fishorama
Fishaholic
I have an ignored 5ft x 2ft tall tank with no fish (yet?). My club helped set it up in late 2019. But then covid happened & our tv near it died so we never really see it much. A couple years ago ALL the plants melted for some unknown reason. They eventually came back. Then it got hair algae, lots of hair algae. I weeded it out as best I could when I noticed & my favorite plants, mostly crypts, seemed happy enough.
Then I made the mistake of adding some easy stem plants. Some I planted, some I just threw in & floated. The planted rotala (indica?) took off & ran all along the back & around the corner. I made a half-hearted attempt to remove it, but it looked nice & the tank is hard to work in.
So today I decided it was time to do something about its pathetic looks. I tried hard to remove all the stems even the 1s attached to the wood & growing emersed. What was hair algae had turned to slimy pale clouds, no easy to wind up fibers, eww! & all my java ferns are gone, not even a rhizome left. That's ok except I think what killed it may have killed/damaged the algae. I didn't think anything could actually kill java fern but I know @CassCats can't grow it. My tapwater is soft & javas like more hardness. I use crushed coral to help with that.
But wait, there's more! My "river-ish" tank has lots of "jungle" val, some crypts, lots unwanted java moss & duckweed. So, I made a good start on weeding & vacuuming but it's going to be a slow process. The fish seem happy enough, I get a few sewellia loach fry every year & my 2 gobies are 13 years old. & I love my blue line rasboras (sarawakensis) in there too.
Then there's my 75g. Not many fish, my adopted aeneus corys (ok, aenea) are aging out fast except the "baby" now adult male. I also have 1 adult BN pleco & 4? juveniles. It also has hair algae likely from the high windows. It's kind of a miracle plant tank in some ways. After 3 years or so, vallisneria & crypts have come back to life! So, I made a big effort to remove it & vac out all the crap hidden in it & under it. Significantly better but needs more work.
Really, I'm just complaining, not looking for answers. I've been a bit under the weather for 3 or 4 weeks & it shows!
Then I made the mistake of adding some easy stem plants. Some I planted, some I just threw in & floated. The planted rotala (indica?) took off & ran all along the back & around the corner. I made a half-hearted attempt to remove it, but it looked nice & the tank is hard to work in.
So today I decided it was time to do something about its pathetic looks. I tried hard to remove all the stems even the 1s attached to the wood & growing emersed. What was hair algae had turned to slimy pale clouds, no easy to wind up fibers, eww! & all my java ferns are gone, not even a rhizome left. That's ok except I think what killed it may have killed/damaged the algae. I didn't think anything could actually kill java fern but I know @CassCats can't grow it. My tapwater is soft & javas like more hardness. I use crushed coral to help with that.
But wait, there's more! My "river-ish" tank has lots of "jungle" val, some crypts, lots unwanted java moss & duckweed. So, I made a good start on weeding & vacuuming but it's going to be a slow process. The fish seem happy enough, I get a few sewellia loach fry every year & my 2 gobies are 13 years old. & I love my blue line rasboras (sarawakensis) in there too.
Then there's my 75g. Not many fish, my adopted aeneus corys (ok, aenea) are aging out fast except the "baby" now adult male. I also have 1 adult BN pleco & 4? juveniles. It also has hair algae likely from the high windows. It's kind of a miracle plant tank in some ways. After 3 years or so, vallisneria & crypts have come back to life! So, I made a big effort to remove it & vac out all the crap hidden in it & under it. Significantly better but needs more work.
Really, I'm just complaining, not looking for answers. I've been a bit under the weather for 3 or 4 weeks & it shows!
