Stan's freshwater 240 gallon extravaganza. Trials and tribulations of a sunlit aquarium

[Stan510]

Mostly,they burn out. This pump in fact had a few times left an oily sheen when turned off before the weekly water change and cleaning. Not every time. But I new that wasn't good.
The secondary problem is when the impeller wears out?..chances are the motor might not last as long as a second impeller. Those impellers are also not inexpensive..almost half the cost of a new pump.
Nobody has hobby pumps repaired. Like a microwave? Just buy a new one.
I will settle for just new one of this same brand and size..I have to. But,If I had known that it was down to it last 2 weeks,(and if I didn't have the warranty) I would prefer to buy an even stronger pump. For a 240 gallon,1200gph is a better turnover.

 

[Stan510]

Well,all went very well. I took the burnout 870 gph pump and then exchanged for the 1,250gph pump with $40 tossed in for difference in price and another 3 year warranty.
IF,i had just settled for another 870 I could have walked out for just $8 for another warranty. THAT is why I ALWAYS buy pumps local and usually from HD. In and out and in less than an hour,the exchange and hook up of new pump and boy,does it pump!
Lots of fish exercise. Since all the fish are known stream dwellers minus my one female Angel..she finds the quiet spots of course. Funny to watch the Pandas get right near the flow as they hang on to the front glass. Like they are back in India.
Now let's all pray the new pump lasts and they are still selling that model in 2023!

 

[Stan510]

More evolving....Because I went from a 870 gph (more or less) pump to a 1,200 gph pump...the aquarium was a little too stream like..plants bent a little too much..and I could see the fish with the new pump and the old 600 gph powerhead also moving water in the same direction were sort of moving out of view-lol...into the slower areas.
So,for now I disconnected and will remove the powerhead. See how it goes.
The new pump gurgles..but no big deal..that's aeration and the room is the hobby room..so you know how that goes. If you love the sound of water moving..You hardly notice sitting in the chair..its background noise.
Give it a try for awhile to see if that permanent. It's kind of nice to see the plants upright also.
One more thing? About Rainbows? I think I notice that the deeper bodied species prefer lakes and mild currents and the longer slender species like Madagascar or even M. mcculloch are stream lovers. When you keep them the habitat vids on youtube sink in.

 

[Stan510]

I crawled under the house on a hot October day(87f) here in California and got in touch you might say with some of my old aquariums. So far under the house,I thought they were gone for the last few years...long story of possible thievery..but far under were some tanks like Metaframes...Acrylics ( might use that one ) and some I saw had been chipped from being pushed around. Visions of a new fishroom. Only, no. I might use one for quarantine or treating sick fish. I did have an idea to use a 50 gallon as a big terrarium..scaped with mosses and mini plants. Not sure how the wife would take that. Its the usual pushback..but when i do things that come out nice,then she's happy. Until I start another idea....

 

[Stan510]

Updates: I reinstalled the powerhead with vortex..I just felt like to my best...the extra aeration is good for the fish and combined push of it and the 1200 gph pump actually made little sand dunes in the tank..interesting.
Also,BlueGreen Algae was getting a little toehold on my Java Moss and other plants. Well,I decided no fooling around.. I went and bought two boxes ,20 packets of erythromycin. That was 48 hours ago and much - but not all- of the BGA is gone. I went around trying to remove what's left and also only put one light fixture on instead of the three. I get that it takes a full week of bathing in antibiotics to kill off the terrible algae if not for good...I would expect this treatment to be good for the winter at least.
The Rainbows look so nice. Looking at big healthy fish after seeing a fish stores small ones for sale..kinda drives home.."Good job.Stan!"✌
One last. My wife's favorite fish was an albino Ancistrus that used to be out in the day..then we notice..we we were not seeing it. This started MONTHS ago. To point that I told her it must have died,I never see it. Not even at night with a flashlight. I was 100% certain it was long gone.
Then today!..because of the low lights due to my algae riddance?..There she was in the corner..looking perfect!..better that I remembered with the yellowish mottling on her body. Like she has tats
It's been a good fish day.

 

[Stan510]

Now into 5th day of antibiotics and its done wonders for the whole aquarium. It just looks healthier. What had seemed fine before..well,the disappearance of not only BGA..but some kind of black algae what would only grow on the star grass leaves..is gone.
I might make this a twice a year thing. May,might be a good time to re dose and keep things going smooth.
Erythromycin does NOT affect filter bacteria. Don't listen to those who don't understand that BGA and bad bacteria are gram NEGATIVE..and good guys are gram POSITIVE.
Why would a Doctor give you it if it killed the good bacteria in you that helps you digest food?
Java moss looks clean..no bga at all. Even under the substrate on the glass panels..is gone. It was last to go..I even stirred up the sandy gravels to get the treated water to that area.

 

[Stan510]

I cannot believe that after 5 days of Ery..I found a patch of blue green algae still alive.
I broke it up and it swept away.
Where it was in spots? Its died off...but if you don't break up the sheets of it at least,it seems to resist the "cure".
I had tried to remove as much before dosing. I just didn't see this patch on the back glass next to roots..and getting full sun.
I'm not doing a water change for a few days more now..maybe another week.

