# Reglohs 55g (56K warning) ***FRY***



## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

So this is finally my turn to post my tank here. I want to say upfront that I am realizing how bad I am at taking pictures. Does anyone have a SD1100is from Canon? Maybe there are some better settings that I could use.

Ok, the facts:

Tank: 55 ga , 20" tall, 12" deep and 48" long
Lights: 2x 54w T5HO Hagen Power-Glo
Substrate: Pea gravel over some kind of plant substrate (Flourite maybe) Seachem root tabs here and there
Filtration: Eheim 2217
Circulation: Hydor Koralia 2
Heater: Inside tank, with plans to switch to a Hydor Eth-200
CO2: 20g pressurized using a rex-style reactor
Dosing: EI for 40-60 ga
Flora: Wisteria, Ludwigia repens, fava fern, some grassy stuff, sunset hygro, vals, riccia, lillies or lotus ?
Fauna: BN pleco, clownloach, red-tailed black shark, 1 platy, 1 neon tetra, 10 (soon to be 20) harlequin rasboras

Ok here comes the full tank shot:










Here is my awfully out of control algae on the grassy stuff. If someone knows what this is, please advise. I think the LFS guy called it micro sword, but I could have heard wrong, or he could have been wrong 










This is a plant I didn't even know was still there, when I got CO2 and re-scaped a bit. I found it behind/under a small piece of driftwood and it was tiny, but it looks like it recovered quite nicely. I would also appreciate if someone could identify it for me. 










Here is a rare shot of my gold algae eater. He does not really like to be photographed, so this was a lucky shot. Anyone want this guy? I am tired of the fights he picks with the shark.










What I would like to do in the long term is to first and foremost get the algae under control. I've had a few close calls with the CO2, as I am relatively new to the whole pressurized scene. Fish gasping for air and all that good stuff, so I am a little more careful now. But I may need to crank the CO2 a bit more. My drop checker shows yellow, but I made the 4kH water myself, and I don't really trust it much. 

I also am looking to do a little more with the nice driftwood in the center I was hoping I could spread out the java fern a bit more, but I am not having a ton of growth. I took a closeup.










It looks like some of the leaves are partially transparent, but take a look. I am following the EI dosing quite religiously, so I'm having a hard time believing it would be some kind of nutrient deficiency. The one nutrient I am not sure about is CO2 and I am going to try upping that a bit. Any other thoughts?

Any feedback will be appreciated! Thanks for looking!


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## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

I would suggest nerite snails for the algae, but they wouldn't fo so good with the shark and the loach. You should probably get a siamese algae eater.

The tank overall looks nice except for the algae, but I would use a solid color background (blue or black) instead of the current one.

Your plant that you found under the driftwood is a melon sword _(Echinodorus osiris)_.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Thanks for your feedback. 

And yes, I did get the loach originally to rid myself of the millions of ramshorn (sp?) snails that came with the plants from my LFS. 

I did forget to mention that I am always trying to keep between 3 and 5 otos in there, too. They do a pretty work pretty hard, but can't keep up. 

Ok, also today I started a little experiment. I got some ghost shrimp at my LFS to see if they would be able to survive the loach and the shark. I have been intrigued with keeping shrimp for a while now, but thought I couldn't because of the clown loach. 
Well, either these little shrimp are extremely good at hiding, or after just 4 hours I am down to 2 out of 10. I haven't seen the loach in a while, maybe he is just too full to move right now...


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## itstony (Jan 11, 2009)

the pictures came out good...looks better than anything i could do. how llong have your tank been running for? and have you ever tried dosing excel? im not sure if it works on that algae but maybe an army of otos or some SAE would hlep


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## itstony (Jan 11, 2009)

btw the heater seem a bit out of place lol. maybe you could put it horizontally and near the bottom or hiding behind the plants


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

That's a pretty tank. And a pretty golden algae eater. :fish: I wouldn't sweat the alga, believe me they go away all by themselves soon enough. The Java fern looks like it is on steroids, very healthy. The transparent areas are normal for new leaves. In no time you'll have a giant bush of it.

That piece of wood is nice, but I would place it a bit off-center. Makes things look a bit more interesting. :thumbsup:

And don't kill them fishies with too much CO2. Algae doesn't disappear overnight, give it some time, watch how it stops spreading, cut off some leaves, and soon you don't know it was even there.

That little sword looks like a E. barthii, my favorite for sure. Push it a bit back from the front glass to give it some more space, feed it some root tab every half year, and see it spread. The Clown might nip on it once in a while, but it all grows out.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

itstony said:


> the pictures came out good...looks better than anything i could do. how llong have your tank been running for? and have you ever tried dosing excel? im not sure if it works on that algae but maybe an army of otos or some SAE would hlep


Thank you. The tank has been established for over 5 years, just not successfully growing plants  That started early this year, when I started reading this forum. I actually do occasionally dose some excel, about 2 cap fulls twice a week. I'm not sure it's really worth doing at these low levels, but I do have pressurized CO2. 




itstony said:


> btw the heater seem a bit out of place lol. maybe you could put it horizontally and near the bottom or hiding behind the plants


I actually have plans to replace that heater with an inline heater outside the tank, so until then I don't mind the eye sore 



Wasserpest said:


> That's a pretty tank. And a pretty golden algae eater. :fish: I wouldn't sweat the alga, believe me they go away all by themselves soon enough. The Java fern looks like it is on steroids, very healthy. The transparent areas are normal for new leaves. In no time you'll have a giant bush of it.
> 
> That piece of wood is nice, but I would place it a bit off-center. Makes things look a bit more interesting. :thumbsup:
> 
> ...


Thank you for your kind words. I am so glad that the java fern is ok, that really worried me a bit. I do see a bunch of new leaves coming from below, so that's a good sign. 
I will re-locate the Echinodorus. When I found it, it was so small that I didn't realize how big it would become. I will have to move a rock for it I think. Maybe I will rotate the wood a bit. That might create enough room for the sword. 

Here is an update on the shrimp experiment. I actually saw at 3 shrimp at the same time, which makes me believe that there are actually more alive than I thought. These guys seem to be able to hide really well.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Nice tank Regloh! Try spot dosing H2O2 and hand removal for algae control. 

As for pictures... you can turn down the exposure level so the whites won't be so bright. Otherwise pics look good man. 

Love that piece of DW!


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I love the wood and I would try to leave most of it exposed. I also feel your pain about the gold algae eater. He took over most of my tank years ago and I decided it was time for him to go. I ended up having to tear down the whole tank just to catch the ____ (insert your own dirty phrase here depending on level of frustration).


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Ok, time for an update. 

As suggested by Axelrodi202 I took the silly background down. I actually found a piece of black ripstop nylon (the stuff they make kites out of) and hung it using some duct tape 

In order to create some more room for the E. barhii I rotated the driftwood slightly which also makes it look like it is not smack dab in the middle any more. I like that a lot. 

The vals are slowly filling in and the java fern is - like you said - on FIRE!

Ok, without further ado, here is the FTS:










The right side:










The left side:










Here is a closeup of that Java Fern... man you were right wasser...










Also the E. barthii has some more room now. There actually is a second one to the left of the bigger one, but if they both get too big, I'll sell the smaller one in the S&S.










In other news, I tried to put some ghost shrimp in there to see if the loach decides to co-exist, but only 2-3 made it past week 2 and now, about 5 weeks later they have all become dinner 

Today I ordered the hydor ETH-200 inline heater, which will clear the back of the tank some more.

I also added a DIY spray bar running along the substrate in the back of the tank. I intended to spray paint it black, but then I got too antsy and needed to see how the distribution works... Now I am just too lazy to pull it back out and paint it. Eventually it will happen, though.

I am also a few days away from finishing my PLC controller. Don't worry, that'll be a DIY thread.

That's it for now...


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Your tank is coming along nicely man. I can't really tell from the new pics, but did you ever get a hold of your algae problem? I see some green spots on the DW that look to be pearling quite well.


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## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

It's looking great.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

speedie408 said:


> Your tank is coming along nicely man. I can't really tell from the new pics, but did you ever get a hold of your algae problem? I see some green spots on the DW that look to be pearling quite well.


