Kevin F. Posted January 9, 2022 Author Share Posted January 9, 2022 Week 26. Small stocking change this week. Added a albino bristle nose. It is just so tiny and cute. Plants are looking good algae is still around, hopefully the planplants will eventually out compete it and starve it out. The Denison Barbs went crazy the other day and ripped out all the grass that was left. No idea what they were thanking but they would grab ahold of a leaf rip it out of the ground and spit it out. Anyone else ever have theirs do this? The plant on the right has sent out two flower shoots. The stem plants have responded to the higher light and are starting to grow. Water parameters first number is before water change second is after. Nitrate 50/25 Nitrite 0/0 Hardness 300/300 Buffer 80/120 pH 7.2/7.6 Chlorine 0/0 Ammonia 0/0 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Bristlenose are so cool! What a great addition to the tank- and how nice you get to see it grow up! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 That patch of Val looks great 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted January 10, 2022 Author Share Posted January 10, 2022 @Patrick_G ya it's finally starting to fill in and get taller. I can't wait till it's all at the surface. This has always been my favorite plant. I did a 55 one time with nothing but corkscrew val. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 Week 27. No changes this week except algae. It has really hit almost every plant. I know it has a lot to do with my over feeding. So this week fish are going back on there scheduled feeding. They get fed 4 times a week in the morning, flakes and some vibra bites. The other 3 days nothing. Once a week I do drop in a couple algae wafers at night after the lights have been out for a while. I really don't want to lower the light back down, yhe stem plants that are left have started responding to the higher longer light and are growing. One of the flowers opened up. Went ahead and did a 25% water change today. I thank I'll keep doing the weekly water changes instead of the biweekly. Water parameters. Sorry I forgot to do the prewater change test. Nitrate 25 Nitrite 0 Hardness 300 Buffer 80 pH 7.2 Chlorine 0 Ammonia 0 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 You need some Horned Nerites my friend. One of my tanks has nary a hair of algae in it because of my 3 little Roombas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 There are 2 army helmet ones in there. One unfortunately is a female and lays eggs everywhere lol. I'm will be getting tqo more butterfly loaches. Just waiting on my local store to finish there rack upgrade then they'll be ordering again. If I can find a decent oto or two I would be good. Unfortunately all the ones I've seen here are half dead at the store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 (edited) Wish you lived close I'd give you a batch of my tank raised, tank raised offspring Otos! I would love for my baby Otos to live in your tank. I have an Olive Nerite too, she cleans well but not better than the horned ones. Weirdly I've found every Nerite type has a cleaning specialty. Horned ones seem to clean EVERYTHING. Edited January 17, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 I'd love for them to live in my tank. But it does give me an excuse to go to the fish store more. lol as I turn to see the wife glare at me. I've never kept the horn variety before may have to look into them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted January 24, 2022 Author Share Posted January 24, 2022 Week 28. Cut back on feeding this week. I've noticed a slight decrease in the algae. Trimmed the Pogostemon Octopus and replanted the tops. There is a baby Cryptocoryne of some type coming up beside my pink flamingo. Can't wait to see what that is. The fish are doing good well. I thought they would go crazy the first time I feed them on this new schedule, but they didn't. Just ate like normal. The emperor filter stopped acting up. No idea, it just started working normally. I moved the lighting forward a little and really like how it makes the tank look. Water change. First number is before water change second one is after. Nitrate 25/25 Nitrite 0/0 Hardness 300/300 Buffer 80/120 Chlorine 0/0 Ammonia 0/0 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levi_Aquatics Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 That aquarium looks great! I love that corkscrew val! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 Tank looks awesome. It's funny how moving lights can really change how a tank looks. I moved a light on one of my 20 gallons because I had more algae at the back I was trying to get rid of, moving it to the front really changed not just the light but the shadows that apparently my Harlequins love. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted January 24, 2022 Author Share Posted January 24, 2022 Corkscrew val has always been my favorite plant. I only moved the lighting about an inch, and you right it made a huge difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted January 30, 2022 Author Share Posted January 30, 2022 Week 29. Tank is doing good, I'm not. Short post this week been under the weather. No changes this week. The algae is starting to subsid.. the red lines did attach the moss as you can see.from the photos. I'll touch it up tomorrow when I'm filling better. Water test e s good I forgot to right it down, sorry about that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) Hope you feel better soon. Edited January 31, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted February 7, 2022 Author Share Posted February 7, 2022 Week 30. Thank you all for the well wishes. Thank the Lord it was just a 48 hour stomach bug. Tank is doing well. The fish are finally use to the new feeding schedule. Fish are doing good had a little breading behavior from the Harlingen rasboras the other day when a big snow storm came in. It was awesome watching them run around the tank with their fins straight up. One of the Cory's has decided that the moss is a good place to sleep. Every time I try and get a pic it takes off. The bristlenose is going like a weed. The Nitrate wad really low after water change so I went ahead and added some fertilizer today. Water parameters, Nitrate 25/10 Nitrite 0/0 Hardness 300/300 Buffer 80/80 pH 7.2/7.2 Chlorine 0/0 Ammonia 0/0 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 Got a picture of the Cory's sleeping in the moss. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Now THAT is stupid cute. 🥰 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 On 2/8/2022 at 8:28 AM, Kevin F. said: Got a picture of the Cory's sleeping in the moss. ORD😍😍😍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 Week 31. No big changes thus week. I thought the algae was getting better until I went to do the water change, and found a quarter size patch of black beard algae. Next week on water change I'll take out that piece of wood and give it a scrub. Fish are doing good I took the one zebra danio that was living in the quarantine tank and moved him back in. Got a API water test kit. Did a lot of different water test today before and after water change. Most of the the numbers between the test strips and master kit were the same except Nitrate and pH. This is before water change. The first test tube is my tap water the second is the tank. The strip is also tap water. The next ones are after water change today. what do y'all thank about the difference? It.was just something I found interesting. I bet if i went and got a different brand of kit it would have totally different numbers. Fish are happy plants are happy thats all that matters to me. The last picture is of some new little buddies in the quarantine tank. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 I'm ORD again. My nitrate comes out of the tap over 40 ppm most of the time. It's why I started a phytoremediation setup for during the summer (heat seems to raise the nitrates🤪) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 Ya I hadn't thought about it untill my father-in-law stopped by one day while I was cleaning the tank. He saw me put in fertilizer, and asked why I was doing that. Don't you know that Oklahoma has almost to much fertilizer in out tap water that it is barley legal. I had just never thought about it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 On 2/14/2022 at 1:32 PM, Kevin F. said: Ya I hadn't thought about it untill my father-in-law stopped by one day while I was cleaning the tank. He saw me put in fertilizer, and asked why I was doing that. Don't you know that Oklahoma has almost to much fertilizer in out tap water that it is barley legal. I had just never thought about it. OK has a lot of farm run off that gets in the water supply. In the 90's, we didn't even have chlorine or chloramines in the water supply here.... Now, the water supply is ⅓ the aquifer, and the rest from the Rio Grande. In a state with more cattle than people, the river is crazy high in nitrates... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 Being a transplant, I never thought about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin F. Posted February 21, 2022 Author Share Posted February 21, 2022 Week 32. No changes this week. Did filter maintenance on the aquaclear. Tried some filter floss in it to try and polish the water some. I also gave the sponge pre-filter a hydrogen peroxide bath. It was awesome purple afterwards. You couldn't really see it but it was covered in black beard algae. I'll do the other filter next week. No water change today. Unfortunately after church today I've had several meetings. In my hurry to get the one filter clean I didn't write down the water test. I do remember it was almost the same as last week. The Oto's in the quarantine tank are doing ok. One of them didn't make it, but he wasn't swimming to well when I got them home last week. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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