Question of the Day How is your tank doing today? Tell me honestly...

[Art]

Happy Monday, everyone!

Most of us got our water changes in this past weekend and have our heads focused on the week ahead. It's a good time to review where we stand with everything including our tanks.

So, honestly, how do you think your tank is doing?

 

[Joel Armstrong]

Happy Monday to you, although the day is nearing an end here in Australia, it's 10pm.

Well, I'm never happy with my tank lately. All I seem to notice are the bad things, and don't appreciate the good.

The bad - I have some small very small spots of cyano here and there, which are easily removed each water change, but seem to reappear persistently over the last few weeks.
Also, filamentous diatoms and GDA still hanging about, in small quantities, but theyre also persistent.
2-3 plant species not doing so well, but improving, I think.

The good - overall, most plants are quite healthy, colourful and have vigorous growth. That's all I have, see how I focus on the negatives lately?

Hope you all have a great week ahead!

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

My most recent WC I added some more sand to “whiten” up the substrate a bit. However, the caveat to this is that it without fail causes a brief filamentous diatom bloom. So today I’ll be siphoning out that nonsense. I’m sure I could combat this by dumping the extra sand I have in a bucket and “cleaning” it first.

 

[Art]

My tank is coming along. I'm in the tough period of waiting for the plantings to grow and watching for algae.

 

[*Ci*]

My tanks are stable and beautiful with no algae and maintenance is a breeze, but I have had some unexplained fish deaths which are disturbing me.
I have fish die here and there over the course of a year, from old age or overall poor quality, but lately there seem to be more than usual.

 

[RickyV]

My most recent WC I added some more sand to “whiten” up the substrate a bit. However, the caveat to this is that it without fail causes a brief filamentous diatom bloom. So today I’ll be siphoning out that nonsense. I’m sure I could combat this by dumping the extra sand I have in a bucket and “cleaning” it first.

That's funny I literally just did this last WC weekend. Though the tank is big enough the sand addition was negligible so no algae luckily. It's crazy the difference a clean bright sand does. I thought the sand was already clean until I added the new sand. I'm going start dosing H2O2 on it weekly to try to maintain it.

 

[Ernesto]

well it is not a tank...the medaka minipond on the balcony is infested from massive cyano for weeks now. Although clear water and no green algae, the ground and the complete inside shell of the ceramic bowl are covered in black slime. Three times washing the hands after taking out the echinodorus in its seperate basket for a check, did not remove the hellish odour.
The water itself doesnt smell at all. And the frogbit leaves have a never before seen diameter, some around 60mm/2.4 inches. Trying to find out if there is dependence or not. The pond stands east and has full sun until noon. Not sure to start a cyano battle or not, fish seem happy...

 

[Luciën]

Ooh my main tank is going thru bad times.. Lots of green algae types.. CO2 is stable at 1.2 ph drop through the day. Ive did lots of water changes and gravel vac, after a week it starts returning. Ive changed the light from 8hrz of full power to 6hrz that helped a bit. My guess is too little ferts I have alot of emergent plants above the waterline that all grow quite okay but I think they suck up all the nutrients.. Down here is my current dosage:

 

[Art]

My tanks are stable and beautiful with no algae and maintenance is a breeze, but I have had some unexplained fish deaths which are disturbing me.
I have fish die here and there over the course of a year, from old age or overall poor quality, but lately there seem to be more than usual.

Hmm, do you have anything you suspect?

 

[Art]

I'm going start dosing H2O2 on it weekly to try to maintain it.

Would you mind reporting on this? I think many would love to figure out a way to keep it relatively clean without adding new.

 

[Art]

Not sure to start a cyano battle or not, fish seem happy...

IME if you don't mind seeing it and nothing else is hurting, you can let it go. Eventually it will die out by itself almost overnight.

 

[Art]

Ooh my main tank is going thru bad times.. Lots of green algae types.. CO2 is stable at 1.2 ph drop through the day. Ive did lots of water changes and gravel vac, after a week it starts returning. Ive changed the light from 8hrz of full power to 6hrz that helped a bit. My guess is too little ferts I have alot of emergent plants above the waterline that all grow quite okay but I think they suck up all the nutrients.. Down here is my current dosage:
View attachment 5763

@Luciën do you mind me asking where are you getting this picture from? The measurements are highly accurate, much too much for home test kits.

 

[Luciën]

@Luciën do you mind me asking where are you getting this picture from? The measurements are highly accurate, much too much for home test kits.

Ooh thats from the IFC-Fert calculator based on what I dose and my most recent tap water report.

 

[Art]

I hope more people start to see the value of the IFC Plant Fertilizer Calculator. Some time investment upfront really sets you up to manage your aquarium and better understand what's going on.