No, the algae is still there. I am hoping that the low spay bar will help distribute the CO2 a little better that should help. I also should do a thorough vacuum job, as I have only been doing water changes without vacuuming. 
I can take some more closeups, but who wants to see algae?


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

*Algae anyone?*

Ok, are you guys ready for some closeups of algae-paloosa?

This is that grass stuff with some staghorn? or maybe staghorn with some grass  









This stuff I actually think is quite attractive, if it wouldn't occasionally die and then get all ugly... also pearls quite nicely as you already mentioned, speedy. 










While I had the camera in hand I tried to take some pics of fish as well. The shark was actually not very camera shy tonight.










Some of the Harlequin Rasboras, at least that's what I bought them as.










Can you see the Pleco? That's right, she likes to hang out upside down under the driftwood, like all good Plecos do 










Couldn't seem to find the Clown Loach and the camera ran out of battery anyway. 

I am running out of CO2, so I think that will not help the algae situation, as I don't know when I will be able to get a new bottle. Maybe I'll try in my lunch break tomorrow. I will definitely make sure the empty bottle makes it to my car tonight, or I'll forget it tomorrow. I will also throw in some Excel tomorrow morning.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

I actually managed to get the tank swaped before work this morning. Airgas seems to open at 7 am Mo-Fri here... I will get home too late to install it, so my plants will have suffered a full 8h photoperiod without CO2. I think it'll be fine 

I read some more about that grassy stuff and it may be Brazilian Micro Sword. The person who posted it in the plant profiles section of this forum actually said that it should be planted less densely as it will otherwise tend to cause algae. 
I am considering pulling it all out and spending a couple of hours planting individual leaves deep in the substrate. 
Problem with that is, I don't have real soil and my gravel is kind of a PITA to plant anything in. Even when I use tweezers I uproot half the stuff I just planted, when I go for the next stem. I may try it in another area of the tank just to see how it goes.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

I thought I had bad algae man. Man oh man! You should def spot dose h2o2 on your affected areas such as the grass. Hand pick what you can pick out. When you're spot dosing, turn your filter off for about an hour. Just don't OD like I did and caused some shrimp and snails to die. I'd say 5-8 mL/ 3sq inch is fine. Just don't dose directly onto a shrimp or snail. 

The staghorn will turn orange after you successfully kill it with h2o2. If you have guppies, they will eat it. If you don't, it will wither away in about 3 weeks. The bad thing is, it will show its ugly head again if your water conditions don't improve. 

Good flow and CO2 will combat staghorn as well, at least that's what "they" say. I'm still battling staghorn myself. :redface:


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Boy, you should have seen the tank before CO2 and 110W T5HO 

I lost my nerve tonight and axed 80% of the Micro Sword (if it really is Micro Sword). It was not very well rooted and basically came off in one big clump. I went through and pulled some individual leaves and smaller bunches out of the mat and planted them back in there with about half inch space between them.

I also tried to pluck out some of the algae on the small piece of driftwood. Yeah I know, most of you probably didn't even know there was a smaller piece of driftwood, it's so green. I wonder if I should move that to let the spray bar get some circulation to the front window where the CO2 is desperately needed. 

I also played referee in the battle between the Sunset Hygro and the Vals. The Vals weren't playing fair. They seem to be enjoying the better CO2 circulation with the low spay bar. 

Ok, I'm too tired to take pictures tonight. The little one has been keeping my wife and I up all night lately (mostly my wife ). Maybe tomorrow night.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

And here I am a couple of nights later...
The promised picture:










Without the dense grass in front of it you really see the algae o the driftwood. I am really tempted to get that out of the tank and soak it for a couple of minutes in H2O2... I was hoping the army of otos, a BN pleco and the golden algae eater will take care of it, but maybe not...


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

So I installed the new heater today, but I am too tired to take pictures. I dialed the temperature up once just to make sure it works, but it's been rather warm here, so the heater will not cycle on in the next few days I suppose. But at least that submersed heater is gone 

Now I just have to figure out how to get the circulation without using the Koralia pump. That is still kind of an eye sore.


