# my 33 gallon journal



## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

ok... so for those people who have been helping since i origionally put water in my aquarium i must say a big thank you. I don't know if i would have got as far as i have so far with this fish tank without all your help.

Today was a big day in the life of my 33 gallon. I put in the two lava rocks i had and the river stone. Those who have been helping know the problems i had with my lava rocks... i had washed and soaked them in a bucket that should not have been used at all for the fish hobby. The detergent soaked rocks took about three boils (at least 20 minutes each) and a week of soaking before i felt that i had the detergent out of the rocks completely. Today i was so confident that i put the rocks in the tank because the plants i had in there looked so plain. (now i can only hope that I'm right about the detergent being out of the rocks...)

And on that note... the plants i bought at a very discounted price probably because of the condition the plants were in had their own issues when i brought them home. one day after introducing them into my tank i noticed a lil white patch stuck to the end of one of the leaves... (my plant is the anubias minima) I origionally thought it was mold but when i went home this morning the white patch was gone! i don't know if it was mold or not now... but either way i'm happy that it's gone. 75% of the leaves had a dark green to them... i'm thinking it's algae but it's been a few days sitting in the tank and it seems to be clearing up a lil... more of the leaves are becoming a very lively green again as the dark areas of the leaves seem to be slowly turning to the lighter more alive color. Another thing to note i noticed that my marigold swordtail is eating something off the leaves... i don't know what... whenever i come over and stare into the tank she stops doing it. I'm assuming she's eating algae? But that doesn't sound normal for swordtails... is it?! Some of the leaves are also damaged... like two or three leaves of the two potted plants have slices through them... one of the leaves looks like it's half eaten... thats what it looked like when i got it.

I have driftwood still soaking... I've boiled one of the two pieces two or three times for 20 minutes each time and the tannins just keep pouring out of it. (malaysian driftwood.) From the help i recieved on this site i am contemplating just putting them in the tank seeing as the tannins are not harmful to fish or anything else in the water for that matter. I think i'm gonna boil the one piece again today when i get home from work and put it in the tank as i do have a carbon piece in my aquaclear HOB filter. Origionally i didn't want the tea colored water... but the more i think about it... The more it seems that it would simulate real world natural water coloring. So!... When i get home today i will boil the piece one more time and probably wait a lil while till the driftwood ends up at room temperature while soaking and place it in the tank. 

Then i will take pictures to show you all! I want to get some pictures for you guys/gals today! I only have a camera on my phone and it ain't that good but it'll give you a basic idea of what my tank looks like so far... hope i'm not boring ya'll with this journal so far... but i seen others make journals and i thought that it was a great idea... as it will help me keep track of whats going on and maybe get some creative feedback from all my fellow fish hobbiest's... Thanks everyone!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey breeze i had Sailfin mollies which are similer to swordtails and i noticed they used to pick at my plants,rocks also since their omnivoirs i would guess their munching on algae.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

ok so i know i said i'd put up pictures but i'm going through some hell... haha...

well the substrate... pool filter sand (pfs) was extremely dirty... i don't know if it was because of fish waste or some sort of brownish algae? 

My columbian tetra has developed some sort of a disease... i found it swimming sideways and just stopped feeding him for a couple of days in case it was swim bladder... he only got worse.. started swimming upside down.. My birthday past too and i been partying like crazy so haven't had too much time to tend to the tank. I vaccumed the sand the other day but it still looks pretty crappy. i removed the tetra two nights ago and put him in the bucket with the piece of driftwood i was leaching tannins out of. Today he is not doing much better... i plan on feeding him some peas when i get home today.

I noticed i white spot on the id sharks tail and on his front fin... i assume its ich. I've done a 25% water change and added a lil salt with the new water i put in. i'm not sure how much salt i'm supposed to use tho. ps... i did try to give away the shark without much success... i have decided to keep him as i have moved him into a bigger tank now and plan on getting a big one sometimes in the near future as soon as i have some bills paid off. hopefully a more successful journal in the future.

I'm noticing some brown algae forming on the glass and on the tube to the aquaclear filter. some of the anubias leaves are looking good and healthy where as some of them are dying. i'm gonna snip the dying leaves and stems off today. the anubias still has some spots of algae.

I put in one of the two pieces of driftwood and oh it makes the tank look pretty and so far i haven't noticed any leeching of tannins. the other piece that i did not boil is still leeching tannins like crazy. i definitly recommend boiling for the removal of tannins!

