Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics

Try keeping them in the mid 70s, but lower your temp slowly. Turn the dial a couple of degrees and leave it for a while and then turn it down 2 more degrees until you get around 74 - 76

Thanks @lefty oit has been a work in progress since May of last year. I’ve learned a lot, and learned that I know very little. Haha.

Oh! And I cut off half of my Amazon sword leaves trying to remove the BBA. I also took one of the large sponge filters out. I have a medium, a large, and a canister in the tank atm. Anyway, here’s what the 75 looks like today.

I’ve made some changes to the 75 gallon. The battle against the BBA and GSA continues. I turned down my light concentration. I have a lot of BBA on my gravel. I figure that is a sign that I’m dealing with too much light. My nitrates are staying around 5 ppm without dosing. This weekend I picked up a phosphate test and it appears that my phosphates are elevated. Somewhere between 2 and 5 ppm. I’m not really sure what (if anything) should be done about the phosphates. I decided to pull the tiger lotus. I’ve had nothing but problems in my tank ever since a I added them. I also pulled the totally indica and bacopa carollinia. These plants agave never looked great in my tank and I am constantly cutting the BBA off them. I actually need some space for healthy plants to grow. I also pulled out several pogostemon stellatus octopus that had too much BBA on them. I still have plenty. I reintroduced my anubias after doing a hydrogen peroxide treatment. I cut off any leaves that were still plagued by GSA. I really hope I can get these plants growing well... I am thinking about removing them from my old Malaysian driftwood and putting them on my large piece of spider wood. I went about a week longer than I wanted to before adding root tabs. My new stem plants are starting to look rough now. I’m not sure if they just need to bounce back or if I need to do some trimming. I am going to wait and see. As for inhabitants, I found two dead fish this week. A Rasbora and a Black Molly. Neither had shown any signs of stress or complications in the days leading up to their passing. The rasboras are no doubt getting old... we’ve had them more than four years. By the time I found him there were already snails eating away so I couldn’t see if there had been issues. The Black Molly is more disheartening. She had been born and raised in my tank for the past few months. Black Mollies never look healthy in my area, and she was one of the best I have ever seen. Black as could be. Last I saw her she looked fine. I still have a high male to female ratio (since two of my latest additions grew up to be males). I’m afraid she was harassed to death, but I have never seen anyone chase her. I guess I need to take a few more males to my local shop. Anyway, slowly rescaping. I think I am about to buy a 32 g trash can to make water changes easier.

I will let you know what I find as well. I can’t find much on phosphates, but I’ve always read it can be connected to algae.

Seachem has potassium only ferts.

Panda’s temp range is in the 70s. Although you may be experiencing an infection the stress is likely coming from your temperature. *Edit - I just saw the post above and agree.

Ive experienced this too. Is there any way to prevent this? Or just cover with decoration? Time for a large rock. Haha.

@Wes L. I did test my tap and they are close. I am producing some phosphates in my tank, but I am starting with at least 1.0 phosphates out of the tap. I included a picture of my phosphates this morning (on left) and my tap (on right). I did a 20% water change yesterday. If phosphates need to be .05, I have a long way to go. But I’m not sure what my goal should be. I have Molly fry in the tank so I do feed heavy... then again I can’t raise mystery snails so I wasn’t sure if I was feeding enough. @AdamTill I will need to look into that further. I followed the link and saw the statement, but nothing showing how it was determined. I’ll look into it, but do you know where I could learn more?

I’ve been battling Black Beard Algae and Green Spot Algae for some time now. I’ve adjusted my fertilizer dosing, I have adjusted my lighting, and now I am measuring phosphates. The algae doesn’t appear to be spreading, but I am trying to balance the tank so that I don’t have more problems. I bought a phosphate test kit and if I am reading this right I believe I am somewhere between 2-5ppm phosphates. I understand the number should be much lower. I am starting to research how to lower my phosphates. I guess I need to test the phosphates in my tap water. My tank is a 75 gallon planted tank. 76 degrees, 0 ammonia and nitrite, 5 nitrate, pH 7.4 - 8.

I have a nano in my 10g qt tank with zero issues. The most fish I have had at one time was six small fish. It has zero substrate or decorations. I think the nano is fine is a modestly stocked tank. When I bought it I think it was rated to 10g, but now the listing says to purchase the small for 10g and up... If you already have the nano I would use it. If you are thinking about purchasing one, you might follow their specifications.

With the med trio you treat any problems first. If you see signs of an illness treat that illness by itself before safeguarding with the trio.

