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Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics

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Everything posted by Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics

  1. This makes the fourth time I’ve tried stems. The first two probably shouldn’t count because I had no idea what I was doing. The last time I starved them to death trying to starve off algae. I have since learned my lesson. Haha. I’m trying to keep nutrients in the water for them, and keep the light intensity high. I’m currently at 70% on my NICREW Plus Planted. I am seeing some growth. The first picture is a screenshot from the update (which was actually filmed on Sunday) and this second pic was taken just now. I need to trim that PSO.
  2. I know, right! I am just hoping I can keep it healthy this time while not covering my Anubias in algae. 😂
  3. Oh man, I must be doing something right because I am overloaded with Molly fry. I know they are extremely easy to breed, but I have new fry every time I look in the tank. I did add some more Ludwigia. I have a couple of kinds. One reminds me of Repens, the other has a red stem with dark green leaves. One of my local stores sells stems 6 for $15 to members so I grabbed three bundles of each. I also came across a Flame Sword that looked really cool. It is a little deep in the Amazon Swords right now, and I may need to move it. I have been cleaning out leaves almost daily. I hope the Ludwigia are adapting to my water. I may be seeing less algae. I am keeping the tank fertilized. My nitrates went from 20 ppm to less than 10 ppm in three days with some pretty heavy feeding. I added Easy Green today assuming the plants are using up the nutrients. I’m trying to watch the stems to make sure they don’t begin to melt at the bottom. My fish have been healthy ever since I treated for livebearer disease. Hopefully, I can take some to one of the local stores for credit and lower the bioload a little. Anyway, here’s a quick video.
  4. @GardenStateGoldfish I’ve definitely considered the dry product as well. I may try it the next time I need to get pick up a dechlorinator. I did ultimately order Fritz from the Co-Op with the pump top. I’ll be trying it soon enough. Thank you everyone for your input.
  5. I am nearing that time when my huge bottle of Prime needs to be replaced. I’ve thought I would try Fritz Complete because of the easy dosing with the pump, but I recently saw some stories of people who switched and had issues. But we all know how the internet is, and who knows what could have actually been the problem. Care to ease my concern by sharing your Fritz Complete experiences? If this doesn’t go well, I’m just going to buy more Prime. 🤣
  6. Thanks @Patrick_G! I’ve enjoyed both sharing my tank and learning how to edit video with this journal.
  7. Update! First off, the Aquarium Co-Op Multi-test strips are awesome, and they have been right all along. I took my water to be tested at my local store and I was reading .6 ppm nitrite. This matches the test strips. The store owner told me that if you do not release the droplets from the liquid kit quickly you get varied sized droplets that can give you an inaccurate reading. And with that, I am done with liquid kits. LoL The algae battle rages on! But, I feel like we are winning again. The Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus is growing again. I moved all of it (almost) to the left side of the tank. I still want to move some plants around, but I’m trying to give them some time. The Green Spot Algae doesn’t appear to be spreading anymore. Here is what I have done: My light is on 9 hours with 15 min sunrise and sunsets, I am dosing Easy Green at least to 20 ppm nitrates if they drop, I will continue to dose Easy Green at least once a week even if nitrates are higher, and I have added Pothos and Frogbit (apparently) to help keep the nitrates from getting too high between water changes. I still have a few fish in quarantine. All except one (who I lost this morning) have made recoveries and I will probably move them back into the tank in a couple of weeks if they continue to do well. I’m going to wait a couple of more weeks before I remove some of the young fish to take to a local store. That’s it for now. Here’s a video of the tank to enjoy.
  8. Alright, so I have some updates. I added Pothos a few days ago, and I had to change water on Thursday. Not because anything was out of hand, but I knew I wouldn’t have time to do a water change this weekend. Part of my weekend plans included taking a sample of my water to be digitally tested at one of my local stores. The results were enlightening. I tested using the Aquarium Co-Op strips before I left. The results matched perfectly. Including nitrites reading just below 1 ppm. So this confirms that the Co-Op strips were more accurate than the API Master Test Kit. The owner of my local store asked me if I did the drops slowly to count them. When I said yea he said that I was probably causing the misread on nitrite. He said he trains his people to drop them very quickly to get a more uniform droplet size. Also, my nitrates were reading 5... seriously 5. We had a long conversation about why my nitrates could be tanking. It wasn’t until after I left that I remembered the pothos... could four clippings drop my nitrates from 50 ppm to 5 ppm in a week!? It seems absurd. I came home, fed a little heavy, and dosed Easy Green. I did treat the BBA with Seachem Excel when I did the water change. What a wild ride, but it is good to know the strips are extremely accurate!
  9. @Hobbit thank you! That is a great tip to keep the Anubias shaded. I normally keep Water Sprite floating above my Anubias, but with the recent “starving” of the algae it kind of dwindled down to not much. It’s bounced back pretty well, and my circulation keeps the Water Sprite pretty much over the plant. @Patrick_G I think the lighting is fueling the GSA. I am not sure which of the nutrients are promoting it. I think the other plants dying back was a big factor. I’ve been cleaning plant leaves and wilting plants for more than a couple of weeks now. NEVER try to starve algae. Haha.
  10. That makes sense for the staghorn. I’ve changed light, dosing, and I’ve increased water changes over the last few weeks. Which nutrient are we talking about with the 10:1? Let’s say I stuck with Easy Green at the moment, how many pumps would you do? Would you space it out throughout the week? Or add all of it after the water change? If I were to supplement the Easy Green would you recommend Seachem’s line? I had been consistently changing 20% of my water weekly until I tried to starve the algae. That and an abundance of fry led to me changing 32 gallons each week since early April. I pick out leaves most days whenever I see them I have Excel and have successfully removed BBA with it before. I will start using it again with this water change. I really want to move some of my plants. I would like to put the Amazon Swords together and all of the PSO together, but with everything a mess I am worried they moving them will cause more problems at the moment Thanks for all of your help!