The marigold swordtail is doing very well in the tank tho.. swimming about happily and through the leaves of the anubias following the pangius catfish. 

So! I'm having some troubles... can anyone gimme some dosage instructions on salt to help treat a very minor case of ich?

the white sand is going brown and dirty looking... do i have to clean this sand twice a week or something?

Can i just snip the plants? is there a specific way of doing this or do i just pull out the plant and snip the dying leaf off?

is there other diseases other than swim bladder that might be killing my columbian tetra?


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey Breeze, Sorry to hear about your Tetra which does sorta sound like swim bladder but im not really an expert of diseases lol. About that ID shark if u allready dont know they grow to more then 2 feet long. lol, big guys but white spot is usually cake to get rid of in its early stages. as for the Salt i just followed the instructions on the container which was {{ 1 Rounded Table spoon for every 5 Gals(US)}} I used API Aquarium Salt when i treated my fish. And Personally I like it when my aquarium gets the "Dark Water" Bleach look its goes nice with the dark sand,plants and German/Bolivian Rams i keep  i hope to get some Oak leaves i believe but i gotta check, to put in the bottom to add more of a wild look. As for your white sand my experiences showed me that it can get a bit brownish from algae but my cichlids tend to move it all the time so it helps and i also clean it once every 2 weeks ish. Also how old is your aquarium? what sort of lighting do you have? and the plants would be best if u kept them in where they are planted and get small scissors to clip the leaves/stems at the base. lol allright i dont think i missed nothin GL .


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

the aquarium is um... two months old established... three since introduction.

I have two 36" 30 watt cool white (4100k) t8 lamps enclosed in my own ghetto fabulous reflector... it's probably not getting nearly the amount of light it would with a proper reflector but i think i'm getting at least 1w/g in there.

I snipped my plants using your advice but they are planted in lil plastic pots in some um... almost foamy looking substrate stuff in the pots. i just recently put my driftwood in and was waiting to see whether i would leave it in there or not before i started cutting the anubias at the rhimezones (probably spelt wrong) and fitting them into the driftwood. Or i wanted other type of plants to do that... like java moss.

When i get home today i'm gonna do a salt dosage into my tank... i don't want to use so much salt as 6 table spoons for my 33 gallon... i guess i'll just use 5. they say use a table spoon per every 5 gallons... seems a bit much to me.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

another interesting note... 

today i was feeling so bad about the tetra who was sitting in the bucket hiding under the other piece of driftwood... i decided to put him in the 20 gal tank which was only housing two leopard danios. I took the danios out of the tank with ease... they swam into the net like they wanted to go... Transfered them to the 33 g which i may have screwed up cause they didn't want to wait the accimilation period... they both just flew out of the bag i had and into the new tank... I took the tetra out of the bucket and put him into the 20g... he was easy to accimilate as he is already not moving at all or at least a bare minimum... 

The danios jumped into the tank and i noticed that their gills were really red and almost looked bruised. but they seemed to love the new atmospere... they explored the tank thoroughly... the marigold swordtail (mary) followed them around on most of there adventure till they squeezed through the tightest lil spots that i never thought they would dare try and squeeze through. in between lava rocks! But the marigold chased them around and through the anubias plant. was so cool. the danios also swam around with the pangius as they were tank mates for years before i moved him into this new tank a month of two ago. never seen my tank look so alive. Before i left for work last night i looked in and their redness in their gills seemed to have eased up quite a bit but it still looks like theirs some bruising. i'll see how they are this morning when i go home. another thing i never noticed was that one of the danios... was a yellow color... his whole body and his fins were very yellow! Where as the other one was silvery... never noticed that under the 10000K lights with blue gravel... my roomate was amazed too!

The tetra now rests alone in the 20g by himself not swimming or eating... i threw some peas in there de-skinned, cut into quarters... tried to hand feed him as he is so immobile i can literally pick him up and hold him and try and feed him... no luck. the 20g was very unmaintained but all the fish that ever lived in it lived long and disease free! i left tonight hoping that maybe he'll eat one of the pea pieces lying around him tonight while i'm gone... i heard that's supposed to help with swim bladder. thanks tropicana for helping and reading!


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

ok i added the salt water.. i did 4 tablespoons because i remember the other day i added about two table spoons so in 4 days 6 table spoons should be perfect for the 33 gallon. the ich spots look considerably smaller today so i think they are free and swimming around waiting to die off with the addition of the salt.