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## GhostShrimpBoo (Mar 8, 2009)

Nice looking tank. I skimmed through the thread but I think you said you got a hydor inline heater? Is that correct? I was thinking of getting one myself and would like to know how you like it so far.

You mentioned you wanted more flow. Have you thought of getting another canister? 

I noticed you're in Medford. I'm in the Nashua, NH area. Because you're in the area, do you know of any pet stores that have planted tank supplies or plants? 

Good looking tank BTW.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Thanks for the compliment. As far as the heater is concerned, I don't think it affected the flow too much. I really like the fact that it removes the submersed heater from the tank. Looks much cleaner. 
On the second filter, I still have my old 2213, that I replaced with a 2217 recently. I was really trying to keep this a one canister tank. I have a circulation pump in the upper left corner, but that is keeping my surface ripple going. 

On the stores you can check out the Mass forum. There are some more opinions on the different stores around here. I think I like skiptons the best so far, but I hear good things about Lovely Pets down in Quincy. Tropic Isle in Natick or Framingham (I forget) is pretty good to, but also expensive... but they all are. 

I am going to look at Pet Express on Route 1 in Lynne sometime soon, just so see what they have.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Ok, not a lot has happened with the tank. Did a few trimmings, sold them on the S&S. Live is good. 

I did however have a few very informative emails with a local TPT member about our local water supply and she convinced me that I have been very mean to my fish. As it turns out, out water supply here is buffered with soda ash or sodium carbonate NaCo3 and it reaches the home at pH 9... That can't be good for the fish, so I have decided to setup a spare 29 to age the water and neutralize the soda ash before I dump it in the aquarium. So here it is:








A power head for circulation and then later to pump the water into the tank and a heater to get the temperature up. The room is not heated so in the winter I will have to insulate the tank a bit to give the heater a fighting chance...
Thanks for looking


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Guys you have to kick me to post an update here it's been far to long...

I'm at work and my pictures are at home, but I will try to think of it tonight. 

I have some great news, but I think I'll keep you guessing until tonight...


Naaah, who am I kidding, I have to tell... I found a tiny little baby oto in my tank the other day and, yes, I have some pictures (tonight). I thought those guys didn't really spawn easily, but in spite of my clown loach, one of them seem to have made it so far. I can't always find him (rarely, actually) as the tank is quite densely planted, but I am very exited...

The algae also isn't quite as bad anymore, as I have been spot dosing Excel. 

Look for pics soon


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Congrats on the oto fry, not many of us get to enjoy something like that. Can't wait to see some pics later.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

*Update 8/20/09*

Ok, here we go. 

This is a full tank shot. As you can see the wisteria on the left side almost completely died at some point exposing my ugly plumbing :icon_redf . I believe it was my fault for not thinning it out a bit. So the bottom of the plants didn't get enough light and just died. The leftovers seem to be doing better, but are growing slowly. I think I will add some fert tabs to the substrate in that corner.










It is shown a bit clearer in the left side shot here...










On the right side I have been slowly bringing the vals more into the foreground and the SS Hygro as a background behind them. I'm not sure if I like it so far, but we'll see.










Some of you may remember that I was nervous about the java fern not doing well... Ok, I am not anymore... that stuff is out of control...
The E. barthii is also looking pretty good. Has grown quite a bit, but I am a little surprised that I hasn't produced a stem or runner or whatever it is that it does to reproduce...












Ok, you waited long enough.. here is the little oto 




















Hope you guys enjoyed the show  
As much as I like hearing positive feedback, I also appreciate constructive criticism. I know I should have painted that spray bar black, but I was just too impatient  Other than that, please tell me what you think can be improved.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Very nice growth since your last pic Regloh. I'm surprised you were able to find that lil oto for some snaps. I have 3 adult otos in my tank and I can never spot them when the lights are on. As for your layout, did you ever think about a low growing plant up front? Even the hygro would look nice in the midground as a bush but that requires constant pruning n replanting. I don't remember if you have pressurized CO2 or not.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Those plants look nice an lush.

How do you neutralize the soda ash?


