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Solidus1833

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Everything posted by Solidus1833

  1. Solidus1833
    So, while I dont have alot of experience diagnosing the health of plants I figured Id pipe in with my 2cents as I also have struggled with 'some' plants. First, what is your substrate? Sand, gravel? Something like Fluval Spectrum or seachem flourite? Maybe a mixture? Are you maintaining 20ppm of nitrate in the aquarium? Is your light full spectrum? For me I have Anubias, Red Swords, Jungle Val, and crypts. My swords seem to be doing ok, with some die-off but still grows new leaves so I dont really bother with them. My crypts and jungle val do very well, and my anubias is mostly healthy however some leaves are filled with black spots. filled with black spots. My substrate is SeaCarb white sand and Seachem Flourite mix. I have hard water and dose Co2. I've always had a problem keeping stem-plants except for Pogostemon stellatus octopus. I've tried scarlet temple, ammanina gracilis, even hornwort seems to just rot away in my aquariums. I only dose ferts when my nitrates fall below 10ppm which is almost never. And I've also not really kept up with my root tabs which is probably why my red swords dont really grow as much. The dojo's in my tank will dig to my root tabs and just tear them up haha, not sure what to do about that. I got tired of replacing the root tabs and 15mins later my dojos are digging for em. If you zoom in on the anubias glued to the wood you can see the black I'm talking about, and the die-off on the amazon swords 'right side'
  2. Solidus1833
    This would vary differently to every tank. But!, if you want to raise it a little quicker just use a little easy green ferts from the co-op store to get back to that 10-20ppm if you are low.
  3. Solidus1833
    I've actually had an easier time keeping cardinals than neons. I'm not sure really what their differences are besides color.
  4. Solidus1833
    One of the best ways is to take some media from the cycled filter and place it in the new filter. Also, If you have any intake sponges shake them out in the new tank, and also as always Seachem Stability. When I set up my largest aquarium 72g, I took some bio media from my 30g and placed it within the new filter, and also took all the sponges from the original filter and shook them out in the new tank. Adding some seachem stability, and I was fully cycled in about 4 days.
  5. Solidus1833
    Like @Cory mentioned, its smart to do either a 30% instead of 50% or just go a bit longer before changes to not remove too much nutrient waste from the water. For me, I go from 10-20ppm to 40-80ppm within about 5-7 days, then when I do a 40-50% water-change I'm back down to 10-20ppm. This is probably due to my FX4 not having enough bio-filtration capacity. I've actually beefed up my capacity using this guide however, as the Guru mentions, its still really not enough for more than an 80gal tank that's lightly stocked and I'm in a 72g with moderate load. 3 pleco's (L191, L075, L270), 5 dojos, 6 clown loach, 4 albino corys, 4 bosmoni rainbow, 2 siamese algae eaters (perfect for keeping blackbeard away) and one female redtail shark (tank boss). I suppose I could throw some activated carbon or something like Purigen or Bio-chem Zorb below my biohome in the bottom tray to help soak some nitrate levels to go a little longer between changes. I'm hoping to get back to almost a 2wk water-change cycle in this tank, but I'm thinking I may just not have enough bio-capacity in this thing, although I do love it. I thought about going to an Fx6 but honestly, I'm kind of waiting for a move to a larger house and a LARGER tank haha.
  6. Solidus1833
    Also my Co2 counter is still blue/green, not fully that perfect green.
  7. Solidus1833
    Yeah, Id say maybe even aim for 2.0 bps for now because thats a pretty large daily swing. For myself, the tap is 7.6 and after the first day of a waterchange my ph at the end of the day is around 7.2, then the next day at the end its at 7.0 then by morning its at 7.2.
  8. Solidus1833
    So according to that youtube video I showed you and the one he did before, dipping into the red isnt exactly 'bad' persay. However, I wouldn't dip farther than the 30.0ppm numbers within the chart. I've got a pretty low tech planted aquarium, Anubias, Valsinaria, Red Sword, and Crypts, so I've got no issue staying around 28.0ppm instead of the full 30. I rarely ever see any pearling also. Not sure if that's indicative of not having enough co2 but I do notice my plants are greener and have less die-off than without.
  9. Solidus1833
    Sounds like your on your way to be dialed in. For why your danio's are MIA I'm not too sure, but you have changed the water parameters from what they are used to. It may take time before they feel comfortable again? I don't have Danio's the only mid'water fish I have are Bosmani Rainbows, the rest are Dojo, Clown loaches, corydoras, and plecos. 3bps is the target i think. I myself are probably close to 2.5-3bps, as I feel like having the ph as close to 7.0 as possible giving me small buffer to 6.8 incase any issue. The thing here that's important is to do this all slowly. Like if your happy with the balance in co2 and ph right now then just let it sit for a week while testing water 3x a day. When lights come on, high light point, and when lights go out. Then adjust from there. Seems like you got the right amount of CC in your sump though, good job. You have much more room to dial in PH/Co2. Do your danio's still feed? Or do you see any signs of stress? Like loss of color? Or attacking the surface for gulps of air?