The brownish algae... well it is definitly brown algae as i looked it up online... it is really starting to take hold of the glass... i'm on my way out to go pick up some ottos. hopefully they can help control this stuff.

The redness in the gills of the danios are still there a lil and the bruising but they seem to be happy. fins fully extended and bright. swimming aorund together chasing each other by the rocks and plants.

I'm officially gonna try and check out that spot in burlington called... alternative aquariums but i might not be able to check it out seeing as it opens at ten... and i'm going out now... and it's almost 8:30... the pet store up on appelby and uppermiddle probably opens at 9 so i'll be going there.

hopefully they got ottos!


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

ok so i went to alternative aquariums... Met Doug... He's a very friendly guy. He's got great knowledge and is very confident in what he knows. I recomennd the place.

Interesting note... anyone looking for 30" dual t5 coralife lights... he's selling them for around $80. i think that's cheaper than most places i was looking for it before i made my own lighting.

Also... they had red eye puffers. And they don't grow much bigger than what they were.... i think it was around 3"? maybe 4"? Nice looking lil guys.

They did not have otto cats (Well they had 1). They did have some flying foxes but i didn't end up getting any algae eaters this time around... i wanted ottos!

I did pick up some plants. He gave me java ferns from out of one of the tanks displaying the puffers! Basically i'm guaranteeing i didn't get no snails with that.  I also picked up the cheapest heater they had only to find out today when i got home that the tank sits at room temperature at around 76 F. Don't think i really needed this heater at all but i guess it's good to have just in case.

so i also talked to him about my id shark and he says he'll take him and find him a better home. i even told him about the small trace of ich... told him i could cure him first or just bring him in and that it was a very small case but he says its ok... he'll fix him up if need be. He mentioned to me the yamagoto... er yamato shrimp saying they eat the algae pretty much just as good as the ottos... just might need a lil more... and i told him the kind of fish i had in my tank to see if the shrimp would get eaten... he says the id would eat em for sure. so... today i plan on going to see him and drop off the id shark to him if i can get a ride. Probably pick up some shrimp while i'm there too to get rid of the brown algae that is slowly but surely growing day by day in my tank. Doug says that i can't control the algae with algae eating guys but i'd like to differ... there isn't much algae at all... but i can see it multiplying daily... so if i can put in just enough shrimp or ottos... they will definitly balance it out... and i can clean it up and hopefully the new outbreaks will be daily feeding for the shrimps... maybe even let them go to town on it and see what kind of job they do before i even clean it off.

Another interesting note... Burlington does not use chlorine in their water! I was about to buy water conditioner... he asks me where i live... i say up the road around the corner... he says want a tip... you don't need it... points out to me that the whole place is run on tap water! I was amazed!  That's another reason i just bought the heater... he did save me money on the conditioner!

I slid the rooty parts of the java ferns into the driftwood in my tank. It's coming along very nicely i must say. For my first planted aquarium and all natural deco... I think i'm doing pretty well... i promise i'll have pictures up as soon as i can get the brown algae off a lil to show you!


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

*Id Shark Has New Home!*

Found a home for the id shark... i took him to the store alternative aquariums as i went back there today because doug seems like he'll find him a home he deserves. He put him in with some cichlids! It was cool watching the interaction of them when they met. Hope he does alright in there!

I figure now that my tank is a lil emptier without the id in there... maybe i should get some stuff.  I picked up 2 yamato shrimp! These guys are soo cool! 4 neon tetras and the only otto cat there! I want more ottos but he won't have none till next week. Great store. I'm excited. I've already put the shrimp in the tank and the neons assimilated a lil bit slower but they're in too... they looked ready to go. and i'm very slowly accimilating the otto cause i hear they're sensitive. Super slowly. Hopefully these guys help with the sand and the walls.  I wonder if anyone reads my threads... i write too much eh?


