umi

Hi guys, I'm having some issues with recurring algae growth on my tank glass and plants. I clean it one day and its back within the next 3. I'm starting to get pretty tired of it and want to avoid algaecide, so I want some recommendations on RGB light levels. The lights a bit on the shorter side for the size of the tank so I've been running it at 80/60/60 RGB but I've been hearing varying opinions that its best to run 45/30/30 and lower, or that its better to run it at higher levels so that theres a high enough PAR value at the substrate. I've tried running lower but the tank just seems so dark. I'm trying to have a dwarf hairgrass carpet so I don't know if they'll get enough light. At the same time, I'm also trying to grow red plants such as ludwigia super red, alternanthera reineckii rosanervig, and rotala narrow leaf sp. red. Some additional information, I do have CO2 running and have the lights on from 9:30AM-7:30PM with a half hour taper on each end. What general RGB levels would be recommended for optimal carpet and red plant growth while minimizing algae growth?

I ended up getting a Chihiros WRBII 24" for $170 brand new! Thanks for all the help

the tank is 30" long, so between 24-30" ideally. I've heard great things about chihiros but only their WRGB II pro line, which is way out of my budget. What about their other series, like the A? Or the twinstar E/C lines? These naming schemes are ridiculously elaborate and confusing. Found a fluval 3.0 24-36" or chihiros wrgb 2 60cm near me. Fluval used in new condition for $100, chihiros new condition for $180. Not sure which is a better for the money. Im sure both are good enough for my current plants, but if I ever plan to do more high-tech plants?

Best they could do is $150, I passed. For that much I could get a twinstar 900s. App control will be missed though...

about 6 months they said, so if it was around 8 hours a day about 1,440 hours. They advertise a 50,000 hour life

Even at $120 not worth it?

Yes, they are unbelievably strong fish. I once transferred the ribbon male to my main tank for a night but had to move him back after noticing some fin nipping (presumably from the one other male guppy in the tank). Long story short, despite dropsy + severe pineconing AND secondary bacterial/fungal infection in the gills, he somehow pulled through thanks to the mystical powers of epsom salt and meds. I couldn't believe it. I'm sure some of my difficulties can be attributed to just how intricate of a strain they are genetically, but I'm starting to think it also has something to do with their social behavior. The same time that I moved the ribbon male to my main tank, the female became visibly depressed... they seem much more codependent than my other run of the mill guppies. I've bought 10 fry to try to give them some more friends in the hopes that it will make them happier and a little more willing to do the deed 😆. If not, at least more numbers will probably increase my chances... Would substrate and rocks also contribute to this? I have fluval stratum and a good few seiryu rocks in the tank.

In what sense?

Hi all, Currently looking for a better lighting solution for my 20 gal long tank. I currently have 2 aquatop MAQ-MINI 10" lights and have vallisneria, hornwort, myrio, anubias, and eleocharis parvulus. Save for the DHG, pretty low requirement plants. I recently started up a 10 gal tank however, and thought it the perfect opportunity to delegate these cheaper lights to that tank and to upgrade my 20 gal. I found a good condition 24" ONF Flat One Plus for $170 and wondering if this is a solid light? Haven't heard anything about the company before. Is the light big enough? I think 24" should be enough to cover the whole tank. I'd also like some wiggle room for when I decide to put in some more demanding plants.

the first pic is the male and female. male on the bottom and female on top. the second pic also has the second, non-ribboned male, located farthest on the left. There is fluval stratum substrate, I'll attach a pic of the setup below. pH is 7.2, kH and gH idk, temp is 78. I have cuttlebone I could use to raise pH even further but I think it's fine as it is. In regards to the fry, albino koi are notorious for devouring fry but I don't believe this is the issue here. I've been watching her every day since getting her, and with her being a glass belly and all it would be extremely easy to tell when the fry are developed and ready to pop out. That's never happened. She still has just as many eggs, if not more. *not really sure why the picture is upside down but you get the idea*

as I mentioned in my post I am aware of that hence why I also have a non-ribboned male.

I've had a trio of these beautiful albino koi glass belly short body ribbon guppies (say that 3 times fast) for a month now - one ribboned female, one ribboned male, and one non-ribboned male. The non-ribboned male is essential for me as the gonopodium needs to be short in order to properly inseminate and fertilize the female. This non-ribboned male was added to the tank about 2 weeks after getting my original pair, so he's been with them for a little over 2 weeks now. Despite all that, I cannot for the life of me get them to breed! All my other guppies breed like rabbits and I see new fry in my main tank every time that I look, but no success with these little guys. Temp, pH, water parameters are all good. They are fed well and have an entire 10 gallon tank to themselves, save for 2 snails and some red cherries. Thus there should be absolutely no stress conditions on them. It seems like the perfect conditions for at least fertilization to occur. The female's stomach has been growing with more and more eggs but I can tell that they have still not been fertilized as they should adopt an orange/pink hue. It's quite easy to tell when the female is properly fertilized as their bellies are, obviously, clear like glass. So now I'm turning to you guys to ask if anybody might have any advice or ideas for what might be the issue here. I have a few ideas myself, which I'll list below: 1. Too large of a tank to allow the male to do the deed (I have a 2.5 gallon that I'm currently raising shrimp in, but I worry that may be TOO small for more than a couple days) 2. The non-ribboned male is "scared"(?) of the female as she is 2-3 times his size 3. The presence of the ribboned male being in the tank before introduction of the non-ribboned male may be discouraging breeding. This could probably be solved by just getting more males but they are super expensive and I'd like to keep that as a last option. Any ideas?