Getting Back Into Fishkeeping After A Disastrous First Attempt. Need S

[Maikash]

Indeed what I was thinking was something to put on the back of the tank, not inside it

You can get a regular black background or do as you said, lots of people use trash bags, much cheaper and still looks nice!
I'm not sure how hard it's going to be for you to get behind the tank though.

 
 
Yep. Gonna buy something black to hang on the wall behind the tank then

 
Trash bags idea is also a really good one. Thanks.
 
Not much space behind the tank i struggle to clean the water drops which sometimes i manage to splash on the back glass on the outside, will have to sort something out to clean the back glass, like a little cloth tied to a wooden stick or something

I can however still manage to pull the tank forward and clean it as there are no fish in it atm but once the fishies are in i won't be touching it at all. 
 
Will let you know how i get on in regards to the background but yes i will definitely have something there.

 

[Maikash]

Yeah I was browsing TGM for wood last night too!  I went out today and spent £50 on wood and rocks at a nearby LFS.  No redmoor though, TGM and Aquaessentials are the only places I know who sell it.
 
Don't bury vallis too deep, keep the roots buried and the crown at the surface.
 
I thought you replaced your lighting with 24 watt T5's?   I meant daylight T5 sorry, that's what the bulbs are called as they sit around 6,500K colour temperature which is similar to broad daylight.  If you take a look at this page http/www.lampspecs.co.uk/Light-Bulbs-Tubes/24-Watt-549mm you can see that they sell the same size bulbs in different colours, warm white, cool white, daylight etc.  With Juwel bulbs you could combine one of their 'day' bulbs at 9000K and a 'nature' bulb at 4000K to get a very nice effect.  They're better quality but more expensive.

 
 
I looked everywhere for a good piece of wood. We got 3-4 LFS's around here. None had a decent quantity. I went looking in the woods, went to few beaches (Skagness, Whitby,Scarborough) talk about desperation lol. But settled for these from TGM as i didnt know how safe the wood was that i found lying around. 
 
Had a nightmarish of a time planting the vallis

If i dont bury em deep they start floating. I planted them right in then pulled em up slowly until i saw the crowns as soon as that happened they started floating so i have left the crowns in for now and i am not very optimistic about them doing well. Elecocharis sp is definitely going to die i suspect as it is a very strong plant with very solid strands. Dont think it will survive i might be wrong though. I love the Eleocharis acicularis, i just hope it can grow without co2. Same story here again though. Couldnt plant then with crowns out of the sand. Tied different mosses to different parts of both wood. They should be ok i guess.
 
Yes, i changed them to 24watt. My old tubes are 18watt, Found them yesterday and one of them was daylight one

 
So now i have one 24watt marine white tube and one 18watt daylight. Made a HUGE difference. Missus noticed the slates and asked me if im trying to make little stonehenge. She didnt know i had slate in before lol. Wood is standing out now as well. Many thanks Daize for the suggestion. 
 
Pics. Took it using my phone so excuse the bad quality please. Will take better pictures tom :
 

 

 

[Ninjouzata]

That looks very lovely!
I quite like vallis, I had a pain planting ours too, and it really didn't help that I'm short, so was usually taking a bit of a swim in the tank to mess with them.
Eventually got fed up with it and had my father do it.

 

[Maikash]

That looks very lovely!
I quite like vallis, I had a pain planting ours too, and it really didn't help that I'm short, so was usually taking a bit of a swim in the tank to mess with them.
Eventually got fed up with it and had my father do it.

 
Nice one lol.
 
 
Thank you for the compliment although things have already start to go wrong
 
My vallis are turning slighly brown. Moss is dying as well and on top of that i see some white fungus like stuff forming at the base of the wood and couple of other places. I have no idea what that is. Tried researching but to no avail.
 
I have easylife profito and Ei starter kit on order. Profito should be delivered by monday or tuesday, Ei kit might take a but longer. I am gonna try everything to get my tank heavily planted.
 
Just struggling to find my way around it atm.
 