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

2 and a half hours after the shrimp were accimilated... no sign of em... hope i see em someday.  I wonder if they're even in there?! :O


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

You will probably see them when least excpected, I believe they are called amano shrimp. Iam glad your shark will get a new home I know your where very attached to him. Cant wait to see your tank.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Well i hope that your tetra hold on and makes it he sounds worn out lol.. As for that Algae it souds like u got alot of it haha, your lighting surely doesnt help 4100K at 1.8wpg ish is definatly an algae magnet lol. a little info i heard and am going by myself is a general wpg for a planted aquarium with hardy plants is 2.0-3.0 with 6700K lighting. Your Danios gills may be red because of an increased blood flow and maby the oxygen level in the aquarium is a bit lower, Considering Higher water temps lower the amount of oxygen which can be absorbed into the water. lol hope those shrimp and the otto do good, i was actually going to buy a few myself since i have a 20g planted that need a bit of natural maintinance haha.. I actually bought an 65Watt Coralife Deluxe Single linear strip fixture and in a few days at 3 wpg i noticed my plants literally Boom lol. and the aquarium was much much brighter which was nice compaired to my old 15watt flora glow lol. As for your salt im sure u know all rdy but the concentration will only lower with water changes so u wont need to add anymore for a while . Awsome with the ID shark i hope he likes his new home im glad u did the right thing with that big little guy haha. Cool im glad to help, anways ill be around.

Just a little note For that Coralife Deluxe Single Linear strip light. its 95$ at BA's and i checked online and it was 65$ lol 75$ with shipping. so BigAl's does a good job at RIPPING u off .


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

wow didnt realize i wrote a book pfft i guess i can get carried away lol.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

lol call that a book tropicana? I must be writing encyclopedias!


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

*Sorry about the quality of the pics... used my phone.*

So i took these pics using my phone which is pretty crappy camera. and the algae didn't help... and i just slapped on a 15 watt lamp to take these pics... But i'm not done making this a natural looking habitat yet... far from done actually but i'll keep updating with more pics and i'll try to get better quality ones this weekend when i clean the tank. should have a substantial less amount of algae in there. Hope you can enjoy these and get a feel for what i'm doing. Thanks for looking.

this first photo is of most of the tank... missing a lil off the left corner...









This is a photo of the right hand side of the tank... malaysian driftwood with java fern and anubias minima and a river rock in the front corner.










The lava rocks on the left side of the tank... not quite all the way over to the edge of the side tho...


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Ahh very nice, i like the style you got goin, lol im tryin to do the same "Almost" but with black sand and amazon swords/ chain swords. and a javafern which i am trying to get to attach to my mayla..etc. wood lol.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

Thanks tropicana! I really appreciate you and anyone else who is reading my encyclopedias (lol) and viewing my pics. GtaAquaria... best fish forum i'm on! It's getting to the point i don't even bother going on the other forums no more!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Haha thats awsome "20 Gallon Plants Hair algae, Spot algae hahahah nice, and i agree since ive came here its been great lol...


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

yet another update... i found one of the shrimp so i'm pretty confident they're both alive. the lil bugger is in between the glass and my ammonia alert device. guys are tiny. I wonder when they'll start chilling in the sand.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Lol, encyclopaedic ramblings. You've got nothing on my ramblings to nobody but myself in my reef tank thread.

Shaky but good start to the tank here. Glad to hear that you're rehoming the shark (and not eating him, as I suggested).

Trop was right about the mollie - it's eating the algae off your plants. Nice pick ups on the anubiases BTW. 

Looking forward to seeing this one develop. The danios should recover in due time. They probably were stressed in transfer, and the sudden change from one tank to another further stressed them. They should be fin though, they're fairly hardy.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Sorry I havent been keeping up with you! 

The tank looks like it's on its way for sure. Dont feel discouraged, you'll do a wonderful job with it 

Some of the most frustrating times I had was waiting for the plants to grow in. lol


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

Thanks cid. Thanks plec.

Well another update.... so after i put the neons in i noticed my female danio was actually a terror in the tank! I beleive she is the sole cause of the danio fallout i had from the origional 6 danios i had way back when... she was the biggest fastest and most aggresive of the bunch... any way. I took the girl out of the 33 gallon. Put her alone in the 20 gallon. she wasn't happy. and the other danio seemed to look for her for at least an hour and a half before i passed out. that was two nights ago. Yesterday during the day i went to big als to try and buy a t8 36" bulb with a 6700k or 6500k rating. well they didn't have any! while i was there tho i picked up another otto cat and 3 more neons. 

accimilated them very slowly again. the neons immediately started schooling.... it was awesome. they school tighter now that there are more of them. 7 total but i think one of the new ones i got aren't gonna make it. he's the lilest one and i caught him hiding even tho nothing is chasing him. poor guy... i don't think he'll make it but we'll see... The one otto i had is doing a heck of a job on the glass. so i decided to bring in one more to the clean up crew and i am loving it.... these two are constantly on the glass and plants. The algae is definitly receding. I don't know if it's cause i got extra plants in there or if it's the ottos... And for that matter... the shrimp have disappeared again with no trace of them. i bet their in there tho.

