75 Gallon, 4 Months Old

[RadaR]

To be honest, I can see why you had/have experience with algae. 108Wof light, with EI but no CO2 I would say equals algae. Without the CO2 injection plants would not be able to intake as much as if CO2 was available. What they plants aren't taking up, algae will.
Don't get me wrong, I think your tank looks great, but I just thought you'd be interested to hear why you got hit by algae.

 

[Musho3210]

yeah i know why i have algae lol, but i dont have it anymore, UVS took care of that.... Honestly i dont think its justified spending a few hundred dollars on a CO2 system when my tank is working fine ATM. I mean hair algae was 2 months ago and never came back.... My tank is pretty clear of algae now, except gsa which i kinda like.

I had 2 choices, spend 175 dollars on an ATO, or spend 260 dollars for a CO2, weighing my options i chose ATO.

All plants are growing except amazon sword but i think that has to do with me using inert sand and not with CO2. Plus all my plants are hardy and i dont plan on having any more hard to care for plants in there.

 

[DarkEntity]

What are the large floating plants, they look great and i think would be truely loved by my Perch

 

[Musho3210]

the great weed called water lettuce , make sure you keep an eye on these, they are called weeds and banned in some states for a reason

 

[Musho3210]

i tried ghost shrimp in the tank today since i like shrimp, didnt work out so well, kribensis killed and ate a few while some got away. Well i wont be trying that again....

 

[madgap]

What are the large floating plants, they look great and i think would be truely loved by my Perch

My question too. And answered, thanks. Lovely tank, very natural. I just love a natural tank without all the arty clarty orniments. You've achieved a look that I'd be pleased with in my home. Well done, Musho

 

[freerunner416]

What is the reason that they are banned? Just out of curiosity!

 

[Musho3210]

cause stupid people dont know the difference between native and non native plants lol. These things grow in almost any condition with any nutrients, they are weeds and can cover up a body of water blocking light from native plants and inhibiting oxygen exchange killing fish. These things can survive in like near freezing to desert heat lol. People release them in the wild and the government is forced to spend millions of dollars to take them out of the wild constantly, so the governments easy way out is to just ban them in some states.

But they also make great aquarium plants because they suck up so much nutrients, grow fast which means is a good algaecide, provides natural shade, and the roots are great for fry to hide in. I bought three about the size of your hand, within about 3 weeks it covered 3/4ths of my tank, thats how fast these things grow.

if your going to be gone from the tank for a while i suggest you take out a lot of the water lettuce to start with and make sure you tell your tank sitter to take out some if it gets out of hand.

 

[I Love my fishies]

Looks great Musho I love the "upono something ma bobby" does look like seaweed

A question I have for you however I have just started a 200L planted tank and I use flourish excel …. So do you think I should stop using it?

 

[Musho3210]

no, you should use it for a while and moniter how the tank is, then stop using it and see if anything changes. Then just go with what you like more, it is a good algaecide IMO.

 

[I Love my fishies]

To be honest, I can see why you had/have experience with algae. 108Wof light, with EI but no CO2 I would say equals algae. Without the CO2 injection plants would not be able to intake as much as if CO2 was available. What they plants aren't taking up, algae will.
Don't get me wrong, I think your tank looks great, but I just thought you'd be interested to hear why you got hit by algae.

Hi RadaR I have just started a 200L Planted tank and I need to get a co2 set up pronto I want best value for money I don't want to spend a fortune but I want something that works what do you suggest?

 

[Musho3210]

Do you want a fully automated (everything is automatic, its just a plug and play, it will automatically turn off and on when needed to keep the CO2 level at the level you want)

Semi-automatic (you need to intervene every once and a while)

Manual (uhh... what its called is what it is.... you turn it on and off on your own, you test your CO2 level on your own etc)

 

[I Love my fishies]

I would love automated but too expensive the cost of setting up my tank already has sent me broke I will prob get a automated one down the track though but for the moment I would like a semi-atuo or manual depending on prices and how each of them operate then weigh up which one to get.

 

[Musho3210]

i'll add some feeding frenzy pics tomorrow, that way you should be able to see all the fish at once

There diet insists of:
Omega one Vegetable flakes (regular vege not super vege)
San Fran bay Freeze Dried Plankton
Peas (not too popular....)
San Fran Brine shrimp (replaced with hikari baby brine shrimp)
San Fran Blood worms
Hikari Algae wafers
OSI Shrimp pellets
Cucumber (only pleco eats this)


As you can see they get a pretty varied diet, i tend to feed more meat than vegetables since they dont really like their greens besides the pleco. They dont get a schedule of what to feed and when etc, i just do whatever i feel like, most of the time i just drop a pellet or wafer in since but when i have the time i defrost some frozen food and feed them. I have a pretty bad habit of over feeding but my fish like me for that.

 

[Themuleous]

Lovely looking tank you got there plants look very healthy.

Sam