18.06.2008 - 2 Days On: White hair-like (algae-like) stuff appeared on everything - plants, rocks, gravel, glass.
It is really sticky, vacuum cleaning won't remove it. I tried changing the water twice, adding TetraAqua Biocoryn. No success. Also, there is no visible rotting anywhere. After seeking advice on the PracticalFishKeeping Forum Martinspuddle said it is "Filamentous algae, caused by nutrients and ammonia spikes in the water/subtrate. Given time, it will go."29.06.2008 - 2 Weeks On: Good plant growth and the initial filamentous algae are almost gone.
As second wave of "instability attack" the Planaria and cyclops have arrived and I'm fighting them off with copper-based liquid additive JBL Schnecktol. First results look promising. I will repeat the cure in 3 days to get rid of new worms (eggs are not affected). I will start regular ammonia addition after the planaria are gone. I do not know yet how to do this, maybe I'll start adding a little flake-food daily.23.07.2008 - 4 Weeks On: The algae and the Planaria are gone. Stem plants are growing fast. Fish were added today. (The siamese algae eater will be transferred to the 260 liter tank as it grows bigger and the Cory will get some company later.) Ammonia levels are 0.
30.07.2008 - 6 Weeks On: Adding all the fish at once caused water chemistry problems (excess in phosphate?). Green algae appeared on the glass but it seems gone. Brown algae is a still an issue. The filter flow-rate is so high it keeps small debris floating around all the time in the tank. Spotted Swordtail Fry that survived hiding in the plants.
06.08.2008 - 7 Weeks On: I count 3 Swordtail Fry - will have to give them away soon. Should replace most of the other fish with smaller ones too. Not sure will get the permission from my 5-year-old though. ;)
With a starting Black Bush algae problem I need to stabilize CO2 levels, so I'm getting rid of my manual Tetra CO2 Optimat. Bought a Dennerle Crystal-Line pressurized set with glassware and solenoid valve.Green Spot Algae has re-appeared after installing the 6W T5 tube and forgetting the light on for 11 hours on one (!) day plus changing the lighting times from 1PM-11PM to 9AM-6PM for two days. Tell me about fragile environment in a Nano Tank! Guess will need to decrease the lighting period to 9 hours and stop messing with the timer.
10.08.2008 - 7 Weeks On: We finally improved photography lighting with Christine. Additionally I simplified the filter output and decided to get an external Hydor heater (forum) to get equipment out of the tank.
16.08.2008 - Two Months On: Rearranged some plants, and got rid of one of the two stem plants: Bacopa monnieri. Zierfishe.at sold me 3 pots of Ophiophogon Japonicus that are not really aquatic plants. I should have known better or they should have told me. With the 5 swordtail fry out the tank is back to normal. Filter cleaned.
26.08.2008 - Two And a Half Months On: The first beginner's mistake corrected. I gave away the original fish that were too big for the tank. 1 Crossocheilus siamensis (Siamese Algae Eater), 1 Poecilia latipinna (Black Molly), 2 Danio Rerios (Zebra Danio),
1 Xiphophorus Hellerii (Red Swordtail).
02.09.2008 - Two And a Half Months On: New fish from Vienna - zierfish.at: 4 Otocinclus affinis (Oto), 5 Neocaridina Heteropoda (Cherry Shrimp), 6 Boraras Brigittae (Dwarf Rasbora). One Oto died a day after the travel. Five Boraras were sucked up through the Cal Aqua glass intake and survived in the filter for one whole day! Glosso planting - disturbing the substrate - caused Staghorn algae on the Java Fern. Filter cleaned, water changed, will overdose Easy Carbo to solve the problem.
12.09.2008 - Three Months On: Tank published on UKAPS. Fertilizer dosing increased to 12 drops / Easy Carbo, 9 drops / TPN+, 2 drops / Sera Daydrops to fight Staghorn Algae. CO2 injection increased to 30 bbl/min. Glosso spreading nicely. Need to improve on photography. Cal Aqua glass intake covered with bug-net to prevent sucking Rasboras. Otos eat Zucchini with great appetite. Zucchini starts disintegrating after approx.. 20 hours in the tank.
09.10.2008 - Four Months On: Got rid of the Eheim Classic 2211 filter and upgraded to Eheim 2222 yesterday. Flow is much stronger now, hopefully getting CO2 and nutrients to plants better. Algae still an issue. Drop checker is presumably giving higher than actual reading due to occasional trapping of undissolved CO2 bubbles escaping into it. CO2 concentration in the drop checker air might be higher than in the water. I am relocating the test to find a position with less bubbles. I measured an ammonia spike today, so I did a 90% water change. Ammonia still reads 1.5 mg/l afterwards.
16.10.2008 - Four Months On:
It looks like the TPN+ dosing regime was not high enough. Increasing to 40 drops/2ml/day seems to help. Eheim 2222 is definitely better than 2211. Drop checker near the Glosso is light-green while in the back - closer to the surface where flow is stronger is yellowish. Ammonia spikes disappearing.
Plants: Cladophora aegraglopila, Cryptocoryne x willisii, Microsorum pteropus 'Windeløv' (on rock), Microsorum pteropus (Java Fern) (on rock), Glossostigma Elatinoides (FG), Rotala Macranda (Red plant in BG).
08.11.2008 - RESCAPE
I stopped the algae bloom but was unable to get rid of all the old algae without substantial plant trimming so I decided it's time to rescape the whole thing and do a real Iwagumi at last. Here's the procedure in pictures:
