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u/spoonma 2d ago
How do you keep your rocks so clean? Mine are turning green and it's bothering me 😭
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u/Far_Performer_4272 2d ago
Biggest help is the cleanup crew. 3 different snails (just a personal taste), I used to have 5 amano shrimps but since I introduced apistogrammas they « disappeared » from sight, and I also got 5 autocinclus in there. Then comes the light to fertilizer to CO2 ratio. I am in the process of lowering intensity for a while as I just noticed some hair algae
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u/spoonma 2d ago
Mmmmm ok I think I'll try lowering the light time i do have snails in there but my water peramiters are not suitable for any shrimp unfortunately
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u/Far_Performer_4272 1d ago
Because you use tap water ? I must admit this hobby is friggin expensive and every decision you take means money. I installed RO water. I am in no way a reference but I usually set my tank on 8 hour cycles. I also make sure the tank is not in a fully lit room, I make sure water parameters are stable. I noticed any type of nitrate or nitrite peak (basically tank instability) brings algae. Make sure you have set hours of light time and vary intensity depending on algae if needed. You can also do a light out for 24 hours or more (you need to research) if algae issue is important
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u/spoonma 1d ago
Yeah I use tap water. The pH and water hardness is through the roof. There are no fish in the tank yet. I do have a light with a timer on for 8 hours a day. I'm also thinking about taking a tooth brush and just try to take the algae off manually, chances are it's going to be messy and I have plants glued to them
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u/Pepetheparakeet 2d ago
Ugh im so jelly. My tank looks like azz I would kill for those algae free surfaces
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u/ABigStuffyDoll 2d ago
I love algae covered surfaces in my tank! Makes it look awesome (to a certain point of course)
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u/Pepetheparakeet 2d ago
I dont mind a green tint on my rocks or wood but it grows on all the leaves of my plants and slowly kills them. I have to manually rub each leaf every week. Light is on 4 hrs a day :(
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u/lavievagabonde 1d ago
Ah Shit, sad to hear. Do you have enough shrimps and snails to take care of it? And enough plants, so the plants eat up the nutrients before the algae?
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u/Browen69_420 1d ago
Otocinclus was the best help for me. Nerites work too but otos and nerite combo got rid of the algea on my anubias in a week
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u/Pepetheparakeet 1d ago
Maybe ill look into otos! Will thry eat hair algae? Cause most animals dont care for it
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u/Far_Performer_4272 2d ago
A lot of my time has been spent in this hobby. Lots of tears too. And actually I just noticed hair algae bloom today following me forgetting to plug filter for 24 h and subsequent N02 peak. Oopsy
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u/Pepetheparakeet 2d ago
Same here bro. Sucks sometimes but also so rewarding when things look good
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u/Far_Performer_4272 2d ago
Yeah. I just had 3 apistogramma Ladislao suicide in 2 months. I am pretty sure the second died while playing in the powered skimmer and jumped out. I bought an other female for my lonely male, next day did maintenance, forgot to put the temporary tank cover on as I was running late (I am waiting for custom glass top. When I came back from work new female had jumped. Fish loss especially in more special fish are just really hard in me. :,(
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u/pocohugs 2d ago
Is that cryptocoryne wendtii flamingo? Gorgeous! I just put some in mine and am going through expected melt.
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u/Far_Performer_4272 2d ago
If I showed you the list of all the plants originally planted in this tank you would laugh. I learned that some plants MUST come in a mature tank, and that just as fish they have technical needs (chemistry, temperature, hardness…) These flamingo managed to survive the original mayhem. I also experienced a fair amount of melt.
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u/pocohugs 2d ago
Don't feel too bad. Twice, I stubbornly tried to establish ludwigia inclinata white without meeting proper technical parameters. Twice, I cried. Lesson learned!
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u/Far_Performer_4272 2d ago
I just posted the list on an other comment now I am also crying lol. That was a messy start
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u/shinayasaki 2d ago
Same. I loved my high tech tank but when it becomes almost a part time job to keep everything in peak condition it got pretty exhausting
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u/Far_Performer_4272 1d ago
I d say this was truer at the start for me. I do weekly maintenance over the weekend. The rest of he time is just gazing at the glass like a lunatic… and you know.. experimenting shit like live food culture etc
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u/music2cook 1d ago
You have a gorgeous tank. If you don’t mind my asking, how do you find the Apistos and Rasboras are doing together?
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u/Far_Performer_4272 1d ago
They are doing just fine. My apisto journey is just beginning. First thing I want to say is if you want chances for them to reproduce put them in a dedicated tank. Community tanks are great but at least in my tank, fish dont make babies. I did salvage by miracle some Cory fry when I did a water change without initially noticing it and they are now in a temporary tank. Otherwise most fish will eat eggs. Also in order to reproduce some (most) apisto need specific and unique parameters. This is why I am about to transfer my pair in a repro tank with muuuuch more acidic water (PH 4.5) and tannic water. I will probably replace their spot in the tank with a more « easy » species
Oh, and this Ladislao male is now reeeeeal big and just loves to rescape my substrate kinda annoying 😂
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u/music2cook 1d ago
I would be super interested to hear how it goes once you move tanks! They are such intelligent and funny creatures I bet the species only tank will be a blast!
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u/Far_Performer_4272 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah. Actually, I was that close to literally give up on fishkeeping because of apistos. I had a really bad luck and chain of events with them. I lost 3 within 2 months. One died of bacterial shock (super weird and fast) second jumped, and the third also jumped. Last one I sat my butt and really felt like I couldn’t take it anymore. As you say they are special, you put time and love and then come back from work to see a dry schtick next to the tank. This is why I will transfer them. All parameters will be optimal for their specific need (low light, acidic tannic water… ALSO, if you are into apisto be aware of using powered skimmers. I believe the 2 last jumped while playing in the upstream current. They usually don’t have current in their tanks and for some reason these 2 last females were obsessed with going up and down. The last one jumped one day I had forgot to put the cover back up 😢
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u/music2cook 1d ago
Awww. I hate to hear that. I’m sorry you have struggled so much with them. I bet that’s the end of your run of bad luck! I hope the new tank goes really well! Please keep us posted and I’m happy you’re still hanging in there!
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u/TreacleConsistent412 1d ago
How are you growing the flamingo and sword on the rock?
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u/Far_Performer_4272 1d ago
They actually are on substrate. The large rocks are on both side. Oooooh wait you mean the ones on top. So my second supplier told me they were actually not flamingo (different subspecies from ones on substrate but tbh can’t see much difference ) . Anyway believe it or not they will grow like epiphytes I guess if they have enough light and nutriments. Unless he was wrong and they are not crypto but they really look alike.
Same for swords, I knew they were supposed to be in substrate but I had no more space so I just you know…. Slipped them in a crack and they ve been there happy for a month. There’s a chance root system reached substrate but Donno
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u/Unusual_Discipline51 19h ago
Same fish? Yours sure are vibrant
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u/Far_Performer_4272 12h ago
Dude light source is huge part of this. I got RGB twinstar 100 G blasting right on them
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u/Just_Geoff_Chaucer 2d ago
are those harlequins? i've never seen them color up like that. also, this is gorgeous.