# Tank critique and some more questions (pics)



## ponyo (Aug 9, 2010)

Do I get kicked off if I make to many posts or/and ask to many questions? :icon_redf

I have some pictures of my tank and I'd like some opinions/suggestions. First:

35gal tank
T5NO light (I think 18 watts per bulb and there are two bulbs)
eco-complete substrate
soon to be HOB filter (currently still using older filter)
L. mauritana, anubias nana, anubias nana petite and fissidens fontanus.
4 ottos and 2 amano shrimp (and everyone has survived a week so far! Yay!)

My mom is certain our water is always hard and has had it tested in the past (it's from a well) but when I test it out of the tap (I've done so three times now) it always comes up as a pH of 6. Isn't this soft water or am I confused?

In the tanks I have (the planted and the non planted one) it's a pH of 7.6 

All other parameters seem to be ok. No ammonia or nitrites or even nitrates. 

I've since added some water conditioner which I hadn't done before because I thought it was only for chlorine which we don't have but then I learned it also helps promote a good slime coat. 

And I have a bottle of Sera brand liquid fertilizer but I haven't added it yet. Do you think it would be a good idea to add it? I think the LFS guy said add only 1/4 of the amount it suggests. Do you concur?

I recently did a water change, lightly vacuumed the bottom and I took out my granit rocks and put in a piece of slate to help with the hardness. 

Here's the picture of some white thing growing on my anubias. It won't rub off:










And here is what my l. mauritana looks like. A lot of the leaves have died but some seem to be doing ok and I think I've even seen some new growth. But what do I do about all this dead stuff?? It's still attached to the plants so doesn't vacuum up and if I tried to pick it off the whole plant will come up (they haven't grown very deep roots or anything yet). It looks horrible I know!










Finally, since I had to take the rocks out I have a few bare spots. One is in the far right corner under the filter (which isn't going to be staying remember) and the other is the far left corner behind the driftwood--by the way if you can even see it (sorry my camera is so tempermental because it's old) I have a small piece of slate resting on the drift wood just to hold it down. It's **slowly** getting water logged. 

Can you give me any plant recommendations on what you think would look good in these corners? I was thinking some valisneria nana on the left behind the drift wood and then on the right some juncus repens (if I can get some) but I'd maybe like to have some other things. Any ideas for some hardy plants?










Thanks so much for everyone's help! I wouldn't have made it this far without the help from this forum.


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## MrMoneybags (Apr 13, 2010)

pH measures acidity

acidic < 7
neutral = 7 
alkaline or basic > 7

...doesnt tell if its hard or not (hard = a lot of dissolved calcium)


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## goot776 (May 10, 2010)

How long ago did you plant this tank? The plants may be still adjusting. I've heard other people report that they experience what looks like a die-off before the plants come back more fully.


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## ponyo (Aug 9, 2010)

I know what pH is but for some reason I had it in my mind that there was a corolation between the level of hardness and pH.

It's about 2 months old. What should I do with all those dead/brown stuff on the "grass"? Is it ok to leave it? Will it go away? 

Any ideas for plants that might look nice? Thanks again!


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## MrMoneybags (Apr 13, 2010)

only in that hard water is harder to adjust the pH because of the calcium/magnesium buffering capacity it contains


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## ponyo (Aug 9, 2010)

Ah. Thanks. 

So any idea about the dead stuff or the white stuff on the anubias? And any recommendations for more plants? Thanks!


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## WeedCali (Jun 21, 2010)

Nitrogen deficiency?


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## Satirica (Oct 3, 2005)

When you grow plants in a pot in your house the soil provides nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, the major nutrients, plus trace minerals vital to the plant. The air provides carbon, the 4th major nutrient. If you grow a plant in the same soil for a long time you have to add fertilizer as the plant uses up what was in the soil to begin with.

You can think of eco-complete as used up soil -- it contains no nutrients. Water dissolves very little carbon dioxide. In order for your plants to grow you must provide them with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as all the trace minerals plus carbon.

I don't know what is in Sera liquid fertilizer but now you know what you need to provide. You can choose to not provide carbon and have healthy plant grown with low level light. It will be better with carbon, much better in my experience. I would read here about Estimative Index, get some Excel and any other fertilizer I need (keeping in mind that Sera may not have everything in it) and start fertilizing the plants.

And please don't put stuff into your tank to promote slime coat on your fish. If your water is clean the fish are fine. That stuff can only cause problems, not prevent them.

As for the brown plant matter, it will continue to decay and produce ammonia. Right now that is what is providing the nutrients for the live plants, not a good situation to be honest. You are much better off taking that mess out of the tank and dosing fertilizers.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

SeraFlorena Liquid Plant Fertilizer contains iron, minerals and trace elements bat guano and other high test organic ingredients. A carbon source is organic matter - plantbrain.Thus it will decrease the need for Excel. With the plants you have only need 2ml daily of Excel.

