# Low tech, low budget, still survived... for now :) (56K warning).



## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

i use very uneffective,ugly,failed DIY filtration, and 2 14watt T5 for Lighting at first.

My miserable DIY filter








stupid me...:icon_cry: its always cloging 

the lighting


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

this is the subtrates, cheap garden subtrates, i dont know what is that, i got it from gardening shop, its like a sand colour black, and the white gravel/sand i got from LFS









i also got wood from LFS. its a mangroove wood they said









and some ugly rock








i remove it later, because covered with algae, and its hard to scrap


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

*algae outbreak started*

on DAY3, brown and hair algae start to grow

on the rock









the leaf









on DAY7
all over the tank









from above


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

at first i know nothing about aquascaping, seriously i start this tank before i learn anything, thats my BIG mistake, all i know is put a sand on the tank, put some nice plant on it, add some water, and light for a viewing, thats its

on DAY6, i start browsing the net, and thanks GOD i found this site.
and i start to do some arrangement and add some basic equipment.
I make DIY yeast CO2, and conect it to the intake of filter (top filter) . i also change my filtration, i modified the top filter, closed all hole on it, that i hope will trap co2 gas stay on the system.

any suggestion..?
please help this tank survive

PS: forgive me for the language, i cant speak english fluently


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## Feral (Feb 26, 2008)

To solve the brown algae problem get an Otto cat. They devour the stuff. I have a school of 3 in my 55 and it is spotless. Just make sure you get a few because they like each others company.

http://www.otocinclus.com/ - More Otto info 

The tank looks like its doing very well.


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## frozenbarb (Dec 16, 2006)

The grasssy tall plant all the way in the back is non aquatic Mondo Grass.

I suggest you take it out as it is already dying.


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

Just wanted to agree with the Ottos suggestion, they'll clean that in no time! They love it. The plants look pretty good other than the algae, the Ottos will eat the algae off the leaves too :thumbsup: I'd definitely get at least 3 though, as they do better when not alone  

And your english is quite good! :thumbsup:


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

frozenbarb said:


> The grasssy tall plant all the way in the back is non aquatic Mondo Grass.
> 
> I suggest you take it out as it is already dying.


Mondo grass doesn't get that tall.

Hard to tell from the pics, but I think it might either be Val nana or maybe even Eloarchis (hairgrass)?

I think Otos would be a good choice. Brown algae is really common in new tanks, and tends to fade over time. Your plants have a good coating of it, though, so they'd probably benefit from a cleaning at this point. You can just wipe off the brown algae with your fingers, as well as spot-treating with hydrogen peroxide or Seachem's Excel for the hair algae.

I think it's looking good (other than the algae)! :thumbsup:


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

Feral said:


> To solve the brown algae problem get an Otto cat. They devour the stuff. I have a school of 3 in my 55 and it is spotless. Just make sure you get a few because they like each others company.
> 
> http://www.otocinclus.com/ - More Otto info
> 
> The tank looks like its doing very well.


thaks feral, ill find some oto, by the way that fish is hard to find here, any other options? same family with oto maybe?
Right now i have 4 adult blackmollies, and a dozen of their babies i believe.. they`re eat algae too, most of it brown algae, but ithink they dont eat hair and fuzz algae(corect me if im wrong).


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> Mondo grass doesn't get that tall.
> 
> Hard to tell from the pics, but I think it might either be Val nana or maybe even Eloarchis (hairgrass)?
> 
> ...


sorry, im totally blind with plant identification, i just start to identify my plants, searching the net, but its not an easy task.

is this what you mean? the grass looked on the back

















Thanks lauraleellbp one plant identified, Eloarchis:thumbsup: 

i did cleaning with sponge, it work with brown algae, but never with fuzz and hair algae. 
hydrogen peroxide??? is this some kind of chemical things(i guess)? im sorry, i`ve read before somewhere, but i have no idea what it is, and Seachem's Excel i know its a liquid supplement, im affraid i cant afford this, i have search the net, too expensive for me. may be oto is my choice, 
thanks for the advice lauraleellbp:thumbsup: 

any other way, cheap and natural way maybe? if possible??


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

i did cleaning the algae from the leaf, but it always come back again, i also cut the old leaf

here is the algae today (day 26)








green spot, all over the plant, and it cant be remove by hand, it also grew on glass

and on the wood,








i guess thats hair algae, fuzz algae, brown algae, and more algae mix there coating my wood


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

i read somewhere, if the plants drain the nutrition from the tank, the algae will be dissapear?? so i decided to add more plants three days ago, i hope the plants will outcompete the algae. i also did water change 50% every 2 days.

this is the pics today









Full tank pic


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I'd be very surprised if hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is not available in Indonesia- it's a common first aid chemical, usually sold in brown bottles here and always found side-by-side with rubbing alcohol (Ethanol). It bubbles when put on a wound. You can take some up into an eye dropper or syringe and simply squirt it on the affected leaves directly in the tank. It's a very cheap and common chemical, here- check at your local chemist?

Otocinclus catfish and Farlowella catfish are typically imported from South America, so I can understand why they'd be expensive in Indonesia. I'm not sure of another fish species that would do a good job with your brown algae... do you have access to any Amano or Red cherry shrimp? These are also excellent algae eaters, and my Amanos did a good job with brown algae in my tank.

