Bowfront 180 Litres

[Ryefish]

get a scouring pad and get that glass cleaned!
have you tried spot dosing the carbon with a syringe directly on to the BBA instead of just pouring it into the tank? After reading previous comments i agree that you should consider adding Co2 injection (FE or DIY). Even with adding algae eaters and dosing the liquid carbon i would be cleaning the glass just to make it more appealing and you might enjoy it more yourself (i know algae on my tank drives me nuts).

 

[Biulu]

A quick update: I feel like the BBA is under control now. I did lose almost all of my alternanthera though and will have to think about an alternative. I might try it again with this plant as the addition of liquid CO2 is really working as is the extra flow.

I redirected the flow towards the glass though as my cabomba was always bent to the right. There is growth on the hygrophila but also nibbling, I think it is from the angels. I am regularly adding spirulina to their diet, but it doesn't seem to be enough.

I do still have a lot of green algae on the glass, and as I have an acrylic tank, I am afraid to scratch it. So I wipe it with a cloth but it doesn't remove it completely, and in the back the black background has almost been replaced by a green one

Some pictures:

Full tank shot

One of my angels; sorry for the algae!

growth on the hydrocotyle plus the nibbling

 

[ian]

That to me look 1000000% better than the last few lots of photos. The plants look happier and the fish do as well. We all get a bit of algae on the glass, i don't care what anyone says, there are special acrylic wipes that you can get

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALGAE-SCRUBBER-PAD-ACRYLIC-%2f-PLASTIC-TANK-CLEANER_W0QQitemZ330397436055QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=193093216349&rvr_id=193093216349&cguid=6a1d1c3012c0a47a4492a942ffc8a85f

they are re usable as well.

 

[lljdma06]

That to me look 1000000% better than the last few lots of photos. The plants look happier and the fish do as well. We all get a bit of algae on the glass, i don't care what anyone says, there are special acrylic wipes that you can get

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALGAE-SCRUBBER-PAD-ACRYLIC-%2f-PLASTIC-TANK-CLEANER_W0QQitemZ330397436055QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=193093216349&rvr_id=193093216349&cguid=6a1d1c3012c0a47a4492a942ffc8a85f

they are re usable as well.

Yes, my A. reineckii hated liquid carbon too. Not sure though if it only hated spot dosing or liquid C in general, so it might be worth while to try it again, just to be sure. Agree with Ian, the tank looks much better. Also agree that everybody gets algae on the glass too. Anybody who says different is lying, IMO. The lotus is lovely. What a nice, deep red.

 

[Biulu]

Yes, my A. reineckii hated liquid carbon too. Not sure though if it only hated spot dosing or liquid C in general, so it might be worth while to try it again, just to be sure. Agree with Ian, the tank looks much better. Also agree that everybody gets algae on the glass too. Anybody who says different is lying, IMO. The lotus is lovely. What a nice, deep red.

I lost the alternanthera because it was infested with BBA. When I started spot dosing I was able to save a few plants but it is not enough. That is the main reason why I think it is worthwhile trying again. I will only need to be able to keep up the dosing. My problem as usual: business travel.

What is playing a positive role as well I think is the fact that the 2 lamps are out of order. The ballasts I am using are very fragile and break down every so often. So I have been running only 2 T8s for the last month or so. I will get a new ballast though. A friend told me I can get stronger ones (with metal casing) in one shop. I already went and they do carry them, just that at that moment they didn't have any in stock.

That to me look 1000000% better than the last few lots of photos. The plants look happier and the fish do as well. We all get a bit of algae on the glass, i don't care what anyone says, there are special acrylic wipes that you can get

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALGAE-SCRUBBER-PAD-ACRYLIC-%2f-PLASTIC-TANK-CLEANER_W0QQitemZ330397436055QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=193093216349&rvr_id=193093216349&cguid=6a1d1c3012c0a47a4492a942ffc8a85f

they are re usable as well.

Thanks ianho! I am only not too sure whether the barbs like it too as I feel that the males are losing a bit of colour. I am feeding less though also to limit algae.

 

[Biulu]

I just came back from Montreal and what I had expected to happen had happened: my angels had eaten my hygrophila completely. Luckily I had already foreseen this and have brought back with me C. balansae to fill out the left back corner.

In Mexico city I was able to lay my hands on some anubia petite and some A. reineckii. I want to give the last one another try now that I have the BBA under control. I am not sure though whether I will plant the petite in this tank or in another tank. I thought it might look nice in my nano as well.

The java fern has yet again many brown leaves, but is developing another plant a bit below the mother plant. I hope this is now establishing well and will develop into the lush plant I want it to be.

