Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

My tank is Algae Soup. Fact.
Everything covered in slimy green web like Algae. A total mess. I need to
start over this weekend. There are a number of things I recognise that I
have done wrong. One of them is that my fishload is very low, thus providing
practically zero nitrates or phosphates for the plants! It is a small 10
gallon tank that only houses 4 Threadfin Rainbows. I would like to add some
more peaceful compatible tankmates. Any suggestions? Quantity? Species? I
can't add more Threadfins as they are rare in my area and I bought the last
4 from the LFS, 1 male (he's a beauty) and 3 females. Any Ideas?

Many Thanks
Cameron

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

"Cam" wrote:

My tank is Algae Soup. Fact.
Everything covered in slimy green web like Algae. A total mess. I need to
start over this weekend. There are a number of things I recognise that I
have done wrong. One of them is that my fishload is very low, thus providing
practically zero nitrates or phosphates for the plants! It is a small 10
gallon tank that only houses 4 Threadfin Rainbows. I would like to add some
more peaceful compatible tankmates. Any suggestions? Quantity? Species?

Instead of tearing up the existing setup (and stressing your fish),
how about adding one or two Siamese Algae Eaters? Not only will they
provide nutrients for the plants you want, but they'll do so by eating
the algae which you don't want.

And they're fairly entertaining fish, too.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

Hey Eric

Thanks for the suggestion. I live in South Africa dood, decent varieties of
fish are few and far between. I have read articles and seen pics of Siamese
Algae Eaters but have never seen a live one! Sheesh, I've never even seen a
live Killifish!!! Hows that for a bummer? I also hear that SAE's can get
nasty once they're a bit bigger. I could move them I suppose to another tank
but would like to add algae grazers that can co-exist with Iriatherina
Wernieri peacefully. The keyword with this tank is Greenpeace :) LOL...

Anyways, I've been doing some researching on cyanobacteria, I believe this
is the evil that has inhabited my tank. I understand that this bacteria
flourishes when there is excess phosphates in the water column. The last 2
weeks I have added 0 ferts to the tank as I thought that starving the tank
might alleviate the algae probs. God, I could'nt have been more mistaken.
Apparenly I need to add MORE ferts in order for the plants to take up the
excess phosphates. Am i understanding this correctly? I think I also need to
add more plants. I only have about 40% of the foot of the tank covered.

Any suggestions, anyone. Is this tank still salvagable? God help me :) LOL.
Help me, Tom...Leighmo....other Gurus?


"Eric Schreiber" wrote in message
...
"Cam" wrote:

My tank is Algae Soup. Fact.
Everything covered in slimy green web like Algae. A total mess. I need to
start over this weekend. There are a number of things I recognise that I
have done wrong. One of them is that my fishload is very low, thus
providing
practically zero nitrates or phosphates for the plants! It is a small 10
gallon tank that only houses 4 Threadfin Rainbows. I would like to add
some
more peaceful compatible tankmates. Any suggestions? Quantity? Species?

Instead of tearing up the existing setup (and stressing your fish),
how about adding one or two Siamese Algae Eaters? Not only will they
provide nutrients for the plants you want, but they'll do so by eating
the algae which you don't want.

And they're fairly entertaining fish, too.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

"Cam" wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion. I live in South Africa dood, decent varieties of
fish are few and far between. I have read articles and seen pics of Siamese
Algae Eaters but have never seen a live one!

Ah, yes, that would be a problem :)

I also hear that SAE's can get nasty once they're a bit bigger.

That may be, I don't know. Mine are fairly small yet (around 5 cm).
While they are very active fish, I haven't seen any indication of
aggressive behavior towards the other fish.

Apparenly I need to add MORE ferts in order for the plants to take up the
excess phosphates. Am i understanding this correctly?

Probably. The trick with plants is to strike the right balance of
nutrients, and it takes some experimenting to get it right - every
tank is different. My tank has been running for 8 months now, and the
first six were a plant and algae disaster. For me, the thing that did
the trick was adding potassium.

Any suggestions, anyone. Is this tank still salvagable?

I'm sure it can be salvaged if you're patient. Tell us more about your
tank... what kinds of plants, how much light, are you adding CO2, what
are your water parameters, that sort of thing.

--
www.ericschreiber.com

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

My tank is Algae Soup. Fact.
Everything covered in slimy green web like Algae. A total mess. I need to
start over this weekend.

How much light do you have over the tank? And are you injecting CO2? What
kind of plants do you have? How often do you do water changes?