I plan to introduce more wood with anubia and java fern attached if i can get these problems to go away some how.
 
If they don't then i might not have any other option to try pressurized co2!
 
Back to research and here goes my weekend!

 

[Ninjouzata]

I'm fairly certain it's normal for vallis to do that at first, though hopefully someone else with more experience can say.
Just keep doing your best

 

[Maikash]

Thanks Ninjouzata
 
 
Vallis are dying

only a couple of strands are green n healthy rest are rotting away
 
I have dosed profito a couple of days ago. No change.
 
The long eleocharis is doing well surprisingly but unfortunately i have to to take it out as its not letting the light through to the mosses tied to base of the wood and the bottom of the tank is really dark, cant see anything.
 
 
Anymore suggestions anyone, please

 

[daizeUK]

Can you not keep the Eleocharis trimmed?

 

[Maikash]

Can you not keep the Eleocharis trimmed?

 
 
I thought i was not supposed to trim them. Probably got misinformed.
 
I'll trim it before taking it out. Worth a shot. Thanks Daize.
 
Im quite distressed about these plants dying. I am now seriously researching co2. 
 
I have only added 8 cherry shrimps so far. No fish yet and im being stubborn about getting the plants to stay alive for at least 2 weeks before i'd add fish. I think plants help a lot for the well being for fish and thats the only reason i have decided to get plants. 

 

[daizeUK]

I wouldn't get too disheartened about the vallis.  Despite being an 'easy' plant it seems to be quite picky about who it will grow for!   Also vallis will often melt and then grow back stronger.  Give yours a chance, maybe it will regenerate!
 
After the vallis I went through several stem plants, egeria densa, cabomba, limnophila and none of them did well.  I suspect it may have been lack of macro ferts but I'm still not sure.  I now have hygrophila polysperma which is the only stem plant which has done well in my tank.

 

[misterpro]

Little question...
 
Have you dropped your temperature since cycling?  If not, 28°C is right on the edge of too hot for vallisneria nana (temperature range 20-28°C).  (This might be a stupid question on my behalf but I couldn't find a mention of dropping your temp since cycling at 28°C)
 
Also, don't add too much fish at once, because you will have "lost" bacteria since cycling because those 8 cherry shrimp have a tiny bio-load.  (Again, you might be perfectly aware of this.  I'm just mentioning it so you don't wait 2-x weeks and then chuck in all your fish at once, because you'll get a big ammonia & nitrite spike otherwise)

 

[Maikash]

I wouldn't get too disheartened about the vallis.  Despite being an 'easy' plant it seems to be quite picky about who it will grow for!   Also vallis will often melt and then grow back stronger.  Give yours a chance, maybe it will regenerate!
 
After the vallis I went through several stem plants, egeria densa, cabomba, limnophila and none of them did well.  I suspect it may have been lack of macro ferts but I'm still not sure.  I now have hygrophila polysperma which is the only stem plant which has done well in my tank.

 
I am not giving up on them yet. Thank you for the encouragement. It helps.
 
I am gonna order some java fern and anubia nana already attached to a piece of wood from aquaessentials.
 
Going to change the lights as well coz i think they are on the lower side. Tank is looking rather dark since i the changed the puple 24watt to daylight 17/18watt one. 
 
waiting for Ei starter kit and liquid carbon. If it kills vallis i;ll try different plants.

Little question...
 
Have you dropped your temperature since cycling?  If not, 28°C is right on the edge of too hot for vallisneria nana (temperature range 20-28°C).  (This might be a stupid question on my behalf but I couldn't find a mention of dropping your temp since cycling at 28°C)
 
Also, don't add too much fish at once, because you will have "lost" bacteria since cycling because those 8 cherry shrimp have a tiny bio-load.  (Again, you might be perfectly aware of this.  I'm just mentioning it so you don't wait 2-x weeks and then chuck in all your fish at once, because you'll get a big ammonia & nitrite spike otherwise)

 
 
That is a very good observation misterpro. It must have been a daunting task to read through the whole thread thoroughly and pick this out
 
But yes you are right, i never dropped the water temp. Its still sitting at 28c. I will drop it a couple of degrees now to see if that changes anything. Will it?
 