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Thank you for your kind words. I will try to answer your questions:



speedie408 said:


> Very nice growth since your last pic Regloh. I'm surprised you were able to find that lil oto for some snaps. I have 3 adult otos in my tank and I can never spot them when the lights are on. As for your layout, did you ever think about a low growing plant up front? Even the hygro would look nice in the midground as a bush but that requires constant pruning n replanting. I don't remember if you have pressurized CO2 or not.


It was pure luck that I found him... I was just staring at the tank and saw something very small move on a leaf... the first time I saw him (or her actually) I didn't have a camera nearby and by the time I had it the little guy was gone... These pictures were taken a few days later, but these are the only two times I have seen him. 
I did have a low ground cover in the beginning, but I think I don't have adequate lighting to support the grassy stuff I had there. It also was completely algae infested so I mostly got rid of it. I have been thinking about a few low light plants like anubias or something like that. 
I am not really happy with the light fixture I have. Its one of those Hagen dual T5HO strips. The two tubes are very close together in front of a single reflector. The light is not very evenly spead front to back in the tank, wich causes the plants to sort of grow towards the center. This blocks a lot of light for the foreground. I have been toying with the idea of a DIY LED fixture, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. I also think I want a canopy, wich would allow me to put in some DIY fluorescent fixtures. But that's also for another day. 
I do run pressurized CO2 and dose IE. I actually have completed the controller I was talking about earlier in the thread, but I am still trying to program it. Any experts on PLC programming here? 
Once I get this running, the dosing will happen automatically. I already bought the peristaltic pumps on the S&S  It's just a matter of hooking it all up and programming the darn thing. 



hydrophyte said:


> Those plants look nice an lush.
> 
> How do you neutralize the soda ash?


The plants look much better at a distance  close up there are some blemishes, but I think my pleco had somthing to do with that. The vals actually always have a fair amount of decying leaves, that are a PITA to remove, so I slack a bit there. The growth rates are quite high. I CAN prune every week, but when I skip one week I HAVE to slash...or I have the Luwigia and the SS Hygro growing along the water surface.

I am still playing with my water preparation procedure, but basically I take down all of the kH (including the carbonate in the soda ash) with HCl, muriatic acid. When my pH is around 5.5 or 6, I bump it up with calcium carbonate, giving me both kH and gH. At the end I add epsom salt for Mg and Prime for declorination in case I have cloramine, with doesn't outgas in the 2-3 days that it takes to dissolve the CaCO3 

The only drawback I see with this method is that I end up with some NaCl in the water, but most of the fish are pretty tolerant of some salinity. Some species actually prefer some salt. I actually havn't really done the research to see weather my fish can tolerate it, but I haven't seen any issues so far...


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Wow Oto Fry.. that is sooo rare!! congrats!!


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

This post is just for my own benefit. I replaced the CO2 bottle about a week ago. I just want to keep track of how long it lasts. 
There is not much to report on the tank itself. I have a few things in there that are supposed to go into my new 10g once it is ready, so I don't want to take nice pictures at the moment. 
The oto fry seems to have survived. Every once in a while I see one that can't possibly be 6 months old, which is when I bought my last otos (I think).

Hehe... made you look


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## tcgoetz (Jul 8, 2005)

Wasserpest said:


> That little sword looks like a E. barthii, my favorite for sure.


The sword looks like Red Rubin to me. The ribs in the leaves are very green.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

I just can't believe it... every time I change the CO2 bottle I am having trouble setting it back up...
In previous events I didn't loose any fish, which now has officially changed...

The list of casualties, may they rest in peace:
7 harlequin rasboras, (all remaining after I moved some to my office tank)
2 otos (including the baby one )
1 male BN Pleco
1 gold algae eater (well this one I am not so sorry about...)

What's left in the tank?
2 Oto's (or maybe some more in hiding)
1 almost recovered clownloach

I have already bought two more clown loaches... I can't decide what I want to put in there. Any suggestions?


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Ok, today I purchased a victor dual stage regulator so I don't have to worry about the senseless fish killings anymore...

