Tank Setup Advice Needed

They are actually a combination of a few pieces strung together. Getting a few more tomorrow. Cant wait to start planting. Busy planning plant layout. What can i plant that is tall enough in the back without CO2.? And where can I find in the east rand?

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Got my new pieces on Sunday. Have to soak them first though. Just pressure washed them and took the bark off.

What is the quickest way to soak and remove tannins?

I think they are some awesome pieces. Wont be able to use all of them, so there might be some up for grabs if soeone is interested?

Thanks

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Very hot water, soak, rinse, repeat...
About the only way to get the wood to release tannin faster, but even then it is not guaranteed.

 

Guys I am hirting a brick wall here. Please help. What is this stuff sticking to my plants? Also what type of grass is in the third picture. Forgot the name.

Also, Whenever I do water changes I lose fish. I still work with buckets unfortunately. I get them to tank temperature, treat with dechlorinaror and then slowly siphon it back into the tank. Tank runs at 24°C. I have tested the water and tap water seems to be fine. I use the JBL strips though.

Please help

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@Keeganjvv ... Im not very good with plants but I am sure someone will chime in
It is probably algae but almost looks like fungus as well.. Are you not overfeeding?

Firstly, try get a liquid test, if you cant, ask your LFS to test your water. Most of them do and they dont charge much

Secondly, what dechlorinator are you using?
Does it do Chlorine and Chloramine?

Im not sure what fish you have but, the fibre in those pots damages the fishes' gills and will kill them if they nibble on it or it comes loose in the water so you should remove the plants from the pots and wash the roots well and then either plant or attach to the wood

 

Hi @Keeganjvv I reread your thread just to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I try and help you. The grass plant is Cobra grass/Lilaeopsis brasiliensis. As @MariaS pointed out remove it from the rockwool and plant it directly in the substrate.

The buildup you get on the plants might be due to under filtration in the tank. Not sure if you have upgraded the internal filter in the meantime or not.

Regarding the fish that is dieing after a wc it will help to know what fish you currently have in the tank. Unfortunately the test strips, any brand, is not realy reliable as they have a tendancy to give false readings. Also how frequent do you do wc and clean your filter and how?

Sorry for all the questions but it might just help sorting out what the problem is.

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Thanks a mil for the help.

I have upgraged to a Tetratec Ex1200 Canister filter about 4 weeks ago. Also put all the media from the internal filter into the canister filter when I switched over. I do about 25% water changes weekly.

I have about 10 Danios, 3 Glass Fish, 6 kuhli loaches and 4 Yoyo loaches. (Terrible stocking I know) Glass fish and danios will be moving to the Mrs's tank shortly and I havent added my planned stocking for this tank until I get this fishkeeping right.

Strangely enough, I lose mainly the Danios which are supposedly the hardiest. They do however play in the current of the incoming water when doing water changes.

I have had the plants in pots for the last two weeks as I first wanted to rearrange my driftwood. They will be planted by tomorrow. Also havent done that yet, because the Kuhli's hide under the Java Moss mesh and I didnt want to stress them too much.

I currently use the Daro Aqua Chlor water conditioner, but want to get Prime before the next water change.

I tend not too overfeed, but it does happen from time to time that they miss some of the food.

Hope this info helps you to help me?

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Helps a lot. Ok your defnitly not overstocked with fish. The feeding shouldn't cause any problems as the loaches will take care of any uneaten food in the tank. The canister is defnitly enough filtration for the tank.

If I'm right regarding the Daro Aqua Chlor it only removes chlorine and not chloramine which might be causing the problem

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Dechlorinators simply break the ammonia/chlorine bond. Things such as prime also bind that ammonia for a while.

 

@Keeganjvv , as @Pierré Schoonraad said, ehat you doing sounds right and my gut feeling points towards the dechlorinator

I also dont think Daro does chloramine, change to Safe or Prime and see what happens

I dont think amonnia is the issue or the fish would be dying at different times and not always at water changes but.. rather get a test kit and be sure.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

 

Hi Keegan

Clown Loaches and other related Loaches/Botia will devour snails. They quite handy at eradicating snails without the use of chemicals.

 

Just lost another 2 Kuhlis. Water temp 24. Readings from test done just now. Nitrate 10, Nitrite 0, Gh 4 to 7, kh 6, ph 7.2, Chlorine 0. Am I maybe feeding them wrong? Inspectrd the bodies and they look fine, no growths no burns not even much discolouration. What the hell?

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Are the buckets you are using used for anything else?? Could be possible that if used for something else that it could introduce some sort of chemical.

When you do a water change do you stir up the gravel significantly?? Could cause an ammonia release or something of that sorts.

How long after the water change did they die?? Could be having a pH swing after the water change. Maybe test your water straigt from the tap, then leave it overnight and test again to see if it changes significantly.

Otherwise I'm out of ideas

 

The bucket (singular unfortunately) is only used for the tank.

I have tested my tap water and that only has minimal chlorine.

I do minimal disruption to the sand substrate.

The kuhlis have now died 2 days after the change.

Will get a proper ammonia test kit and check, but there shouldnt be a reason for a spike, as I inspect the tank very regularly, and remove the dead fish very quickly.

Will try take the water to a lfs tomorrow for a proper test

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Strip again? It could well be ammonia damage.

It may also be some other disease that you aren't noticing.

 

Unfortunately strip again.. Will go test tomorrow

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@Keeganjvv, as has been said, you need to test for the ammonia so lets see what your tests say tomorrow

However.... sorry if im a pain.... take those plants out of the pots and get rid of that fiber asap... the Kuhls could have died from that

About a year and half ago i made same mistake... i lost 3 fairly large stunning, healthy clown loaches
I went shopping the Saturday, bought some plants and put them in the tank to plant the next day
Unfortunately i had family show up and it didnt get done so i decided i would do it the Thursday with my water change
A day or so later, i saw the loaches picking around the plants for pieces of food that had fallen
In under 12 hours i lost the three loaches. you could not see a mark on them...
Kuhlis also forage the bottom....

 

So heres the deal...

Went to the LFS today and tested both my tap and tank water. All is perfect. Ammonia 0, nitrite 0. They however did not test for chloramine or chlorine. So I decided to buy Prime and they suggested I dose stability as well (Dont think Stability was nessecary, what you think?).

They suggested doing smaller water changes, which I could live with. But dont think that could be the problem.

I decided to plant all the plants out today, so ender up buying some more plants Ferrotabs and Flourish.

They had some amazing Plecos, but dont want to chance any new fish until I have this sorted. Galaxy pleco, columbian zebra, Panaque.

Will the Flourish and Pime work against one another? How often must I dose the flourish.

Pardon the cloudiness. Will do a change in the week again

Now I cant fiddle anymore

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BTW

Must I wait a bit for the grass to establish first before trimming? Or should I trim them?

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Flourish and prime will be fine together don't worry.

Let the grasses grow first, these things need some time to settle