J. Holmes

Thank you for your continued help! Update on tank. 1. 7 gallon changes every other day with cleaning the sides. 2. Dead plant clean up with each water change. 3. New plant order came in yesterday. Hopefully the new plants will help! I have not played with light yet. Might try that in a few weeks. I have not seen a reduction in green dust, but I’m sure my plants have not recovered enough yet to help.

I need some recommendations for background plants for my 20 long. I had Val for a long time, but I would get TOO LONG and was hard to maintain. Is there something that’s fluffy, but short? It’s a low tech tank, so no CO2. Mild lighting and kept at 78.

I would but it’s set for my Apistogramas. I’ve lowered it before to as low as recommended to keep them healthy.

Thank you all for Your help. I believe this will be my plan. Let me know if You all agree. One question: do I gravel vac each water change? I don’t want to take out all the nutrients for my stem plants as they try and grow. 1. water changes: 2 10 gallon changes per week. 2. Increase fert. Fertilize every 2 days with coop easy green. 3. spot treat BBA. Trim up dead plants now and as they grow in. Get some fast growers to add to take as it fills in.

I’ve been battling BBA for probably a year now. I’ve spot treated with Excel… I ALMOST had it tackled, but my few weeks I had to ignore the tank let it completely take over. It’s all in my substrate and covered my filter. I’m not sure how to get it out of the substrate. Would it be ok if I change out my filter and do an excel immersion? Would it completely kill off all the good in my filter and mess up tank? also… any suggestions for carpeting plant? I’ve tried Monte Carlo and a crypt type. Both refused to grow for me. I read your journal… it was helpful. My only concern is the water change amounts. I have sensitive fish in my tank and I fear changing my water that much would mess with them. I’ve been doing weekly 5 gallon changes and they do well with them. Should I increase to 7/10 gallons weekly till this is resolved/ my plants recover?

Yes my filter and substrate are a concern for me. I do not want to restart my tank and risk killing my sensitive fish. I have apistos in there. I saw where simply shading the filter could solve issue? Also, with shading plants… I’ve never understood how that works when you have high light plants. Wouldn’t the shade kill the plants that need the light?

Thanks so much. What types would you suggest. I’ve tried to get crypts to grow… they melt and never come back. I’ve tried several different carpeting plants. My log shades them too much and I can’t get them to take.

Sorry long post!! I had to let my tank go during a kitchen remodel. I now have an algae issue. From my research, I know it’s under fertilized, so I’ll up the dosage. I was dosing incorrectly (I think). 40 gallons and only giving easy green 3 pumps and capful of potassium once a week. It gets CO2 and lights are on 12 hours. water temp is 78. My poor plants are STRUGGLING, so I’m hoping getting them back will help with my algae. I also have two hillstreams, 4 Nerites, and 10 Amano shrimp in there to do some work. But they seem a bit lazy in their cleaning. I traditionally did a 5 gallon water change weekly. Do I need to increase for a while? Biggest issues: Blackbeard EVERYWHERE. My sponge filter is completely covered. Everywhere in the substrate. Green dust: covers my walls within a day. All over my plants (I think). I’ve tried gently rubbing it off and it doesn’t work. How can I help them?

Tried to catch some clearer photos.

I’ve had this poor girl in quarantine for about two weeks now. I’m not seeing improvement :(. First week was 3 tbs of aquarium salt in 5gallon with half maracyn. week two: partial water change. Adjust salt to 5 tbs for 5 gallons. Other half of med packet added. Should I keep her in meds and keep waiting? Will she recover? first picture was when I noticed the growth. The others are her now. Sorry, she salt makes the water murky and hard to focus a picture.

With the epsom salt… do you put her in a small bowl then remove and back into the separate tank with meds?

I have no idea… she’s so shy, it’s hard to tell. From what it seems it’s more like a lump. I’ve never had this on any of my other fish before.

Everything is reading good. Close to zero. Or between 0-10. My KH and GH are a little higher, but still within range for Apistos

Noticed this on my female Apistograma. I’m new to this fish and trying to make sure her care is good. She’s had it a few days. I couldn’t really find any information on it.

I’ve been battling Blackbeard in this tank a while. I’ve reduced it dramatically, but still have some problem spots in my Java fern. I’ve always had this black algae on my Java fern. Do I need to just heavily prune and cut all that out? Will the carbon eventually treat it? Thanks for your help!

How big is your tank and how many males? I was watching a Co-op video where he said keeping males together without females would result in fights. Ide love to keep 2/3 males together but only have a 40 gallon tank.

Do you think one male apisto and one male Bolivian would do ok? I’ve got two male Bolivians in my 20 gallon long and they do well together. They both claimed one half of the tank. My 40 gallon has lots of tall plants, spider wood in the center covered in Java fern, and a cave in the other corner. Would that be enough breaks for a male Bolivian and a male apisto? Or just stick to one species?

Thank you so much. I definitely don’t want to stress anyone. Would the Bolivian rams be ok with two males? Or would that just mix everything too much? I know ram temperatures often differ from apistos. I also would want all the males fighting so a 40 may not give them enough floor space

Good to know, thank you. Would two males be ok? I’ve also read where some say to have 1 male to 3/4 females. Would that be less stressful?

Hi all, I have a 40 gallon tank I’ve had up and running about two years. It sits at 76 degrees and is planted. It has 2 hillstream loaches, 8 neon tetras, 6 plattys, full grown Amano shrimp, 2 Nerite snails. I would love to add a pair of apistogramma borellii opal. And maybe another pair or a pair of Bolivian rams (if it doesn’t overstock it). I’m not sure if these fish would all do well together or not. I also have rock based substrate for my plants and not sand (plan to eventually change that). Thanks all!

I’m doing some tank maintenance and had a question about Java ferns. Am I able to trim their roots and they still survive? They’ve gotten VERY long and are starting to get in the way of things. It isn’t too bad in the front but the back is SUPER long. Thanks for the info!

So I THINK my shrimp has eggs. I love these guys. How can I make sure these little guys survive?

No I haven’t. I had it without a siesta EARLY on and algae was CRAZY. So added the break then to fix that.

I am… I have several high light plants, so I have the light up high for them. CO2 is relatively new (since Nov) so perhaps that early algae spike was due to that 🤷🏻‍♀️. I still deal with some green spot algae a little that I clean up weekly.

I have the siesta to control algae… it goes crazy without it. I do easy green once a week.