My 45 Gallon gateway back into fish keeping

MrParker · 10-05-2009, 08:55 AM

I setup two DIY CO2 reactors, and left for the weekend (sister feeding the fish) came back and they still had not produced any CO2? Is it just that the yeast is dead/ inactive? or could it be because the room temperature where they are is too cold? I'm hoping its just inactive yeast problem

Newman · 10-05-2009, 06:06 PM

Inactive yeast or a serious blockage in the line... My yeast reactor is constantly at colder than room temps. and its still producing bubbles at an alarming rate.

Check your recipe and try a different kind of dry yeast.

A way to sex your platy is to look at the anal fin. if its fan shaped and looks like the bottom two fins, then its female. if its sharp and pointy shaped, and kinda looks like a swordtail gonopodium, then its male. not as pronounced as swordtail though.

MrParker · 10-07-2009, 11:54 PM

Ok so here is the latest. This past weekend that I left hoping the CO2 would be working, I had also accidentally left the light on over night one night. So let me paint this picture for you.
1. Added API Plant nutrient (1/2 dose)
2. Hooked up the CO2
3. Left town, and my sister who is in town, couldnt get to the tank to turn off the light that night.
Anyone seeing what's happening?
perfect setup for algae bloom eh? yes dream come true. I came back to rapidly spreading/ growing brown algea, along with a little green here and there. The brown is mostly on the open sand substrate and glass in the side of the tank that has less water flow.

Tank stats before today:
80W 6700k lights
30-60 Aqua Tech power filter
sand substrate
1 small rock
4 neon tetras
some myrio
some moneywort

My solution for the algae:
+1 filter (15-30 gal Aqua tech filter) for extra filtering to handle a larger load + water movement
+3 oto's
+a large bunch of cabomba
+2 bundles of wisteria
+a 2L DIY CO2 (the first one was a 1 liter bottle)

And i will do a little over 25% water change tomorrow

Did I do a good thing? Does anyone disagree with what I have done? or have some more ideas?

Also another question i have is about my rocks. The reason I have waited so long to aquascape is because the big rocks i collected were from some random place, some containing spider web bits on them, lots of dirt clods etc. How extensive do i need to go to clean these rocks? i have some 75cent grill brushes (unused) would it be worth rinsing and scrubbing them with the brushes? or should just hosing and rubbing them down be good? should i soak them in water first? Suggestions? I really want to get my tank complete.

Second question is on the Cycling. I have:
.2 Ammonia
0 Nitrites
25 (ppm i think) Nitrates

This doesnt make sense to me, I havent gotten an Ammonia spike, nor have I gotten any nitrite readings ever, so how could I have nitrates?
What is a common reading for Nitrates that is good?

I hope none of these questions get forgotten. There are kind of a lot of them... Thanks for your help ahead of time

tropicalcrazy · 10-08-2009, 08:58 AM

dont know too much on the rest so dont wanna give wrong advice but what about doing another aqua 30-60 filter instead of a 15-30g one? i have 2 of those and it keeps my tank filtrated great. i have 1 on each side of my 55g. i know yours is only a 45 but that much more filtration may help you out more.

MrParker · 10-09-2009, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrParker

Second question is on the Cycling. I have:
.2 Ammonia
0 Nitrites
25 (ppm i think) Nitrates

This doesnt make sense to me, I havent gotten an Ammonia spike, nor have I gotten any nitrite readings ever, so how could I have nitrates?
What is a common reading for Nitrates that is good?

This is still a question i have. Hope someone out there knows something about it.

Yesterday, i got so fed up with the algae, i just sucked out the top layer of the substrate (with the algae). Then i scrubbed the rocks, and put them in. dropped in 2 bunches of wisteria, a large bunch of cabomba and my 3 otos.
Here is a picture of the tank now currently algae free

bmoraski · 10-09-2009, 09:01 AM

Tank looks great
10-20 ppm is good for nitrates.
im usually around 40ppm but have large bioload

MrParker · 10-11-2009, 10:55 AM

got the blue background on and some guppies, and a CAE

Newman · 10-11-2009, 04:53 PM

Looking nice dude. I wonder what that would look like with a pure black or whitish background...

bmoraski · 10-12-2009, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrParker

got the blue background on and some guppies, and a CAE

Looks great. ive never seen a light backround like that. very interesting and different.

