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Post by siobhan on Sept 7, 2016 12:35:38 GMT -5
Guppies are live bearers, so no eggs. However, the parents eat the babies who aren't fast enough to find a place to hide, and probably that's what's happening.
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Post by aaron on Sept 7, 2016 18:06:20 GMT -5
Ah right, yeah that makes sense. Same concept basically. Well that's great that it all balances out! I've been slacking on my water changes and the tank is sufferring for it... major algae growth despite the fact that I've reduced the amount of time the light is on each day substantially. I put some phoszorb in the canister filter and cleaned things up today and changed 30% of the water... Going to do another change each day until I can get the nitrates back down to a decent level. Gotta admit, I'm pretty tired of this.  |
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Post by msdani1981 on Sept 8, 2016 1:55:48 GMT -5
What kind of algae, Aaron? Ghost shrimp are pretty good algae eaters, if your cichlid will leave them alone. LOL
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Post by siobhan on Sept 8, 2016 9:40:43 GMT -5
So are snails. That's one reason I like them, but I also just think they're cool. Get a mystery snail or two and put in there. If you're tired of having a tank, pond snails (ramshorns) wouldn't be good because they reproduce enthusiastically, but mystery snails don't.
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Post by aaron on Sept 8, 2016 10:09:06 GMT -5
It's brown algae, silicate based I believe... I have an albino bristlenose pleco in there, but he is definitely wary of the cichlid, and with good reason. The cichlid doesn't seem to want to hurt him, per se, but he also doesn't want him in his territory. We have the tank divided so the pleco has a safe corner that the cichlid can't get to. The pleco will leave his area sometimes, but he doesn't venture far. For a while he seemed like he was getting bolder but now that there's so much algae he doesn't have to go far to be well fed. In other words, he's not getting the job done.
There's no way any shrimp would be safe with that cichlid... he's a brute. I don't know if he'd try to eat them, but he could definitely ram them and they are so fragile...
Snails, however, might work. With their shells they would probably be safe from him, and they are slow moving enough that he might not notice or care about them.
At the moment I'm really hoping the phoszorb will help, because algae feeds on phosphates, so this should theoretically remove its food from the water.
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Post by siobhan on Sept 8, 2016 13:50:53 GMT -5
I never have an algae problem thanks to my army of ramshorn snails. All three tanks have some and I have a pleco in the guppy tank, too. HE'S kind of mean to the snails but just in that he shoves them around. He doesn't actually bite them or anything.
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Post by aaron on Sept 8, 2016 17:08:21 GMT -5
I am seriously considering getting some snails. That said, one thing that the snails can't do is clean my live plants, which is sadly where the algae tends to collect most visibly, and it is killing them slowly. And of course, all of the decomposing plant matter that comes from leaves falling off and dying means the nitrate content of the tank goes up faster. But the gravel is also quite dirty from algae, and the snails would clear that up nicely, I think.
My big cichlid has a new problem as of this morning-- his rear end is sinking, so he is swimming erratically and generally does not look happy. This is either a digestive system blockage or a swim bladder problem, but either way the water needs to be dramatically cleaner in order for him to heal effectively, I think.
So... I just did my second water change in two days, yesterday I replaced 10G and today 14.5G or so. I also put another set of Hypersorb and Purigen bags into the canister filter, to really encourage the nitrate level to go down quickly, and it is. He already looks happier, but his butt is still sinking a bit as he toodles around. Hopefully it clears up. Definitely bums me out to watch him suffer.
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Post by biteybird on Oct 4, 2016 2:15:08 GMT -5
Hmm, algae....on the weekend I was shopping and saw a book by Shannon Lush (Aussie author who is a cleaning guru) called "Spotless Pets". I quickly read the pages about birds - without buying the book  - although I did purchase "Spotless", "Spotless 2" and "How to be Comfy", so I don't feel too bad!  Anyway...the point is, the pet book mentioned that if you put a pinch of non-iodised salt per litre of water, the algae won't grow. Apparently it doesn't like the salt. I guess though with fish tanks, you'd need to ensure that a bit of non-iodised salt wouldn't hurt your fish/critters. I'm planning on trying this in my outside aviary bird baths to see if it stops the algae. |
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Post by siobhan on Oct 4, 2016 15:45:13 GMT -5
Eating algae is what the snails and Darty Fish are for in the guppy tank. And Hoover, in Nadine's tank. All Wilma has is snails but they seem to be doing the job.
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Post by aaron on Oct 4, 2016 23:03:21 GMT -5
Nice! I put a fair amount of salt into my tank... Unfortunately, the only thing that has ever made a difference with removal of algae is my recent addition of phosphate/silicate absorbing material to the canister filter... those are the algae's food, so if you pull them out of the water it won't grow any more. Although that said, the algae seems to be coming back very slowly lately. Maybe I need more of this stuff. It was working really well for weeks though. Without it, our one pleco can't keep up with the algae. 36 gallons, with a 11+" semi-aggressive Cichlid is a lot for one little pleco Still considering snails. |
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Post by siobhan on Oct 5, 2016 11:25:52 GMT -5
Darty Fish and the snails have trouble keeping up in the guppy tank and there are a LOT of snails in there with him. I've lost nearly all my guppies now, so I don't know what the problem is. I clean it weekly, including the filter, and the heater is kept at a low temperature, just enough to warm the water a little more than room temp. One of the remaining guppies is so fat that she MUST be pregnant and ready to pop, but she has yet to give birth. It's beginning to worry me.
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Post by aaron on Oct 5, 2016 15:09:35 GMT -5
Did you get your water tested or get a test kit/strips? If you have a cycle problem, cleaning the filter too thoroughly can be a bad thing, especially if you do it at the same time that you do a water change... You need to make sure you don't kill too much of the bacteria at once... The filter is where your bacteria colonize predominantly... if you clean or change the filter and also change a bunch of the water at the same time, you could remove too much of your bacteria and break the cycle... Next thing you know you will have too much ammonia or nitrite and your fish will start dropping like flies...
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Post by siobhan on Oct 5, 2016 16:29:42 GMT -5
Cleaning the filter means getting the gunk out of the intake and outflow. I only change the sponge/charcoal part when it needs it, which I didn't do this time, but gunk was keeping it from running efficiently. I only do a 50 percent water change at a time at most, and generally it's not even that much.
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Post by aaron on Oct 5, 2016 18:09:41 GMT -5
Ah okay, I thought you meant cleaning the filter media. Gotcha.
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Post by siobhan on Oct 6, 2016 13:57:50 GMT -5
At least once a week I have to take the thing apart and coax baby snails out of the outflow pipe, and take a Q-tip to all the openings. It was especially nasty this time, and I just cleaned it last week!
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- although I did purchase "Spotless", "Spotless 2" and "How to be Comfy", so I don't feel too bad! 