Cories do fine with a small dose. I wouldn’t take them beyond 1 tbs per 2 gallon. The snails on the other hand will not tolerate it at all from what I understand. I would not salt the tank. I know many plants can tolerate a small amount of salt, but I have no idea which ones or how much. I only use salt in my QT tank. Here is a great blog on the use of salt for medication: Aquarium Salt: When and How to Use It Properly WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM Should aquarium salt be used in freshwater tanks? Some people recommend dosing it all the time to...

@Andy's Fish Den I’m curious why you said not to cut the runners? Is that only for the younger plants?

Agree with @Colu . I believe the med’s box says to continue even if the fish start to look better. If you run out and have to get more, I would start over. It can be hard to get meds sometimes. I had to order Maracyn and Paracleanse from the Co-op a couple of weeks ago and they got them to me in under two days. As for the question on dosing the tank versus dosing a QT. I would move the fish to the QT for treatment unless you start to see the illness afflict other inhabitants. It can be costly to treat a display tank, but if you have a recurring problem I would treat all of the fish.

I woke up one morning to find no flow from my Never Clog in a QT tank that had just been medicated. When I checked the USB pump it was dead. I pulled it and set up a Whisper 10 that I had. It came on, but no air! I broke down the sponge filter, removed the Never Clog, and immediately had bubbles. I loosened the Never Clog (twisted the two plastic parts), put it back on the airline and had bubbles... I think it might have been too tight? Add the hard water, salt, and meds... maybe that did it. It for sure burnt up my USB pump and my sick fish was dead.

I bought some plants from a lfs. I gave them a rinse and added... before the light went out I saw planeria on the glass. I took a deep breath and remembered that Cory said they were fish food. I haven’t seen any since that day. I’m hoping someone slurped it up before it reproduced.

I have read people say they cut jungle Val, but mine react the way yours did.

Thanks @Danielit does appear that my pH mostly ranges from 7.4 in the mornings to 8-8.2 in the evening. Most days it is 8, but I have seen it at 8.2 in the past. I am going by my local store today to pick up some Vitachem.

Did work yesterday! After my 9-5 (which working from home is no longer a 9-5, but I digress), I started work on my 75 gallon. I had a lot to to. I pulled all of my Vallisneria, Dwarf Sagittaria, and anubias because of black beard algae. I sprayed everything with hydrogen peroxide and then rinsed. I am going to leave them in a black out bucket for a couple of days before replanting. Removing these plants opened up my sand area... and I really like it. Depending on how the I habitants do with the open space I may be rescaping the 75... I also cleaned my large Aquarium Co-op prefilter for the first time since adding it. It’s big! And I couldn’t get it out of the tank without making a mess... I didn’t want to cut it down, but I might have to. Because of the mess on the sand I vacuumed the area. Because my males STILL out number my female Mollies my largest female was looking stressed again. I moved her to my QT tank with a fresh water change and a light salt concentration to sooth her. I checked on her this morning and she is living the good life. I need to get a small tank for her to retire in. She’s produced a lot of babies over the years. I tested water parameters and my nitrates are still below 5 ppm. I’m trying to starve off the algae. The only plants that seem to be affected are the tiger lotus. Which, as badly as I wanted them... I don’t know that I care. Those beasts eat 24/7. I also added about 15 root tabs to the substrate. My new Ludwigia is taking off, but I’ve had a few free-floating leaves recently. I figured it was time. I am very thankful for Aquarium Co-op’s 60 pack. Very affordable. Anyway, it was a busy evening. I’ll post a pic after the lights come on.

Some recommended vitachem. Anyone use it? Do you treat your water and food? Which foods?

A 15 tall has the same footprint as a 10g. For most Cory species I think a school of six would be more comfortable in a 20 g. There is more space on the tanks substrate. I’m a little worried five would be crowded and that may cause stress (which is the reason you are adding fish). It may depend on what you have on your substrate (ornaments, decorations, plants). You might try adding two more and see how they do with three. If they try to hide a lot, your parameters are doing well, and you feel like there is still room you could try adding some more. You should be 100% ok with the tetras though. I’d put six in there, for sure.

Nitrite snails eat green spot algae. I would try changing the light to 8 hours and add the snails. It’s all about finding balance (which isn’t always easy). The snails definitely help.

I keep cories and I do not vacuum my planted tank. I’ve had issues with Paleatus but never with their barbels. I have gravel and sand in the tank. Ive considered vacuuming to see if it helps with a hole in head disease that I’ve seen, but I’m not sure how to do it because my plants are too thick. Additionally I always have shrimp and Molly fry.