There are a number of things I recognise that I
have done wrong. One of them is that my fishload is very low, thus providing
practically zero nitrates or phosphates for the plants! It is a small 10
gallon tank that only houses 4 Threadfin Rainbows.

That is not that low a fishload for a 10 gallon tank. Threadfins get to be 2".
Four of them is a lot of fish for a ten gallon tank.

I would not add Siamese Algae Eaters, either. They get to be much too large
for a 10 gallon tank. They are happiest in groups, get to be 6", and are
extremely active. Frankly, I've found 29 gallons to be too small a tank for
them.

If you want to add algae eaters, otocinclus catfish would be a better choice
for a ten gallon tank. Get three, if you can. Or try snails. Pomacea
bridgesii come in all kinds of pretty colors, and they won't take over your
tank.

Do you know for sure that nitrates are the problem? Have you tested for them?
IME, too much nitrate is more likely to be your problem than too little, unless
you have a high-light tank.



Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

Can you get white cloud minnows. They are a beautiful fish to keep and
peaceful.
Wilma
"Cam" wrote in message
...
My tank is Algae Soup. Fact.
Everything covered in slimy green web like Algae. A total mess. I need to
start over this weekend. There are a number of things I recognise that I
have done wrong. One of them is that my fishload is very low, thus
providing
practically zero nitrates or phosphates for the plants! It is a small 10
gallon tank that only houses 4 Threadfin Rainbows. I would like to add
some
more peaceful compatible tankmates. Any suggestions? Quantity? Species? I
can't add more Threadfins as they are rare in my area and I bought the
last
4 from the LFS, 1 male (he's a beauty) and 3 females. Any Ideas?

Many Thanks
Cameron

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

tose (LeighMo) wrote:

If you want to add algae eaters, otocinclus catfish would be a better choice
for a ten gallon tank. Get three, if you can.

Which means get six, as half are likely to die in the first week. Otos
have a high mortality rate when first brought home.

Personally, I've had poor results with otos. The first week they did a
tremendous job of cleaning up algae, but after that they moved in
under the heater in the back of the tank, and I haven't seen them
working since. I'd fire them, but I don't want to deal with severance
issues.

Or try snails. Pomacea bridgesii come in all kinds of pretty colors,
and they won't take over your tank.

Good advice, but make sure (Cam) that you're actually getting
bridgesii snails. You may be best off buying them from an experienced
hobbyist. May pet stores will sell a variety of snails under the
blanket name "apple / mystery snail". If you get Pomacea canaliculata
instead of bridgesii, your plants will disappear along with your
algae!



--
www.ericschreiber.com

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

If you want to add algae eaters, otocinclus catfish would be a better choice
for a ten gallon tank. Get three, if you can.

Which means get six, as half are likely to die in the first week. Otos
have a high mortality rate when first brought home.

That has not been my experience. I've found them to be very hardy, even when
first brought home.

I wonder if it's the shipping process that's so stressful for them. I know
pl*cos tend to suck on each other in transit, since there's no algae to eat. A
good shipper will put each pl*co in its own bag for that reason. But otos are
so small and cheap, it's really not economical to do that.

Or maybe they just starve on the long journey. They're so small.

Anyway, I don't buy otos fresh out of the truck. Otos are a "bread and butter"
fish that the pet stores always have. They tend to buy a bunch every once in
awhile, rather than a few each week as with more expensive, exotic fish. So
there's no rush to buy them, and they tend to be in the store tanks awhile. If
you wait a week before buying, for any fish, you're much less likely to suffer
losses.

Good advice, but make sure (Cam) that you're actually getting
bridgesii snails. You may be best off buying them from an experienced
hobbyist. May pet stores will sell a variety of snails under the
blanket name "apple / mystery snail". If you get Pomacea canaliculata
instead of bridgesii, your plants will disappear along with your
algae!

Very true. Worse, PetCo, PetSmart, etc., often sell P. canaliculata under the
name P. bridgesii. Even experienced fishkeepers often can't tell the
difference. Make sure you get them from a hobbyist or company that specializes
in planted tanks. They usually know the difference.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

Otos would be your best bet for a 10 gallon tank. But like one of the
other posters said they have a high mortality rate. Once established
should do a good job. If you buy 4 - 6, half of them should live. If
you pay very close attention to them when you pick them out and only buy
ones that look fat instead of thin you should have even better results.

I can relate to the snail problem tho. Hubby got an apple snail this
weekend and before I knew it half of my plants were gone. Snail is now
a happy resident at the LFS and new plants are in the tank. Since I
don't have algae that I can see it must have felt that the plants were
ok to munch on.

