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Jungle Fan

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Everything posted by Jungle Fan

  1. Jungle Fan
    Cilantro is good, may it never smell differently!
  2. Jungle Fan
    It might just love the fresh component. Give those I listed a try.
  3. Jungle Fan
    The Pleco would be the likely suspect number one in this scenario. Try providing some blanched lettuce, or some cucumber, or zucchini slices, or even just some algae wafers as a vegetarian alternative. They also love the Igapo Explorer Repashy food which Aquarium Co-Op has in stock.
  4. Jungle Fan
    Algae of most types occur around the world as their spores are endemic in the air and as such go "where the wind blows" that's why aquarium keepers in Germany get to fight the same algae as we do here in the U.S., or another fellow fishkeeper in Australia, Singapore, or Argentina. I get amused by the fact that so many new aquarium hobbyists buy the Marimo balls under the impression they are buying a moss and not algae and I have seen some of them react with disgust when they found out it was a form of green algae as if it changed the fact that they absorb nutrients and they still look just as fuzzy cuddly as before. They were marketed at just about the same time as the Nature Aquarium movement based on Takashi Amano's work became more popular here in the U.S. and I met quite a few then who believed they were an actual moss and would have probably not bought something labeled as an "Aegagropila linnaei Green Algae Ball" quite as quickly, at least not without first researching if it might spread. All our tanks contain a certain amount of algae, it's a fact of life on this planet, the algae takes care of some of the nutrients, just as our plants do, only if things get out of balance do algae really become unsightly. I don't stress over a bit of algae in my tank as long as it looks to be in balance and doesn't disturb the overall impression, it serves as another source of food for my algae eating crew as well. To me the Marimo ball is a reminder that Nature is so much better balanced, and perfect in its inter-dependencies, than any of our most complicated, and intricate aquarium eco-system designs can ever be and a tip of the hat to the fact that the algae whether cute and fuzzy, or wildly propagated by the wind has been here for a long time, and will be so for a long time to come.
  5. Jungle Fan
    I tend to love my snails in my planted tank, especially my military helmet Nerites, they are ferocious when it comes to hard spot green algae on the glass, they are also the only snails I ever witnessed going after BBA when I had some in a previous tank due to fert experimentation. Just another piece of the mini eco-system we call aquarium, they only become a nuisance when things are badly out of balance and even as such they work in the opposite of the proverbial canary in the coalmine, in that it is time to check when you see too many.
  6. Jungle Fan
    You could have inadvertently moved root tabs when you removed the wood, and as you mentioned the increase in floaters could be cutting off their light. Crypts don't like having their nutrients and the light necessary to process them removed. Whenever something like this happens and they begin to melt,what I do is cut off the existing growth just above the rosette so the plant doesn't waste any more energy on what is dying anyway and within a short amount of time new, and stronger growth emerges, unless something drastic happened to the roots and they are rotting at which point it is time to remove it and dispose of it.
  7. Jungle Fan
    These "moss" balls have always baffled me, how a ball of filamentous green algae got to be so popular in the hobby so fast, ...when it was actually first discovered in the 1820s by Anton E. Sauter in Lake Zell, Austria who named it Aegagropila linnaei has had me somewhat puzzled. Here we are usually spending lots of coin, time and effort preventing and combating algae in any form, spend time to get our lights and fertilizer regimen just right to keep algae out of our tanks; and yet this fuzzy, and cuddly looking green tribble made up of one of our arch enemies the green algae has softened the heart of the fiercest persecutors of algae by disguising itself as a "moss". I love it!
  8. Jungle Fan
    Here's another thing about iron I learnt: if you add liquid iron, make sure not to run a UV-sterilizer because it messes with the liquid iron's chelation and renders it unusable for your plants. Some liquid iron fertilizers in Germany actually have this added as a warning to their products. Just a little tidbit, that can have effect on plant growth.
  9. Jungle Fan
    I never leave any of my plants in the pot it came with. I always take them out of the pot, I use a small plastic basin filled with fresh tap water with some Prime and remove every last bit of rock wool with a plastic fork, then I give the plant a quick rinse under the faucet, cut the fine growth of the roots off and place the plant in another small basin with water and Prime until I'm ready to plant. In some cases, like with crypts I generally divide the plant up into smaller plantlets which actually encourages growth as well. The reason I always remove the plants from the pot, and completely remove the rock wool is that over the years I've learnt that growers, especially in Asia not only add plenty of fertilizer to the rock wool to make sure their plants are healthy and green by having lots of nutrients, but they tend to add plenty of pesticide as well to ensure their merchandise doesn't get damaged. Even if you know the seller is ultra careful not to buy from growers that use pesticide, sometimes there is a change in distributors, or a change in growers, and the new guy might not be truthful about their practices. In any case better to stick with a proven results routine than to be sorry for having caused damage to fish and invertebrates by neglecting a process that adds only marginally more effort. I've done this for years now but I learnt this the hard way quite a few years ago and it wasn't cheap, and so avoidable.
  10. Jungle Fan
    That is going to be a sweet looking fish room and studio, love the wood stain! Also the pipe anchoring and support.
  11. Jungle Fan
    One of my favorites! Love it!
