90gallon Planted Discus Community Tank continued!

Now I've heard that around my area too.

 

CHANGES

Finally got the Tahitian Moon Sand on sale carrot

[*]Ordered 6 bags from Petsolutions (had them price match Petco's price of $16.99 a bag & free ship on orders over $49, even though Petcos out of stock).
[*]Ran to Petsmart and grabbed Marina's Black/Lt. Blue reversible background for $2.99 a foot. Will be utilizing the Crystal Black
[*]Also grabbed some Top Fin plastic plants at Petsmart for .99 (mini's) & $4.99 for 2 large ones which I'm hoping to use to hide the heaters somewhat.

>>Attempted to put brush algae ridden plants into hydrogen peroxide figuring I don't have much to lose and while it appears theirs a tiny bit of improvement on a few...for the most part it seems to have done very little to basically nothing. I'll give it 'till morning before I rinse them off with clean water & then I'll see where I stand with them.

>>Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the tank off the stand as I'm hoping that the weather will cooperate so I can paint the top of the stand where you can see a bit of water damage. Also while it's off I'll take advantage and paint the back corner where the tank resides- will be re-painting the house very soon.

Can't wait for the black on black (black background with black substrate)...I love it in the 20gL & know I'll be pleased with it in the 90g. I'm sooo excited!!!

 

Thanks for the info, so far it's still blackish/or foresty green in color..it's been soaking since 2p yesterday (10-12) and it's definately NOT red. I even dumped two whole freaking bottles of 3% hydrogen peroxide in there (5g bucket that was only filled not even a quarter of the way with water).

By chance, Is there something I'm missing here in regards to using the peroxide to kill the brush algae?

Well At least the rest of the decor is 100% brush algae free- soaked them in clorox bleach water.

 

Now you tell me facepalm
I'd need a bunch of bottle for the amount of plants affected, for the price of the plants it's not really worth it imo. After I'm done painting the tank corner I'll be putting on the black background and getting everything back up and running...once that's done (if I don't run out of steam as I'm going on 4hours of sleep as it is) I'll give the plants that were soaking in the peroxide/water a good rinse and see where they stand.

 

SUBSTRATE ARRIVES! Now the Work Begins....

When I called Petsolutions they told me it would be here Friday, I received a tracking number within seconds of getting off the phone with them and luckily clicked it to find out that it was coming actually a day sooner (Thursday) so that gave me a jump start on getting this whole "process" going.

-> Last night I ended up pulling everything out of the tank, tossing the pool filter sand, and bleaching what I could....Any afflicted plants (brush algae) were soaked in hydrogen peroxide with a bit of water to see if any could be salvaged.

-> I also pulled all the tank inhabitants and placed them in two holding tanks (basically party tubs with heaters and an airstone).

-> Once everyone was out knowing the tank would be too heavy for me to move (let alone lift off the stand to disinfect--some brush algae even on the tank glass..ugh I hate that stuff)...I opted to try a "first". I poured the clorox bleach directly into the tank and allowed it to run through the filtration systems for a couple hours. After the algae appeared white/dead I tossed in a about a cup full of Seachem Prime and allows that to run through the filtration for a couple hours. Then I drained the entire tank with my python no spill clean n' fill siphon. (Note...I plan on running clean water back through the tank itself and re-siphoning it all before setting it back up just to be on the safe side).

-> Then all equipment was pulled off the tank to be thoroughly cleaned..and rinsed yet again to be on the extra safe side.

 

The Work Continues...

Today I started with painting the corner where the tank sits (figured I'd take advantage while I had it empty). Then I decided while the paint brushes/rollers were out that I'd touch up the stand as well as the black front frame of the tank (got krylon watermelon spraypaint on it from the epic failure of attempting to spray paint the tank).

Once I pulled the stand out I realized that the 2 support slats that attach to the bottom of my stand became detached. Cheap particle board, probably because I slid the stand with the empty tank on top of it (this tank is monsterously HEAVY). This meant a pit stop at the hardware store with good 'ole dad being I'm allergic to just about every wood out there...easy fix though- he was able to cut me two duplicate replacement support slats that will be much more stronger than the ones that came with the stand originally (but for the price I paid new for the stand originally...and seeing what they go for now- I really can't complain).

 

Fingers Crossed....

Well with a little luck I should have everything back together by tonight, or worse case scenario some time in the wee hours of the morning. Really anxious to get things back to "normal"..especially since I was just informed that I'll be painting the rest of the house tomorrow

 

Well I'm finished...ALMOST!

