Birthday Tank!

[OceanTruth]

13 minutes ago, Betsy said:

Oh my gosh!  The light!  FINALLY!!! 😂😂😂

YAY!!! Got to get me one of those one day too.

[Betsy]

@OceanTruth - I am pumped!!!  I may or may not have been stalking the tracking for the light since Monday! 😂 

I've been checking out forum threads and Bentley Pascoe videos to come up with my first lighting scheme!  Can't wait to apply the knowledge! 🤓

Hopefully, it'll be worth the dough! 💸

[Anita]

5 hours ago, Betsy said:

Oh my gosh!  The light!  FINALLY!!! 😂😂😂

[Betsy]

Alrighty!!  The Fluval light has arrived after a harrowing adventure through the USPS (I even have a note from them that apologizes for the mishandling of my mail!  It must have been quite a trip!).

I set up the light according to a YouTube video I watched by @Bentley Pascoe...only modified slightly because I prefer the warmer look.  That light is so fun to play with!

I am sad to report that my tank has not fully recovered from the Flourite Dust Storm of 2021, I'm rocking some cloudy water and a sweet case of driftwood fungal(?) film, my plants aren't looking overly sassy because they've been in the dark for about a week and a half, and my light could use some risers....but I think there is lots of potential there!  And, a need for MORE PLANTS! 😜

Here's a photo of my driftwood film prior to capping the red flourite substrate with black sand...I feel like it's a common enough malady that it needs an acronym!  DFF for Driftwood Fungal Film or DBF for Driftwood Bio Film?  What do y'all think?

Here's my starting lighting scheme (suggestions and advice welcomed!):

And, here are two photos post-light install!  Definitely need more plants...that right corner is Berenstain BARE! 🤓🐻🤓

You can see some more of that slimy DFF in the front on this next one:

I will continue to pull plants to rinse off the red dust...but it's looking A LOT better than it did before.  It helps that I can SEE the plants now. 👀😂

I think the cycle is close to being done, so I'm looking forward to adding stock.  I think I'll add shrimp and a nerite snail first...they can munch on that DFF...there's plenty of it, haha!

Edited March 19, 2021 by Betsy

[OceanTruth]

I really like what you did for the hardscape. It looks great! Your plants still look good after being in the dark for a while. Now that they have a Fluval light on them, I hope they explode with growth.

I hope you try some stem plants again in the future and you are successful with them. I feel like with your light, sky’s the limit.

I’m liking DBF. Rolls of the tongue easier. 🙂 

[Maggie]

Hi Betsy, that tank looks really nice! Do you have a specific type in mind? I went with the intention of getting a plakat, but there were so many gorgeous fish it was hard to decide. I ended up with a "galaxy koi" plakat (red, white and blue), who is now in the process of changing color to almost all blue. I was taken aback by a "candy koi" (red, white and pink) and would imagine those eventually turn mostly red. And then there are all the longer-finned choices and colors. So much beauty and personality - I wish they could get along together!

[H.K.Luterman]

You've got some really cool drift wood in there. Love the scape!

[Eddie Dingle]

Your scape looks great! I absolutely hate that nasty slime that grows on driftwood. That stuff is the only thing in this hobby that has ever really grossed me out. 

[Betsy]

@OceanTruth - they're already looking happier today...I was so worried my tank was going to end up being a rotting bucket of plant matter before I got a light on it!  I did lose the golden anubias...and the water lettuce was a goner from the onset...but most everything else has been okay!  I am OBSESSED with the buce - it easily has the most personality!

Adding DBF to the list, for sure!! 😜👍

@Maggie - it's tough because I much prefer the look of the plakat to a longer-fin...but I want it to be slow and mellow enough to not be a total jerk to the other fish I want to have in the tank.  I've also considered getting a female instead of a male!  I thought I heard somewhere that the females can be slightly more laid back...maybe I dreamed it...

Thanks @H.K.Luterman!!!  I got it from Amazon.com!  I am digging the island vibe...I just can't wait for it to settle in a little more!  I think I'll be happier when the clarity of the water improves!

