Planted 40g Aquarium Journal

[Rocky998]

This is certainly false, if one is talking about the majority of conditioners. I do not know of any that do not handle both chlorine and chloramine. It will say on the label in any case.



I would suggest that meither you nor any of us can possibly say this unless we are biologists and perform a necropsy on dead fish to find the cause of death. The early stages of a "problem" are usually internal, not external, and the fish may well continue to swim, eat and spawn. This does not mean it is healthy, or as healthy as it reasonably can be.

We know that soft water fish kept in hard water develop blockage of the kidneys relative to the level of calcium, but there is absolutely no external indication until the fish dies. We know that nitrate slowly weakens fish, making them more susceptible to disease issues than they would otherwise be, but there is no external sign of this until it becomes very severe.

The physiology of a fish is unique among animals bcause of their very close connection to their aquatic environment which is greater than that of any terrestrial animal to air. Chemicals in the water do affect them most of the time, seen or not. I know not everyone will agree, and I don't care, but my approach for the past decade-plus has been to add as few additives/substances/chemicals as possible, only what is needed for the welfare of the fish and minimally the plants. I have not the slightest doubt that this is largely the reason I do not have to post asking for help because my fish are doing this or that or dying.

Anyone who has ever tested the habitat waters will not find evidence of these chemicals, and the fish manage perfectly well. I know this is somewhat simplistic, but it has been said and it is true, fish live in clean water, not chemical soups, and you will have success with the former over the latter.

In your situation as you have detailed it in a couple of threads, you do not need the Aqua Essentials. You decide.

Well you can get away with not adding anything cause you may not have to... Everyone's water is different.
To me it's sounding more like an opinion. Not to say you're not correct about some of the things you're saying. Because I do agree, fish don't need these chemicals IN THE WILD and we should be adding as little as possible.
But on the wild they don't have chorines or chloramines to deal with, here they do.
I didn't use Prime because people said that wasn't the safest option, so I went with API instead.
If I didn't use this, the ammonia would hurt the fish. But it hasn't cause its "detoxified".
As far as I know the other tap water conditioners don't deal with chloramines unless the company changed that...
But even if they did it wouldn't detoxify the ammonia... It would just be toxic to the fish then leading to issues...
Plus I think the api aqua essentials uses less per gallon but I could be wrong on that one

 

[Rocky998]

I checked the normal API water conditioner and it DOES rid of choramines but it doesn't say if it detoxifies ammonia or not...

 

[Essjay]

API Tap Water Conditioner splits chloramine into ammonia and chlorine and removes the chlorine but leaves the ammonia in the water - which the plants and/or bacteria should deal with quickly. The dose rate for chloramine is higher than with chlorine in tap water.

 

[Rocky998]

API Tap Water Conditioner splits chloramine into ammonia and chlorine and removes the chlorine but leaves the ammonia in the water - which the plants and/or bacteria should deal with quickly. The dose rate for chloramine is higher than with chlorine in tap water.

Yah, I'm just sticking to aqua essentials. Less stuff used so therefore cheaper and the ammonia can still be used by the plants without it being toxic to fish.

 

[Rocky998]

I trimmed most of the cryptocoryne leaves as they were grown emersed and as soon as some started to melt, I thought it would be the best choice...
Thankfully they are already getting some new leaves in!
My tiger lotus plants are growing quickly as well!!
It's hard to see in the photo below cause it's small, but it's doing well!!

 

[Geoffrey]

Looking good!

 

[Rocky998]

Looking good!

Thanks!

 

[sharkweek178]

I trimmed most of the cryptocoryne leaves as they were grown emersed and as soon as some started to melt, I thought it would be the best choice...
Thankfully they are already getting some new leaves in!
My tiger lotus plants are growing quickly as well!!
It's hard to see in the photo below cause it's small, but it's doing well!!
View attachment 318569

Makes sense. Now the crypts can focus their energy on growing new leaves instead of trying to sustain dying ones.

 

[Rocky998]

I'm having g some hair algae issues on the very top of the wood, closest to the light... I'm thinking that once the plants get settled in and really take off, the algae will slowly die off

 

[Fishies4Ever]

Wow the tank looks beautiful! I probably missed it but what are you planning on stocking it with and what size is it?

 

[Rocky998]

Wow the tank looks beautiful! I probably missed it but what are you planning on stocking it with and what size is it?

Thank you!!
It's a 40g breeder!
I plan to have 15 sterbai corydoras, (almost rethinking the species because they live for a LOOONG time, which I knew they did when I chose them, but I could be moving out in years to come and I'd rather have something that doesn't live for almost 20 years that I'd have to take with me LOL).
5 peacock gudgeons, 10-11 brilliant rasboras, and 10-11 Pseudomugil luminatus or 10-11 threadfin rainbows

 

[Wills]

I think that brown hair algae might be caused by your new sand, its an algae that feeds on silicates in the water which is something given off by new sand for the first few weeks. I'd keep scrubbing it as it can take over if you are not careful.

Tank is looking good though looking forward to seeing the new fish!

Wills

 

[Rocky998]

I think that brown hair algae might be caused by your new sand, its an algae that feeds on silicates in the water which is something given off by new sand for the first few weeks. I'd keep scrubbing it as it can take over if you are not careful.

Tank is looking good though looking forward to seeing the new fish!

Wills

Ahh ok!! Thank you so much for the info!!
So it should go away on its on after a few weeks if I keep scrubbing it?
It is on a few of my Amazon swords as well now that I really look in the tank...

 

[Rocky998]

Ahh ok!! Thank you so much for the info!!
So it should go away on its on after a few weeks if I keep scrubbing it?
It is on a few of my Amazon swords as well now that I really look in the tank...

How often should I be scrubbing it off?
I can't get to it today but I MAY be able to do it tomorrow... If not, my water change day is Wednesday

 

[Wills]

How often should I be scrubbing it off?
I can't get to it today but I MAY be able to do it tomorrow... If not, my water change day is Wednesday

Just with your water changes will be fine but it can grow really quick, it will take a while and you will think what is going on and then all of a sudden it just stops because the silicates have come out of the sand and used by the algae and removed by water changes.

I'd recommend turning your filter off while you do it and try to syphon out any that scrapes into the water column.

Wills