392 replies to this topic

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

You are welcome, Kevin.

 

I have learned many a thing with keeping wild fish. If you bring it into your tank FROM the wild, you will have it in your tank FROM the wild. You cannot boil your fish to destroy the algae, but you CAN boil the stones and other non-organic, non-living things you put in the tank .

I had a real problem with cyanobacteria and long hair algae for months. I added crays, turned down my lights and reduced feeding and it went away. The crays "mowed" the grass and I have zero hair algae left. Since I reduced feedings, that hard-to-remove algae on the glass has gone away.

 

Snails...

They are in no hurry to go anywhere. However, they CAN outsmart a rabbit! Haven't had much luck with mystery / trapdoor snails, but the river snails have done well. I do believe that the trapdoor snails typically need a mate but can change to hermaphrodite depending upon conditions. My single large river snail I am lucky to see once a week, but there was babies all over the place! I also believe that my female rainbow darter is snacking upon them. They were all over the place (15-20) and now there's like 5.

 

I am tired, grumpy, frustrated, and worried for my kids and getting them into my custody. However.... I LOVE fish, snails and everything to do with legally collecting and keeping them from the wild. One balances out the other, and even more so because my kids DO like my native fish! My daughter helped me collect the fish for my 29 gallon. I want to feel (and do it) that way again.

 

God bless and safe and legal collecting!

 

The Grumpy Old Man.

[Chasmodes]

Thanks Chris!  You're right.  If it's in the wild, I guess I just need to deal with it. It's a biotope tank, so part of me thinks that maybe the algae looks more natural.  I just don't like it on the plants.  I caught two stonerollers and was hoping to add them to the tank (they were both small), but they both died in QT.  One had tail rot and even though I treated it, it was too far gone.  The other one seemed really healthy and I found it dead the next day.  That as after a week of QT.  The parameters were fine.  I was using salt as my pre-treatment for QT.  Maybe stonerollers are sensitive to it?  I don't know.  Next time, I'll just use Metroplex and Kanaplex only during QT for them.  I want to get one when I go collect again, soon, and hopefully it will make it through QT to the tank.

 

I added some more rocks that resemble the wall (if you compare algae free).  I may have too many rocks in there.  I may or may not remove some.  The fish seem to like the hidey holes.

 

Here's my latest video update:  

[littlen]

It looks even better.  Nice touch.

FWIW, I've quarantined Stonerollers many times using low dose salt treatments with no ill-effects.  They are pretty hardy.  I aim for 2-3ppt, but have been as high as 5 with no problems.  Yours likely (clearly?) had something in or on them and the stress of capture and living in the QX tank pushed them over the edge and the pathogen(s) took advantage.  I'd just grab a couple more.  It happens.

[El Todd]

The tank looks great - the rocks and plants are nice additions. Is that siverjaw that came from my tank? It's looking pretty happy.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Absolutely a beautiful tank! The species diversity is awesome! I dug out my bigger tank from storage. I need to take some time to set it up and get these fish into that bigger tank. I do believe that'll help settle my aggressive sunfish issue when there's a bigger tank and a lot more structure. I do want live plants, but I don't think that it's going to happen as my crayfish will mow them down.

 

The Grumpy Old Man.

[Chasmodes]

Thanks Nick!

 

Todd, yep, he's doing great.  I thought that he'd hang with the other one more, but I guess they don't really care about each other LOL.  BTW, I found and collected two out of 4 species of plants that like flowing water.  I'd like to go back and get the third before it gets cold.  I would do another video by my phone died yesterday...  There is one that I'd like to get (no idea of what it's called), I also collected stargrass and an unknown to me species, and saw plenty of wild Val.

[Chasmodes]

Thanks Chris!  I'm looking forward to seeing your next version when you're ready to share!

[Chasmodes]

I used my Olympus camera to make a video...probably not good quality, but at least I can share the grass.  I will have it uploaded to YT soon.