Thanks @Eddie Dingle!!!  Yeah...DBF is super gross looking and feeling!  I should have boiled the driftwood...but I didn't have a pot that was big enough!  As Alanis Morissette says....you live, you learn! 😂

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by Betsy

[OceanTruth]

@Betsy My water lettuce all melted as well. I thought it had a chance, but it may not like my water or something. I might try to order it again in late spring or go with another floater.

I’m surprised the anubias didn’t make it. They are usually so tough. 😞

I’m glad there is another person out there who digs buce as much as I do! 🙂

[Betsy]

@OceanTruth - it's so sad!  Water lettuce is so pretty, and I wanted it to work so bad!!  I got some Salvinia from my LFS and it's not really filling that floating plant hole in my heart, haha!

I've found that golden anubias is a little more sensitive than the other varieties...but I was surprised, too!!  I also didn't get the golden anubias from Aquarium Co-Op, so that was probably the problem! 😜

Yeah...I'm officially a Buce Believer! 😆👍👍  Thank you for introducing me to the wonders of bucephalandra!!! 🌱

[Betsy]

So...as y'all know, I lost the golden anubias to rot...I was looking at my tank and I saw that the DBF had crept up onto my Barteri Round (Golden Coin) anubias, so I reached in to try to clean it off and make sure all was well.  WELL...that anubias is rotten, too!  Luckily, part of the rhizome was still firm, so I cut off the soggy portion, rinsed, and placed it in a new location in the tank.

And, then I started searching the forum...I read a few comments about anubias rot wiping out the entire tank of anubias. 😱

I only have one other anubias that could be affected (the coffeefolia...my favorite!)...but I can't decide if I want to pull out everything, treat all my plants with hydrogen peroxide, boil the driftwood (could my DBF be playing a role??), and do a big water change.

Bah.

Any advice is welcomed!

[m1ie]

Oh man that betta is going to be spoiled rotten in that huge tank. Congrats and have you decided what type of betta yet? if you like long fins I love me my full moon (maybe even rosetail) black mustard I have, though there's plenty of fun colors if you're looking for those. 

I'm finding that the driftwood slime goes away rather quickly even without peeps eating it. I've had a crazy bloom when I added my spider wood in and because of the other plants and properly cycled tank it's going away (even though I have Otos I haven't seen them go for it...)

[Betsy]

@m1ie - I am thinking long-fin!  Probably a half or full moon...I am definitely drawn to koi betta varieties!

I may not be am not patient enough to wait for the DBF to go away...haha!  It's been on the driftwood for two weeks.  I decided to throw away that last little bit of the barteri round anubias and treat all my plants with hydrogen peroxide.  And, I did boil the driftwood, too...it STANK...so, I feel like that was a good move.  At least it gives me peace of mind, even if I totally ruined my BB cycle.  Hopefully, the DBF will not come back 🤞 and if I ever get driftwood again, it will be boiled!! 

My 5 gallon was so easy to set up...I think I might be stressing this tank too hard!  That being said, I think I've already learned more this go-round...so, maybe all of these mistakes are just an excellent learning experience!

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by Betsy

[m1ie]

@Betsy They're absolutely gorg, they have some koi with full tails if you're willing to look online! I myself am still a sucker for dumbo ears so who knows if I'll ever get a new tank in a 5-8G for one eventually 🙃

oh man, I feel ya though. I wanted nothing more than my tanks to be cycled and ready for fish to go in. I had to dump things in to make sure the fish were happy before I was able to properly scape the way I would have liked on my big tank. It was an absolute steal on craigslist but came with two harlequin rasboras with the tank that I had to account for so its not where I'd like the tank to be visually but the fish in it are happy so that's all I can ask for... for now. 

I'm sure the boiling helped, the algae consumers should also double down on that too. From what I've seen so far, mopani wood isn't too bad but spider wood is just horrible for DBF. I left my mopani pieces in a bucket in the backyard for a couple days and it seems to be minimal to no bloomage vs the spider was just wild. 

