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EmilA said:
As a precaution did a 7 day treatment for fin rot in the tank. Then a 50% water change & a good brushing of the tank. Somehow still missed a few areas!
All of the larger decorations were also removed so cleaned throughout the stones properly aswell.
Added a new betta in yesterday and so far so good. Been checking the water and no issues thankfully.
Heaters are designed to work on a slant, yours is straight up which means the thermostat sees the heat from the heater below and switches off. Tilt it at 45degrees and the thermostat works better.All of the larger decorations were also removed so cleaned throughout the stones properly aswell.
Added a new betta in yesterday and so far so good. Been checking the water and no issues thankfully.
Yesterday was a job I've been putting off for a long while.
Stripping down the filthy sump, before removing baffles and fitting a filter fleece roller (which needed some plumbing changes too).
Before:
Draining sump down, this was the colour of the water from the sludge at the bottom
Red Sea sump mod kit was worth it's weight in gold (made cutting through silicone an absolute doddle) - but award for best took goes to this, how I never knew they existed I don't know!
New plumbing, and filter roller fitted.
Now thinking I might have an actual fighting chance against cyano!
Stripping down the filthy sump, before removing baffles and fitting a filter fleece roller (which needed some plumbing changes too).
Before:
Draining sump down, this was the colour of the water from the sludge at the bottom
Red Sea sump mod kit was worth it's weight in gold (made cutting through silicone an absolute doddle) - but award for best took goes to this, how I never knew they existed I don't know!
New plumbing, and filter roller fitted.
Now thinking I might have an actual fighting chance against cyano!
Plumbing pawn Sway!
Disastrous week here, usual water change (~20%) on Wednesday night, came down Thursday morning to dead shrimp all over the place.
Then the green neons started dropping like flies, 4 out of the 5 gone throughout the day.
Means the 1 remaining green neon is now getting bullied by the Betta, it never bothered the group.
Can only assume there was something in the water that I changed in that prime didn't take care of.
Have only spotted 2 shrimp today, shame, they were breeding like rabbits prior to the issue.
Contemplating tearing it down for a rescape.
Disastrous week here, usual water change (~20%) on Wednesday night, came down Thursday morning to dead shrimp all over the place.
Then the green neons started dropping like flies, 4 out of the 5 gone throughout the day.
Means the 1 remaining green neon is now getting bullied by the Betta, it never bothered the group.
Can only assume there was something in the water that I changed in that prime didn't take care of.
Have only spotted 2 shrimp today, shame, they were breeding like rabbits prior to the issue.
Contemplating tearing it down for a rescape.
Oh jeez, that's brutal chap.
Was it API Prime you use? Cause that stuff is usually good for almost anything.
With shrimp going first, I'm going to suggest some form of heavy metals contamination - anything from the water company about changes in supply? Or are you in/surrounded by arable farming?
It's a bit of a git to get hold of, but metasorb is your friend. AAC in Essex are one of the very, very few places to stock it.
Developed by the US government for chemical spills/environmental contamination, one bag will treat thousands of gallons of water - and it'll not only take out the 'easy' stuff like copper or lead, but also the really difficult to remove stuff like aluminium and tin (less of an issue in freshwater, big problem in salt).
Was it API Prime you use? Cause that stuff is usually good for almost anything.
With shrimp going first, I'm going to suggest some form of heavy metals contamination - anything from the water company about changes in supply? Or are you in/surrounded by arable farming?
It's a bit of a git to get hold of, but metasorb is your friend. AAC in Essex are one of the very, very few places to stock it.
Developed by the US government for chemical spills/environmental contamination, one bag will treat thousands of gallons of water - and it'll not only take out the 'easy' stuff like copper or lead, but also the really difficult to remove stuff like aluminium and tin (less of an issue in freshwater, big problem in salt).
Sway said:
Oh jeez, that's brutal chap.
Was it API Prime you use? Cause that stuff is usually good for almost anything.
With shrimp going first, I'm going to suggest some form of heavy metals contamination - anything from the water company about changes in supply? Or are you in/surrounded by arable farming?
It's a bit of a git to get hold of, but metasorb is your friend. AAC in Essex are one of the very, very few places to stock it.
Developed by the US government for chemical spills/environmental contamination, one bag will treat thousands of gallons of water - and it'll not only take out the 'easy' stuff like copper or lead, but also the really difficult to remove stuff like aluminium and tin (less of an issue in freshwater, big problem in salt).
