"Passionately Curious"

[happydanio123]

Hi there Jack! It seems your hardworking has come to a fruition!!!

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[jackychun]

Hi there Jack! It seems your hardworking has come to a fruition!!!

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Thanks Happydanio123. I am "patiently" waiting for the water to be fully cycled now. In the meantime, my hands are very itchy and just wanna do another tank! Lol!

[Ryan Peh]

Your tank looks really good! The water is clear and the plants seems really healthy! Nice bro! Wish my plants grew like yours...

[jackychun]

Your tank looks really good! The water is clear and the plants seems really healthy! Nice bro! Wish my plants grew like yours...

Thanks bro. I believe it is just the matter of time, your plants will be flourish! For now just be patient and enjoy the day to day process.

Your tank will be having more fun with fishes soon since it has been cycled. Mine still don't know when. Wait long long...

[Ryan Peh]

Yeah good thing for me is I get to go fish shopping HAHA but my plants not growing as lush as yours!
I'm gonna start flooding my second tank soon too! Have you planned on what fauna you're adding already?

[tetrakid]

Thanks Happydanio123. I am "patiently" waiting for the water to be fully cycled now. In the meantime, my hands are very itchy and just wanna do another tank! Lol!

It's a good idea to start seasoning another tank concurrently rather than wait for one tank to be ready. Bacteria take time to established their full strength. But make sure the bacteria receive plenty of oxygen, otherwise their colony will not thrive well.

[jackychun]

It's a good idea to start seasoning another tank concurrently rather than wait for one tank to be ready. Bacteria take time to established their full strength. But make sure the bacteria receive plenty of oxygen, otherwise their colony will not thrive well.

Hi tetrakid,

Thanks for your advice. I do lift the outflow pipe to agitate the water surface every night to clear the oily film and also create more oxygen for the plant when CO2 is not introduced to it.
By doing so, I see the water surface very clear on the next day and hopefully, beneficial bacteria also can get benefit of rich oxygen during night time.

For another tank, even though really love to have but for now my time is quite limited to take care of both. So I guess this time I will build up some experience first before handle more. :P

Cheers!

[jackychun]

Yeah good thing for me is I get to go fish shopping HAHA but my plants not growing as lush as yours!
I'm gonna start flooding my second tank soon too! Have you planned on what fauna you're adding already?

I have been using Seachem fertilizer (Excel, Iron, Potassium and Flourish) with dosing follow the instruction since day 1. I guess it helps the plants strive better with adequate supplements.
I am currently studying on the fauna to see which one would be suitable for my tank. I have read your topic and can learn lots from the discussion there.

Some names I have in mind:
Algae Eater:
- Amano shrimps
- Red Cherry Shrimp / Crystal Red Shrimp
- SAE
- Some nerite snails
- Shoaling fishes: to be confirmed later. I am still considering which one to go for.
I also like guppy and their beautiful colour. So might be some.

Basically, I will just choose those community fish and easier to take care.
Still have about 2 weeks to think about that.

[Ryan Peh]

I have been using Seachem fertilizer (Excel, Iron, Potassium and Flourish) with dosing follow the instruction since day 1. I guess it helps the plants strive better with adequate supplements.
I am currently studying on the fauna to see which one would be suitable for my tank. I have read your topic and can learn lots from the discussion there.

Some names I have in mind:
Algae Eater:
- Amano shrimps
- Red Cherry Shrimp / Crystal Red Shrimp
- SAE
- Some nerite snails
- Shoaling fishes: to be confirmed later. I am still considering which one to go for.
I also like guppy and their beautiful colour. So might be some.

Basically, I will just choose those community fish and easier to take care.
Still have about 2 weeks to think about that.

I'm learning quite a bit from your thread too! I'm still considering if I should add iron even though I'm already adding the tropica premium fertiliser, which is supposed to contain everything except N and P. I'm also dosing Seachem Potassium, but my rotala rotundifolia are turning a little green tho...
Btw the lady at East Ocean Aquatic told me that if you have cherry shrimps or any other dwarf shrimps, you shouldn't have SAE and Amano shrimps. Cuz they sort of bully the smaller shrimps.

[jackychun]

Thanks for your info Ryan. I might need more time to study further about the compatibility of those fauna that I like to keep. It would be the best if they can live in harmony with each other. I saw people keep Amano shrimps together with CRS before and didn't know that they would hit the smaller one. I will check about that, too. Thanks.