The tanks pretty much done as of about 1 hour ago. I've got 1 heater in there adjusting the water temp (it's 80 and I want to keep it at about 82-83F).

Things left to do:
{*}Decide what media I want to run in the emperor 400 (it's running with no media right now)...decisions decisions. Lol! It'll probably be some floss and purigen.

{*}Decide where I want to mount the 1w coralife led lunars (If possible, I'd like to move them near the top of the tank so I can angle them to light from the top - down into the water...rather than having them on the bottom sides of the tank).

{*}Adjust the water temperature so I can add the fish back in
And once their in I'll be able to add the 2nd heater back into the tank.

I salvage a few plants, but some are in questionable shape...I still ended up tossing them in figuring if they don't make it I can just pluck them out.


Well after that feat it's time for some pain med since my backs killing me...hoping I'll be able to sleep since I haven't gotten much sleep for the past 2 days

 

Finally Done!

[*]Filled the emperor 400 with Purigen bags

[*]Mounted the lunars along the back wall like I wanted & the plugs just barely reached the outlet, man how I wish they'd make aquarium equipment plugs longer!

[*]And on a sad note,
I ended up losing a few inhabitants, the one bucket had a battery operated aerator with new batteries that were apparently bad...because when I awoke and went to check on everyone before adding them back to the tank that aerator was not functioning. [icon_e_sad.gif]

-> Casulities were 2 Roseline Denison Barbs, 1 Hummingbird Tetra, and several neon tetras...2 others I couldn't make out as all that was left was skeletons.

 

And A Quick Update regarding Equipment and such...
DETAILED SPECS:

AQUARIUM:
90 gallon all-glass brand glass aquarium with Glass Canopy's on top

EQUIPMENT:
[*]HEATERS...TWO replacement heaters (forgot the wattage and brand, but they were received as replacements for the recalled Aqueon Pro's
[*]THERMOMETER...Temp monitored by TOM Digital Temperature Alert
[*]FILTRATION....TWO Rena Filstar XP4 canister filters each rated at 450gph
Media ...(from bottom to top)
a) Rena 20ppi foam
b) Rena 30ppi foam
c) Either/or a Combo of... Rena Bio-Chem Stars, Chemi Pure Elite, Seachem Phosguard, Substrat Pro
d) Either/or a Combo of...Rena Micro-Filtration Pads, Morning Glory Premium Polyester Fiberfill, Purigen Pouches, Laguna PhosX
[*]FILTRATION...Emperor 400 (moreso when I need to use carbon)
[*]LIGHTING...48" Current Sundial t5 HO 4 x 54w bulbs AND Also TWO 1w Coralife Led Lunars (Blue).
Lighting Schedule...
a) 10a to to 9p a a 54w Aquatic Life 420/460nm Actinic bulb comes on & a 54w Aquatic Life Roseate
b) from 4p to 6p another 54w Aquatic Life Roseate & a 54w Giesemann Floramax come on..I did this "burst" at an odd time because I tend to eat in the living room and like the brightness in the room during that time.
c) then when the lights go out ....at 9p the TWO 1w coralife (Lunar Blue) lunars come on in addition to the fixtures 4 built in lunars (Moon White).

SUBSTRATE:
[*] 120Lbs of CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand

DECORATIONS I Normally Use:
[*]kens fish "pleco breeding logs"
[*]kens fish "rectangular double tube rock"'s
[*]Driftwood mounted to slate using galvanized wood screws
[*]rocks- rainbow slate
[*]Airstone
[*]Two SpongeBob SquarePants Pineapple Houses (mainly for the loaches)
[*]Various Terra Cotta Pots (most broken to make caves)
[*]2 Spongebob Square Pants Pineapple Huts
[*]Various Artifical Plants
[*]Treasure Chest

LIVE PLANTS:
[*]Various Sword Type Plants pulled 11-19
[*]Sublata pulled 11-19

PLANT ADDITIVES:
[*]Seachem Flourish (until my 2l bottle runs out) 11-19 no longer planted so no longer using

OTHER ADDITIVES/CHEMICALS:
[*]Seachem Prime (my choice of baddy remover)
[*]Seachem Clarity (water clarifier...when needed) / Nutrafin Bio-Clear
[*]Mela-Fix (when needed)
[*]Pima-Fix (when needed)
[*]Fuba-Fix (when needed)

CLEANING SUPPLIES & MISC.:
[*]Mag Float medium
[*]Tom Algae Scraper Multi-Tool
[*]Tom Multi-Tool / Aquatic Gardener
[*]New Toothbrushes
[*]Assorted Hose/filter brushes
[*]5g buckets for "soaking" (also use diluted bleach when necessary followed by rinse and prime soak
[*]Python No Spill Clean N' Fill (for partials).
[*]various sized "soft" (like the brine shrimp ones) nets

CURRENT TANK INHABITANTS:
This is an approximation, there may be more/less due to loss, breeding, selling, and inaccurate counting.