Seachem Prime, usual drill, I fill the bottles I change water with after doing the change, dose with Prime then they sit under the tank which isn't heated, runs at 25 ish naturally, so little to no temperature variable either.Was it API Prime you use? Cause that stuff is usually good for almost anything.
With shrimp going first, I'm going to suggest some form of heavy metals contamination - anything from the water company about changes in supply? Or are you in/surrounded by arable farming?
It's a bit of a git to get hold of, but metasorb is your friend. AAC in Essex are one of the very, very few places to stock it.
Developed by the US government for chemical spills/environmental contamination, one bag will treat thousands of gallons of water - and it'll not only take out the 'easy' stuff like copper or lead, but also the really difficult to remove stuff like aluminium and tin (less of an issue in freshwater, big problem in salt).
No farming nearby, I live in the desert!
Trying to figure out where I might put this without the wife objecting, 120x50x50, rimless and being flogged for peanuts, whack an FX6 or equivalent and go to town on hardscape and Anubias...
Sway said:
Sorry yeah, seachem is the best stuff for conditioning water other than an RODI setup.
That tank is lovely - I'd have the hardscape coming out of the surface with some moss, maybe even a small powerhead outlet at the top to create a wetted surface for shrimp to lay eggs on...
Yup, great minds, there'd be some immersed Monstera, wood all over the place, etc etc.That tank is lovely - I'd have the hardscape coming out of the surface with some moss, maybe even a small powerhead outlet at the top to create a wetted surface for shrimp to lay eggs on...
Just had the measuring tape out, the TV would need to move across the wall, the shelving unit the tank above is on as well.
Then would probably get some pendant lights.
Just opened another bottle of wine to mull it over further
dxbtiger said:
Sway said:
Sorry yeah, seachem is the best stuff for conditioning water other than an RODI setup.
That tank is lovely - I'd have the hardscape coming out of the surface with some moss, maybe even a small powerhead outlet at the top to create a wetted surface for shrimp to lay eggs on...
Yup, great minds, there'd be some immersed Monstera, wood all over the place, etc etc.That tank is lovely - I'd have the hardscape coming out of the surface with some moss, maybe even a small powerhead outlet at the top to create a wetted surface for shrimp to lay eggs on...
Just had the measuring tape out, the TV would need to move across the wall, the shelving unit the tank above is on as well.
Then would probably get some pendant lights.
Just opened another bottle of wine to mull it over further
Sway said:
Oh jeez, that's brutal chap.
Was it API Prime you use? Cause that stuff is usually good for almost anything.
With shrimp going first, I'm going to suggest some form of heavy metals contamination - anything from the water company about changes in supply? Or are you in/surrounded by arable farming?
It's a bit of a git to get hold of, but metasorb is your friend. AAC in Essex are one of the very, very few places to stock it.
Developed by the US government for chemical spills/environmental contamination, one bag will treat thousands of gallons of water - and it'll not only take out the 'easy' stuff like copper or lead, but also the really difficult to remove stuff like aluminium and tin (less of an issue in freshwater, big problem in salt).
A cheap and more available alternative to Metasorb is Arcadia Polyfilter. It looks like normal filter floss but it's got a resin embedded that removes metals and various other pollutants. Was it API Prime you use? Cause that stuff is usually good for almost anything.
With shrimp going first, I'm going to suggest some form of heavy metals contamination - anything from the water company about changes in supply? Or are you in/surrounded by arable farming?
It's a bit of a git to get hold of, but metasorb is your friend. AAC in Essex are one of the very, very few places to stock it.
Developed by the US government for chemical spills/environmental contamination, one bag will treat thousands of gallons of water - and it'll not only take out the 'easy' stuff like copper or lead, but also the really difficult to remove stuff like aluminium and tin (less of an issue in freshwater, big problem in salt).
It's nowhere near as powerful as Metasorb but it's still good, I always have some in the fish box for emergencies.
Just looked in my tank, got a load of fry from my pair of Convict Cichlids !
Not had anything produce babies for a good while, probably 25 baby convicts there, they are standing guard and chasing anything else away.
Didnt realise how easy these fish breed, always though would only ever be livebearers producing loads of offsrpring.
Just going to leave them to it, not putting them in a smaller tank or anything, going to make cleaning the tank later a bit trickier.
Not had anything produce babies for a good while, probably 25 baby convicts there, they are standing guard and chasing anything else away.