I'm about to order one of those lamps online. can't be going to stores and looking for these things and them not even carrying it.

interesting note... big als hamilton had one gold nugget pleco... was $30 but this thing was super cool!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey sounds like things are workin out, i picked up 2 ottos yesterday lol they work wonders on my plants and glass also, hope that little neon works out for ya, if u can get him to eat a bit then he may do allright.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

yet another update... my swordtail had babies! I noticed a lil something moving in the sand this morning and to my surprise it was a lil baby! I been searching the tank now looking for more and the most i've seen at one time is 5. they're all hiding and once in a while swimming out in the open looking around! I htink theirs enough hiding space for them to survive. i did a vaccum of the sand and about a 20% water change. Still no sign of the shrimp. Let's see if these guys get to grow up!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

haha awsome, congrats. your swordtail could produce alot more in the future even without a male, they can hold sperm for a while which is kinda neat. lol.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

*another update*

After my nap this afternoon before i had to come to work for my nightshift... i woke up to see one neon dead... stuck to the filter. i'm pretty sure that was the exact one that i was thinking was on his way out already. i also moved the danio that was in the tank out of the 33 and back into the 20 because he spent countless time just hunting for fry and trying to eat em. he would just hang around the plants and wood hunting... going in all the nooks and cranny's. i just took him out and put him in the 20. he origionally came from there anyway... he cycled that tank years ago. and his partner is also already in there as she was terrorizing the neons... so the two danios are reunited. the babies chance for survival have increased... one neon down... found an interesting lil creature on the stem of one of my plants... i think it's some sort of a snail... and... still no sign of the shrimp.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

still no sign of the shrimp.
neons seem to be doing pretty good... one gets stressed sometimes and hides.
still don't see many swordtail babies but i have seen some daring adventures of one of them... and another that seems to be trapped in his hiding spot under a rock.

an interesting note... brown algae is at almost zero... but a new algae is taking form... still not sure what kind it is... sorta fuzzy looking on the glass. almost singled out the back glass and none of the other sides. Pretty bright green.

plants are sprouting new stems and leaves. 

so other than the new algae... seems like everything is good... i think i'm gonna add more driftwood and more plants. And get different spectrumed bulbs. 

and did i add... STILL NO SIGN OF THE SHRIMPS! Damn where are these guys!?


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

*yet another entry*

Went to big als in hamilton today again. This time they did have the bulbs i was looking for! Life Glo 2's t8 36"... And it's funny cause i went online to the hagen site after the first time i went and they didn't have them and couldn't even find them... so i figured they weren't even being made... but low and behold here they are! I bought two! $30 a pop! jesus.. i hate how expensive these lights are. I also bought two small pieces of malaysian driftwood... I figure my tank looks too empty right now and i want more plants to grow out before putting any more stock in there. But... drift wood is good to fill in the empty sand spaces for now. The color coming off the life glo 2's are way better than the cool whites. makes my water even look cleaner! lol. and it might be just me but i thought i saw my plants react instantly to them when i changed out the bulbs and put these on. so the quest continues....


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

next chapeter. 

A mysterious death in the tank. The swordtail mommy was dead when i came home today. And to my surprise she didn't look like anything was wrong with her. No marks on her body... no inflamed gills... still had bright colors too her. In fact for a while i waited to see if she was alive... but she wasn't. i immediately removed her and did a 25% water change. looked around in the tank in the dark and seen all the other fish doing what they do at that time of the morning. i was at work i assume when she passed. I also did a water parameters test. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10 nitrate, ideal alkalinity, not soft but not hard, and a neutral ph of around 6.8-7.0. I also did a huge algae clean up today. Scraped the walls down... didn't do a great job with the back wall but definitly got most of it. Peeled some black looking algae off of the roots of my plants and the leaves. Added two more pieces of driftwood. Also note i seen two of the mothers babies swimming around looking for food. 

interesting note... i think the oto may be having some kind of issues but i might just be paraniod. One otto is acting strange... landing on a leaf... staying for a few seconds than dashing forward very quickly but not far... like inch or two up the leaf. and he was doing this all over the tank. he's not doing it anymore.. was he sneezing or something?! Hiccups?

