136 replies to this topic

[Cricket]

I forgot to ask. What are your thoughts on putting a juvenile Molly about the size of a mature pygmy sunfish in the tank to clean up some of the algae on a temporary basis?

[Chasmodes]

I made another video cause I'm a nerd but @Gerald you should check out the ovaries on Diamond in this video! They are massive. Do they hold on to them for a while sometimes? Today she's looking quite normal
https://youtu.be/1xXaC1TzMXQ

Nice video, thanks for sharing!  Very interesting and beautiful fish you have there

[itsme]

Sorry to cut in.  The ovaries on Diamond are depleted.  They've probably got eggs all over that tank!  A full female has a protruding belly, like a pregnant woman.  It's quite dramatic.  Looks like Diamond and her boyfriend are just cranking them out!  Thanks for the video and shout out!

[itsme]

On the Molly, try it and see what happens.  Will likely lose some Elassoma eggs.  But I'm thinking it won't make much of a dent in your hatch rate.  Though fry will certainly be targeted by any other fishes you add to the tank.  I wonder if small shrimps would work better?  Again, eggs may be at risk.  Got any Red Cherry Shrimp?

[itsme]

You need an algae grazer that stays _small_ and prefers algae to higher protein foods.

[itsme]

Maybe small Otocinclus.

[Cricket]

Sorry to cut in.  The ovaries on Diamond are depleted.  They've probably got eggs all over that tank!  A full female has a protruding belly, like a pregnant woman.  It's quite dramatic.  Looks like Diamond and her boyfriend are just cranking them out!  Thanks for the video and shout out!

feel free to cut in any time this was the last good shot I got me her ovaries compared to now. Or rather when I took the video. So which is more depleted and which is less.
maybe I should give her a vacation in another tank all by herself 😂

You need an algae grazer that stays _small_ and prefers algae to higher protein foods.

Yeah. It stinks that any good ones would eat eggs too. I have some hair algae on the plants. Do Ottos eat that? I think I'd like another option lol. Gonna have to study I guess.

[gerald]

My suggestion is:  Learn to Love Algae!  The all-around best algae-eating critter IME is Amano shrimp, but i'm not sure what they'd do to Elassoma eggs and newborn fry.  You can set up another tank just for shrimp, and move any alage-infested plants, wood, etc in there periodically for the shrimp to clean off.

[Cricket]

Nice video, thanks for sharing!  Very interesting and beautiful fish you have there

Thank you

My suggestion is:  Learn to Love Algae!  The all-around best algae-eating critter IME is Amano shrimp, but i'm not sure what they'd do to Elassoma eggs and newborn fry.  You can set up another tank just for shrimp, and move any alage-infested plants, wood, etc in there periodically for the shrimp to clean off.

lol algae doesn't bother me so much if it just didn't bother the plants I would be fine. But I'm worried about it killing my plants. Some seem fine but others are suffering it :/ that's a great idea and I have been working on a bowl for shrimp anyway. Are neos adequate cleaners?

[itsme]

feel free to cut in any time this was the last good shot I got me her ovaries compared to now. Or rather when I took the video. So which is more depleted and which is less.
PicsArt_10-26-10.03.11.jpg maybe I should give her a vacation in another tank all by herself

Yeah. It stinks that any good ones would eat eggs too. I have some hair algae on the plants. Do Ottos eat that? I think I'd like another option lol. Gonna have to study I guess.

 

 

I'd say the lower photo has fewer eggs in there, but who knows.  Neither is a fully ripe fish.  Not that that's a bad thing.  Get eggs out or her while you can, then remove the adults and let the fry grow out.  All that algae is just breeding ground for the tiny invertebrates that the fry can feed on.  

[itsme]

One approach to reducing algae growth is reducing total light exposure.  So manage intensity and duration of light on the tank.  Also reduce the nutrient load by doing water changes... assuming your tap water (or other water supply) is not high in plant nutrients!  That is not a given!  The nitrogen and phosphorus dissolved in tank water is required for algae to grow.  Reducing these, slows growth.  Rooted plants can take nutrients from the substrate.  Maybe I'm not saying anything you don't already know.

[Cricket]

So when the boys are chasing the girls away is that a good time to remove them?

