New Tank Build?

Slaphppy7 said:

Welcome to TFF

What is the hardness of your source water?

I'd skip the UV, you don't need it

Click to expand...

Colin_T said:

Hi and welcome to the forum

A UV steriliser is not going to make any difference to Fish Tuberculosis (Mycobacteria). Some fish are regularly infected with it (rainbowfish, dwarf gouramis), other fish aren't.

Having lots of plants in a tank and controlling the light and nutrients should stop any algae outbreaks, including green water caused by single celled algae.

The Walstad method isn't the easiest to do and most tanks fail after a period of time. A basic planted tank can be done with aquarium gravel, light, and liquid aquarium plant fertiliser.

Click to expand...

Colin_T said:

AQUARIUM PLANTS 1.01

LIGHTING TIMES
Most aquarium plants like a bit of light and if you only have the light on for a couple of hours a day, they struggle. If the light doesn't have a high enough wattage they also struggle. Try having the tank lights on for 10-12 hours a day.

If you get lots of green algae then reduce the light by an hour a day and monitor the algae over the next 2 weeks.

If you don't get any green algae on the glass then increase the lighting period by an hour and monitor it.

If you get a small amount of algae then the lighting time is about right.

Some plants will close their leaves up when they have had sufficient light. Ambulia, Hygrophilas and a few others close their top set of leaves first, then the next set and so on down the stem. When you see this happening, wait an hour after the leaves have closed up against the stem and then turn lights off.


--------------------
TURNING LIGHTS ON AND OFF
Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

Try to have the lights on at the same time each day. Use a timer if possible.


--------------------
TWO LIGHT UNITS
If you have two light units on the tank, put them on timers and have one come on first, then an hour later the second one can come on. It will be less stressful for the fish.

In the evening, turn the first light off and wait an hour, then have the second light go out.

If the lights have a low, medium and high intensity setting, have them on low in the morning, then increase it to medium after a couple of hours, and then high for the main part of the day. In the evening, reverse this and have the medium setting for a few hours, then low. Then turn the lights off.


--------------------
LIST OF PLANTS TO TRY
Some good plants to try include Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma, H. ruba/ rubra, Elodia (during summer, but don't buy it in winter because it falls apart), Hydrilla, common Amazon sword plant, narrow or twisted/ spiral Vallis, Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta).

The Water Sprite normally floats on the surface but can also be planted in the substrate. The other plants should be planted in the gravel.

Ambulia, H. polysperma, Elodia/ Hydrilla and Vallis are tall plants that do well along the back. Rotala macranda is a medium/ tallish red plant that usually does well.

H. ruba/ rubra is a medium height plant that looks good on the sides of the tank.

Cryptocorynes are small/ medium plants that are taller than pygmy chain swords but shorter than H. rubra. They also come in a range of colours, mostly different shades of green, brown or purplish red. Crypts are not the easiest plant to grow but can do well if they are healthy to begin with and are not disturbed after planting in the tank.

Most Amazon sword plants can get pretty big and are usually kept in the middle of the tank as a show piece. There is an Ozelot sword plant that has brown spots on green leaves, and a red ruffle sword plant (name may vary depending on where you live) with deep red leaves.

There is a pygmy chain sword plant that is small and does well in the front of the tank.


--------------------
TRUE AQUATIC VS MARSH/ TERRESTRIAL PLANTS
Lots of plants are sold as aquarium plants and most are marsh plants that do really well when their roots are in water and the rest of the plant is above water. Some marsh plants will do well underwater too.

Hair grass is not a true aquatic plant, neither is Anubias.

Some common marsh plants include Amazon sword plants, Cryptocorynes, Hygrophila sp, Rotala sp, Ludwigia sp, Bacopa sp. These plant do reasonably well underwater.

True aquatic plants include Ambulia, Cabomba, Hornwort, Elodia, Hydrilla and Vallis.

The main difference between marsh plants and true aquatic plants is the stem. True aquatics have a soft flexible stem with air bubbles in it. These bubbles help the plant float and remain buoyant in the water column.

Marsh plants have a rigid stem and these plants can remain standing upright when removed from water. Whereas true aquatic plants will fall over/ collapse when removed from water.


--------------------
IRON BASED PLANT FERTILISER
If you add an iron based aquarium plant fertiliser, it will help most aquarium plants do well. The liquid iron based aquarium plant fertilisers tend to be better than the tablet forms, although you can push the tablets under the roots of plants and that works well.

You use an iron (Fe) test kit to monitor iron levels and keep them at 1mg/l (1ppm).

I used Sera Florena liquid plant fertiliser but there are other brands too.