Didnt realise how easy these fish breed, always though would only ever be livebearers producing loads of offsrpring.
Just going to leave them to it, not putting them in a smaller tank or anything, going to make cleaning the tank later a bit trickier.
Turn7 said:
Cichlids only breed to feed themselves 
Convicts seem to be quite good parents for fish, they are guarding the fry vigorously and aggressively, I thought they were eating the fry but basically they hoover them up if they wander out of their herd, then spit them back out, the eating comes when they are ready to spawn again. Think will just let nature take its course and if any survive, they survive, not setting up the little tank to end up with loads of the buggers, expecting some Guppies and platties at some point. J4CKO said:
Turn7 said:
Cichlids only breed to feed themselves
Convicts seem to be quite good parents for fish, they are guarding the fry vigorously and aggressively, I thought they were eating the fry but basically they hoover them up if they wander out of their herd, then spit them back out, the eating comes when they are ready to spawn again. Think will just let nature take its course and if any survive, they survive, not setting up the little tank to end up with loads of the buggers, expecting some Guppies and platties at some point. Breading, the problem is finding a ready outlet for them all as fish shops will not want them. Some people use them as live feeders which is a bit unnecessary. My stingray would enjoy them.
Just wait until the offspring start pairing up and breeding with their siblings too.
Terry Winks said:
I got over run with the bloody red algae again, this time it seems to have claimed a few corals too! Some expensive ones, I want to cry, 3 weeks ago my tank was looking incredible!
If you’ve not already got some in your tank, ask your local shop to order in some Spiny Astrea snails. My tank suffered a nasty outbreak of dynoflagellates a couple of years ago ( which was so frustrating it almost drove me to close the tank down ) and I tried a handful of these along with other measures, to get it under control - pretty sure they’ll happily eat cyano as well as dyno’s, if that’s what you’re struggling with.
Like anything in reef keeping, it took a while to get on top of my problem, but these little fellas, used in conjunction with the usual careful nutrient management etc, formed a pretty effective part of the cure, and they’re still going strong now.
I’ll certainly replenish their numbers if the need arises, especially as they also seem much more hardy ( that’s to say less likely to be found upside down! ) than a common turbo snail, so I’ve no need to do so at the moment.
Raoul Duke said:
Terry Winks said:
I got over run with the bloody red algae again, this time it seems to have claimed a few corals too! Some expensive ones, I want to cry, 3 weeks ago my tank was looking incredible!
If you’ve not already got some in your tank, ask your local shop to order in some Spiny Astrea snails. My tank suffered a nasty outbreak of dynoflagellates a couple of years ago ( which was so frustrating it almost drove me to close the tank down ) and I tried a handful of these along with other measures, to get it under control - pretty sure they’ll happily eat cyano as well as dyno’s, if that’s what you’re struggling with.
Like anything in reef keeping, it took a while to get on top of my problem, but these little fellas, used in conjunction with the usual careful nutrient management etc, formed a pretty effective part of the cure, and they’re still going strong now.
I’ll certainly replenish their numbers if the need arises, especially as they also seem much more hardy ( that’s to say less likely to be found upside down! ) than a common turbo snail, so I’ve no need to do so at the moment.
Cyano is a b
d, but as mentioned can be fought with a high chance of success. I'm on the journey too, fortunately only issues are a single reasonably cheap and common chalice and an even more common Hystrix that I think I want to remove anyway to improve the scape. DIY coral snow, especially with microbacter7 or similar daily. Stir up/syphon out as much as possible. Make sure there's no pockets of detritus fuelling organic carbon. Worst case, the above whilst dosing silicates to promote diatoms - diatoms will easily outcompete cyano, and as soon as the silicates are used up disappear.
Ignore anyone that talks about upping flow. If flow truly treated cyano, then it wouldn't be growing on the blades of a maxspect gyre ce350 kicking out about 20k l/hr for much of the day! Lack of flow will enable detritus/organic carbon though.
Caddyshack said:
J4CKO said:
Turn7 said:
Cichlids only breed to feed themselves
Convicts seem to be quite good parents for fish, they are guarding the fry vigorously and aggressively, I thought they were eating the fry but basically they hoover them up if they wander out of their herd, then spit them back out, the eating comes when they are ready to spawn again. Think will just let nature take its course and if any survive, they survive, not setting up the little tank to end up with loads of the buggers, expecting some Guppies and platties at some point. Breading, the problem is finding a ready outlet for them all as fish shops will not want them. Some people use them as live feeders which is a bit unnecessary. My stingray would enjoy them.
