Hi Chetan!
Definitely appreciate your patience and would like to congratulate you on your tank. I just needed to know if you faced a lot brown smut that settles on the leaves and drift wood and what measures have you taken to reduce that. Your valuable inputs would be beneficial.
Govindsj
Tank: H 2ftX L 2ft X B1ft.
Plants: Java moss, nana anubias and java ferns.
co2: Diffused ( less then 1bsp)
Fauna: 4 medium sized discus and a few mountain minnows
Substrate: Aquaclay
Light : 56W PLL (Reduced the duration recently to 3hrs 30min
Time - 5pm to 830 pm
External canister Eheim 2217 for filteration
I face the same problem and has been searching for a solution, no success. I suspect Aqua clay is the issue as that is the common factor for both of us.
Hi Chetan!
Definitely appreciate your patience and would like to congratulate you on your tank. I just needed to know if you faced a lot brown smut that settles on the leaves and drift wood and what measures have you taken to reduce that. Your valuable inputs would be beneficial.
Govindsj
I face the same problem and has been searching for a solution, no success. I suspect Aqua clay is the issue as that is the common factor for both of us.
The closest thing to brown smut that I am currently facing in this tank is shrimp poop. There is loads of it gathered up. It's settling on the leaves and wood as well. There must be even more inside the bogwood. I am just trying to filter it out as much as I can during the water changes. Don't know how to get rid of it without ripping everything apart. For starters though I have got a filter up and running. It looks like brown powder, and is surely toxic in large quantities.
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:56 pm Post subject: Re: It's A Jungle Out There (NonCO2 Planted Shrimp) *29May:E
Finally some filtration
After almost of going filter-less for a year I have now got a new filter. I wanted to get the same Resun external filter which I first had in this (until the fall I had which broke it), but it has disappeared from the market. Allegedly, the filter was not a success with high reports of not working after a few months - like it had started to do for me.
I did not want an internal canister filter since it would ruin the look, and frankly I don't find them much efficient. I like the efficiency and economy of top filters (which is installed in my other tank) however since this is lidless aquarium, a top filter will not be practical. So for months my tank was lingering along with just a humble aerator. However over time the water started to become hazy with lots of suspended matter.
Then I remembered the HOB (hang on the back) filters.They were the rage at one time, but now hardly any LFS stock them. But this filter was still my best bet (in terms of balancing economy, efficiency, and looks). Incidentally two weeks back I found a single piece stocked in one of the borivali LFSs. And promptly went ahead and bought it.
Here it is ...
The Dolphin H-300, which claims to filter 300 litres/hour.
Frankly the filter compartments turned out to be smaller than expected, and the sheet of mesh for mechanical filtration is extremely thin for long-term functionality. I added another layer of fresh filter mesh that I had lying around. It isn't the best, but it ain't the worst either (yet). It got the water dramatically clear in a few hours, and improved the visibility as each day passed. The down-side is that I have to clean the mesh every other day. It darkens and clogs up. Hopefully it should get better eventually. I have accumulated an year's worth of shrimp poop in the tank, and it's not pretty. The poop of course needs to be manually siphoned out. But god there's just so much shit in there!
But I overall I am happy with the filter. It's doing its work well and is creating a pleasant stream on the surface. As the water level will drop then this stream will turn into a waterfall. But I don't mind that since there used to be a waterfall feature before in the place where the tank is.
What are my thoughts after going successfully an year without a filter? ... having a filter is recommended, especially for the mechanical filtration. Else you'll be stuck with Edit.
here are some pics of the filter right after setup. The water is extra murky because its current got all the shrimp poop flying everywhere ...
Last edited by Chetan3 on Sun Jan 31, 2016 1:35 pm; edited 2 times in total
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 11:12 pm Post subject: Re: It's A Jungle Out There (NonCO2 Planted Shrimp) *29May:E
its really amazing that you were able to successfully keep up the good work despite not using a filter!!!
Hats off to your effort and on a wonderful tank..
doesnt that power filter suck in shrimplets?? i had a smaller filter similar to what u have and all my shrimplets were gone in a few hrs.
The intake by itself sure can suck in shrimplets. On the second day of installing the filter, while i was cleaning the mesh, i found two juvenile shrimps inside the filter - but alive. Ideally we need to put another mesh around the intake opening to prevent the shrimp from being sucked in. I still have to do that for this filter.
The shrimplets in this tank stay in the bogwood. And even before they reach the filter intake, they'll probably be eaten by the cardinal tetras.
I am sorry for your shrimplet loss. Do try putting a mesh on the intake the next time.
Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 2:09 am Post subject: Re: It's A Jungle Out There (NonCO2 Planted Shrimp) *29May:E
Pics update ...
So here's how the tank been doing all these months. I did some minor changes in the scape over the last few weeks. I also found a miniature hut lying around which when I placed in the tank seemed to compliment the scape. Including human elements usually kills the natural look of an aquascape, but in this case the house does well.
Have replaced the 'dwarf sagittaria' with 'dwarf chain amazon swords'. A rich riccia carpet has developed on the surface, owing to generous lighting.
The dwarf marsilea have been growing alright, but not quick enough to fill the carpet in all these months. Though I had given some of them to a friend of mine as well.
Have now also got marsilea quadrifolia (aka giant marsilea) which is an impressive specimen on its own; as you'll see in the pics below. It grows much faster than its dwarf variety.
In the fauna, I have transferred a pair of electric blue ramirezi from the other tank to this one. They were getting bullied too much by the established clan of ramirezis there. These two became quite pale, as you can see, so I thought of giving them a break and shifting them here. Will have to see how they behave towards the shrimp after they regain their confidence, on the basis of which we'll decide if they stay or go. At the moment though they are very nervous.
Quite a few sakura grade red cherry shrimps have sprung up in the tank. This is one specimen.
Got a school of mosquito rasboras as well. They are quite tiny as you can see this one next to a shrimp. They are also very shy, needing plant cover to feel secure. They are always under the shaded area at the right end of the tank. After I got them, they got so stressed that they developed ich. 1-2 died of it, the rest recovered in a weeks time. Now they are more adventurous and often dare darting into the open. Mosquito rasboras are supposed to be rapid breeders ... we'll see if that is true.
The shrimp like hanging out on the riccia carpet :drinking:
The marsilea quadrifolia buds are growing quite fast. The first clover hit the surface within the first week itself. I'll leave you with some more pics of it. Enjoy!
Last edited by Chetan3 on Sun Jan 31, 2016 2:03 pm; edited 2 times in total
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