Vicki

How much water do you change per week? I have found that for me 50%
keeps everything running smooth. If you don't do frequent water changes
than start off with small ones (1 gal) a week and work up to the larger
ones. To much right now would kill your fish.

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

tose (LeighMo) wrote:

Which means get six, as half are likely to die in the first week.
Otos have a high mortality rate when first brought home.

That has not been my experience. I've found them to be very hardy,
even when first brought home.

You've been pretty lucky then, I'd say, but that's no surprise... You
seem to have a natural, um, fishy equivalent of a green thumb,
whatever that might be. I've seen lots and lots of posts about the
early deaths of new otos, as well as having it happen to me on two
occasions.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

Cameron,

I'd be glad to take those rainbows from you!!! Actually, I'm looking for
female thread-fins at present since I have only one for my four males
and all are now coming of age. Mine are in a 30 gal with some ghost
shrimp and 3 SAE's and 2 flag-tailed porthole cats. Best tank mates I
can suggest for the thread-fins are blue-eyes from Pseudomugil species,
like P. furcata. Make fantastic tank-mates for the rainbows and are my
planned next addition (after I solve the boy-girl ratio with my present
rainbows).

Best Wishes,
-Doug


Wilma Duncan wrote:

Can you get white cloud minnows. They are a beautiful fish to keep and
peaceful.
Wilma
"Cam" wrote in message
...
My tank is Algae Soup. Fact.
Everything covered in slimy green web like Algae. A total mess. I need to
start over this weekend. There are a number of things I recognise that I
have done wrong. One of them is that my fishload is very low, thus
providing
practically zero nitrates or phosphates for the plants! It is a small 10
gallon tank that only houses 4 Threadfin Rainbows. I would like to add
some
more peaceful compatible tankmates. Any suggestions? Quantity? Species? I
can't add more Threadfins as they are rare in my area and I bought the
last
4 from the LFS, 1 male (he's a beauty) and 3 females. Any Ideas?

Many Thanks
Cameron







--

Spammers be DAMNED!
Friendlies: change notmail to hotmail to reply.
Just keeping the web bots and crawlers from filling
our inboxes with junk! May they eternally spam
addresses that swamp their servers with bounced mail!

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

Cut the light for 2-3 hours evey day during a day.

"Cam" wrote in message
...
My tank is Algae Soup. Fact.
Everything covered in slimy green web like Algae. A total mess. I need to
start over this weekend. There are a number of things I recognise that I
have done wrong. One of them is that my fishload is very low, thus
providing
practically zero nitrates or phosphates for the plants! It is a small 10
gallon tank that only houses 4 Threadfin Rainbows. I would like to add
some
more peaceful compatible tankmates. Any suggestions? Quantity? Species? I
can't add more Threadfins as they are rare in my area and I bought the
last
4 from the LFS, 1 male (he's a beauty) and 3 females. Any Ideas?

Many Thanks
Cameron

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

Algae loves day light.

"Cam" wrote in message
...
My tank is Algae Soup. Fact.
Everything covered in slimy green web like Algae. A total mess. I need to
start over this weekend. There are a number of things I recognise that I
have done wrong. One of them is that my fishload is very low, thus
providing
practically zero nitrates or phosphates for the plants! It is a small 10
gallon tank that only houses 4 Threadfin Rainbows. I would like to add
some
more peaceful compatible tankmates. Any suggestions? Quantity? Species? I
can't add more Threadfins as they are rare in my area and I bought the
last
4 from the LFS, 1 male (he's a beauty) and 3 females. Any Ideas?

Many Thanks
Cameron

Threadfin Rainbows & Planted Tank
 

Hello James

Don't know why I'm only finding this message now cause I posted it weeks
ago! Thanks for your advice but I think that cutting the lights for 2-3
hours will do more harm than good.


--
Kind Regards
Cameron McNeill
RS&E Graphics Dept.
"James M K" wrote in message
...
Algae loves day light.

"Cam" wrote in message
...
My tank is Algae Soup. Fact.
Everything covered in slimy green web like Algae. A total mess. I need
to
start over this weekend. There are a number of things I recognise that I
have done wrong. One of them is that my fishload is very low, thus
providing
practically zero nitrates or phosphates for the plants! It is a small 10
gallon tank that only houses 4 Threadfin Rainbows. I would like to add
some
more peaceful compatible tankmates. Any suggestions? Quantity? Species?
I
can't add more Threadfins as they are rare in my area and I bought the
last
4 from the LFS, 1 male (he's a beauty) and 3 females. Any Ideas?

Many Thanks
Cameron