Just wait until the offspring start pairing up and breeding with their siblings too.
They are feisty buggers, normally fry get picked off but they are exemplary protective parents, thought they were eating their own as is traditional with fish but they are just marshalling them around like toddlers.
Starting to get my reefy mojo back...
Really seem to have turned a corner in terms of 'maturity', some two years down the line. Rocks look 'old', I'm getting evil bd (but kinda encouraging) 'green coralline' algae on the glass that requires a razor blade to remove - and getting some more corals always makes Sway happy.
From far left:
AAC Sourberry acro (from a local reefer, done what it always does and gone brown upon moving tanks - but there's hints of very nice colour underneath all that)
Then a fresh batch today from Signature Frags https://signaturefrags.com/ - to say Christian is both insanely talented, but also a bloody nice bloke is an understatement. Gave me a great deal on these, and the advice/packaging/comms/etc. are all absolutely first class. The bit I really like though is he doesn't sell imports. He has a full on coral quarantine system, and only then does he grow them out fully before even thinking of fragging. So fingers crossed these should all be pretty hardy as well as very healthy and vibrant (well, until they turn brown in a week, then I spend months getting them to colour back up!).
From left:
Ultramarine, an acropora tenuis.
Blue Dragon, a 'bottlebrush' growth form acropora
Bali Green Slimer, a proper old skool classic, probably the first hardy acro found - thus variant is particularly lovely, and it'll grow into a big 'staghorn' growth pattern.
Pearlberry, a tabling acro type.
Nebula, a clustering acro type.
And another Duncan colour morph to keep Mrs Sway happy as she likes the movement.
Here's what they look like after dipping and placing in. To see open polyps on acros after shipping/dipping is just ridiculous - and testament to the quality of Christian's stock/methods.
My tank, especially at this time of day, is run really very 'white'.
Here's what they'll eventually (hopefully!) look like under evening blues bringing out the phosphorescence:
Only fly in the ointment is Dazzle my foxface rabbit fish, who I've had since he was properly tiny, has developed a taste for coral. Always a risk, but plenty of people have them for an entire lifetime where they never have a nibble. Not my lad, so trap going in tonight to return to fish store to hopefully swap for a baby purple tang.
Yeah, butter wouldn't melt...
Really seem to have turned a corner in terms of 'maturity', some two years down the line. Rocks look 'old', I'm getting evil b
d (but kinda encouraging) 'green coralline' algae on the glass that requires a razor blade to remove - and getting some more corals always makes Sway happy.From far left:
AAC Sourberry acro (from a local reefer, done what it always does and gone brown upon moving tanks - but there's hints of very nice colour underneath all that)
Then a fresh batch today from Signature Frags https://signaturefrags.com/ - to say Christian is both insanely talented, but also a bloody nice bloke is an understatement. Gave me a great deal on these, and the advice/packaging/comms/etc. are all absolutely first class. The bit I really like though is he doesn't sell imports. He has a full on coral quarantine system, and only then does he grow them out fully before even thinking of fragging. So fingers crossed these should all be pretty hardy as well as very healthy and vibrant (well, until they turn brown in a week, then I spend months getting them to colour back up!).
From left:
Ultramarine, an acropora tenuis.
Blue Dragon, a 'bottlebrush' growth form acropora
Bali Green Slimer, a proper old skool classic, probably the first hardy acro found - thus variant is particularly lovely, and it'll grow into a big 'staghorn' growth pattern.
Pearlberry, a tabling acro type.
Nebula, a clustering acro type.
And another Duncan colour morph to keep Mrs Sway happy as she likes the movement.
Here's what they look like after dipping and placing in. To see open polyps on acros after shipping/dipping is just ridiculous - and testament to the quality of Christian's stock/methods.
My tank, especially at this time of day, is run really very 'white'.
Here's what they'll eventually (hopefully!) look like under evening blues bringing out the phosphorescence:
Only fly in the ointment is Dazzle my foxface rabbit fish, who I've had since he was properly tiny, has developed a taste for coral. Always a risk, but plenty of people have them for an entire lifetime where they never have a nibble. Not my lad, so trap going in tonight to return to fish store to hopefully swap for a baby purple tang.
Yeah, butter wouldn't melt...
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