Still no sign of the shrimp... even when i was all up in there cleaning everything!


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Maybe the swordtail was old or had a birth problem. Ottos seem to do this when there is only 1 or 2 they like to be in groups.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

SUCCESS!!!! 

I have located one of my shrimps today. Still no sign of the other one but i'm happy i can see one... i moved a few things around like the plants and i picked up the driftwood pieces and there was one of the shrimp... he's made a new lil home in plain site! YES!

one of the ottos is loving the new driftwood pieces too. the new pieces have tunnel like holes in them and one of the ottos has made a home out of the opening.

Algae removal ain't so bad!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

haha sweet man, i picked up a couple cherry shrimp and an i havent seen them once yet,(3 days) lol i know whay ya mean!. seems that my ottos and shrimp LOVE the sponge filter i have in their they live on it. hows the tank comin? can ya post a few updated pics.? lol algae well ive come to a point in my 20 gal where its going Nutz i have this staghorn algae EVERYWhere haha my turn .


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

Hey tropicana... i actually have been following your staghorn algae thread with much interest because of my own algae problems... in fact i think my 20 gallon is overrun with that stuff and there is no ridding it in my eyes... i live with it. haha. so do the danios. But I'm sure with the help of the suggestions and some diligence you will rid your tank of the staghorn. And yes i'll post up some new pics as soon as i can. i want a better camera tho cause this cell phone cam just doesn't have the quality! Today i get off my night shift job and have to go to my dayshift job right after so i may be a lil strapped for time but i'll see if i can snap a few quickies for y'all.

Pat- I can only hope she died of old age... if that is the case than i'm happy for her cause she had two litters of babys in the time i've known her... once in my tank and once in her previous owners tank. Her first litter of babies are grown pretty big... they're like lil fish now... her second litter (my tank) i think there's only 2 that will carry on her legacy.  But majorly... I hope it was age or birth complications cause if it was something else i have no idea what it is and it may kill everything else in my tank too cause i don't know what's wrong. New pics... coming soon.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

*new pics*

Pics of my tank from left side of the tank to right...

*A lil algae on the rocks... and a piece of driftwood with a fern attatched to it without string...  and an anubias on the right side of the driftwood.*









*Anubias again, some driftwood and java ferns. couple of lil neons sneaking into the photo op.*









*An otto blending in on the glass... all 6 neons. java fern on the left and anubias at the back right.*









Note: didn't use anything to tie down anything... just shoved the roots into crevices and voila. they seem to take grip within a week. the anubias's roots are just tucked gently under driftwood.  Hope you enjoy my lil lovely tank. growing ever so slowly.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

nice looks awsome.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

yet another update... one of my shrimp has molted... and judging from where the exoskeleton is... he comes out when the lights are off. Sneaky bastard! Question is... do i pull it out right away? Do i just leave it in there? Is it safe to do water changes while he's hiding somewhere without a shell? I don't have to do one but i'd like to cause i'm currently trying to get a lock on the algae before it gets a lock on the tank.  Any help would be appreciated!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Well from my experience, it takes about 8 hours or so i noticed with my shrimp i had a while back. they were in a ph of about 8 ish. but for a water change i dont think it would hurt the shrimp. and for their exoskeletons i never really removed them. they sorta just sit their and degrade. their made of like calcium basicly so i dont think it would cause a huge bacterial problem or anything lol.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

thanks tropicana! I'm a do a water change tomorrow. This blackish algae... i don't know if it's black beard or blue green just suped up.. or staghorn... but it just keeps coming... slowly but surely creeping onto plants and rocks one leaf at a time. The war continues!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

lol good luck man, hope ur ottos can keep up! lol u may need some flag fish appearently their decent on some hair type algaes. Their also community and look kinda neat. Jordanella floridae is their sci name.


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## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

During the midnight madness sale i picked up two L187b's! Bulldog plecos... love em! And I also picked up a sole Vampire Shrimp cause i have never seen my Yamato shrimp.

Till today! I came home and looked in the tank and here comes floating out of nowhere the yamato shrimp! He moves in the water like a ninja... climbing up the walls and jumping into the middle very swift. i lost track of him while watching him to find him on the lava rocks under a plant!

The 33 Gallon is starting to take shape.... I'm happy i seen the yamato. there is two in there... one molted... i've seen one... i wonder if there's still two in there or not?


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