Yes, I was told that all buceps will flower..

NS= Negeri Sembilan
Not NSK. I think you have the same contact too

If you can drain the water or take out the driftwood, then yes. If not, then I don't know how to do spot treatment.
Excel is a quick fix, but longer term, increase your CO2 and keep it stable during the photo period. This means injecting 2 hours before lights on and keeping a lime green dropchecker.
Give it few weeks - it will clear BBA. But if you have shrimps, then they will suffer, so you need to balance the CO2 a bit.

Please let us know how it goes. Because last time I used algaecide, my shrimps died. Never tried it again. But I'm curious about other's experience. You might have a different experience.
Btw, if you want, I still have OF Zero Algae in my cabinet - it was used only once. Anyone wants it (with compliments), please PM. I don't ever anticipate using this, so no problem for others to have it.


It depends, bro. On your tank's bio load. For shrimp only tanks or nano tank with fishes, I think ok. For 2 footer planted tank with fishes, then no.


This post has been edited by davido: Aug 5 2016, 10:47 AM

I think should be ok since its a small tank. White is because of poor bio filtration. Keep us updated how you progress, as I'd like to know too how it goes.

From the color I see, too much CO2. Target is lime green, but I think yours look like Lemon Yellow already
2 parts to the equation. Part 1 - lime green CO2. Part 2 - stable CO2 during photo period.

This means you need to start injecting CO2 before lights on. So once lights on, your drop checker is almost lime green. So maybe 1-2 hours later, it becomes lime green and stays that way until lights out.

You need to play with your setup - for me, I started injecting 2 hours before lights on, 4 bps (3 footer, 160 liters tank) and cut 15 minutes before lights off. Not saying you should follow my timing, but you need to find your own setup to try to keep your CO2 as stable as possible during the photo period.

If you have shrimps, observe closely. My shrimp activity, feeding, breeding - all drop like crazy. 3-4 weeks later, no sight of BBA.
I have since set my CO2 back to its original setup but a wee bit higher. Its been 3 or 4 weeks now - finally saw shrimplets during WC yesterday. I believe this is all related to CO2.

Good luck.

Yes, that looks lime green

Fed up, fed up, fed up. With a heavy heart, I decided to convert my tank to a shrimp only tank. Recently added 12 CRS, all kena eaten by the Green Neons. So I'm going to remove almost all the fishes and keep only shrimp friendly fishes. I'm gonna concentrate on shrimps now.

Giving away Greens Neon Tetras and one SAE.

Any takers, please PM. Self collect at PJ.

Will be happy to also swap/trade with Rasboras, or even shrimps. I have about 80 Green Neons to rid of.


This post has been edited by davido: Aug 17 2016, 04:49 PM

Hi Dave,
Many advice on the net - very confusing. Which to follow? Haha, I went through the same snag when I setup my 2 footer. One year later, I setup my 3 footer, and this time took advice from the pros only (ADA) and did it in the way that ADA would when they setup a new tank. The result was no unmanageable algae issues during setup. And thereafter, algae was always manageable. There are small episodes of BBA and green water (having that now), but its manageable. Every tank will have algae - even ADA showroom tanks, and Takeshi Amano's, but its managed by maintenance.

I'm not promoting ADA - you can use alternatives, but your equipment has to be on par. Filtration, bio media, lights, temperature. If these are not adequate, you will struggle with algae every now and then in the later stages.

During the setup phase, plants must be dense. How dense, I need to give you a booklet that shows the density - but the gap is like 2-3 cm for the carpet. Once flooded, ferts start from setup day. Potassium ferts only for first week (meaning, no trace ferts). And Green Bacter and Phyton Git from day one. Daily dosed. The latter are very important, especially Phyton Git because that impedes algae. WC is twice a week, for the first 2 weeks. Thereafter is weekly.

Trace ferts starts on week 2 (day 7 onwards). Diatoms will appear around 1-2 weeks. To control this, add 3-5 Ottos, and 1-3 SAE (for 2 footers). Many will question this, because the tank is not fully cycled. Even I questioned this, but I swallowed the bitter pill and just taroh them in. And it worked. My diatoms were under control - and no fish died. The diatoms were not even visible after that. Past 14 days, add in between 10-20 Yamatos (for 2 footer). And with weekly maintenance, and good equipment, and good ferts - no visible algae during setup phase.

Disclaimer is this was my experience. I'm sure there are many other ways to do it, and many people have had good success with other methods.

After the tank have stabilized, you can remove the cleaning crew and just keep the bare minimum.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention about the melting plants. Its normal for some melting during the acclimatizing stage. My MC had a month of slow growth, but after 2 months, it grows like crazy.
For your stage, I would dose daily, especially Phyton Git, and regular cleaning. The MC will slowly bounce back, but algae must be kept in check otherwise it will drown out the MC.
Be careful with the cleanup crew. if the plant have not rooted enough, the Yamato shrimp will pull it out. This one you need to monitor.
I didn't have that problem because mine was a different carpet grass and my MC was planted as wabikusa.