MrParker · 10-13-2009, 10:06 AM

So I just got some ghost shrimp as well (5 of them). I love ghost shrimp, they are funny little guys. One of them has eggs. Think it will be possible for it to hatch them? or how does breeding shrimp work? my bet is they might just end up fish food.

10-05-2009, 08:55 AM	#31
MrParker Medium Fish Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: So Cal Posts: 419	I setup two DIY CO2 reactors, and left for the weekend (sister feeding the fish) came back and they still had not produced any CO2? Is it just that the yeast is dead/ inactive? or could it be because the room temperature where they are is too cold? I'm hoping its just inactive yeast problem __________________ Current - 45 Gallon :: 3 otos :: 1 Chinese Algae eater :: 16 neon tetras :: 1M & 3F Fancy Guppies :: 5 Ghost Shrimp :: 2x32WATT T8 6500K :: DIY CO2 :: Substrate From SandDunes :: Wisteria :: 4 Melon Sword :: Microsword 3 10 Gallon Tanks Empty 2004 - 10 Gallon ::9guppy fry(4 weeks old)::5Ghost shrimp, 1 amano::2 SAE::3 otos::4 neon tetras:: 2 Redwag Platies :: DIY CO2::My own Substrate:: ::anacharis::Wisteria::Ovalis::Lilaeopsis brasiliensis(Microsword)::Limnophila indica(ambulia)::

10-05-2009, 06:06 PM	#32
Newman Super Fish Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern NJ Posts: 2,776	Inactive yeast or a serious blockage in the line... My yeast reactor is constantly at colder than room temps. and its still producing bubbles at an alarming rate. Check your recipe and try a different kind of dry yeast. A way to sex your platy is to look at the anal fin. if its fan shaped and looks like the bottom two fins, then its female. if its sharp and pointy shaped, and kinda looks like a swordtail gonopodium, then its male. not as pronounced as swordtail though. __________________ Credit goes to Lludu Last edited by Newman; 10-05-2009 at 06:08 PM..

10-07-2009, 11:54 PM	#33
MrParker Medium Fish Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: So Cal Posts: 419	Ok so here is the latest. This past weekend that I left hoping the CO2 would be working, I had also accidentally left the light on over night one night. So let me paint this picture for you. 1. Added API Plant nutrient (1/2 dose) 2. Hooked up the CO2 3. Left town, and my sister who is in town, couldnt get to the tank to turn off the light that night. Anyone seeing what's happening? perfect setup for algae bloom eh? yes dream come true. I came back to rapidly spreading/ growing brown algea, along with a little green here and there. The brown is mostly on the open sand substrate and glass in the side of the tank that has less water flow. Tank stats before today: 80W 6700k lights 30-60 Aqua Tech power filter sand substrate 1 small rock 4 neon tetras some myrio some moneywort My solution for the algae: +1 filter (15-30 gal Aqua tech filter) for extra filtering to handle a larger load + water movement +3 oto's +a large bunch of cabomba +2 bundles of wisteria +a 2L DIY CO2 (the first one was a 1 liter bottle) And i will do a little over 25% water change tomorrow Did I do a good thing? Does anyone disagree with what I have done? or have some more ideas? Also another question i have is about my rocks. The reason I have waited so long to aquascape is because the big rocks i collected were from some random place, some containing spider web bits on them, lots of dirt clods etc. How extensive do i need to go to clean these rocks? i have some 75cent grill brushes (unused) would it be worth rinsing and scrubbing them with the brushes? or should just hosing and rubbing them down be good? should i soak them in water first? Suggestions? I really want to get my tank complete. Second question is on the Cycling. I have: .2 Ammonia 0 Nitrites 25 (ppm i think) Nitrates This doesnt make sense to me, I havent gotten an Ammonia spike, nor have I gotten any nitrite readings ever, so how could I have nitrates? What is a common reading for Nitrates that is good? I hope none of these questions get forgotten. There are kind of a lot of them... Thanks for your help ahead of time __________________ Current - 45 Gallon :: 3 otos :: 1 Chinese Algae eater :: 16 neon tetras :: 1M & 3F Fancy Guppies :: 5 Ghost Shrimp :: 2x32WATT T8 6500K :: DIY CO2 :: Substrate From SandDunes :: Wisteria :: 4 Melon Sword :: Microsword 3 10 Gallon Tanks Empty 2004 - 10 Gallon ::9guppy fry(4 weeks old)::5Ghost shrimp, 1 amano::2 SAE::3 otos::4 neon tetras:: 2 Redwag Platies :: DIY CO2::My own Substrate:: ::anacharis::Wisteria::Ovalis::Lilaeopsis brasiliensis(Microsword)::Limnophila indica(ambulia):: Last edited by MrParker; 10-08-2009 at 12:06 AM..

