Anyone Else Have Times When They're So Underwhelmed With Their Tan

[508]

Often I have periods of time where I just feel incredibly bored and annoyed with my fish tank, other times I can gaze at it forever. Sometimes I get the feeling that I should give up the hobby but then I still enjoy doing it all, and plus  I'm responsible for all the little guys in my tank so I wouldn't want them to go to the wrong homes or something along those lines. I've been getting an increasing amount of algae, and my tank looks pretty bad because my plants just don't grow very well. It's probably my own fault, I only recently started dosing ferts again. Just feels like all the working I'm putting into it is for nothing, it doesn't look nice at all right now IMO. 
 
Anyone else feel like this at times?

 

[Byron]

I can understand your feelings.  When there is an obvious problem with an aquarium, and resolution just doesn't seem possible no matter what you try, it can be discouraging.  Looking on the positive side, though, there is always a solution even if it takes a long time to find it.
 
If you want to discuss the algae/plant issue, let me have your light specs, plant species, and fertilizers, including the source water GH.  A photo might help too.
 
Byron.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

So you want to feel better? The first way is to let Byron give you some suggestions.
 
Next I will tell you how last Sunday went for me. I began my tank work at about 11;30 am. The very first thing I noticed was the in wall 75 gal tank dripping water onto the floor. Turns out it had a slow leak near the bottom front right corner. There was no option, it had to be emptied and the fish and plants moved out. The only potential space was an empty and very dirty 150 gal tank. It had to be cleaned well and made fish safe, Three filters, many big plants, substrate and wood had to move too.
 
Oh yes, roseline barbs are super jumpers, one made it to the floor- had to get down to about an inch of water to catch them.
 
14 hours later it was 95% done. I would rather have had bad algae.

 

[LyraGuppi]

Oh, yeeees.
 
The power went out at my house all day. All the filters were off, the battery run pump goes to the mollies (as they need the oxygen the most, bettas have the labyrinth organ), so all the other bettas had no circulation. I'd already been battling algae in the 20g, but voila, in the sunlight (the light, obviously, wasn't on),  I see detritus worms now. Clouding the water. I'd been trying so hard to figure out why the bettas were acting off, but I guess I know now >.< That hit me so hard, I was just like, "Seriously?!" Now a massive WC has to be done, along with watching the temp-shocked fish to make sure we don't get any ich.
 
I hate power outages! And detritus worms! And horrid algae! Bah!

 

[Alasse]

Yep, today i lost my gorgeous red flame dwarf gourami....got himself completely wedged in some wood
 
I just bought a coral blue to go in with the other 3, so now i am back to 3 DG's

 

[508]

I can understand your feelings.  When there is an obvious problem with an aquarium, and resolution just doesn't seem possible no matter what you try, it can be discouraging.  Looking on the positive side, though, there is always a solution even if it takes a long time to find it.
 
If you want to discuss the algae/plant issue, let me have your light specs, plant species, and fertilizers, including the source water GH.  A photo might help too.
 
Byron.

 
Hi, I sent you a PM with some pictures. Thanks for the help.
 

So you want to feel better? The first way is to let Byron give you some suggestions.
 
Next I will tell you how last Sunday went for me. I began my tank work at about 11;30 am. The very first thing I noticed was the in wall 75 gal tank dripping water onto the floor. Turns out it had a slow leak near the bottom front right corner. There was no option, it had to be emptied and the fish and plants moved out. The only potential space was an empty and very dirty 150 gal tank. It had to be cleaned well and made fish safe, Three filters, many big plants, substrate and wood had to move too.
 
Oh yes, roseline barbs are super jumpers, one made it to the floor- had to get down to about an inch of water to catch them.
 
14 hours later it was 95% done. I would rather have had bad algae.

 
Ah, that sounds awful. At least you noticed the 75 gal was leaking before anything bad could happen. I hope the fish are all ok.

 

[Byron]

I received the PM's and photos, and have responded asking for more data (naturally, lol).  We can continue the discussion here in this thread if you like (I may not have been clear previously, I didn't mean privately...but it's up to you).  I will copy over my response if you confirm.   But whichever, there is light at the end of this tunnel, never fear.

 
Byron.

 

[TallTree01]

Yep, all the time. That's when you know it's time for a rescape. more plants, fish or a new tank to keep your interest.

 

[frapadoodle]

Anyone who hasn't had those times are either lying,(to themselves and/or others), or on really strong medication.
I too have been through prolonged power outages, in both Summer and Winter,(lost everyone but a Bronze Cory fry.) The midnight w.c. call and hear drip, drip, drip, before stepping on wet floor.
The outbreak of illness. The outbreak of BBA. The water changes that have to be done, even if work gets in the way so much it's dinner, water change, and bed. The unexpected, unexplained death of favorite fish. Fish digging up every plant in the tank.
Add to that, no matter what you do, your tanks just look a bunch of drunken monkeys set them up.

