blue algae

[themountain]

Well..I sai "fool proof" not "Idiot proof"

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

The small siphon-changes+reduction of algae-cells+adding some algae-eaters was a recommendation for Chris .. to point out one kind of method where you don`t have to buy any chemicals or else to get the balance back.. and in a quite easy way too..Micke

I use a similar approach to Micke.

Seriously I don't understand that people so against hydrogen peroxide...first it does not do any harm, it's cheap and completely fool proof..

Well..I sai "fool proof" not "Idiot proof"

I wouldn't say it was <"harmless">, it is a strong oxidising agent and needs to be handled with care. Having said that it doesn't leave a residue (it is just hydrogen and oxygen) and it will "work".

Minor tangent: you have no issues feeding your apistogramma blood worms? Some threads warn about feeding it more than once or twice a week.

Personally I wouldn't feed my fish frozen Blood-worms.

It really depends on where and how the bloodworms were collected/processed. They can contain disease baring organisms and heavy metals in some areas. Apistos will often gorge themselves on them (sort of like me on chocolate!) so don't over feed at any one time. Otherwise these are similar to part of the natural diet of wild apistos.

I agree with Mike, there isn't a problem with feeding live Chironomid larvae occasionally, they are part of their natural diet of Apistogramma. In Kullander (2005) <"Two new species of Apistogramma Regan (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from the rio Trombetas, Pará State, Brazil"> he references Bergleiter (1999) (I haven't got this paper, it is in German).

......Bergleiter (1999) reported a mixed diet but mainly cladocerans, copepods, chironomid larvae and other aquatic insect larvae in stomachs of A. gephyra from the rio Xingu.

I've never had any problem with any live food, but I wouldn't use live Blood-worms (Chironomid larvae), or Tubifex, that I hadn't collected myself and <"I still "grow my own" Blood-worms">.

Blood worms (Chironomid Midge larvae) occur in nearly all water bodies, but you only get really large numbers when organic pollution provides a food source, and reduces competition from less pollution tolerant organisms. Commercial collection of both Tubifex and Chironomids is going to come from places like sewage farms, where you get huge population densities. This applies particularly to frozen Blood-worms, where you have the added risk involved in the freezing process.

cheers Darrel

 

[chris1805]

Well sadly there is some blue algae back again... This time it was my fault since i did not have enough time to clean my tank everytime. Will start the cleaning proces of everyday a bit. Also thinking about increasing the fish load by adding some corydoras pygmae since these stay really small.

What do you guys think, is 9 neon tetra stimulans + a dicrossus pair + 8 corydoras pygmae to much for a 60x30x36cm tank?

 

[Karin]

too many fish for 64 liters... Just clean and increase water movement. Which is the temperature of the tank?

 

[chris1805]

There is lots of water movement got an external filter for 120l underneath it. the neons are really small and same for the corydoras i am planning on. They probably create the same waste as normal tetra's when added together

 

[Karin]

Is good to have good water circulation to avoid low oxigen areas. Plus some people think that low nitrogen and high phosphate has something to do with ciano blooms. Too much organics, low plant competition and some light excess can contribute.