10-08-2009, 08:58 AM	#34
tropicalcrazy Medium Fish Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: west des moines, iowa Posts: 425	dont know too much on the rest so dont wanna give wrong advice but what about doing another aqua 30-60 filter instead of a 15-30g one? i have 2 of those and it keeps my tank filtrated great. i have 1 on each side of my 55g. i know yours is only a 45 but that much more filtration may help you out more. __________________ 55g 9 Neon Tetras 1" 1 Dwarf Gourami 3" 1 Female Red Wag Swordtail 2" 1 Male Neon Swordtail 2" / 3" with tail 1 Rosy Red Minnow 2" 1 Albino Rainbow Shark 6" 5 Otocinclus Catfish 1" 1 Clown pleco 3" 3 Yoyo loaches 4" Java Moss Multiple Java Ferns Multiple Anarchis 1 Amazon Sword Soon to be 2 Banana Plants, Sagittaria Subulata, and Micro Sword or Dwarf Hairgrass Rich Nutrient Dirt substrate Seachem Florish Liquid Fertilizer, twice a week

10-09-2009, 09:01 AM	#36
bmoraski Medium Fish Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 571	Tank looks great 10-20 ppm is good for nitrates. im usually around 40ppm but have large bioload __________________ 2.6G Fry ( snails + water spider ) 10G Guppies 20G Guppies, Pleco + ( Hornwort ) http://mysite.verizon.net/vzet42j1/index.html Bryan......................

10-11-2009, 10:55 AM	#37
MrParker Medium Fish Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: So Cal Posts: 419	got the blue background on and some guppies, and a CAE __________________ Current - 45 Gallon :: 3 otos :: 1 Chinese Algae eater :: 16 neon tetras :: 1M & 3F Fancy Guppies :: 5 Ghost Shrimp :: 2x32WATT T8 6500K :: DIY CO2 :: Substrate From SandDunes :: Wisteria :: 4 Melon Sword :: Microsword 3 10 Gallon Tanks Empty 2004 - 10 Gallon ::9guppy fry(4 weeks old)::5Ghost shrimp, 1 amano::2 SAE::3 otos::4 neon tetras:: 2 Redwag Platies :: DIY CO2::My own Substrate:: ::anacharis::Wisteria::Ovalis::Lilaeopsis brasiliensis(Microsword)::Limnophila indica(ambulia)::

10-11-2009, 04:53 PM	#38
Newman Super Fish Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern NJ Posts: 2,776	Looking nice dude. I wonder what that would look like with a pure black or whitish background... __________________ Credit goes to Lludu

10-13-2009, 10:06 AM	#40
MrParker Medium Fish Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: So Cal Posts: 419	So I just got some ghost shrimp as well (5 of them). I love ghost shrimp, they are funny little guys. One of them has eggs. Think it will be possible for it to hatch them? or how does breeding shrimp work? my bet is they might just end up fish food. __________________ Current - 45 Gallon :: 3 otos :: 1 Chinese Algae eater :: 16 neon tetras :: 1M & 3F Fancy Guppies :: 5 Ghost Shrimp :: 2x32WATT T8 6500K :: DIY CO2 :: Substrate From SandDunes :: Wisteria :: 4 Melon Sword :: Microsword 3 10 Gallon Tanks Empty 2004 - 10 Gallon ::9guppy fry(4 weeks old)::5Ghost shrimp, 1 amano::2 SAE::3 otos::4 neon tetras:: 2 Redwag Platies :: DIY CO2::My own Substrate:: ::anacharis::Wisteria::Ovalis::Lilaeopsis brasiliensis(Microsword)::Limnophila indica(ambulia)::