--------------------
CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2)
There is no point adding carbon dioxide (CO2) until you have the lights and nutrients worked out. Even then you don't need CO2 unless the tank is full of plants and only has a few small fish in.

There is plenty of CO2 in the average aquarium and it is produced by the fish and filter bacteria all day, every day. The plants also release CO2 at night when it is dark. And more CO2 gets into the tank from the atmosphere.

Don't use liquid CO2 supplements because they are made from toxic substances that harm fish, shrimp and snails.

Click to expand...

FISHnLAB said:

I don't mean to sound argumentative as I am definitely a rookie and much appreciate your help but, to play devils advocate... Have you read Mrs Walstad's paper on Mycobacteriosis? She specifically recommendeds the use of a UV filter and provides examples of how it has helped with Environmental Mycobacteria. Here is an excerpt from the papers PDF...(added picture but the PDF is on her site).

Click to expand...

Colin_T said:

Do you have a link to her paper so I can read it all?

Mycobacteria generally doesn't float around the water. It either lands on the substrate or plants or gets ingested by the fish. It also has a waxy coating over it to protect it from drying out quickly, dying from being exposed to the elements (sunlight), and chemicals/ medications, making it very hard, if not impossible to treat when fish are infected with it.

My understanding of the disease Fish Tuberculosis, is fish don't develop any quick resistance/ tolerance to it. Once they get it, they die within a few years. There have been discussions over the years and we believe some fish might have built up a slight tolerance to it because they have evolved with it over millions of years. Old types of fish from Asia, Europe and Africa seem to tolerate the disease and live longer than fish from Australia that have never been exposed to Mycobacteria, let alone had a chance to evolve with it.

Fish either come in with TB or they don't. There's no real way of telling if a fish is contaminated until it shows symptoms months or even years later, or if you kill the fish and do a necropsy (animal autopsy) on it. But that fish is no longer of any use and even if it doesn't show signs of the disease (in the form of granulomas), it doesn't mean other fish in the tank don't have it.

There's lots of factors to consider and I need to read the full paper from her before making further comments on her decision to use a U/V unit.

---------------------
I wouldn't add any Ocotocinclus catfish until the tank is at least 3, preferably 6 months old. Most Otocinclus are wild caught and frequently starve in aquariums. They need algae, driftwood and biofilm to do well. It takes a while for a decent biofilm to build up and if you add the fish to a clean tank (one lacking algae and biofilm) they starve to death.

Bristlenose catfish are similar to Otocinclus but are much more willing to eat commercially prepared foods. But try not to add these fish until the tank has been set up for at least one month and it has algae and driftwood.

The rest of the fish should be fine in the tank.

If you have bristlenose catfish, do big water changes and gravel cleans every week. they produce heaps of waste that can lead to disease outbreaks if the waste isn't removed regularly.

You should also do a huge (75-80%) water change each week before adding more fertiliser. This helps to remove any leftover fertiliser and stops the fish being poisoned from a buildup of fertiliser over time.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

---------------------
A lot of plant substrates can release ammonia for months after the tank is set up. Then they stop producing any and are no longer of any benefit. They also make it hard to gravel clean the substrate.

Have you though about growing the plants in pots or small plastic containers?
This allows you to have lots of nutrients in the container for the plants, but the nutrients don't leach into the water and you can gravel clean the substrate as much as you want. It also means you can pick the container up and move it around without disturbing the plant roots.

You can bury the pots in the gravel or smear silicon over the outside of the pot and cover it in same substrate you use in the tank. You can also let algae grow over it.

Click to expand...

Colin_T said:

Otocinclus catfish don't normally take dry or commercially prepared foods.

If you set the tank up and let it run for 2 months, then add fish, there should be plenty of algae and biofilm for bristlenose catfish. Then you could add them with the other fish.

--------------------
If you only want to do a water change once every 2 weeks, that is fine. The idea of doing a big water change before adding more plant fertiliser is to remove as much left over fertiliser from the water. If you only do a small water change each week or every second week, and you add a full dose of fertiliser after the water change, the elements in the fertiliser can gradually build up to toxic levels and start killing the fish. A big water change (75-80%) will dilute most of the remaining fertiliser (assuming there is any left) and reduce the chance of the fertiliser building up to toxic levels.

You can try doing a small water change each week, but I would do at least one big water change every month to reduce any fertiliser in the water. Alternatively, get test kits for all the nutrients you add to the tank (in the fertiliser) and make sure they all read at safe levels.

Click to expand...

Colin_T said:

I would probably just stay with the fish you have on the list and maybe add a couple more Corydoras to increase their group size.

Bottom feeders (clean up crew) do best when fed a varied diet and Corydoras like their food. Make sure they get a varied diet like the other fishes get.

Click to expand...