This post has been edited by davido: Aug 18 2016, 10:00 AM

No, can't say its the ADA way - probably get sued for that. But I asked how would ADA do it if they were setting up a new tank? But they do publish a booklet "The Making of Nature Aquarium".
Anyway, we all have to start some where, and the trial and error you're doing was also how I started
We all learn along the way.

Yeah, I wished I had your setup. I used to feed the tetras pellet food and they co-existed peacefully.
But I made a mistake in their diet. I started feeding them Brine shrimp (meat), coconut flesh, and dried spinach. The spinach floats on the water like bread, and the fishes nip on them - and it creates a feeding frenzy like piranhas biting a bigger prey.

I think this got them used to eating foods that are bigger than them by nipping. So when I added the CRS, and they saw this bright red and white thing swimming among the school. One fish will nip on it curiously, and then the whole bunch pounces on it like food. Saw this a few times and all my CRS are gone. Geez...

So far I've not seen them attacking the Cherries. Or Tigers and CBS which I just added - but I don't want to push my luck.

Anyone wants Green Neon Tetras, please PM. You can have them FOC. I want to convert my tank to shrimp only. Please do me (and the fishes, and shrimps) a favor

Yes, I want to convert my 3 footer to a shrimp only - for the foreseeable future.
No idea about bloodworms. You may have a different experience. Btw, the tetras are not attacking the Cherries - only the CRS which is so colorful and tempting

Btw, I'm also looking forward to participating in the 2017 IAPLC. You joining too? Just for the fun of it - not for prizes.

Green Neons. If you want, you can take
There's no charge for IAPLC. Application is online. For 2016, its already closed, so we can target for 2017
This gives us a lot of time to get the plants all fattened up for the photo shoot. haha.

http://en.iaplc.com/about/application.html

You're absolutely right

Actually I have no experience in low tech, so maybe those who have done low tech can better answer your question. I don't know if MC can grow without CO2 - can someone share their experience with MC?

As for long grass, try the Eleocharis range, such as eleocharis acicularis, or eleocharis parvula. Please do research on their needs though.

UV Filter is a definite no for me. Because it kills bacteria - and you need to culture those nitrification bacteria. No doubt they live in your bio filter, but the UV filter is sterilizing the water and impedes bacterial growth. UV filter is a last resort for me only if green water algae is unmanageable, and so far I've not needed it.

I've not done DSM, so can't comment on it. But I would certainly like to try because many have reported good results.

Hi bro, my bazooka also leak.. You said you think yours is leaking. How can you not know for sure if its leaking? You can see the bubbles if its leaking. I can see a small bubble leak on the tube joint connecting to the bazooka - but too lazy to fix it, so I'm living with it

You can consider "co2 inline atomizer". Try to google that. I used it last time, and had good results in terms of maintenance (almost never cleaned) and its performance and trouble free.

Hi usman,
How did the BBA go? Still out of control?

Btw, my BBA came back after a few weeks - I think its because I reduced the CO2 levels. But now I just tahan the sight of the BBA coz I'm happier to see the shrimp babies. Until I cannot stand it, then I will increase the CO2 again.


This post has been edited by davido: Sep 20 2016, 12:36 PM

You're right, blackout have zero effect against BBA.

I concur with this article:-
http://www.everythingaquatic.net/forum/art...ack-beard-algae
Specifically
"Increase or stabilize CO2 levels. Try to maintain 25-30 PPM CO2 in a planted tank. Just like all living things, aquatic plants require carbon to grow. When enough carbon dioxide is trapped in the water column, plants will grow much quickly. And, this growth also indicates that plants are taking in nutrients and light. You will notice that Black Brush algae will begin to die with enough CO2 available."

I also agree on the use of SAE. Sadly, the SAE also eats my rotala. And sadly, a CO2 of 25ppm is not shrimp friendly.

I'm also having a BBA outbreak now. Instead of bumping up right away to 25ppm (Lime green CO2 indicator), I'm slowly increasing the CO2 dose. And add a double dose of patience. This method takes time to kill off BBA.

haha, loved the music. Loved the video.. lol..

Blizz,

I used the same brand regulator/solenoid as yours (Up Aqua). Also konk in a few months. I can't conclude for sure that its the brand because I've messed up more than one regulator/solenoid.
But I know its the handling have a part to play. I used to hold it by the head and twist - that screws up the solenoid and makes it leak. Later I found out that to open it is to hold one part from the tank, and the other is to twist on the nut itself. So there is no strain on the solenoid joint. This is my experience - others may have different experience.

I used Intense too - also screwed it up the same way. Luckily that one got warranty