20 Gallon Tank My Childrens 20G Color Frenzy

[Kareninpa]

Ok so multiple questions here..

1. Our cryptos are doing horribly and I'm not sure what's going on.. any advice on why they look so bad..

2. Our moss. Is starting to detach from the driftwood.. what is the deal?

also to update you all:
- We just sold the store back about ten assassin snails as they killed both of our otoc catfish and multiple shrimp. We still have a few more but got rid of the biggest ones.

- our red stripe nerite also committed suicide and climbed out of our tank and we found it on the floor.. no idea how long it had been there.. probably two or three days. We decided for now we are done with snails so we got two dwarf harloquin Rasboras for the five gallon.

- after the whole ordeal with our sitter we want to get an automatic feeder.. any advice on a good one for a week??

 

[Flyfisha]

No need to feed adult aquarium fish for a week. I have left mine for ten days.

I no longer use automatic feeders but found the “ fish mate F 14 “ model reliable and the fact you can put a day supply in each slot or leave it almost empty appears to me.

Crypts are notorious for having a die back time of year and or dropping all the leaves when parameters change. Give it time it may come back on its own?

The moss has a mind of its own . Trying to tame it is probably not a good idea. Jam a few small pieces in multiple places in the tank and whatever grows likes the spot.

I can’t comment on Nerite snails.

 

[StarGirl]

Escapee nerites give them a smell. If they don't smell really bad, like putrid, throw them back in the tank. My red racer has escaped multiple times.

 

[Kareninpa]

Escapee nerites give them a smell. If they don't smell really bad, like putrid, throw them back in the tank. My red racer has escaped multiple times.

I knew they could live out of the tank for a bit but didn't know how long... When I find it, it was partially under the couch and I thought it was a grape or big blueberry one of my kids had dropped...

 

[Chailyte]

Getting a feed is a bad idea. If you just got the cryptos they might be melting they have a tendency to do that. Moss sometime deattaches I don’t know why- I just know it common.

 

[Blacksheep1]

I think your moss has grown so much it’s detached. It’s perfectly fine to give it a trim, it’ll just keep on growing and you can reuse the trimmings to grow more moss !

crypts are funny plants and can melt for seemingly no reason but they do like heavy root nutrients in my experience, try half a root tab right next to it and see if it perks up again.

 

[Kareninpa]

I think your moss has grown so much it’s detached. It’s perfectly fine to give it a trim, it’ll just keep on growing and you can reuse the trimmings to grow more moss !

crypts are funny plants and can melt for seemingly no reason but they do like heavy root nutrients in my experience, try half a root tab right next to it and see if it perks up again.

I will try that.. thank you. We've already trimmed the moss once and put some in our 5 gallon tank...

The family of shrimp live in the moss, so I'm always hesitant to trim it..

 

[Fisch]

Nerites can survive many days outside the tank...I found one a week after the escape, dry and operculum tightly closed. Returned to water he opened up and carried on.

 

[Kareninpa]

Nerites can survive many days outside the tank...I found one a week after the escape, dry and operculum tightly closed. Returned to water he opened up and carried on.

any idea on how to try and minimize them getting out because the tank is kind of in between two couches and not be easiest to find the snails if they get out. Also, I’m thinking about possibly trying for another snail, because look how much algae is building up on this tank, and it looks kind of like hair algae.

 

[briangcc1997]

Tight lid...even then, if there's a will, there's a way.

I have mystery snail eggs on the outside of my HOB where a fully grown snail shouldn't have gotten. I have them inside my filter discharge as well. How they got there I have no clue. Usually they lay eggs on the lid where its blatantly obvious.

So at best, you can minimize their opportunity to go Turbo on you.

If it was my tank, a couple passes with an algae scrubber and I'd call it good. Takes all of a minute.

 

[Fisch]

If it is hair algea, you may need to remove the big mass manually.
If you can reduce the light duration or switch it off during times nobody is around the tank, that may help. More plants to compete for the nutrients, that may help as well. Do you use fertilizer?
The Nerites seem to leave the tank if they don't like something. In one case it was a bullying Betta or in the second/third case water conditions in the QT. You have two tanks if I remember correctly, try to move her to the other tank and see how she does.

 

[Aquatichobby]

Wow I have read this whole thread and you have gone such a long way from your bright aquarrium to your natural looking aquarrium
Also you can manually clean the glass

 

[DaniosForever]

I FINALLY caught up!

 

[Kareninpa]

To give everyone an update, we are doing weekly water changes in the five gallon and obviously something is going right because one of the four Cherry shrimp in there is berried.

