Ripper Hollow » Aquarium Neglect

Aquarium Neglect

Beau — Mon, 17 May 2010 22:00:44 +0000

26 Gallon Aquarium

Due to hectic home and work loads lately, I’ve been neglecting my 26 gallon aquarium. It’s been over run with duckweed (though it has been beneficial), algae, and the water level has been a bit low.

I haven’t been keeping up with the fertilizers, and I haven’t changed the water as often as I should, which is somewhat amusing, since my last post was about water quality.

My fish and snails are doing good, and most of the plants are still growing.

I just removed a bunch of duckweed a day or two ago, along with a bunch of string algae. I have tufts of algae on the substrate, mostly where I had planted dwarf hair grass. I don’t overfeed, and I can’t imagine that much fish poo being on top of the substrate for that stuff to keep growing like it does.

As it is, I’m still learning about this hobby, only being in it for about 2 years now.

I wrote a post a while back about tearing this aquarium down and starting from scratch. I still plan on doing that. Maybe if I actually set a date to do it and order the rest of the things I need it’ll actually get done.

Along with that, I still have to set my smaller aquarium up so my fish have a home while I finish the project.

I have all my aquarium maintenance stuff on my Google Calendar so I won’t forget what I need to dose and when to clean the filter, etc. I just need to adjust my schedule so that I keep up on it.

I’m also thinking about moving the aquarium out of my kitchen so I can enjoy seeing it more often.

I think some of the neglect comes from me not seeing it all the time. There’s plenty more places it could be than in the kitchen.

Do you neglect your aquarium(s)? Send me photos of your neglected aquariums, and let me know how you overcame the neglection. Send photos to beau at liening dot us, or upload them to your favorite photo sharing site and send a link in the comments.

Here’s some more photos of this aquarium:

Algae on filter intake

Substrate algae

More substrate algae

Planted Aquarium Water Quality

Beau — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 08:32:56 +0000

One of the most important aspects of any aquarium is water quality. Different species of fish, invertebrates, and even plants need specific ranges of water quality. When you clean an aquarium and perform a water change, you generally use a water conditioner. Water conditioners remove and/or neutralize harmful chemicals and metals, such as chlorine, ammonia, copper, or even selenium.

Water Changes

When I clean my aquarium, I generally start by removing any algae off of the glass. I then siphon out 50% of the water (after I turn the power off to the filter, heater, lights, and CO2). I then prune my plants, and remove any other algae that might be present. I then add the amount of conditioner prescribed by the bottle label to the aquarium. After that, I fill the aquarium up with water. Then I turn the filter, heater, lights and CO2 back on.

Testing the Water Quality

Having a successful aquarium requires good water quality. A good way to ensure you have good water quality is to test your water. There are many test kits out there. These kits can test a wide variety of parameters, such as pH, Carbonate (KH), General Hardness (GH), Nitrite (NO2), Ammonia (NH3 & NH4), and Carbon Dioxide (CO2).

When I’m following my aquarium maintenance schedule, I test my water once midweek, and do a 50% water change every Sunday. If my water parameters are off, I do a partial water change and re-test. If the second test is in range, I wait until Sunday for my regular water change.

Causes of Bad Water Quality

There are many causes of bad water quality. Your aquarium might be overstocked, or you might not have a regular maintenance schedule, or an inhabitant may have died and you haven’t seen it yet. Whatever the cause, you can have great water quality in no time.

Suggestions for Great Water Quality

Make a routine maintenance schedule (and stick to it)
Weekly water changes
Clean your filters
Test your water parameters regulary
Watch the behavior of your inhabitants

Did I miss anything? Do you have any suggestions? Let me know! =)

Looks Like I’m Getting a New Kind of Algae

Beau — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:47:07 +0000

It looks like I’m getting a new type of algae (new to me at least). I believe it’s BBA, black beard algae. I’ve increased my CO2 to about 4 bps instead of 2 1/2, so I’ll check my water parameters in a few days to see how that goes. I might dose some Flourish Excel tommorrow as well, as I’m still battling string algae. I’m going to order some nerite snails soon to help the mystery snails and Chinese alga eaters with the algae as well. I’m thinking about ordering a couple oto’s as well.

On a happy note, my Christmas moss is starting to grow out on my moss wall a little bit, and the weeping moss on my driftwood is a nice bright green under the algae. I think I’ll spot treat it with excel as well.

Nutrient Deficiency or Algae?

Beau — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:13:17 +0000

I have a strange nutrient deficiency (or something) going on with one of my plants. the leaves are curling and turning black. The black parts are fairly rough to the touch. I’m also still having trouble with string hair algae. I change 50% water weekly, and dose dry fertilizers, 1/16 tsp Trace & Fe 3x week and 1/16 tsp KH2PO4, K2SO4, 1/2 tsp KNO3 3x week. I think I’ll try increasing my CO2 injection. I need to find my drop checker. I have no idea where it is, and I really don’t want to order a new one.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Update: Seems that this is normal for this type of anubias. I might also have a low phosphate level. I’ve decided to up my KH2PO4 from 1/16 tsp to 1/8 tsp. I’ll see if that helps. I need to get a phosphate level test kit.