 

[Colin_T]

Now into 5th day of antibiotics and its done wonders for the whole aquarium. It just looks healthier. What had seemed fine before..well,the disappearance of not only BGA..but some kind of black algae what would only grow on the star grass leaves..is gone.
I might make this a twice a year thing. May,might be a good time to re dose and keep things going smooth.
Erythromycin does NOT affect filter bacteria. Don't listen to those who don't understand that BGA and bad bacteria are gram NEGATIVE..and good guys are gram POSITIVE.
Why would a Doctor give you it if it killed the good bacteria in you that helps you digest food?
Java moss looks clean..no bga at all. Even under the substrate on the glass panels..is gone. It was last to go..I even stirred up the sandy gravels to get the treated water to that area.

Don't use anti-biotics on a regular basis. It only causes drug resistant bacteria to form.

If your tank is regularly developing blue green algae outbreaks, then you need to find the underlying cause and not throw anti-biotics at it as a preventative measure.

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Most of the beneficial bacteria in our digestive tracts do die when we are given anti-biotics. This is why so many people have digestive problems after anti-biotics and develop food allergies/ intolerances. I speak from personal experience in this matter as well as having seen many people and animals that have been put on anti-biotics and developed food intolerances straight after the treatment finished. This is also why probiotics are becoming so popular.

 

[mcordelia]

Additionally, antibiotics are notoriously bad at penetrating biofilms. If you have established bga, it is likely that there will be patches that the antibiotics will have no effect on. Analogous to a human situation where you give someone antibiotics and then a week after finishing the regimen, the infection is back. (For the medical folks out there who are about to get at me for oversimplifying: yes I concur that this is only one among many reasons why antibiotic treatment fails in humans).

 

[Stan510]

After posting,I saw a video about Ultralife for BGA. Costs a little less and also goes after BGA.
The cause is...the sand. When I set this tank up..it was only going to be sand,smooth rocks and driftwood. No plants.
Then I changed my mind and found later as I did 40 years ago,sands somehow promote BGA..only now I have a tankful of (now) expensive grown Rainbows and plenty of $$$ in plants.
The erythromycin has really cleaned the tank up,and yes I found patches of BGA that still looked fine days later...so they were wiped down. But I get all of you..it only takes one bacterium of it to start all over. Why that Ultralife green slime killers sounds like a good substitute. I wish LFS sold it..but they don't.
One last...BGA ..UNDER the sand against the panes of acrylic? You have to stir the sands there or the bga resists treatment there.

 

[mbsqw1d]

Do you have particularly low nitrates?

 

[Stan510]

Probably..What gets me MBSQ? Is that I have changed NOTHING since adding the Ery,and there is no brown algae on the glass,Java moss has deepend in color,in fact all the plants look as if I had fertilized them. Cyano had been under my radar really. I took the wiping down once a week as just maintenance as usual. Since adding Ery Monday of last week,I see none of the usual buildup I had.
I think I will go days more without a water change to make sure the antibiotic got every last bit of cyanobacteria. What happens after that is the mystery.

 

[Stan510]

I crawled under the big tank( praying for no earthquakes with the weight of a car above me by inches) to see if any algae was growing under the sands on the side of the tank facing the window. YES!..there was plenty and it wasn't all grass green. Might have been cyano still. So,I did my best to stir that up..dug into into..trying to get the medicated water right to them.
The aquarium looks so much better. Maybe cyano is like a disease. Good tanks can get it..if it comes in on a plant you buy or in fish bag water..you have to treat it.
I know plenty of people say they've killed off cyano..never changed their way of running the aquarium and it did not come back.
Anyways..I put duct tape later on the outside glass of course, to cover the bottom 2" inches of gravel and sands..try to starve what I didnt scrape off perfectly 100%...always some micro dot.

 

[mbsqw1d]

I crawled under the big tank( praying for no earthquakes with the weight of a car above me by inches) to see if any algae was growing under the sands on the side of the tank facing the window. YES!..there was plenty and it wasn't all grass green. Might have been cyano still. So,I did my best to stir that up..dug into into..trying to get the medicated water right to them.
The aquarium looks so much better. Maybe cyano is like a disease. Good tanks can get it..if it comes in on a plant you buy or in fish bag water..you have to treat it.
I know plenty of people say they've killed off cyano..never changed their way of running the aquarium and it did not come back.
Anyways..I put duct tape later on the outside glass of course, to cover the bottom 2" inches of gravel and sands..try to starve what I didnt scrape off perfectly 100%...always some micro dot.

Ah yes, that couldve be the breeding ground for it? Given most tank's substrate arent subjected to light shining on the substrate from the side? Hopefully blanking that section out will prevent it's growth

 

[Stan510]

Usually i make a weekly 40% water change...its now exactly two weeks and no water changes but topping off. Looks perfect. Finding the algae below the sands means I'm going for three weeks with no water change as I want to get it as BGA free as possible before diluting the medication.
I cant explain why there has been no brown or black algae growth since I didn't know any brown algae were cyano.
If it starts to come back..that's going to get me to order ultralife green slime remover because I really like the look of algae free aquarium,and the plants ARE healthier,not just looking.