64 Litre "Forest Edge" Tank!

[hiisoka]

that's a real nice piece of driftwood you got there
nice idea with the anubias too!

[Urban Aquaria]

How hardy is the cocama compared to the normal oto?

From my experience, they are about as hardy as normal otos... the tricky period is during the first 1-2 weeks when introduced into a tank. If they are in healthy condition from the LFS (round belly, active and good color) and there is enough varied food sources (both natural algae and commercial foods) in the tank, once acclimatized they will thrive well.

The good thing about Otocinclus Cocama is that they take to commercial food very readily, so if a tank is low on algae sources, their diet can be easily supplemented with algae or sinking wafers too.

[benlee]

The good thing about Otocinclus Cocama is that they take to commercial food very readily, so if a tank is low on algae sources, their diet can be easily supplemented with algae or sinking wafers too.

Sounds good. I've never seen any of my Otos consume any of the algae wafers that I've placed in the tank. I've had a hard time deciding when to introduce Otos to my tanks, too early and I worry they have no food.

[Urban Aquaria]

Sounds good. I've never seen any of my Otos consume any of the algae wafers that I've placed in the tank. I've had a hard time deciding when to introduce Otos to my tanks, too early and I worry they have no food.

Once a planted tank is cycled, you can add otos in. Usually by then there should be enough accumulated bio-film and algae on the glass, plants and hardscape to feed them (even if you can't see it).

Start with 1-2 otos first, then after a few weeks if you see their bellies are constantly round and full, then can more in stages according to plant mass and bio-load.

Generally, up to 5-6 otos can form a sustainable algae-eater group for a heavily planted 2ft tank.

For food supplementation, try sinking wafers... i've found that somehow all my otos go for it with alot more interest, probably because it has some protein content which otos seem to like occasionally as part of their diet.

[Aventador]

From my experience, they are about as hardy as normal otos... the tricky period is during the first 1-2 weeks when introduced into a tank. If they are in healthy condition from the LFS (round belly, active and good color) and there is enough varied food sources (both natural algae and commercial foods) in the tank, once acclimatized they will thrive well.

The good thing about Otocinclus Cocama is that they take to commercial food very readily, so if a tank is low on algae sources, their diet can be easily supplemented with algae or sinking wafers too.

I was shopping around for cocama and spoke to one LFS. According to him, Cocama need 24-25degree Celsius water to stay alive but bro Urban's tank did not hit that low.

[Urban Aquaria]

I was shopping around for cocama and spoke to one LFS. According to him, Cocama need 24-25degree Celsius water to stay alive but bro Urban's tank did not hit that low.

So far i've had no issues with keeping them at our local temperatures without using a chiller... i guess once properly acclimated, they can thrive in a relatively wide range of temperatures.

[Urban Aquaria]

Just some update.

Its been 10 weeks since start up, and the tank glass and lily pipes are still relatively algae-free so far, seems like this setup is still maintaining a good balance in its parameters.

Although there is no algae in the glass lily pipes, there is some algae forming in my filter hoses (finally have a reason to do some filter cleaning), but i noticed something interesting...



The input hose has noticeably more algae than the output hose.

Initially i thought that it could be due to Co2-rich water flowing out from the inline reactor suppressing the algae growth, but when i checked the output hose inside the tank cabinet, i could see that the section of hose connected before the Co2 reactor also has noticeably less algae too.



It seems that the water being drawn in through the input hose has excess nutrients to feed the algae, but after it is processed in the filter, the water coming out has less excess nutrients for algae, hence the distinct difference in algae growth between the 2 hoses. I've never seen this effect in my other tanks before.

The only thing that i could think of that might have caused this phenomenon is the placement of a small 100ml bag of Seachem Purigen in the canister filter (this is the first time i'm using this product)... so it could be a direct result of the Purigen absorbing excess organics from the tank water.

I guess this demonstrates how tank water can be effectively filtered to create a noticeable change in water conditions, just by observing the difference in algae build up between the input and output hoses.

[benlee]

Interesting.. But does mean it will inhibit plant growth? Since it removes the excess organics?

I have shoved some Purigen in my hofs before the 'waterfall'. Shall monitor if algae grows there since the 'waterfall' seems to be a magnet for growing algae.

