of your tank.

Thanks mate, The congo tetras are awesome they are so active, and yes they are both males and get along really well, I was considering getting another one or two but i'll see how it goes

 

[SimoUK]

Hey guys

Sorry for the slow reply, been really busy with work the past couple of days, but here it is!

The two plants I want ID'ing

The one closest to the shot, and the large leaved one at the back.

Now, i'm having a problem with the large leaved one,

See the hole in one of the leaves? why is this? could my clown loaches be eating it?

Thanksss Simo

 

[ian]

I expected those to be non aquatic plants, they are Dracaena species. They are a type of spider plant and do not do well fully submerged, they will rot eventually and cause ammonia spikes, resulting in algae break outs.

 

[SimoUK]

Ok. Thanks Ian ill take them out, ill probably just buy my plants off here from now on, then I know im buying aquatic plants, Could you help me with something else?

This algae stuff has been growing there for about 5 months, and it wont go away, what is it? its really annoying. And its too thick to gravel-vac up, and when you try to pull it out it just breaks up.

Thanks, Sim

 

[ian]

that looks like Blue Green Algae to me, this is taken from James algae guide...

Often caused by very low nitrates. It is fairly common to have it growing in the substrate against the front glass from where it can spread. Sometimes it appears with new setups that have had light and ammonia present at some point. Dirty substrates and filters may also bring it on. Poor water circulation is another possible cause

and how to combat

A blackout is the best method for this. Clean out as much of the algae as you can and do a 30 to 50% water change. If your nitrates are low then add some potassium nitrate to get levels to 20ppm. Remove CO2 and add an airstone. Turn off lights and cover the whole tank so no light can enter. Leave it for 3 to 4 days. No peeking and no feeding - fish will be fine without food for this period. After 3 to 4 days remove the covers and do a 30 - 50% water change. Remove airstone and start CO2. You will need to dose nitrates to keep them dropping too low again. Make sure your substrate and filter doesn't become too clogged up with mulm and also make sure you have good water circulation around the whole tank.
Another option is to treat with Maracyn which is an anti-biotic. Seems to work well but may affect the biological filter. In the UK it is illegal to purchase Maracyn without first getting a prescription for it from a vet.
If the BGA is originating from the substrate place some dark tape on the glass to hide the substrate from direct light.

http/www.jsctech.co.uk/theplantedtank/algae.htm

 

[SimoUK]

Thanks i'll do the blackout and buy a powerhead, the circulation in my tank is poor, the filter doesn't provide enough of a circulation.

Thanks for the help, i'll update on how it goes

 

[ian]

good luck with it Si! It can be one of the hardest to actually get rid of, but hopefully you will see a difference with the upping of the flow.

 

[SimoUK]

Hey,

Well had some free time today and went to my LFS, their selection of powerheads was limited in my price range but I went ahead and bought the Maxi-Jet PH MP 1200, was wary when first getting it home and testing it that I would have to take it back due to the flow being VERY strong, It seems I failed to check the Litres per hour, and it turns out that it runs up to 1200 LPH, but after some testing in the sink and adding some fine filter media into the foam cartridge the flow slowed down to a nice pace for the tank. The fish seem to enjoy the new increased flow, especially the panda garra and the congo tetra.

It has a nice feature that allows you to put the line from your air pump into it aswell, which looks much nicer than just having an airstone sitting at the back of the tank, the powerhead in the tank:

I still need to remove those two non-aquatic plants from the corner, but I have gone ahead and bought one of the
Hygrophila difformis off of ebay:

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260601756474&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Says its easy to grow, medium to high lighting, so hopefully that should be fine, I'll update when the
hygrophila difformis arrives

Sim