[Betsy]

@m1ie - that's really interesting!!  I'm not exactly sure what type of driftwood I have here - it was some unspecified driftwood on Amazon.com. The darker parts of the driftwood don't grow DBF...but the lighter parts are DBF champions!!!  I wonder if its some variant of spiderwood!  I'll have to read the description again and see. 🤔

I do have some shrimp and a nerite on the way - definitely not opposed to ordering fish online, haha! - so, I'm excited to see if they'll help this project along!

Dumbo ears are VERY cute...and two harlequin rasboras in your Craigslist tank?  That does sound like a boon!!  I'd love to see pictures as you're working on it (tank journals are my favorite part of this forum!!).

Thank you for all of your great advice and help! 😆👍

[Jungle Fan]

@Betsy @m1ie All types of wood can get biofilm depending on if they've been pre-soaked, density of wood, and temperatures. Sometimes they bloom, sometimes they don't. Over the years I've had Malaysian driftwood, Pacific driftwood, Mopani, spiderwood, Manzanita, Amazon wood all got it to some degree, sometimes worse, sometimes less. I now always pre-soak the wood. The Mopani because it releases tons of tannin over a long period, the spiderwood because it takes forever not to float anymore. Usually I place either a rock, or a large piece of Mopani on Spiderwood because Mopani doesn't float. I don't stress over biofilm; snails, shrimp, and all types of catfish love it. If There is something in the wood I want to get rid off I don't boil it, I soaked it in a bucket with water and hydrogen peroxide, it kills the germs and the hydrogen peroxide turns into water over about two days. After that I rinse the wood off, let it dry in the sun, and either let soak some more in water, or place it in the tank, depending on if it floats, or not, and tannin. Boiling destroys the surface structure of the wood and it rots faster than it normally would. Some of the wood in my 75 gallon is now 29 to 30 years old.

[Betsy]

@Jungle Fan - this is great info!!!

I was having a moment of panic...because the DBF was covering the second rotten anubias, I thought for sure that it could be playing a role in the anubias rot (although, in hindsight, it might have moved in after the anubias had already rotted)...so I went on a boiling spree!  I boiled the driftwood in my first tank, and I never had a biofilm occur...so, that was the only solution I could think of in my moment of weakness, haha!  I'll be sure to not panic boil any future driftwood! 😜 

I'm actually scared to touch the coffeefolia that I have left! 😅  The rhizome on that one is still green, so that seems like a good sign. 🤞🤞🤞

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by Betsy

[Jungle Fan]

@Betsy @DanielI have been doing a bit of research on this 'Anubias rot' we have encountered as of late, and while I found some articles that were surmising it might be a bacterial, or viral disease I also found something interesting while reading my latest Christel Kasselmann book in German.

I found an entry she made under Anubias barteri var. nana 'Bonsai' in the third paragraph on Page A125 in her new book:

“Aquarienpflanzen – 500 Arten im Portraet, 4. Erweiterte Auflage

“Aquarium Plants - 500 Species in Individual Portraits, 4^th Revised Edition,Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart (Hohenheim), Germany, 2019.

She talks about how many of the newer types of Anubias barteri var. nana like 'Variegated', and 'Marble', were created by growers in this new millenium by using virus infected specimen and not just selection, she also mentions 'Golden', 'Wrinkled Leaf', 'Curly Leaf' , and 'Stardust' which have been altered in different ways in regards to leaf shape, or deficient chlorophyll content, so that some of them actually should be considered sick plants.

I really like Anubias barteri nana var. 'Golden' but reading this gave me some pause. I hope that we didn't end up with Anubias rot because some unscrupulous someone found a way to make a fast buck by injecting healthy plants with a virus to create mutations. All of my Anubias, barteri var. nana, barteri var. nana 'Petite', and afzelli have been doing extremely well and I really like the appearance of 'Golden' but I think I'm going to be more careful with new 'mutations' and what I add to my tank and I might stick with the natural varieties of Anubias.

