Intro And My Fishy Project - Cora

I agree with Colin. I don't like to see the substrate meeting the back of the tank, for the reasons Colin gave.

Ofc, many people would say that my way of doing things isn't right either as you sometimes can't even see some of the fish. 

If the algae is like long threads, when I had that I just used to wind it round my finger till all that thread was gone and then moved on to the next thread. One day I realised I didn't have it any more but I've no idea what I did to get rid of it 


Pest snails are quite common, but if you can put up with them they are not actually a bad thing in tanks. It's when they have a population explosion you need to do something, and the usual remedy is to cut down on the amount of food you feed the fish.
If they are little flat spirals, those are a type of ramshorn snail. If they are roundish with a small point at one end, those are called variously pond snails, trapdoor snails, bladder snails etc and are probably some species of Physidae. The other snails you can find don't usually come in with plants; they are ice cream cornet shaped malaysian trumpet snails, MTS.

@Cora maybe you should think about the Assassin Snail http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=1075+3106&pcatid=3106

I love my pandas. Best of Luck!!!

That's easily sorted...... more fish!

Looking forward to seeing lots of piccies. 

Shame about the Rams... but good news on the Pandas.

I've also decided to try a few things to combat the algae problem. Did a 20% water change on Friday evening, cleaned algae off the front glass (I leave the other sides for the Otos), and haven't used CO₂ or lightning since. Instead, I've removed the lid and am letting daylight do its work. I'm also using the recommended dose of Flourish Excel every other day, keeping a close eye on my pH though.

My ANN (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) is 0,0,0. But my phosphate levels were >=1ppm, hence the water change. Apart from excessive feeding I don't know where this has come from. Tap water is fine.

I've also weighted some hornwort and added it to the very back of the tank. It's a surprisingly attractive plant, and it grows FAST! So much so that in just three days it was curling at the surface, so I snipped it in half, weighted the new growths and "planted" them too. I think a combo of all these things has helped reduce the algae.

In my experience with Rams, they are likely to be a bit territorial but not aggressive to the point of actually causing damage to others.  They certainly arnt 'tetra peaceful' though plants etc do help massively with this.

@Cora - I can't remember if we covered this with you already? Is you tank positioned away from direct sunlight?
Are you comfortable that for the amount of plants you have and their type (rate of growth/root feeders etc) that your dosing regime is not overkill?

Hi @Matt

I've stopped dosing altogether since the water change. I don't think I was overdosing, based on recommended doses but something has been out of balance.

There is only one part of the tank that receives direct sunlight and then only for an hour in the afternoon, if it's sunny.

I have mostly a mix of slow and medium growers in the tank. I think I had several problems early on: not enough fast growers and insufficient water flow. The CO2 was definitely helping all the plants grow but with little to no surface agitation (to retain carbon dioxide) the initial algae bloom stuck around. I had to keep cleaning it off and scooping it up - after which it's much better.

I have two airstones in either back corner of the tank on full all the time, creating a much better flow. I've haven't used the overhead lights in days. No ferts. No CO2. Only Flourish Excel.

I think somewhere along the time I've become trapped in limbo between low and high-tech setup. What I should have done is gone full high-tech from the start, or not done it at all. My plan now is to leave the setup as described for a week or so and see if the algae goes away (it's much better right now). I'll do some replanting and replace some slower growers with fast growers then resume moderate dosing.

If I can find a place for my old 70L I'll do a high-tech fast growing setup from the start. But that's a project for another thread

Update: did weekly water change yesterday instead of today. Why? Because today is BOLIVIAN RAM day!

I believe it should be a national holiday with that name. I'll talk to Mrs May this afternoon about it...

"Singani is a pomace brandy distilled from white Muscat of Alexandria grapes. It is produced only in the Bolivian Andes and is considered the national liquor of Bolivia and a cultural patrimony."

I haven't got any, so will have a beer instead.