  10. Solidus1833
    During the Snowmageddon in Texas I had zero power for almost 9 days with only 2hrs of power between the 9 days total. Didn't lose a single fish even with water temp dropping from 78-66F (Thermal Blankets). However my aquariums are moderately planted so I'm sure that helped. I would gather that your fine.
  11. Solidus1833
    While I don't use them, I think what they are is 'feeding rings' ? I could be wrong though. https://www.amazon.com/Feeding-Square-Aquarium-Feeder-Floating/dp/B00UF0HTCM there are tons of DIY vids also
  12. Solidus1833
    Use Seachem Stability the day you add the stock. It will buffer your beneficial bacteria to accept the added load. That said, I don't think you would have much of a problem with what you plan to add. Everything on your list to add doesn't really add a whole lot of bio-load compared to what's already in the aquarium. If planted its even better as the plants eat the ammonia.
  13. Solidus1833
    np, let me know if you have anymore questions. Cory's videos are also very well done, I wonder if he has used this 'graph' method before, instead of drop counters. Even in my drop counter shows blue/green when im in the greenzone according to the graph.
  14. Solidus1833
    There are some 3rd party test tubes which have twist-on caps, which I rather like. Just do a quick search for em.
  15. Solidus1833
    Correct, and 6.6 is kind of dangerous for most species I think. I'm already not liking going down to 6.8, which is why I target 7.0 which is still inside the greenzone for me. The video below goes into more detail. Was helpful for me so you may find it useful. Hes got another video on dialing in Co2 aswell which is also good to watch.
  16. Solidus1833
    Yeah, I remember when I first got into Co2, I was trying to do the drop counter and adjust every two hours, then i ended up over gassing ph was like 6.5. So I did a 70% waterchange that day ahah. I've been following a neat chart to get to my preferred 30ppm co2. Essentially follow the chart. You need to know your KH and initial PH. Then go from there slow walk your way to the green zone. So for example, I begin at 7.6 PH with a KH of 6. so I target 7.0-6.8 ph by the end of my Co2 cutoff for the day. 7AM-1500hrs.
  17. Solidus1833
    I don't think 10 seconds of co2 over dosing could really damage livestock in a tank that large. I myself am still trying to dial in mine for a 72g. Slowly going from 7.6ph to 7.0-6.8, one tiny rotation on the needle valve at a time once a week. You would know if you over gassed if your PH took a hard dive. I think Cory's advice is spot on. Your water changes should slow up, as your removing nitrates which are needed. I believe Cory recommends around 20ppm at all times in planted tanks. Buffering your PH may be where you want to start to help balance and raise it. Not sure if crushed coral could help here? Also great looking aquarium, very bold and great color.
  18. Solidus1833
    Just thought I'd post two of my three plecos having a chat on my intake sponge. I'm rarely able to get photos of them as they scurry off when I get too close.
  19. Solidus1833
    I've been wondering when you were going to move that beast. Glad you made it with no damage. I was wondering, what ever happened to that massive Dojo you got a few years ago? Also, what do you plan to stock with this time? I really enjoyed your last stock list for that tank. It inspired me to get a school of clown loaches, they are so awesome to keep and watch.
  20. Solidus1833
    From what you have explained, that looks like a Cycled Tank. Nice Job! The plants could be a reason why your NH3/4 levels dropped, but if nitrites dropped too, then I'd say your cycled. Prior to adding fish, dose some Seachem Stability, it works over 3days (approx.) buffering your BB to accommodate the fish you add.
  21. Solidus1833
    Depending on the size tank, I'd say, Zebra loaches for aquariums 20g and lower, and maybe yoyo loaches for 20g and above, and clowns for 50g and above. Clowns can be kept in 30g but in my opinion its just too small. If your looking for a good snail cleaner, for a small tank id just go grab 5 zebra loaches and watch them go to town. Keep in mind however, all loaches will peck at nerites and mystery snails so beware.
  22. Solidus1833
    I love the bladder/pond snails I inherited from the co-op. I keep them in my 20g with fish that leave them alone. Then transport some every week or so to my 72g and my Loaches go wild. Its honestly awesome to watch. Like a game of Clown Loach Rugby.
  23. Solidus1833
    now that's an amazing classic looking book!
  24. Solidus1833
    The L-Catfish Book illustrates each L-fish by genus and the water parameters where found. Also some breeding and feeding guides for many. The Loaches book is more or less like the catfish book. The rainbow pdf however is just an awesome monster of data. Almost like an expeditionary field book with scientific research and new discoveries. It may be a little dated 2011, but the work was decades in the making.
  25. Solidus1833
    I've got a few books, and a rainbow fish pdf I like to read from time to time. 1. L-Catfishes: Back To Nature (helpful for pleco research and identifying) 2. Loaches: Natural History and Aquarium Care (helpful for loach species) 3. http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Book.htm Number 3 is a very very interesting source on Rainbow Fish. It has a free downloadable pdf that you can save to your computer for referencing.
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