In terms of ferts, I have decided to start using root tabs. The main reason being the fact that I am so often away that I can not keep up with a regular fert regime, and since most of my plants are root feeders, I think this will be a good alternative to fertilising while I am away.

Fishwise; my fish are doing very well with the automatic feeder. I have not been losing 1 fish over the last 6 to 8 months. They had botia striata in Mexico city and I couldn't resist buying them. I really love these fish! I have 6 now and maybe I am overdoing it on the bottom stocking, since I also have 2 yoyos and 4 histrionicas. However, I will take the yoyos out and give them to a friend who recently lost some since they jumped out of her tank.

Pictures will follow later this evening when there is no more reflection and I am done with the maintenance.

 

[Biulu]

So, time for some pictures. Sorry for the green algae on the glass, but I forgot to buy a pad for acrylic tanks in Montreal....

First a full tankshot:

I am not satisfied with the height at the back. I hope the balansae will soon start growing and provide me with a covered background.

The same goes for my A. reineckii. I will be dosing extra these weeks and hopefully get some growth.

This is my java fern. As I said in the previous post, it is not growing new leaves, but it is growing a new plant:

The cherry barb wanted to be in the picture too

The bolbitis is recovering slowly but steadily:

I am very happy the way my congos have coloured up. Some pictures of them:

And here are some other inhabitants, all seem to be doing fine and happy:

 

[Biulu]

Small disaster last night: I had given my babies tubifex and within 1 hour they were all gasping at the surface! So I siffoned the tubifex out, and added another filter to get more oxygen into the tank. Unfortunately this wasn't enough for 2 male congo tetras (I only had 3 males, so now I am down to 1) and 1 cherry barb.

Does anybody know what happened? Some kind of reaction going on?

I am now dosing fertilizer every other day and liquid carbon double dosis every day.

 

[Biulu]

I got myself a submergible moonlight tube in Mexico city the other day. I just took a picture with it on. What do you guys think?

 

[sXeLifer]

Hey I love your tank its really cool and you seem to have a great selection of plants in there

Keep up the good work!!

 

[Biulu]

Thank you! Well, actually I need a big of height in this tank but until now many of my plants have not wanted to go up. I have for instance a E. ozelot in there that keeps producing new leaves, but is staying low, so low that it cannot be seen behind the wood.

But it seems like the new fertilizer regime is paying off for at least the A. reineckii; most plantlets have already formed a new pair of leaves. What is not helping me unfortunately is that my 2 T5s are not working; the ballast is broken and I have not been able to get a new one her. They keep promising me for weeks now that they are coming soon...

 

[Biulu]

I'd like to think that after one week of this new dosing regime, my A. reineckii has already grown somewhat. I feel all the plants have developed a new pair of leaves. I am noticing though that some leaves seem to be 'burnt'. I assume this is due to the liquid carbon and I have decided to lower the dosis from 10 ml to 5 ml/day. According to the instructions, this is the amount for 125 litre, whereas my tank is 180 litre.

Here are some pics to show you what I mean:

 

[Biulu]

Have just come home after an absence of 2 months. All the fish are doing great, have grown and my cherry barbs are redder than red. Not even the bolivian rams suffered and I had them on a diet... It shows that the balance is good.

Regarding the plants: the cabomba grew a lot and so did the sagittaria. But all my crypts melted again. It seems that every time I leave my crypts melt. And then the algae: the glass covered with green algae and the ornaments covered in bba. Time to dose excel again....

I spent my whole day cleaning, did a 50% water change, vacuumed, and cleaned the filter.

To compensate for the lack of nutrients I put only 30 W on and only during 5 hrs a day, but it didn't seem to have helped. I would have expected that with that lighting things would stay rather stable, but unfortunately not.

I am too tired now to take any pictures. This has to wait until after the weekend.

 

[Biulu]

The pictures took somewhat longer than I wanted, but here they are. As you can see especially in the video, I have messed up the acrylic by using an inappropriate sponge; this has caused scratching and it looks like a kind of haze.

So here is first a full tank shot:

As you can see in the following pictures I still have a BBA problem; not so much on the plants but on the ornaments especially the wood. You can also see that my crypts melted. I don't know what to do about that. They seem to melt every time I leave....

You can also see that my otocinclus has become huge and very fat; I am afraid he will explode!

Y como ultimo un video tomado de mis peces. Como pueden ver, mis plantas no van muy bien pero los peces estan en condiciones optimas!

http/s178.photobucket.com/albums/w244/Biulu/?action=view&current=MOV06489.mp4

 

[CrazyAirborne]

just read thru the whole thread, great to see how the tank had changed over the year.

My otto is half that size! im glad i havent decided to dose and fert with my tank yet, seems an awful lot of work!