Aquarium Hobby

[B-1]

Thanks for that, great advice!
Open the curtains for now, but there are not much natural sun light coming through because of the awning over the window.
So far the plants that I do have is one large and one small Amazon Sword Plant, Duckweed, Hornworth and two broad leaf Vallisneria (Basically fresh water Grass). Planning to reduce the Hornworth and add more other plants later on, once the ecosystem has stabilized itself. I want to get some more plants and driftwood from our local reservoir dam.
Really want to add some catfish and assassin snails(to keep the brown snails in check) But alas, it's going to be another 4 weeks before introducing more fish and others to the system. Remember this is a fresh start tank, no seasoned filters from another tank to get a healthy bacteria grow going, just some store gravel, top soil from the garden, a scoop of soil from the dam and plants from the dam

Those are good for a new tank. The Duckweed, Hornworth and Vallisneria are fast growing. Just make sure you add some root tabs to help them grow quick.

Unfortunately sunlight is algea's best friend. Keep that as far away from the tank as you can. There are some who know how to use it but the unpredictability and the intensity makes it much much harder to manage.

You also have to be careful of taking things from the dam. The dam will have all sorts of predators and diseases. Most people will do a quarantine tank and keep the wild items in there for several months before introducing it into the main tank.

 

[Jean Claude Vaaldamme]

Plants need light and a lot of it. Even 6 hours sounds low. Oh and sunlight is even worse for algae. Your algae problem is that normal soil, not the lights.

 

[_Jakes_]

Algea in a new planted tank is normal, it takes a couple of months to settle in. After about 6 months you will find the tank stays cleaner for much longer. I clean mine about once a month. Did you put sand on top of the soil?

 

[Binary_Bark]

Those are good for a new tank. The Duckweed, Hornworth and Vallisneria are fast growing. Just make sure you add some root tabs to help them grow quick.

Unfortunately sunlight is algea's best friend. Keep that as far away from the tank as you can. There are some who know how to use it but the unpredictability and the intensity makes it much much harder to manage.

You also have to be careful of taking things from the dam. The dam will have all sorts of predators and diseases. Most people will do a quarantine tank and keep the wild items in there for several months before introducing it into the main tank.

I've added a lot of natural sub straight and quite deep. For the dam plants, you are 100% correct. I've started building a quarantine container using rain water and tap water with dirted sub straight on the bottom again, duckweed on the top and Hornworth clippings from the tank to sort all that out.

Plants need light and a lot of it. Even 6 hours sounds low. Oh and sunlight is even worse for algae. Your algae problem is that normal soil, not the lights.

It's a virgin tank, so some blooms does happen. Usually have the multi-spectrum light on a timer. But yes, the light timing for now is a bit low. Will switch it up again later next week. The natural sunlight the tank gets is very low. That specific window has a awning and parking shade over it. Do you think it's too much or will work?

 

[Binary_Bark]

Algae in a new planted tank is normal, it takes a couple of months to settle in. After about 6 months you will find the tank stays cleaner for much longer. I clean mine about once a month. Did you put sand on top of the soil?

About 60 days for a start.
My sub straight is dirted soil and a bag of black gravel from the store mixed and washed

 

[Binary_Bark]

 

[Jean Claude Vaaldamme]

Have this little tank next to my pc that I build during Covid. But its standing dry for more than a year. Maybe I should start again.


My son made this one from old air fryer/convection oven glass bowl

 

[Binary_Bark]

My son made this one from old air fryer/convection oven glass bowl
/pic

Wish I thought about this before throwing our original one out, really great idea! What systems are you running on both? Natural, small usb pumps, etc?

 

[Jean Claude Vaaldamme]

Wish I thought about this before throwing our original one out, really great idea! What systems are you running on both? Natural, small usb pumps, etc?

We just build them, not technical. Don't know what you mean by natural.
The air fryer bowl just had a small pump that stirred the water and he had some tetra like fish that does not need a heater.
My small tank had a heater and just one of those small hang on back filter thingies.

 

[Binary_Bark]

We just build them, not technical. Don't know what you mean by natural.
The air fryer bowl just had a small pump that stirred the water and he had some tetra like fish that does not need a heater.
My small tank had a heater and just one of those small hang on back filter thingies.

By natural I mean like I’m aiming for, self-sustaining ecosystem that’s balanced, with no filters and no regular water changes at the end, they are needed at the start. The idea is to rely on plants, substrate, and beneficial bacteria to handle the waste and bacteria, with just a small pump running occasionally to keep water circulating.

For example, there’s a 200gallon tank at work that runs completely natural, no circulation, no water changes and doing well. I know the scale and water volume there make a big difference compared to my setup, but I believe it’s possible to get close to that concept on a smaller level with the right planning and patience. It’s a long term thing.

 

[Okty]

Very cool @Binary_Bark!

I also had a natural tank for many years before having to stop due to reasons.

I might have missed it going through this thread, but for planted tanks, you should also monitor the mineral levels for your plants.