 

Todd, I won't have a phone for a couple weeks so the best way to reach me is here messaging, I guess.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Thanks Chris!  I'm looking forward to seeing your next version when you're ready to share!

[Chasmodes]

OK, here's my latest YT video.  The sound quality and photographer errors in steadying the camera are quite evident.  But, you can see the plant additions to the tank.  If anyone knows the one that I can't ID, please let me know here or comment in the video if you prefer.

 

[Chasmodes]

I thought that I'd do a feeding video.  In this vid, you can also see the new plants and get a nice idea of how the fish relate to it, and how they changed the flow dynamics of the tank (positively, I might add).  I guess everyone may be wondering how I feed so many fish.  I have a large bioload of fish, and hopefully, the plants, along with regular water changes, will mitigate increased toxins like nitrite ammonia (fish and/or food waste).  I'm sure that, by spoiling these fish, algae growth is due to these methods.  I don't mind some algae as many of my fish graze on it all day.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video.  Feeding time is always fun.

 

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

GREAT video and GREAT tank! Wish I could get a tank to look like yours. I just don't have the time or creativity.... However, I DID get out to collect natural and weathered driftwood for my larger tank that I am setting up, but still, without natural plants and the background like you have, it'll be nowhere near as impressive. I would love to have live plants, but my crays mow em to the rocks. I *had* an algae problem in my tank with hair algae and that cyanobacteria, but once I put the rusties in, they, along with smaller feedings destroyed it.

 

Great setup!

 

The Grumpy Old Man.

[Chasmodes]

Thank you Chris. I'm sure your tank will look great.  I can't wait to see it when you're done.  It's the fish that are the stars of the show though.  I go down to watch my fish, and a feeding that supposed to take me 10 minutes stretches to an hour often.  If it was just the same tank with no fish in it, I would walk by, maybe glance back at it and see if it needs cleaning, and keep on going.  But generally, even with fish in it, and I see it needs cleaning, I keep on going!    

[Chasmodes]

Well, here's an update showing the tank and the plant growth.  The Valisneria is turning into a jungle.  The curly-leaf pondweed is still alive, but I don't see any new growth, so I added another plant spike to the gravel under it.  Meanwhile, the stargrass planted behind the pondweed and to the left of the tank is greening up, and I'm seeing new growth, along with shoots, runners, rhizomes or roots (whatever they're called LOL).  Anyway, I'm liking the tank now.  The additional stargrass almost hides the powerhead.  I'm hoping as it thickens and grows, that it will hide it completely.  Enjoy!

 

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Thank you Chris. I'm sure your tank will look great.  I can't wait to see it when you're done.  It's the fish that are the stars of the show though.  I go down to watch my fish, and a feeding that supposed to take me 10 minutes stretches to an hour often.  If it was just the same tank with no fish in it, I would walk by, maybe glance back at it and see if it needs cleaning, and keep on going.  But generally, even with fish in it, and I see it needs cleaning, I keep on going!    

Thank you Kevin.

 

Took some oomph, but I got the bigger tank done and set tonight and the fish re-homed. I seeded the tank with water from the last tank to kick-start the bacteria cultures, and since I use well water that is softened, it'll take a few days to cycle. I got the main piece of driftwood set, but I need bigger rocks to secure it down as my crays are mini bulldozers and move rocks. I also added in an unusual fish effigy rock, a blue Whitall Tatum glass insulator (my main hobby), and some shells. It looks nice, but I need some plants to complete it as best I can. I also need some kind of backdrop to block out the block wall behind the tank.

That being said, I also took a trip down to the river tonight and got wet. I came back with (2) 1.5" stonecat madtoms, (2) male banded darters and some tiny shiner fry for my Northern sunfish to eat. The fish are starting to come out of hiding now and explore, but the cats are staying incognito. Guess they'll come out at night.... Eventually I'll be giving away a madtom.

