Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 8:44 pm Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
Arun - My personal suggestion is any wood will work in a fish tank given a time frame(3 months) to settle(with no fish). Looking at the picture I cant tell the kind of driftwood you have. It looks like a guava tree branch
The bubbles are natural, it means water is entering in your wood that's fine. I don't know if the driftwood is really releasing toxins. Did you ask them is aquarium safe?
Your guppy might have fin rot! High likely because of ammonia poisoning and other infection. Can you remove all the fishes to another small tank for couple of weeks? probably add M.Blue which is safe in all terms and its always better to have one handy. Some salt is good too but don't add salt and medicine in to your main tank. Because you will slowly loose your plants and bacteria. Plants can tolerate salt to some extent but its completely based on how hardy are your plants.
At this point if I am at your situation, I will take a step back read lot of articles and do what is necessary at this point. Most importantly patience is the key. Many hobbyist think(incl me) if water is clear then everything is fine. But Most of the toxins and chemicals are colorless and odorless. the problem is your tank is new and plants must be just started to settle down, they cant help much in sucking toxins and chemicals, it will take 1-2 months for them to help you in full flow.
Can you provide the stocking list? your plants and fish?
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 11:12 pm Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
Gokul,
Don't know which plants are those. I didn't pay attention to the aquarium guy (my bad). and fishes are all guppies (approx 30 nos) with different colors. Let me go to that shop again tomorrow (aquastar) and see what that guy says.
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 11:25 pm Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
Aquastar? Oh man they would have charged for guppies like anything! I hate buying fish from that guy he will charge u a lot. Guppies are always disease prone, I never succeeded keeping them from long term even after quarantine.
Get a close up picture of plants, everyone here will help you to identify the plants.
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 5:56 am Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
Arun,
Fish picture is not clear, cannot identify anything from the picture. Btw how did you say it has an infection?
So, from the pictures I can guess few plants, first & third picture - Looks like Rotala True, Second Picture has Temple and Hygrophila plant. There is some grass that I cant recognize.
Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 12:36 pm Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
Hi Gokul,
Looks like I found the root cause. It seems to be that I was adding liquid fert (ferropol), when my tank was hardly 1 week hold and my plants might not be absorbing all that. Eventually due to lack of beneficial bacteria this didn't break down. Also I added too many fishes. All together causing build up of ammonia. I ended up losing 6 fishes. Now I have them isolated, and having 2 algae eater and 3-4 very small guppies. Cycling my tank now hoping the beneficial bacteria builds up and does the magic. In any case I will wait for 15 days and then introduce the remaining fishes.
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 2:04 am Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
If I am not wrong, ferropol is for micro? or just Iron? it cannot increase your ammonia levels. Possibilities are Overfeeding, fish waste, dead plants & not enough nitrifying bacteria. You need to check if your ammonia levels are extremely low( < 0.25ppm) then decide on introducing more fishes.
If I am not wrong, ferropol is for micro? or just Iron? it cannot increase your ammonia levels. Possibilities are Overfeeding, fish waste, dead plants & not enough nitrifying bacteria. You need to check if your ammonia levels are extremely low( < 0.25ppm) then decide on introducing more fishes.
Shopkeeper said micro/macro both not just iron, will check with him again. I am also of the same opinion that ammonia level needs to be monitored. Do you know any reasonably priced test kit? Should I get from aquastar?
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 9:55 am Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
To be honest all shopkeepers in India are either don't have sufficient knowledge or cheat us easily. Any hobbyist can stop me if I am wrong, I can take my statement back. We need to educate ourselves so that we can validate shopkeepers :)
Well you can ask your friends in Singapore or US to get one for you, Price is just 35-40% of the actual price in India. I always go for API, so don't know if there are any other brands available in market.
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 9:58 am Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
The point is Macro and Micro cannot be mixed together If mixed Iron will loose its stability, Micro and Macro must be separate. There is no liquid ferts in the market which comes with NPK + Micro.
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 10:02 am Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
Invest money in getting dry ferts, don't go with these liquid ferts. They are expensive and wont suit your need completely. Go to parrys and you get all the ferts for the price you paid for ferropol. You can use these dry ferts for atleast 2-3yrs. Read about EI dosing and ferts forum.
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 10:48 am Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
Gokul,
Too many things to consider, I think its not that easy hobby. I also tried DIY CO2 with 2 liter soda bottle. But CO2 died after 3 days. What would be correct proportion, this is not adequately told anywhere. Is it 200 gm of sugar per liter of water?
BTW: I almost lost 50% of my fishes now, everyday few casualty
Joined: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 39 Location: bangalore
Status: Offline
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 12:18 pm Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
Arun,
The most stable way of diffusing CO2 is through a CO2 cylinder. However, you can also do a DIY CO2, like most of the hobbyist do.
The last time I did a yeast sugar CO2, it lasted for almost a month. The bubble rate was very unstable. Sometimes it was 3bps, sometimes it was 1 bubble per 3 sec etc.
If you add more sugar, it wont last too long. The secret is to make the mixture proportionately. Here is what I did:
-2 Ltr of water in a 2.25 ltr can
-200 gms of sugar
-22 to 24 granules of bakers yeast
-(Optional) baking soda, a pinch (I didn't add this by the way)
Dissolve the sugar in warm water. Keep the yeast granules in warm water for 10-15 minutes. Add both of these to the bottle. Make sure the water is not too warm, just about 32 Deg. Celsius.
Make sure there are no leaks and you are good to go.
Arun, the main things which makes a hobby successful is research, research and more research and most important of all is patience. Don't give up.
Joined: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 39 Location: bangalore
Status: Offline
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 12:30 pm Post subject: Re: Newbie to Planted Aquarium - Need Advice
Also, get in touch with a fellow hobbyist Sujo, if you need all the macro and micro ferts. Don't waste money on imported liquid ferts, which costs fortune. You may contact him @ 8123258312. He can courier all the ferts you need, if its in stock.
The most stable way of diffusing CO2 is through a CO2 cylinder. However, you can also do a DIY CO2, like most of the hobbyist do.
The last time I did a yeast sugar CO2, it lasted for almost a month. The bubble rate was very unstable. Sometimes it was 3bps, sometimes it was 1 bubble per 3 sec etc.
If you add more sugar, it wont last too long. The secret is to make the mixture proportionately. Here is what I did:
-2 Ltr of water in a 2.25 ltr can
-200 gms of sugar
-22 to 24 granules of bakers yeast
-(Optional) baking soda, a pinch (I didn't add this by the way)
Dissolve the sugar in warm water. Keep the yeast granules in warm water for 10-15 minutes. Add both of these to the bottle. Make sure the water is not too warm, just about 32 Deg. Celsius.
Make sure there are no leaks and you are good to go.
Arun, the main things which makes a hobby successful is research, research and more research and most important of all is patience. Don't give up.
Regards
Thanks Raggz - Nowadays I am only doing that (research)..
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Too many things to consider, I think its not that easy hobby. I also tried DIY CO2 with 2 liter soda bottle. But CO2 died after 3 days. What would be correct proportion, this is not adequately told anywhere. Is it 200 gm of sugar per liter of water?
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