[Urban Aquaria]

Interesting.. But does mean it will inhibit plant growth? Since it removes the excess organics?

I have shoved some Purigen in my hofs before the 'waterfall'. Shall monitor if algae grows there since the 'waterfall' seems to be a magnet for growing algae.

From what i've read up on Purigen so far, it seems to be designed to only absorb and trap organic waste (mainly fish waste, rotting plant matter, decomposing food etc)... so it supposedly helps to absorb most of these things before they breakdown into excess nutrients. The more fishes and shrimps in a tank, the more they consume and the more waste they naturally produce, and that's usually where all the excess nutrients come from.

As fertilizer are chemicals and not organics, Purigen doesn't absorb it, so the macro and micro nutrients from fertilizer dosing are still available to the plants. That probably explains why plants still grow well in high-tech planted tanks even when Purigen is used.

In my view, its much easier to control fertilizer dosing compared to controlling organic waste from fauna, so i guess that's where Purigen comes in to help buffer against various organic sources which cause nutrient imbalance.

[milk_vanilla]

Purigen is my favorite supplement since past year, it's really polish the water per it claimed. But how effective it absorbs the organic waste or , it's another question

[milk_vanilla]

Intake contain pollutant and organic waste that are algae favorite meal, probably that the reason it's dirtier than output, whereby it's been broken by your beneficial bacteria in the canister tray to keep it minimum.

[Urban Aquaria]

Intake contain pollutant and organic waste that are algae favorite meal, probably that the reason it's dirtier than output, whereby it's been broken by your beneficial bacteria in the canister tray to keep it minimum.

Yeah, that's what i think so too... but oddly my other canister filters never displayed this effect, both input and output hoses always showed equal amounts of algae build up.

Only this particular one displays the phenomenon, and the only difference is i put Purigen in this canister filter, so i figured that it could be the reason.

[gid]

very nice bro.

i like how u kept pulling out your plants and changing your mind, haha.

your blyxia japonica looks very green and compact. mine is always loose and dull...

[Urban Aquaria]

very nice bro.

i like how u kept pulling out your plants and changing your mind, haha.

your blyxia japonica looks very green and compact. mine is always loose and dull...

Yeah, part of the fun of planted tanks is trying out different plants, seeing if they work for the layout and changing it up to keep things interesting... also gives the "itchy-fingers" aquarist something to do.

[limz_777]

dont think that is algae formed at your intake pipe

[Urban Aquaria]

dont think that is algae formed at your intake pipe

Not sure what it really is either... but i always see it forming over a period time in the clear hoses on all my canister filters, when i clean it out with a flexible brush, they look like thin flakes of brownish seaweed, probably a mix of diatoms and brown algae.

I've once tried "harvesting" them during filter cleaning, then put in a feeding dish and observed otos and shrimps eating it, so i guess its part of their diet too.

[darkhell]

Sorry to hijack.. but any idea if i happen to let some purigen spill into the tank itself and they now lay ontop of the soil.. will fishy go eat them? Haha..

[sfk7]

Those are mulm imho rather than algae

[Urban Aquaria]

Sorry to hijack.. but any idea if i happen to let some purigen spill into the tank itself and they now lay ontop of the soil.. will fishy go eat them? Haha..

I guess the chances of it being eaten by fishes is similiar to them eating sand or gravel granules anyways... at least Purigen granules are smooth, so easier to poop back out.

Those are mulm imho rather than algae

That's a good point... i checked online and found some others who also referred to the brown stuff as mulm too. If thats the case, then its organic material which houses lots of live beneficial bacteria, which is ideal for "seeding" new tanks to cycle them faster. The next time i start a new tank, i'll harvest and transfer over the brown flakes, see if it works.

This matches the phenomenon that i'm seeing, since Purigen actively absorbs organic waste, mulm material would also be reduced after the water is filtered though, hence naturally less mulm coating the output hose. Interesting!

[BFG]

If that is the case, you could use the output hose as an indicator for your purigen. Once the bio stuff starts appearing on the output hose inner wall, your purigen usage is approaching the end of its usefulness. Time to change to a new batch.