 

Anyhow, the biggest issue I have with my tank is that extremely hard-to-remove algae from the tank walls. In my 10 gallon some years back I tried steel wool and one of those coarse green scotchbrite pads and it scratched the glass. I had the same issue in my 16 gallon, and it takes real elbow-grease to remove it with an aquarium grade scrubber. Any silver bullet fixes to make it easier? How do you keep your tank so sparkling clear and the glass walls algae-free?

 

Once the tank cycles I'll post some pics.

 

Thanks!

 

The Grumpy Old Man.

[Chasmodes]

Chris, that's a good plan and seems like things with your tank are coming together.  I'm glad that you were able to get out and collect. It's so much fun and therapeutic.  I can't wait to get out again.

 

To fight the algae, I use a sponge for the slimy easy stuff, but for the encrusting algae, I use razor blades.  My friends Nick Kinser and Jen Williams recommended the cheap one sided razor blades that you can buy in 100 packs used in a cheap small plastic blade holder/handle.  Nick recommends changing the blades each time, using them about once per week or two weeks.  It takes a little time to cover the glass, but it works great.

 

Nick also told me that he uses the Magic Eraser knock offs as his sponge and they do a great job too for the rest of the algae when not using the razors.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Thank you, Kevin.

 

The driftwood, as expected is hard to keep down. I have rocks anchoring it. Crays move rocks easily. Any tips on securing the wood? I had thought of getting flat sandstone, drilling it and screwing it to the driftwood, but perhaps HDPE plastic is better.... Screw it to the driftwood and then cover the plastic rectangle with gravel as one does with artificial plants.

[Chasmodes]

You're quite welcome Chris.  I look forward to the pics of your tank and fish when you're ready to share.

 

Hmmmm.  Do you have any weightlifting weights?  Maybe you can tie the wood to one or more of those?  Also, a brick with holes in it or a cinderblock depending on the size of the wood, then find rocks or plants to hide.  I think bricks might be a good permanent option because you can glue rocks to them so the crayfish can't move them.  Gorilla Glue should do the job.  I think that it might work on the weights too, especially the plastic variety.  You can use either wire or zip ties to attach the weights or zip ties to the wood, drill holes in the wood and do it in a way that the zip ties or wire won't be visible to you or the tank viewer.

 

Also, regarding plants, there are some very realistic plastic ones out there...might be work considering to supplement the live ones that you put in there.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

The tank is clear enough as of today since I seeded the water with established bacteria water from the previous tank. Works well. As for holding the wood down, the rocks are holding for now, but I think that I'll get some heavier flat rocks, drill them and screw them to the bottom of the wood with S-S screws, then bury that in the gravel. Should work well..... Thought about Gorilla glue, and if it's strong enough to use on your hair, then it'd work as well. You DID hear about the woman that ran out of hair spray earlier this year and used gorilla glue, right? It didn't turn out well for her, to say the least....

 

At this time, it's very plain and basic. I need some green and some kind of background to hide the brick wall behind the tank. Speaking of hiding, unfortunately the madtoms don't come out except at night. They're not too sociable.... However, my craws are. They love the wood I put in, and I also put in a few fallen and soaked leaves for them to eat and they cleaned them up quickly. Natural foods are the best.

 

So far, everyone except the tiny shiner fry seem to be settling into their new digs. The 2 banded darters are actively scouting, and one of them sampled the bloodworms. So that's a good sign. The tiny shiner fry are a treat for my sunfish when I can catch em. I need a net with very fine holes to be more successful.

 

Have a blessed night!

 

The Grumpy Old Man.

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[Chasmodes]

Chris, looking good man!  I love the insulator, like a true US native creek near me LOL.  I found a creek with nice bottles and I might bring one home to add to the tank.  

 

I may have to pick your brain on tips to find whole insulators.  All of the ones that I've seen have been broken.

 

Nice to see that you're back in the game buddy!!!!!