I also went to a LFS this last weekend and had a nice chat with the guys there. I really wanted some BN plecos again. The store didn't have any in, but one of the sales guys promised to bring some of his juvies in that are not quite old enough to be brought to the store for sale. 

Let me tell you they are cute... probably no more than a month old, about 3/4" long... I got 3, maybe I'm lucky and they are not all males...

Since the tank crashed I have been struggeling with algae again, probably because I have been very timid with the CO2. I also have been really busy over the holidays and didn't always do the weekly water change, streching it to two weeks most of the time. In these cases I then didn't adeqately fertilize the second week, and that's what causes lots of algae...

The little plecos have already started their busy work.. I was worried about them as they have an overabundence of food at the moment. I have to make sure so keep up with feeding them, once the algae is gone. 

On more tank mates I have been thinking some more... Maybe some rainbows... I can't decide... anyway I have some time as the weather here is too cold for shipping fish and plants anyway... 

Just a note to myself: Filled the CO2 tank today...


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Ok I think I want to get some Melanotaenia Praecox (dwarf neon rainbow) to go with the clown loaches... Does anyone have experience with those?


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Hmmm bad timing.. I think one of my Clown Loaches is sick... it is really skinny and does not play as nicely as the other two. It a mad scramble I bought a 5ga tank and put it on the kitchen counter. I can take some pictures tonight, but I have read a bunch and most poeple say its an internal parasite. Treatment suggestions vary. Maracin 1 and 2 are often suggested, but also a de-worming medication. One source (on this forum I believe) said that once the fish is skinny, it's too late, but I am still have some hope... It does not appear that he is eating, which really worries me... I will try another pet store tonight and see if they have maracin 1 and the de-wormer... 
I will also crank the temperature another degree or two tonight.

EDIT: Oh, yes, why the bad timing? Because the praecox are in the mail... maybe I'll keep those in the office for a while..


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Update... 

I came home last night and noticed that the other small clown loach looked really bloated... there is something going on in my tank... I netted the loach (which was surprisingly easy, another indication that something is wrong) and took it over to the hospital tank to benefit from a course of Maracin... He struggled a little bit as I forgot, that the tank is at a higher temperature, but seems to have put that behind him... the other, skinny loach seems much happier with a buddy in the tank, but is definitely not eating...he may be beyond healing...

I just hope that my big clown loach of 5 years did not catch anything... 

The hospital tank was not cycled, so I will do a big water change (day 3) tonight. 

I also discovered a kink in the filter line, that seemed to all but close off the flow... I have no idea how long this had been going on, but I have been noticing more debris that usual. But more about that later...

One of the larger otos also looked a bit fat, but I wasn't able to catch him...

I will go on AngelsPlus today and get some de-worming flakes as I read here that they are good to have on hand...

I am really worried about the rainbows that I will get today. I think I will put those in the 10g office tank for the time being... boy it will be quite crowded in there, but I just don't have any other tanks...

As I described in previous posts, my Eheim 2217 is supporting both a Rex Grigg reactor as well as a Hydor inline heater... I am now planing to change that. Glenn (gmcreedy) is selling me a Mag3 needle wheel pump that I will use to diffuse CO2 in the future.

I have already bent the lily pipes for the separate loop (don't worry I will take pictures before I actually install them). When the pump arrives, I will figure out how to tie everything together. 
I still have to decide, if I want the heater to stay on the filter loop, of move that over to the Mag3. 

I am also considering running the mag3 into the rex grigg reactor, to avoid some of the mist, as I am not a huge fan of that, but that may reduce the flow on the mag3 too much...

Anyway, that's what I'm thinking... Questions? Comments?


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

I am very sad to report, that I have decided to put the skinnier loach out of its misery... 
After one course of erithromyacin (sp?) it still didn't eat anything and started to just lay on the floor of the bare tank... I couldn't take it anymore...
The "bloated" loach seems ok. I got him used to the base flake of a medicated de-worming flake. I will let him fast for another day, so that he is very hungry and then de-worm him for 10 days... 
I noticed a deformed fin and I can't remember if he had that before. I will continue to watch him. 


