When I started, everything was good, but over time many of my plants would start struggling with growth etc. Then read about the minerals water plants actually needed, adjusted and they started recouping and winning 'the war' against algae.

Unfortunately, the page I used to visit no longer exists, it used to also show pictures of common plant problems and what could potentially be wrong/mineral lacking in the water. But here is one maybe to start look at:

Unlocking Your Planted Tank's Potential: Understanding GH & KH for Thriving Aquarium

Feeling lost about water chemistry for your planted tank? Our guide demystifies GH & KH! Learn why these minerals matter for lush plants and healthy fish. Discover how to test your water and easily adjust it to the ideal GH/KH of 4 using RO/DI water, Seachem Equilibrium, or even baking soda...

www.aquascapeguide.com

Nutrient Deficiencies: Why Your Aquarium Plants Are Dying

Are your live aquatic plants dying one by one? Learn to recognize the first signs of nutrient deficiencies so that you feed your plants what they need.

www.aquariumcoop.com

For Calcium and Magnesium the main thing comes down to your KH and GH levels for your plants (many places that sell plants will also give a range of these values the plants prefer etc).

I used to buy RO water, and then add the needed minerals to get values for my tanks. You can buy commercial products, or go DIY as I did to save some cash. The only commercial one I bought was for iron supplement.

Nitrogen and phosphate shouldn't be a problem if you have fish/shrimp in the aquarium (food and poop).

PS - eventually, you might want to reduce the 'floaters', i.e. duckweed in your tank as your main plants starts growing. Duckweed is awesome in the beginning to help ensure NH3, NO3- or NO2- is near zero in your tank, but they are also competition for your main plants, and they have an 'unfair' advantage since they can absorb CO2 from the atmosphere instead of the water column (but keep a few just as an insurance policy).

 

[Binary_Bark]

Quick update. The Hornwort took over, had to do a lot of trimming. Added some more ground cover and grass, somehow this added a diatom bloom hence the white colour .
With three new species added, Kuhli Loach, Assassin Snail and not sure about the other.
The Kuhli Loach, is magnificent and beautiful, great to watch and very busy.
The Assassin snail started doing it's job within 2 hours, it was hunting and eating a brown snail. Bottom right on the glass is the assassin snail chowing a brown snail

 

[_Jakes_]

 

[ponder]

And unless you're able to do regular water changes, forget it.

Used to take 6x 25l containers in the boot of my car to the old durban aquarium after work one friday every month. They had taps in the back parking lot with fresh filtered seawater, you could feel the 150kg weight driving home

I had a 180x60x60cm tank I purchased used for R500 or something stupid like that, built a 120x40x40 sump, 100mm sq tubing stand I got built for free as someone owed my dad a favour and the woodworking hobbyist neighbour clad the stand and built the canopy/light hood. Fun days.

 

[semaphore]

There is no such thing as no water changes in aquariums, just low water changes.

Of course there is, many do it.

edit: Ignoring freshwater top up.

 

[semaphore]

I added a few frog spawn, holy grail and 24k torches to my tank today. I also got a new fish.

Mystery Wrasse


Other fish I have are hippo tang, flame angel, mandarin (green), scopas tang, diamon goby, etc.

I do water changes once a month or once every two months. Have around 500 watts of LED on top use aggressive nutrient export, algase scrubber aswell as 160ml vineger a day for carbon dosing.

 

[semaphore]

Love those mandarin and that mystery wrasse is awesome.

Yep, mandarins are awesome but they will only eat live food so constantly keeping my pod population topped up and growing my own phyto.

I was going to get a yellow tang but due to me having a scopas already, I opted against it. It's a bit of an aggressive prick so it would beat up the yellow and at 5,500 a fish it would be a bit of a crappy thing to see it get taken out. So got the mystery instead, I need to catch the fox face from my old tank and move it to my new system along with a bangai cardinal.

This is my flame angel:



Was having GHA as the tank was about 1 month post cycle but its all cleared up now. Thankfully it hasnt taken an interest in my zoas or clam.

 

[Binary_Bark]

Will do update tomorrow (Wish more of you would also share)
Things are going well, added rocks and more plants. Almost at the magic 60 days. Water test seen all good, except pH 8.0 and carbonates 300mg/l, those two think I can handle with some drift wood, peat moss and percentage water change (Done today)

 

[Binary_Bark]

Of course there is, many do it.

edit: Ignoring freshwater top up.

With a well freshwater established tank, no water changes are needed. But from a new start, to get things established and good water balance you might have to. My last water test and high pH has forced me to do so (Mind the tank is still new)

 

[semaphore]

With a well freshwater established tank, no water changes are needed. But from a new start, to get things established and good water balance you might have to. My last water test and high pH has forced me to do so (Mind the tank is still new)

Guess it depends on the person, people I know don't do them, or if they do its like once a year. Friend of mine has a 1500l system, heavily stocked with rays and such.

This is my watchman keeping a lookout for the pistol shrimp

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streamable.com

My tank while it was cycling



I'm planning to expand the volume with a 1500L pond in the garage as the plumbing is routed through the wall for my chiller.