"Passionately Curious"

[jackychun]

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.

Thanks for your comments, UA. Really appreciate it. So far the algae only appear on the driftwood and not at all on the plants. Hope the balance can be kept even after fauna is introduced to the tank.

This is the update as of today. I have change the water since Nitrate concentration is quite high after 7 days no water change.



Ammonia: 0.5ppm (reduced)
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 40-80ppm (very high)
pH: 6.0

It can be interpreted that beneficial bacteria has been working well to transfer Ammonia to Nitrite and to Nitrate now. Hope the tank can be fully cycled soon.

I have reduced the CO2 rate to about 1bps and will maintain at this level to see if plants are still growing well. It would be easier for fauna later on as well.

This is the tank condition on Day 28:

[jackychun]

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...

Thanks a lot for your tips. I will keep it in mind. I hope I can keep it as long as yours. Haha! Really lazy to clean it when everything is in place.

[jackychun]

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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Thanks gimhchng! On one hand, I'd like my tank algae free, on the other hand, I want to see the age look. Haha! Very contradicting!

However, I will still try put in Yamato shrimps later and let the nature decide.

[jackychun]

Hi All,

I would like to check your opinions:
- if the fishes need to be quarantined before putting in the main tank?
- any special treatment needed for them in the quarantine tank?
- how long is the quarantine period?
- if the LFS already quarantine them, do we need to do it again at home?
- are shrimps/snails also need to be quarantined?

Thank you very much.


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[Ryan Peh]

I don't actually quarantine my fishes... Never did. I always can't wait to add them into the tank HAHA. I usually just leave the bag over my water for 20-30mins then slowly pour tank water into the bag (every 15mins) then pouring away the water and doing it again. I do this like 2-3 times the volume of the original water then I add the fishes already!
Haven't really had any casualties or what. As long as you pick the healthy fishes at a reliable LFS, the fishes would be fine!

[fireblade]

if your tank have no livestock, I don't see the real need to quarantine them unless u worry that any disease be spread in big tank and then need to treat whole tank.
if u are getting your fishes from different shops, then maybe want to observe ...
frankly speaking, I don't quarantine them.. and also when I bring fish/shrimps home, I'll just leave the bag in the same room for a while then scoop the fish/shrimps into my tank.. never use the drip method or scoop some water to mix them.. sometimes, I'll just keep the lfs water for a while, if the fish /shrimp doesn't look well , I'll scoop them back to the plastic bag.

[jackychun]

Hi Ryan and fireblade,

Thanks for your advice. May be I was just too careful. :P
Hope the fish can be doing well like you said.

[Ryan Peh]

I used to do the drip acclimation method, but I got too lazy and a friend once told me "How different can our water be?"
Technically it can be rather different, but at most just 1-2ph right? If the temperature is same then it should be fine.
Unless it's sensitive shrimps, those that need to watch out for TDS, then probably need to do the drip acclimation.

[jackychun]

I used to do the drip acclimation method, but I got too lazy and a friend once told me "How different can our water be?"
Technically it can be rather different, but at most just 1-2ph right? If the temperature is same then it should be fine.
Unless it's sensitive shrimps, those that need to watch out for TDS, then probably need to do the drip acclimation.

Yup. I think it takes fish days to acclimate to the tank environment. I will just try to make sure temperature is OK and scoop them in. Hope they are all strong!

[jackychun]

It's Friday night and itchy hands wanna test the water again. Results are very convincing now.

pH: 6
Ammonia: 0.25ppm (reduced)
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 40ppm (reduced after water change 2 days ago)

With Ammonia level much reduced, I think the day of tank fully cycled will not be so far.

For now, really need to think through the fish list. Hehe.

For the shoaling fishes, I might go for Harliquin Rasbora. I saw them in an LFS today and really like their schooling behavior and colour.



For the bottom of the tank, I am very attracted by Corydoras. I don't know if they are suitable with planted tank? Are they shy fishes? How big they will be? Any sifu can give me an advice on this?

Algae eaters would be: Amano shrimps, SAE and CRS/RCS and may be also Otocinclus.

I also like one total black guy which is good community fish: Black Molly. Feng Shui books said should have a Total Black Fish in the tank. Hehe.

Please give me your advice on your fish preferences. Thank you.





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[exo]

I didn't know pet lovers sold fish.. Lol..

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[jackychun]

I didn't know pet lovers sold fish.. Lol..

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Haha! Me too! I just realized they have those fishes. Thought they only have hamsters and rabbits. Lol! The fishes look very healthy there. A bit pricey I guess? But looks very potential and worth to consider.

[exo]

Yeah its expensive if you ask me.. Make a trip to c328 if you can. There is one LFS that is open 24hr there if that helps you with weekend insomnia..

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[exo]

Not asking you to go to the 24hr lfs but jus saying you have more choices there if you r in the West.

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[jackychun]

Thanks exo. The place unfortunately quite far away from my home. I might try Petsmart at Serangoon North instead.

And I will also arrange to go C328 soon to see by my own eyes!


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[exo]

Yeah or seaview would not be to far for u either..

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[jackychun]

Yup. I wanna visit Seaview, too. Surprisingly, I have never been to those famous place that you have mentioned.


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[Ryan Peh]

Thanks exo. The place unfortunately quite far away from my home. I might try Petsmart at Serangoon North instead.

And I will also arrange to go C328 soon to see by my own eyes!


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I feel C328 is more of a place to get equipments and maybe driftwood.. Not much for their fishes.. Their fishes may be cheap but I've never had a good experience with their fishes before. Try those fish shops who actually take good care of their fishes. It might be a little more pricey but it's worth the investment!

[Ivan Choo]

I'd prefer espei rasboras, reason being they are more slender and smaller than the harlequins. This makes them more suitable for a 2ft tank. Besides, I prefer their coppery color.

Pygmy corydoras is a common choice for their small size, but be warned they are very shy and tend to hide a lot. See this thread http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ape-Little-Red

You should try other dwarf corydoras like hastatus or hasbrosus.

[jackychun]

I feel C328 is more of a place to get equipments and maybe driftwood.. Not much for their fishes.. Their fishes may be cheap but I've never had a good experience with their fishes before. Try those fish shops who actually take good care of their fishes. It might be a little more pricey but it's worth the investment!

I am very new to this hobby so I choose to play safe most of the time. In the end it is a long term investment. I will take time to see see look look around the LFS next week. Thanks Ryan.