We have also started selling back the assassin snails from the 20 gallon to the fish store.. They took 12 from us a couple of weeks ago and we have found another 5-6 in the tank we plan to bring to them this week.

Its nice to see the shrimp out and about more since we’ve done that.

 

[Kareninpa]

Ok we’re dealing with mad hair algae.. Is there anything I can do?

 

[Aquatichobby]

one I got a pleco and panda garra to eat it
Before that I just took my decorations out and secured also you can clean the glass with a magnetic glass cleaner

 

[Kareninpa]

I’ve tried the magnetic cleaner and it works fora day and then it comes back and the tank is too small for a pleco..

 

[ProudPapa]

Ok we’re dealing with mad hair algae.. Is there anything I can do?

Probably.

1. How long are the lights on each day?
2. Do you fertilize, and if yes, with what and how often?

 

[Flyfisha]

The lights need to be on a timer, set for 7 ish hours a day .

Fish waste is fertiliser, uneaten food is fertiliser.

Enough water needs to be replaced to limit the nutrient content in the water. This could be once a week or more often. In my opinion 50% is a maximum amount per water change. Any more than 50% and the risk is the new water with its slightly different parameters may shock the fish?

Point of interest.

I have outdoor tanks that are not being fed at all as it’s mid winter down under. The tanks are in shade and get no direct sunlight in winter. My stocking is extremely low and yet I still get handfuls of slime / snotty/ string algae. In my case I pull out handfuls and just don’t show photos from an inappropriate angle.

Plants with their roots in the water and leaves in the air have the best ability to adsorb nutrients.

That tank of yours has a small gap around the lid. If you wanted to you could add some pothos cuttings. They DON’T work magic but do help a little if you enjoy the look?

One technique is to use a toothbrush or similar to roll it up.

 

[Kareninpa]

Probably.

1. How long are the lights on each day?
2. Do you fertilize, and if yes, with what and how often?

8 hrs. Noon to 8pm

I don’t fertilize with anything other than what’s already in the tank

The lights need to be on a timer, set for 7 ish hours a day .

Fish waste is fertiliser, uneaten food is fertiliser.

Enough water needs to be replaced to limit the nutrient content in the water. This could be once a week or more often. In my opinion 50% is a maximum amount per water change. Any more than 50% and the risk is the new water with its slightly different parameters may shock the fish?

Point of interest.

I have outdoor tanks that are not being fed at all as it’s mid winter down under. The tanks are in shade and get no direct sunlight in winter. My stocking is extremely low and yet I still get handfuls of slime / snotty/ string algae. In my case I pull out handfuls and just don’t show photos from an inappropriate angle.
View attachment 880819
Plants with their roots in the water and leaves in the air have the best ability to adsorb nutrients.

That tank of yours has a small gap around the lid. If you wanted to you could add some pothos cuttings. They DON’T work magic but do help a little if you enjoy the look?



View attachment 880820
One technique is to use a toothbrush or similar to roll it up.

Thank you for this

 

[Aquatichobby]

What about a panda garra that’s what I have and they get much smaller than a pleco

 

[Kareninpa]

What about a panda garra that’s what I have and they get much smaller than a pleco

From what I can tell, they aren’t good with shrimp. This tank is mainly shrimp with two dwarf rasboras.

 

[StarGirl]

My Pleco, Amanos and SAE dont eat it. I remove as much as I can by hand. I use a skewer and twirl it around to get it off. I think dense plants like mosses and Hornwort breed the stuff....lol....

 

[Kareninpa]

So we lost one of our dwarf rasboras yesterday. My daughter found it on the table in front of the tank. The perameters are fine and the top stays on.. what the heck?? They are all getting through what I'm assuming is that tiny hole.

 

[Flyfisha]

Yes the fish has jumped through. It’s more common than some people believe.

Kind of sad your daughter found it . I hope she is alright about the accident?

A little masking tape is a quick fix until you can superglue something over the hole.

 

[Kareninpa]

Yes the fish has jumped through. It’s more common than some people believe.

Kind of sad your daughter found it . I hope she is alright about the accident?

A little masking tape is a quick fix until you can superglue something over the hole.

She took it very well thankfully. We've lost a few fish already so she understands, but she sad about it.

 

[kuhlkid]

If you have a craft store nearby, I recommend keeping a little plastic canvas in your aquarium supplies-- it's just a small mesh grid of sheet plastic sold for needlepoint, but it's very easy to cut to size and attach wherever you need an added barrier in the tank. Should help you cover that gap in the lid.