  11. It’s been nine days since I changed my lighting. Here is the status of the tank. I just tested the water and my nitrates are above 25 ppm, nitrites are still reading high on ACO test strips, but zero point n API liquid, and I am seeing algae. I believe I am seeing BBA, GSA, and Staghorn. Lights are on 9 hours with 15 min sunrise and sunset. I am dosing Easy Green once a week (8 pumps). I have not added any root tabs. I recently found what may be frogbit in my tank. The only new additions have been some pothos, bit the frog bit showed up first. Here is a video. I would if someone had some ideas on next steps to find balance in this tank. I am doing a water change after work today. I won’t be able to this weekend and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to do it a couple of days earlier.
  12. I think you are ok spreading on your dirt. On a typical water change I use the water to feed our landscaping. The plants love the nitrogen rich water. When I dose meds I typically just spread that water in a particular spot of my yard and I have not seen any problems. It is an excellent question though. I try to treat with aquarium salt when possible, but Ich really requires something more aggressive like Ich-X.
  13. Glad to hear that it is going well! Ich can be scary, but after you beat it once you will never fear it again. Haha. I had it once when I forgot to plug in my heater after a water change. It was the first time I had it and all of the info I was reading was making me more nervous. Thankfully, I found Aquarium Co-Op and the Facebook group. The second time I had it was in QT on new fish that I bought. It was wiped out quick using Ich-X because I caught it so quickly. This forum is an amazing resource.
  14. I may be wrong but that looks like blue-green algae or Cyanobacteria. Check this out: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/blue-green-algae
  15. I have some. It is a Cryptocoryne Wendtii of the bronze or brown variety. Great plant. Yours looks healthy!
  16. The Co-Op only carries the large because people wanted it. They recommend medium. I did not know this and bought two large. I REALLY wish I had selected the mediums. One of these days I’ll replace them. Maybe sooner rather than later.
  17. @FriendlyLoachcan we see your pond!? I am determined to build my own garden pond n the near future. I’ve been softening the Mrs. up to it. She isn’t worried about me building it, but she doesn’t want to give up much of the yard. Last week I put a basketball goal in the side yard. One step closer to making room for me in the backyard. Haha. I’ve worked retail and I’ve worked construction. One thing you HAVE to do is set the expectation for your customer, and get EVERYTHING in writing. A lot of time in construction the customer would have a vision that there was no way I could accomplish. You need them to be aware of what can be done and you need their approval. Always deliver on what you promise, but don’t write a check you can’t cash because one big mistake can tank your reputation. Set the expectation and then make sure you awe the customer with your completed work.
  18. Algae on the glass lid is common. Especially with a sponge filter. I have to clean the algae off my lid at least once a month. When I notice the algae I turn off the filters, pull the lids and scrap them into my changed tank water with my algae scrubber. It’s one more thing to do, but the only way to slow it down would be to lower the water level. I hate the look of a water line at the top of the tank. I would rather clean the algae than see the water line. On the yellowing leaves, this graphics should help.
  19. Swords grow in a circular pattern. New growth starts in the center and the older leaves are toward the outside. When you need to trim off a damaged leaf you cut the stem of that leaf as close to the base of the plant as possible. Glad to hear that you are seeing new growth! They really love a lot of nutrients. Keep those root tabs handy. When you see any deficiencies, quickly add another. After a few months you should know how many your plants needs each month and ore-load them into the substrate. The plant on the piece of wood is an Anubias. It is one of my favorite slow growing plants. It will mostly feed from fertilizer that you add to the water. It is a lowlight and slow growing plant. It is very rewarding to see new growth form. If your lights are bright it prefers a little shade.
  20. @Isaac M I think it is possible. I lay the strip on the rim of my tank. If anything bled over I would think it would be nitrite bleeding into nitrate. I have good news. Looks like someone broke into my home and put frogbit in my tank... Seriously, I haven’t added anything but a couple of snails in months (other than two Crypt Parva from the Co-Op), and today I noticed what I assume is frogbit in my Water Sprite!?
  21. I am working on it. Nitrates have stayed lower this week. They haven’t gotten over 25 ppm. I dosed Easy Green yesterday morning. Nitrites are still showing high on AC-O test strips. I hit 1 ppm on the strips yesterday. I tested the water with two separate bottles of API Master Test Kit Nitrite and both read zero. It’s crazy. I dosed Prime just in case, but I knew I couldn’t do the water change last night. I am about to test on my break and if it is still elevated I will dose Prime again. I think I’m changing water this evening. Which will be one week from the last water change. I did order some Pothos to try in the tank. I’ve been trying to decide what to put above the aquarium anyway. I have also been in contact with a livebearer breeder who has been walking me through some corrections to battle the illnesses I’ve experienced this year with my Mollies. We are taking a deep dive into my tank and looking at ways for me to improve their environment. He suggested that I turn my lights on even longer and do the weekly fertilizer. He said most fertilizers (and he suspects it could be true for Easy Green) contain some algae prohibiting components and that regular dosing will 100% help. He encouraged me to keep learning from my mistakes. The “Starve the algae” plan was one of my biggest in my opinion Thanks for asking for an update! I planned on sharing info after work, but I couldn’t resist replying to your comments! 🤣
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