[Cricket]

One approach to reducing algae growth is reducing total light exposure.  So manage intensity and duration of light on the tank.  Also reduce the nutrient load by doing water changes... assuming your tap water (or other water supply) is not high in plant nutrients!  That is not a given!  The nitrogen and phosphorus dissolved in tank water is required for algae to grow.  Reducing these, slows growth.  Rooted plants can take nutrients from the substrate.  Maybe I'm not saying anything you don't already know.

Well I'm pretty new to plants so this is helpful but I have considered most of it. My lights are only on for 6 or 7 hours and I have it on a fairly low setting for the lights ability (8000k) I was wondering if it's possible that not enough light could be a problem? I mean does algae take advantage of both ends of the spectrum? Also I hadn't done a water change in 4 or 5 days because I wanted to let the meds do their thing and then I ran out of prime😱 it finally arrived and I did a 50% water change 3 days ago. Saw one pretty small juvenile in a corner 😍 definitely a new guy. Maybe 3 weeks old? I wiped the plants with my fingers first. Back the next day I wiped the glass and brushed the leaves again and did another water change the next two days. I Do think my water is pretty nutrient rich however not in all nutrients (obviously lol). I also tried with one plant dipping it in hydrogen peroxide. I wasn't sure if it would kill the plant since its new so I was just trying it on 1. Nada! If this type of algae doesn't kill the plants I could get used to it.

I think the problem is my soil wasn't quite mineralized enough. I also don't have a whole inch capping the soil. It's probably a very nutrient rich environment. I suppose water changes would help if it's the soil right? I'm just scared of sucking up babies. I can get more of a cap if that would help.

Also I definitely have babies in my orignal tank. Take a look!
https://youtu.be/m8ywEsuK48s

I removed all the mama's from both 10 gallon tanks but I left the dads. I hope that's ok because I just don't wanna go thru another epic battle scene! Dads should be ok right?

Here's a little video of boys chasing girls but mostly girls out in the open water because the boys are being mean heads.
https://youtu.be/pNK1nljXfGg

Edited by Cricket, 29 October 2017 - 01:50 PM.

[gerald]

Light and nutrient balance always sounds good in theory, but after 50 years of aquarium keeping I still find algae rather mystifying.  Some of my worst blue-green (cyano) and hair-algae problems are in tanks with very low fish load, lots of plants, and low lighting.  Old well-established tanks (3+ years) seem to have less algae troubles, in general, even with heavy bioloads.   Side-by-side tanks illuminated with the SAME light and with similar fish bioloads can act very different in terms of plant & algae dynamics.

 

Unlike Lepomis sunfish (and cichlids), I've never seen Daddy Elassoma actively guarding, fanning, or paying attention to the eggs.  They just guard the spawning area, as far as I can tell, and are perfectly willing to let other ripe females into the nest area to spawn over an existing batch of eggs.

[itsme]

Yup, boys are mean heads!    Awwwwe! Babies!  Love it.  Bachelors will be fine.  Nice looking fat mama!  Yeah that soil thing can be a mess.  I like clay only.  No organic matter to break down.  Might take a wile for all the free nutrients to be released, so maybe a lot of water changes.  Is there a way to test for plant nutrients in the water?  Maybe not cheaply.  Floating plants like water sprite are good nutrient sucks.  All those roots hanging down sponge the stuff out of the water.  Then you can remove the excess plants as they grow, which will permanently remove whatever nutrients they have absorbed.  Will block light to the understory, though, so keep that in mind.  Java Moss can perform a similar function, but more slowly... unless you've got a lot of it.   Gerald is right, though, that a planted tank goes through unpredictable cycles with regard to what is thriving at any point in time.  I have observed this as well.  

[Cricket]

Oh you guys check out how hunk is wearing his colors without. A female presence !! I'm in love! But he doesn't dance for me hahaha

[itsme]

Awesome!  Can I share these?

[Cricket]

Awesome!  Can I share these?

don't even need to ask. Lol. He's such a hunk! And now you know where he got his name

[itsme]

don't even need to ask. Lol. He's such a hunk! And now you know where he got his name

Oh yeah!  Thank you!

[gerald]

I'm in love! But he doesn't dance for me hahaha

hmmm ... maybe a female okee tattoo on your belly would get him dancing?