  12. Jungle Fan
    Yup, same type package as Friskies Party Mix Natural Yums, Boo-boo will run anyone over down the stairs when he hears a package being opened in the kitchen. Boo-boo got named after Yogi Bear's sidekick, "because he is smarter than the average bear!" Loves sunshine spots in the morning for his nap, "shhhh... human no talking, no petting this is serious stuff!"
  13. Jungle Fan
    That could be exciting! What species?
  14. Jungle Fan
    Lots of great fish stores in Germany, lots of great aquarium books on plants, fish, and aqua technics. Problem is bringing anything over here, or shipping it. It takes forevvvvvvvvvvver, and don't get me started on the German customs service. Same goes for the Netherlands, and Denmark, or the U.K. I've got Diana Walstad's book too, read it but I borrowed things not just from her but others like Amano, Randall, and Kasselmann, a little Vierke, Farmer, and Jutjajevs. The great thing in this hobby is you never stop learning there are so many specialists that there is always something new to learn and share. It never gets boring, and it so relaxing.
  15. Jungle Fan
    Wow, that's some large Neocaridina the size of a full grown guppy, my Blue Velvet and some of their colorful throwback offspring are 3/4" at the most, but what they lack in size they make up in fertility.
  16. Jungle Fan
    Sorry they did not disclose this to you. If you want an easy to take care of aquatic plant to replace the Hemigraphis colorata I'd recommend Echinodorus Red Flame. In the meantime here is a care and maintenance site for the Purple Waffle: https://www.thespruce.com/purple-waffle-plant-overview-4581371
  17. Jungle Fan
    Brandy, love the tank and the Meezer. Had one until about two years ago, broke my heart when he died at 13.
  18. Jungle Fan
    Solved the cat hair problem many years ago, placed the cat tree far enough away so he can't jump on the aquarium but so he can see everything move inside the tank. We refer to it as his Big Screen TV. Ever since we got the Kessils he's now got 1080P HDTV. We've got two Plecos that have their own tank where they can rearrange the substrate any way they want and we've had them for about ten years now, and our cat goes to check on them every morning when the light comes on in their tank, spends about fifteen minutes with them and instead of hiding they actually come to see him. It's the funniest thing.
  19. Jungle Fan
    The killifish idea sounds really interesting. Great little fish, and so colorful in most of their species. Way underrepresented in the hobby with so much variety.
  20. Jungle Fan
    If you boiled the Mopani I would take a closer look at the growth, it's more likely it is some form of algae. I don't boil wood I use in my aquariums I usually soak them for a few weeks, or months until they no longer release tannins, boiling the wood destroys its surface cell structure and in my experience the wood doesn't last as long and rots faster in the aquarium. I have wood pieces I've used in several tanks over decades that haven't rotted yet. If I were to use a piece of wood which had me worried about any organic nasties hiding I'd soak it in a tub with a mix of water and hydrogen peroxide (H2O and H3O)) the hydrogen peroxide will kill the nasties and lose the third Oxygen in the process and turn itself into water, I let it soak for a few days, then rinse it off, and let it dry under the sun. I usually pre-soak it again for a few days anyway before I use it in the aquarium to make sure it won't float. Which is something I've never seen Mopani do.
  21. Jungle Fan
    Swords grow slow so give it some time, with swords growth doesn't usually happen within a week. It will recover, and yes the rosette cleaving also works, it was most likely my post you are referring to. Try not to damage the leaves if you do it as it helps them produce energy for the recovery, and use a sharp knife for a clean cut. Swords are way more resilient than many give them credit for, and they absolutely need iron and potassium. For right now your sword doesn't look like it needs pruning, or cleaving, it's a nice healthy plant.
  22. Jungle Fan
    I used to use carbon until about the late 1980s, not anymore. Occasionally I use Seachem Phosguard because some of our water comes from a well that is in a farm area in our location but that is the extent of removers I use.
  23. Jungle Fan
    Against what many people say, Vallisneria is not really a low light, but a moderate to high light plant if you really want it to thrive and grow tall in my experience. Generally aquarium kit lights are the bare minimum, just enough so you can see your fish but not to effectively grow plants, although Java fern, and Anubias are so resilient they can even thrive under those conditions. If you want better plant growth I'd recommend looking at the selection of lights on the Aquarium Co-Op web site. On my small plant holding tank I'm using a Fluval Plant 3.0 and it works.
  24. Jungle Fan
    The Zebra Nerites are lazy slackers compared to them
  25. Jungle Fan
    All depends on what type of filter media you're using if you are using purely mechanical, or if you are also using biomedia, possibly even with aeration as can be provided in a sump. In that case you have large amounts of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter help convert the ammonia into ultimately Nitrate, which will keep your plants happy, Or you can do what I do and also use a base layer of porous substrate that gets colonized by bacteria from the start and seed it with such, in my case I used crushed lava rock, and then I loaded my canister filter which I run with a pre-filter with sponge and sintered glass (Siporax), in addition to heavy planting. Of course you can run a tank without filter, as long as you don't overstock, don't overfeed,don't use food heavy on producing waste, use heavy plants, and still maintain water changes. Many love to experiment, I just stick with what I know works; I use it all, colonized substrate, canister filter, heavy plants, frequent large water changes, and a surface skimmer. If I currently had a tank larger than a 150 gallons I would once again run a sump instead of the canister filter.
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