The rainbows are very jumpy and shy as they are not only getting used to a new environment, but also to my children, who don't seem to care that the fish are totally freaking out... well they are 3 years and 8 months, at that age I guess it's tough to care about things like that 

These guys are hard to catch with a camera... at least for me.









The rainbows really seem to be enjoying the algae flakes. I wonder if I should de-worm them as well, just to be sure...


My plans for the needle wheel pump have just been a bit de-railed as gmcreedy had a bit of an accident with the pump, rendering it unusable. I just ordered a brand new one at D&T. 

Did have anyone and thoughts on the heater and reactor arrangement?


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

While I had the camera in hand, I took a couple of other pictures:
My old clown loach, now alone again... once the other guy is back in the tank I will get another one to replace the one I lost...


















This is one of my new BN pleco juvies.











I frequently see two at a time, but never 3. Maybe one of them didn't make it... we'll see. 

I am waaay too embarrassed to show a FTS. The wisteria is completely dead, the ludwigia somehow grows really slowly, the SS hygro seems to be slowly recovering and the vals are not doing so well at the moment.. 
Algae is still very much a factor as you may be able to see in some of the pics... I am just really nervous about cranking the CO2 again...


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

I saw all three plecos at the same time last night. I am glad to report that they are alive and well


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Look what I just got in the mail!!!










It's a Mag3 needle wheel pump by Danner 

So excited...


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Well, I guess I didn't get to anything this weekend... I did paint the ceiling of the room above the tank. The fish didn't seem to have suffered too much from the fresh paint smell, but the blanket over the tank seemed to really freak the rainbows out... 

I am getting closer to moving the smaller clownloach bach into the main tank.. I can't tell if he is not pooping much, or if he is eating his own poop *yuck*

I try to clean up after him as soon as I see the smallest speck of poop, but ther isn't very much... I also am at work for 9-11 hours a day 
He does seem to show all the right emitional responses you would expect from a clown loach in a bare tank with just one PVC 3/4" tee to hide in... 
The loach that died, never had any reaction to anything... this one turns pale, when the lights turn on and someone is moving in the room. 

He'll be much happier back in the tank with his larger buddy...

I observed something very interesting yesterday...
I fed the rainbows with some freeze-dried brine shrimp. I turn the coralia powerhead off for feedings so they can get the food before it blows around the tank...
Well, they got really excited, but didn't really eat much... The shrimp were still bunched up, stuck to the glass at the top of the tank, when I came back 20 minutes later. I then decided to turn the powerhead back on, so the shrimp would blow around and sink to the bottom, where the clownloach could find them...
I was pretty surprised to see, that, once the shrimp started to be whirled around, the rainbows VIGOROUSLY chased afer them and ate quite a bit of them... I wonder if the breeder I got then from feed a lot of live food and they are used to the hunt more than beeing fed...


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Kind a nervous right now...

I hooked up the Mag3 last night and adjusted the CO2 down from my rex reactor setting, just to be sure I'm not killing everything again...
It should have switched on by now...

I really should have waited until the weekend with this, so I can be next to the tank, when it starts up... hope everyone is still with us tonight...


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## itstony (Jan 11, 2009)

sounds like everythings going well holger! is the loach doing okay?


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Thanks for asking tony... yes, the loaches are both doing quite well... 
The plecos are also nice and active and not nearly as shy as my old pleco was...
Unfortunately I had some trouble with the rainbows. I posted it in the fish section on this forum, that I suspected columnaris, but from most of the responses I gather that those fish would long be dead by now, had it really been columnaris. Instead I now suspect some kind of a bacterial infection that made their lips look kind of white. I posted some pictures here.

I am now on the last day of treatment and they are doing really well... I may do an extra day, just to use the medicine up and not have open packages kicking around  
I am due for a WC on this tank tomorrow night, and I don't want to throw them into the tank right after that... So Wednesday, they will be back in the main tank...

Hopefully I can then break that hospital tank down for a little while...

The Mag3 is working beautifully... I just don't like the flow in the tank quite yet... I have that really large java fern in the middle of the tank that sort of blocks the surface movement... it's nice and swirly on the right and comletely stagnant on the left of the tank... I am thinking about re-scaping options, but I don't really want to do anything too drastic until I move (hopefully in less than 6 month) and re-build the tank anyway...