Now I'm not saying this is is gospel, not even saying that the practices of growers are naturally related to Anubias rot, or that this is a definitive cause, I just found this entry highly interesting, and I though others might find it so too. After all we are all searching for an explanation to where this previously unheard disease came from all of a sudden.

I included Daniel in this post to make sure he can read this to make sure it doesn't violate any forum standards. Thank you Daniel!

[Betsy]

@Jungle Fan - thank you so much for all of this information!!!  It makes me feel A LOT better that I am not the only one seeing this issue...that maybe it wasn't just my inexperience that caused these pretty plants to rot!  I reached out to the seller for advice on Saturday (I didn't get these plants from the Co-Op), so I'm interested to know what they say.  I'll definitely update if they mention anything interesting!

I really like the var. Golden, too!!  The chartreuse is so pretty and bright, and the Golden variant that I received from the Co-Op is thriving in my school tank. I think I'm most concerned that there's a possibility the virus/bacteria issue contagious and could spread and affect my other plants. 

Part of me thinks I should just switch over to Bucephalandra...it's living the good life and throwing up new leaves!  So, maybe all is not lost! 🌱🥳🌱

I do think I'll be quarantining any future anubias purchases...just in case...

Thank you so much for your help and knowledge and experience and time!!! 😆👍👍

[Jungle Fan]

@BetsyI haven't had any problems with any of those regular Anubias like nana, nana petite, and afzelli. I believe a lot more research will have to be done to see for sure whether this is is just some bacterial, or viral infection, or a maybe a weakness in plants that were created by forced mutation, or possibly a combination of both. I'm just going to stick with varieties that aren't new creations for now, and as you said quarantining them for a while might be a good thing. On the other hand Bucephalandras I can give two thumbs up. They took longer in my tank to establish but now they are taking off and they have attached themselves to the rock, or wood that I'd have a hard time dislodging them now.

[DShelton]

56 minutes ago, Jungle Fan said:

Aquarienpflanzen

I have thought of ordering her books but have only found them on Amazon.de. Did you purchase the Deutsch version(s) in the US, or did you eat the cost of shipping. 

[Jungle Fan]

@DShelton I had contacted Christel about ordering the English version directly from  her because the sale  here in the states through Amazon had been delayed because of COVID  and she was willing to sell me two signed copies because the shipping would have been quite a bit and through the German mail and it would have been the same for two, as for one so the company she had handle her sales was only doing the two pack. I decided at the time to just buy a single  German version through Abebooks because I didn't know anyone who would have been wanting to buy the second copy off me. I'm still looking forward to get the English copy, after all my years here now I have gotten lazy about having to convert measurements from metric to the way I think now in inches, feet, and gallons, currently that's what I'm doing again, but call me wasteful it would be nice to have for quick look up.

[DShelton]

@Jungle Fan Understood, I think I will just bite the proverbial bucket and buy them from Amazon.de  

the imperial/metric I do in my head do it is no big deal, and reading technical books in German helps keep me in practice. 

[Jungle Fan]

I do translations all the time and it is no big deal, and I have an immediate rough idea of what any value imperial/metric is. I also used to work in nursing that is all done in metric for a good while, so I'm very fluent with the concept but while I no longer need to plan for every occasion, and no longer need to have a schedule for every time I travel by car because I'm "just not that German anymore", I still have the unexplicable, very German urge to have exact translated figures and numbers, and it is just easier to look something up than to look it up and follow up applying formulas and do the math. So eventually I will get Christel's book in English when it becomes available.

By the way you don't need to go through Amazon.de and have the Euro hassle but you  can order the German edition through Amazon here in the U.S. as I just recently found out after I had already gone through Abebooks.

https://www.amazon.com/Aquarienpflanzen-500-Arten-im-Porträt/dp/3818606994/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Christel+Kasselmann&qid=1616423694&sr=8-3

Now if only they would get the ball rolling on the English version, for the sake of aquatic gardeners here in the U.S. and for Christel's sake as well.