 

[Blacksheep1]

And if you don’t have that cling film will work for one night ! No need to do the full tank , just a corner.
Aw I’m sorry your daughter found the wee fishy. Can I just say, I’m amazed at the amount your tanks changed since you started this thread. You’re doing amazingly but unfortunately accidents happen from time to time , don’t be disheartened .

 

[Kareninpa]

Thank you!! We’ve really tried to do this right…

 

[Blacksheep1]

And it’s showing !

anyone can “keep” fish . How long and how healthy is the goal most don’t have. When you appreciate them and love them and want to provide a healthy home it shows.

you’re one of us now ! you’ll never get fish outta your head. You’ll walk into a food place and judge an aquarium or take the kids to an aquatic centre for a day out but really it’s for you ! I’m joking .. kind of …

 

[Kareninpa]

It’s been awhile.. anyone want to give a guess on what this red thing is on the back of the glass??

 

[StarGirl]

Does it move? Maybe a water penny beetle?

 

[Fishfur]

I can’t even see a red thing on the glass. If it was circled maybe I could see it - or maybe I really have to get the new glasses I’ve been putting off spending on?

 

[Adk1718]

I would guess blue green algae which could have this red/brown colour.

 

[Sewerrat]

Algae not sure what type never seen red in a tank setup less than 8 years.

 

[Kareninpa]

Ok I circled..

If Alge would there be a reason our bristlenose isn’t going after it?

 

[Fishfur]

Aha, now I can see it.

I can’t be positive but I think those spots are one of the Rhodophyta - red algae. All but something like 3% of the red algae are marine but there are freshwater species and I think this is one of them.

The pleco is extremely unlikely to touch those - very few fish species will eat any red algae. Offhand the only one I can think of that does is the Siamese Algae Eater.

I would carefully scrape those off and try not to allow any bits of them to escape being removed. It will probably take a sturdy razor scraper to get the stuff off - it is notorious for how tightly it clings to any & all surfaces.

 

[Adk1718]

Ok I circled..

If Alge would there be a reason our bristlenose isn’t going after it?

Because blue green algae or red algae as fishfur suggested is actually bacteria and not algae. You have to manually get rid of it very carefully.

 

[KadenSlone04]

Ok I circled..

If Alge would there be a reason our bristlenose isn’t going after it?

What you have circled is Java moss, not algae. Plecos don't eat moss unless they are starving.

 

[KingOscar]

What you have circled is Java moss, not algae. Plecos don't eat moss unless they are starving.

Notice the brown spots behind the java moss.

 

[Fishfur]

Because blue green algae or red algae as fishfur suggested is actually bacteria and not algae. You have to manually get rid of it very carefully.

Red algae is real algae - Black beard is a red alga. It’s just the blue-green stuff that isn’t algae.

The slimy blue-green stuff has long been referred to as blue-green algae (BGA) but not only is it not a form of algae, it isn’t necessarily blue-green. It can look near black, brown or reddish as well as blue-green to an incredibly dark green.

It consists of gram negative autotrophic bacteria that use various photosynthetic pigments like chlorophyll, carotenoids or phycobilins to make energy from light.

Unlike red algae, cyanobacteria are dead easy to scrape off surfaces - it’s very soft and comes off at a touch.

Red algae is the opposite- it clings tightly to surfaces and is a huge pain to get off.

 

[Adk1718]

Red algae is real algae - Black beard is a red alga. It’s just the blue-green stuff that isn’t algae.

The slimy blue-green stuff has long been referred to as blue-green algae (BGA) but not only is it not a form of algae, it isn’t necessarily blue-green. It can look near black, brown or reddish as well as blue-green to an incredibly dark green.

It consists of gram negative autotrophic bacteria that use various photosynthetic pigments like chlorophyll, carotenoids or phycobilins to make energy from light.

Unlike red algae, cyanobacteria are dead easy to scrape off surfaces - it’s very soft and comes off at a touch.

Red algae is the opposite- it clings tightly to surfaces and is a huge pain to get off.

Yes sorry red slime algae is a bacteria sorry. I just thought that it looked too perfectly round to be an algae.

 

[Fishfur]

Yes sorry red slime algae is a bacteria sorry. I just thought that it looked too perfectly round to be an algae.

There are red algae that grow that way - sort of like green spot algae but on a larger scale.

 

[KadenSlone04]

Notice the brown spots behind the java moss.

Ah, I see now. It looks like a member of Audouinella, the genus that contains black beard algae.

 

[Fishfur]

I

Ah, I see now. It looks like a member of Audouinella, the genus that contains black beard algae.

Interesting. Too bad it’s not Caloglossa cf.beccarii, at least that’s one red alga that some people are willing to pay for!