I'm not all that great at IDing stem plants, but I do recognize microsword (Lilaeopsis sp.), Anubias, and Bacopa caroliniana also in your tank. There were also spiral Vallisneria in some of the earlier pics you posted.

How is your CO2 working out? How are you injecting it into your tank? If you can get your CO2 levels high enough and consistent, I think that your plants may not be able to keep up with your T5 lighting ATM without enough CO2.


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> I'd be very surprised if hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is not available in Indonesia- it's a common first aid chemical


im sorry, stupid me :icon_cry: i ask to chemist at drug store by phone, and yes they sell contact lens cleaner made of H202, i suspect if that save for human eye, it also save for the tank right?? i`ll buy that, thanks lauraleellbp :thumbsup:



lauraleellbp said:


> Otocinclus catfish and Farlowella catfish are typically imported from South America....
> do you have access to any Amano or Red cherry shrimp? These are also excellent algae eaters....


The oto, Sae and shrimps, are only ocasionally avaliable here on LFS, actually not much avaliable here, ill ask the LFS owner to call me if they got them, maybe on jakarta and other big city theyre easy to get, i lived about 1000km from jakarta, on small town called Yogyakarta



lauraleellbp said:


> I'm not all that great at IDing stem plants, but I do recognize microsword (Lilaeopsis sp.), Anubias, and Bacopa caroliniana also in your tank. There were also spiral Vallisneria in some of the earlier pics you posted.


Big thanks to you thanks lauraleellbp for the input, right now im working with plantlist, searching here and there.



lauraleellbp said:


> How is your CO2 working out? How are you injecting it into your tank? If you can get your CO2 levels high enough and consistent, I think that your plants may not be able to keep up with your T5 lighting ATM without enough CO2.


First thing ive done after reading this forum is make DIY CO2, i make 3bottles (1,5 litre each) of it, i connect it to the intake of my top filter, so the propeler of powerhead will break the bubbles into microbubbles, then they go to my upper filter, to avoid CO2 leaking too much, i sealed the top filter, so that the air cant go out, that is as far i can go right now.
i have plan to make DIY canister filter and DIY CO2 reaktor or difusser, ill post the proggres, i hope someone here help me with it 



lauraleellbp said:


> I think that your plants may not be able to keep up with your T5 lighting ATM without enough CO2.


im so sorry being stupid, but what is ATM???
my lighting now is 4 x 14watts for 19g tank, is that not enough, or too much?
im not used lighting for plantedtank purposes, i used lamp for home purposes, is that ok?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I think your lighting is a bit much for your tank, but a friend of mine is disagreeing with me  She hasn't joined this forum (yet) but she wanted me to pass this along to you:

"He could get a BN Pleco readily enough which would fit a 19G so long as he was cautious what else he put in there (but warn him not to get a common pleco!)

I think the algae on his wood looks fine - nice and natural! Red cherry shrimp and a few snails will tidy it all up - so long as he doesn't overfeed. The snail on the glass on the left are excellent in my tanks. They need to mate to reproduce, which I think might help keep them from overpopulating and are great at keeping leaves and wood clean of algae.









His T5's aren't HO and one is blue so I don't think CO2 will be essential! (Plus that reflector won't be doing a heap!)"

So you can try either way and see. In your shoes I'd probably reduce your lighting (maybe just run 2 bulbs for awhile) until you get the algae in better control.

GL and keep us posted!


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## seAdams (Jun 2, 2008)

The only advice I have is not to get an SAE. Otos or BN plecos are a better choice.

I think your tank looks just beautiful!!


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

seAdams said:


> The only advice I have is not to get an SAE. Otos or BN plecos are a better choice.
> 
> I think your tank looks just beautiful!!


Thanks seAdams, yes ill go with otos, wait to available here on LFS


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> I think your lighting is a bit much for your tank, but a friend of mine is disagreeing with me  She hasn't joined this forum (yet) but she wanted me to pass this along to you:
> 
> "He could get a BN Pleco readily enough which would fit a 19G so long as he was cautious what else he put in there (but warn him not to get a common pleco!)
> 
> ...


Thanks Laura, ill reduce the bulb, i also will reduce the photoperiod time, to 6hours a day, is that wise?

and thanks to laura's friend too


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Reducing the lighting (photoperiod and total wattage both :thumbsup: ) should help control the spread of the algae, but you'll also have to do something to address the algae that's there... it needs to all get eaten, or be manually removed or killed somehow.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

frozenbarb said:


> The grasssy tall plant all the way in the back is non aquatic Mondo Grass.
> 
> I suggest you take it out as it is already dying.


Yey made I mistake of buying it too. Googling it found that is really a terrium plant and only live a few months submerged.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I wish I could grow nice green algae like that on my driftwood. It looks so natural and alive.  

Nice tank :thumbsup:


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

lauraleellbp> 
thanks laura

Hilde>
actually mine is not mondo grass

jaidexl>
agree jai, it will be nice if only grow on wood, but if grow on leaves theres nothing nice at all , thanks jai


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## plantoon (Jun 24, 2008)

actually this tank is rescaped, couse overgrowth and algae problem

i found thats too much direct sunlight exposed, so i decided to move the tank to other location, and now its about 2 weeks, theres some algae but not a big deals yet

ill post a pic soon, curentlly busy with other tank, my first nano


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