But, other than the emergencies, it's a matter of troubleshooting the problems. Well as for the drunken monkeys part, well, one just has to trudge on until it is up to snuff.(anyone who is completely happy with their tanks have either sold them off or died.)

 

[508]

I received the PM's and photos, and have responded asking for more data (naturally, lol).  We can continue the discussion here in this thread if you like (I may not have been clear previously, I didn't mean privately...but it's up to you).  I will copy over my response if you confirm.   But whichever, there is light at the end of this tunnel, never fear.

 
Byron.

 
That's fine, I thought I might just be clogging the thread is all. Dosing 2ml of liquid ferts at the moment which should be good for the plants. 
 
The lights are 59 centimeters from the substrate, both are 39W. I was not able to find the Kalvin ratings, all I have is "Growth Red" and "10k White". 

 

[Byron]

OK, we can continue the discussion here.  The benefit of this is that others may have suggestions, and everyone sees what is being said.  And anyone with similar issues can get assistance at the same time.
 
To recap for the thread, your GH is moderately hard, so no issues with insufficient "hard" minerals.  The Easy Life ProFito liquid plant fertilizer you are using should be OK judging from the data on their website.  So that left the light, and there are two T5 HO 39w tubes, but you didn't mention their length.  I assume this is your 55g, which is 4 feet in length...are the tubes both 48-inch, or something else?
 
While we're waiting for that, the 10K is most likely 10,000K and while this can work when combined with a very good second tube, it is a lot of blue and this can promote algae.  Plants need red and blue light to drive photosynthesis, but too much of the blue is not so good.  Which brings us back to the "red" which is something of an unknown.  Can you find any online data, perhaps on the manufacturer's site, that you could link?
 
Byron.

 

[Alasse]

39W T5HO is 3ft i believe....well thats what mine are

 

[508]

OK, we can continue the discussion here.  The benefit of this is that others may have suggestions, and everyone sees what is being said.  And anyone with similar issues can get assistance at the same time.
 
To recap for the thread, your GH is moderately hard, so no issues with insufficient "hard" minerals.  The Easy Life ProFito liquid plant fertilizer you are using should be OK judging from the data on their website.  So that left the light, and there are two T5 HO 39w tubes, but you didn't mention their length.  I assume this is your 55g, which is 4 feet in length...are the tubes both 48-inch, or something else?
 
While we're waiting for that, the 10K is most likely 10,000K and while this can work when combined with a very good second tube, it is a lot of blue and this can promote algae.  Plants need red and blue light to drive photosynthesis, but too much of the blue is not so good.  Which brings us back to the "red" which is something of an unknown.  Can you find any online data, perhaps on the manufacturer's site, that you could link?
 
Byron.

 
The tubes are just about 90cm, the tank itself is 3ft exactly
 
Honestly I can't find the Kalvin ratings for the "Growth Red". Here is the light fixture I'm using http/www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/aquarium/aquarium-lighting/aquarium-t5-lighting/100cm-t5-fish-tank-lights-two-tubes-black-or-silve/
 
They just don't give out that information for some odd reason

 

[Byron]

The tubes are just about 90cm, the tank itself is 3ft exactly
 

 
OK, so the tubes are basically the full length of the tank, which is good.  That's solved.

Honestly I can't find the Kalvin ratings for the "Growth Red". Here is the light fixture I'm using http/www.allpondso...black-or-silve/
They just don't give out that information for some odd reason
 

 
Yes, very helpful isn't it?  Well, we can only surmise that the light should be adequate in spectrum.  When the time comes to replace the tubes, you may be able to get different ones, depending upon the way these fit the fixture.  Basic T5 HO tubes would work in any T5 HO fixture, unless this is specially made so only their tubes work.  I would go to something like Hagen's Life-Glo, or ZooMed's UltraSun (either in T5 obviously, not T8) if this will be do-able.
 
From the info on the site, I would assume this is fairly bright (intense) lighting, with 78 watts and a 50% more reflection capability.  The photos you sent me by PM show nutrient deficiencies which I suggested then might be due to intense light and insufficient nutrients to balance, and I still think that now.  I would do floating plants, and limit the duration to 6 or 7 hours daily, using a timer so it is consistent.  It can be any time you like, as when you are normally home to view the tank.  Switching lights on and off ad hoc is not conducive to good plant growth, and it affects fish too.
 
Another thought...will one tube on its own light (if you remove the other)?  If this fixture will allow this, the answer would be to get a Life-Glo tube and just have the one light.
 
Byron.