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[jackychun]

Just a small update on water quality, good news is Ammonia concentration has reduced to 1.0ppm today. One step closer till the cycle complete.

I am now studying about how to choose fish for aquarium and I highly recommend another book from Jeremy Gay. The book is very informative and really useful for a newbie like me. You can borrow in any NLB in Singapore. Cheers!




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[jackychun]

Hi All,

I would like to ask some questions about Canister Filter Cleaning:-
- How long do we need to clean the filter?
- What is the sign of filter that need to be cleaned?
- Anything that I need to take note during filter cleaning?

Thank you very much.

[Ryan Peh]

Hi All,

I would like to ask some questions about Canister Filter Cleaning:-
- How long do we need to clean the filter?
- What is the sign of filter that need to be cleaned?
- Anything that I need to take note during filter cleaning?

Thank you very much.

From my own experience, once a month or two months would be good enough. One prominent sign would be flow rate of the filter! I'm not too sure about other signs, maybe wait for the other AQers to reply.
We should all know that the filter needs to be cleaned using tank water to prevent the BB from dying. I only add dechlorinated water back into the canister after I cleaned the canister using tank water.

Also, don't change too much of your tank water when you clean your canister! Maybe 10% is sufficient because the water in your canister would be poured away and that's sort of a water change too... Previously I changed 40% of my water and at the same time, cleaned my canister and poured the water away. So adding up maybe more than 50% of my water was changed... 2 shrimps died after that... But I added API Stress Zyme after that to help the remaining BB in case some BB from my filter media got washed away.

That's just my own experience, maybe can wait for others to provide better answers to your questions!

[fireblade]

depends how big is your canister...
for me, I look at the flow rate, if it is too weak then I will wash, maybe wash every 6 months or longer.. :P I am a lazy to do the cleaning...

[jackychun]

From my own experience, once a month or two months would be good enough. One prominent sign would be flow rate of the filter! I'm not too sure about other signs, maybe wait for the other AQers to reply.
We should all know that the filter needs to be cleaned using tank water to prevent the BB from dying. I only add dechlorinated water back into the canister after I cleaned the canister using tank water.

Also, don't change too much of your tank water when you clean your canister! Maybe 10% is sufficient because the water in your canister would be poured away and that's sort of a water change too... Previously I changed 40% of my water and at the same time, cleaned my canister and poured the water away. So adding up maybe more than 50% of my water was changed... 2 shrimps died after that... But I added API Stress Zyme after that to help the remaining BB in case some BB from my filter media got washed away.

That's just my own experience, maybe can wait for others to provide better answers to your questions!

Thanks for your sharing Ryan. I will consider those factors.

[jackychun]

depends how big is your canister...
for me, I look at the flow rate, if it is too weak then I will wash, maybe wash every 6 months or longer.. :P I am a lazy to do the cleaning...

Thanks fireblade. I will look for the flow rate. Is this really obvious that flow will slow down a lot?

[jackychun]

Just some update on Day 27:

I have tried not to change the water for 6 days and water is still quite clear overall. However, I can observe some green algae on top of the driftwood as @Urban Aquaria foreseen previously. It makes the driftwood looks aging and I like it. Is that algae gonna spread out or we can control it only on the driftwood?


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[Urban Aquaria]

Over time the green algae will naturally cover more areas on the wood that are directly exposed to the light... fortunately the same algae will usually not spread to healthy plants if conditions are balanced and there is a combination of efficient algae eaters in the tank to keep it in check.

Healthy plants seem to be able to maintain some natural defence (ie. phytoncides?) against most common algae to a certain extent, it's usually when they are weak or melting then algae will start to take advantage and grow on them.

So the key is to focus on constantly supply the plants all the resources they require to grow well, and regularly trimming and removing older/melting parts of the plants, then it will be much easier to keep algae under control.

[fireblade]

yes you can... initially the outflow like tap turn on fullest, when getting choked, it will be like half turn on. you have to remember how the flow is like initially...
another tell tale sign is when you off and on your filter after a while or when you shake/shift your filter a bit, you can see dirty things fly out from the outflow... that is also time for maintenance...

[gimhchng]

I have my drift wood fully cover with green algae before i introduce 5 yamato shrimp, in a 2ft. They are all gone in a week. If u want to maintain the aged look, probably reduce number of yamato or feed them more? Just my thought.

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