I too think you have a nitrogen deficiency and need KNO3 (potassium nitrogen). pH of 7.6 is good. I would just dose with KNO3, SeraFlorena Liquid Plant Fertilizer, and Seachem Excel.

What are the dimensions of your tank?


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## ponyo (Aug 9, 2010)

The water conditioner doesn't say it is for slime coat, the guy at the LFS said it does?! I guess it's not a very expensive thing to add. My fish do seem to be doing better although another one died but I still have 3 left and the shrimp are still ok....

Thanks for your help. So to get the dead brown, dying leaves should I uproot all the L.mauritana and then pick them off by hand and replant? That sounds so not fun but if you say I should do it I will. 

My tank is 31"long x 12.5"wide x 18"high I believe. 

I'll try to get a KNO3 supplement and the Excel. I tried to get some when I went to the LFS but they were all out of it. I can call and see when they'll get it in. Or order it if they won't get it in soon. 

Thank you all for your help!


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## Satirica (Oct 3, 2005)

The LFS will sell you all sorts of stuff that does not help and actually hurts. The conditioners that "help" with "beneficial slime coat" harms rather than helps fish. The best things for slime coat or any other aspect of fish health is clean water and high quality food. 

Dead leaves can be carefully removed from plant without uprooting them.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

ponyo said:


> I'll try to get a KNO3 supplement and the Excel.


To save on gas you could get the Excel on Ebay. The KNO3 be bought in liquid or dry. Liquid form is Seachem Nirogen and is also on Ebay. The dry form can in some states be found in Lowe's sold as Spectricide stump remover. I found somewhere that the stats showing that it is 100% KNO3. I have used it. Also can buy KNO3 at aquariumfertilizer. It is $3 with shipment of $6. Dry needs to made into a solution.

What is the brand of the product sold as conditioner?


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## defiesexistence (Sep 13, 2010)

ponyo said:


> My mom is certain our water is always hard and has had it tested in the past (it's from a well) but when I test it out of the tap (I've done so three times now) it always comes up as a pH of 6. Isn't this soft water or am I confused?
> 
> In the tanks I have (the planted and the non planted one) it's a pH of 7.6


To give you a rough idea of your water hardness... Your pH fresh out of the faucet is 6. Your tank is 7.6. Where did all that alkalinity come from? Your water buffered. Take some fresh tap water, add the dechlor, then let it sit for two days. Then test the pH. I'll guess it'll be about 7.6. That's from the calcium/hardness in your well water. pH and hardness are very different, but like everything else in your tank, it is related, but more closely than most. The pH rises because calcium is alkaline, and shows up in the water after it buffers. Acidic is like oranges. Alkaline is like limestone. Neutral is 7, smack in the middle between the two. It still helps that you test the water, by buying a kit, or taking it into a LFS. The more informed you are about what your tank is like, the better.

Hope I didn't join the topic too late, or am repeating what other people said. I just figured this out a year ago, but I hope it helps you. Good luck!


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## ponyo (Aug 9, 2010)

The conditioner I have is also Sera brand. Thanks again for everyone's help. 

Back to the dead leaves on the L.mauritana, if I so much as touch these plants they uproot. I'm willing to uproot all of it and plant it again but I'm wondering if that would be bad for the plants to do that? Or is it better to get rid of the brown, dead leaves?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Just leave the Lilaeopsis alone. Eventually the leaves will decay to the point that either it all disappears down into the substrate or you can vacuum it up. It's no big deal, really.


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## ponyo (Aug 9, 2010)

Thanks Laural.

To summarize, I should check my water conditioner and make sure it doesn't say anything about slime coat (I don't think it does, I think it's just for chlorine which I don't have anyway...). I should buy some nitrogen supplement and then dose my tank with that, the sera fertilizer and some excel. And leave Brittney, I mean the Lilaeopsis, alone. check! 

Thanks again everyone.


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## slickscustoms (Nov 8, 2010)

i like that drift wood its cool looking!


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## Neverlander (Dec 7, 2010)

Ponyo, is your Anubias rooting down? I haven't seen any "white" root... From my experience, Anubias sp. need alkaline water... Your driftwood makes the water acidic as lowering the pH level... Very low pH is that Anubias sp. don't like... I hope your substrate is type of that can buffer low pH level...


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## monkeyfish (Jul 5, 2010)

Does the white stuff on your anubias "move"? I mean is it in one place today and a slightly different place tomorrow? It looks like slime mold to me. Very weird stuff, and harmless. Then again, if it were slime mold, it should rub off.

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