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Never a bad time to tear down and rescape, It is my favorite part of a planted tank. Looks good otherwise and remember it is a huge learning process as you learn the ins and outs of fish/ plant keeping.

Craig


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Man Holger you were soo lying when you said your tank wasn't look good lately!!


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

**Fry**

Boy, I totally missed that you guys had answered here... :icon_redf

Thanks for the kind words...
I have moved things around a bit... I had mentioned before that I didn't like how the big driftwood with the large fern on it blocked all circulation. I moved it all the way to the left of the tank, with the added advantage, that it hides most of the filter intake and spay bar input from view. Check... The circulation seems much better, except in the fern itself, but at the moment, that is a good thing... I'll get to that later. 
I also brought the smaller piece of driftwood back home, as the attached java fern was too big for my little 10 ga in the office. It was blocking all light for the rest of the plants... that one is now all the way on the right of the tank. I had bought a crinum at some point that is probably pretty upset about the fact that I already have moved it twice in the last 2 weeks, but it seems to be getting stronger. It suffered quite a bit in shipping. It is currently in front of the smaller driftwood piece. Not much of a contrast, but it'll have to do for now. 
The E. barthii is really the centerpiece of the tank. Without being overshadowed by the fern it is really featured nicely with the SS Hygro in the background.
Ok, enough talk, here is a FTS:








I am too embarrassed about the ever present algae, but I feel like it's getting better... the 3 plecos and I-dont-know-how-many otos are doing their part. I want to get a couple of SAE's so that someone eats the bushy algae, but I haven't had the chance to get them at my LFS. When I was there last, the tank with the SAE's was just being treated for ich. 

The praecox are back in the tank, yippie... I put them back yesterday after 6 days in quarantine and a course of Maracyn and Maracyn 2. They had some kind of an infection on their lips. I hope it's not coming back.
I also brought back the remaining 5 harlequin rasboras, that I suspect to have eaten my first batch of juvie RCS in my office tank... I think they will be much happier here anyway, even though they really don't fit into my stocking plans anymore... I wanted to keep the tank mostly asian, with the exception of the BN plecos (and otos?). Oh well...

SOOO, I had mentioned that the praecox were put back in the tank yesterday... tonight I notice something very, very small moving at the surface, when I started feeding... guess who came to feed first??? 











Right... that's praecox fry, yay!!!

This picture sucks, but I'll post it anyway...











Here is a question though.. I'm sure that if I don't remove the fry they will get eaten eventually. They seem pretty smart, though, staying mostly in the fern... But if the loaches don't get them, the rasboras probably will... 
I still have the hospital tank up and running. I could put them in there (or however many I can get). Or I could hang a breeder basked into the tank... What do you think?


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Seriously? Nobody?


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## nickcamp12345 (May 2, 2009)

if they made it that far, there's a good chance they'll survive depending on how big your other fish are, but if I were in that situation i'd separate them just to be sure they survive. do you know how many fry survived?


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Thanks for posting 

No I have no idea... I have only ever seen three at a time. I initially intended to do a little breeding. The praecox came with a mop and some fry food from the breeder, but I had not gotten there yet. 
So the eggs were not deposited on the mop (pretty obvious, since it is not in the tank ), but in some unknown-to-me location. I also don't know how many eggs are laid in one spawn, but I will do some more reading on that. 

The tank mates are:
2 clown loaches, one about 3-4 inches, the other much smaller 1.5-2 inch
5 harlequin rasboras
3 BN plecos
3-5 otos
Oh, yes and the 2 males and 2 female praecox rainbows. 

I'm not so sure about the harlequins, but the loaches and possibly the rainbows themselves would be the most likely predators for fry...

I don't think I'll do anything special this time, but for future spawns I think I will make/buy a fry-saver insert for the tank...

Thanks for looking


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

i would separate them. rasboras are predators. infact all fish are. if its small enough to get in there mouth they will eat it.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Dang, these little ones are hard to catch... I guess they will have to fend for themselves or become life food... oh well...


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

Congrats on the fry!


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