[*]1 Han's Discus Brilliant Discus (my personal favorite...got him at 2.5" from Oddball Pets & Aquariums)
[*]2 Han's Discus Marlboro Discus
[*]1 Han's Discus PigeonBlood Blue
[*]1 Han's Discus PigeonBlood Red
[*]1 Han's Discus Silver Pigeon
[*]1 Han's Discus Blue Diamond rehomed 10-25-11
[*]1 ?Yellow Pigeon Discus (this was in a tank that carried White Scorpions, White Butterfly's, and Yellow Pigeons) rehomed 10-25-11
[*]1 Han's Discus Fire Red
[*]1 Han's Discus Turquoise
[*]2 Ram Cichlids (M. Altspinosa)
[*]2 Female Longfin Albino Bristlenose Plecos
[*]2 Male Standard "Golden" Bristlenose Plecos found 1 deceased in log on 12-13-11; possibly trapped in the log by the clownloach who's really possessive of the logs?
[*]Unknown number of baby/Jr. Albino Bristlenoses (These are typically reared in the 20L, but their still may be a few in here that I miss)
[*]6 Glass Catfish
[*]at least 7 Bronze Corydoras
[*]7 Pangio Loaches
[*]6 Kuhlii Loaches
[*]1 Clown Loach (Thought I sold them all off, but musta missed 1)
[*]1 Roseline Barbs Added 4 more 10-25-11
[*]2 Neon Tetras
[*]about 9 Rasbora Heteromorpha's
[*]about 6 White Skirt Tetras
[*]2 Male Dwarf Flame Gouramis
[*]1 Dwarf Honey Gourami
[*]1 Female Crowntail Betta

 

Photo Time!

 

Thanks Buzz, I'm just glad it's DONE.

I can't wait for the treasure chest to come in..depending on it's size I'm hoping to stick it in the middle and maybe move the terra cotta hideouts a bit. Figuring that should provide some extra cover for the loaches.

 

Wow, I can honestly say I don't recall ever having an issue with a tank that had the Tahitian Moon Sand in it, I mean in regards to an algae outbreak? Over the years I've kept fish I've had the 90g done with it and Africans, the 20gL done with it currently - shrimp, a 10g that was done with it that had endlers, a 55g that I had Jacks, another 55g that had jellybean parrots, and I know there was a few more that just aren't coming to mind.

[icon_e_geek.gif] I know upon late night reading (I'm a night owl per say) that I've seen others complain about various substrates stating how they changed the composition, but I haven't come across anything negative YET about the Tahitian Moon. I DO know that the Tahitian Moon in the 20gL was the dry stuff that you had to rinse the heck out of, but the stuff in the 90g currently is the newish kind that comes prepacked in the water (you don't rinse, you just toss the bag in and grab out the little packs of Bio-Clear & De-Clorinator and add them to your water).

:-x If I get brush algae in this setup then I swear they're adding something to the water system that's causing it, because I never ran into the issue in any of my other setups over the past years...this Brush Algae) has only became a problem within I'd say a little under a year.

 

Yesterday's Grossness!

So I was about a week behind (I do weekly partials) on cleaning the tank due to medicating, and due to the brush algae I opted to once again toss everything in a bucket of bleach water because I couldn't bare to stare at it...algae DOES NOT go with holiday decor

Well upon pulling the ken's pleco logs out I always tips and swirl them in the tank just in case there's babies in there and out pops a partially decomposed pleco HEAD...yep, just the head.
Talk about your grossness! I did a quick check being I only kept 2 males and 2 longfin females and realized it was one of the males that passed. The only thing I can think of is that it's the fault of the clown loach who's pretty territorial when it comes to those logs? I'm thinking it could have trapped him in there? Either way, I'm pretty miffeed as BOTH males were squite the stunners, but the one that passed was the larger of the two and the one that seemed to breed more prolifically.