I wont be adding all the fish at the same time. Planning to add them slowly after 10-14 days interval.
 
I am monitoring the water weekly. Changing 50% water weekly while adding prime. 
 
One question : 
 
Cherry shrimps seems to be shedding their skins almost everyday, what does that mean?. I havent removed them from the tank. Is it better to remove or leave it in the tank?
 
Thank you for your help. Much appreciated.

 

[Ch4rlie]

RCS do moult quite a bit sometimes especially at higher temps I've found. They do best at lower temps 22 to 24C seems to work for me.
Higher temps for RCS basically raises their metabolism and shortens their lives. IMO 28C is a bit too high for RCS.

I generally leave the RCS moults in tank for a day as RCS sometimes eat them as full of nutrients and proteins.
If not eaten in a day then I take them out.

BTW my vallis plants are doing ok, as soon as I see leaves turning brown I trim these off and as mentioned already I have tank temp at around 24C so could be a decent point about higher temps affecting vallis plants.

 

[misterpro]

You might lose all the brown leaves, but it should start sprouting new ones.  So, no worries.
 
I also leave the moultings in.  They eat it to regain the minerals from it.  If they are left uneaten for too long and bother you, you can fish them out.
 
Any temp between 24-26°C should be fine for most inhabitants imho ;-)  Just in case you worry about it you could look up the temperature range of the fish you (are planning to) buy on seriouslyfish, planetcatfish, theaquariumwiki and set your heater at a temperature they all like.

 

[Maikash]

RCS do moult quite a bit sometimes especially at higher temps I've found. They do best at lower temps 22 to 24C seems to work for me.
Higher temps for RCS basically raises their metabolism and shortens their lives. IMO 28C is a bit too high for RCS.

I generally leave the RCS moults in tank for a day as RCS sometimes eat them as full of nutrients and proteins.
If not eaten in a day then I take them out.

BTW my vallis plants are doing ok, as soon as I see leaves turning brown I trim these off and as mentioned already I have tank temp at around 24C so could be a decent point about higher temps affecting vallis plants.

 
 
Sorry about the late reply.
 
I had lowered to temp to 24c. Then last night juwel heater packed up
 
I have placed the order for a new 300w heater. Temp is sitting at 22c. I just hope it doesnt get much warmer or cooler in a next few days until i receive the new heater.
 
Have trimmed the vallis and elecharis. Looks all green for now. Do they produce runners? 
 
I should really do some more research on this. Thank you for your help.

 

[Maikash]

You might lose all the brown leaves, but it should start sprouting new ones.  So, no worries.
 
I also leave the moultings in.  They eat it to regain the minerals from it.  If they are left uneaten for too long and bother you, you can fish them out.
 
Any temp between 24-26°C should be fine for most inhabitants imho ;-)  Just in case you worry about it you could look up the temperature range of the fish you (are planning to) buy on seriouslyfish, planetcatfish, theaquariumwiki and set your heater at a temperature they all like.

 
 
Thanks mate.
 
Yeh i have gotten rid of all the brown leaves. Leaving the mountings in as well as they do seem to much on them and drag em everywhere.
 
As i said above. The heater packed up. Bit worried about the temps now.What temps are ok for RCS before i need to start doing something about raising/lowering the temps manually like adding cool/warm water accordingly?
 
I will be researching fish once i get some plants going in the tank. Thank you for the pointers. Much appreciated.
 
Also, i spotted a couple of very tiny new borns. I have no idea if they are snails or RCS fry. What does RCS babies look like? Anyone?
 
I tried googling but didnt get anywhere.
 
They are very tiny like a quarter of the size of a baby pea. Transparent in color, one of em had a very small red dot under its belly. Tried to take a picture this morning but couldnt find them.