help with reset or reassemble setup

[dragonbolas]

Good morning,

Thanks in advance.


to set up:
aquarium 30 liters 30 * 30 * 30
2 filters
- 1 filter sponges
- marina s15 filter with neo media soft

substrate JBL Manado


I have a 30-liter aquarium with neocaridins and I wanted to add CRS.

as for the PH it is ok for the CRS it has the ph at 6.5 but I needed to remove it as all plants because the layout is a big mess because I have BBAs and cladophora plants.

I wanted to either reset the aquarium or remove all the plants to try to eliminate all the algae.

can someone help me what is the best way to do it? because I’m afraid to remove it as plants and lift a lot of garbage and ammonia, 
and I don’t have another tank where I can put the neos to reset the tank and cycle again.

Can I gradually remove the plants one per day and wash them with hydrogen peroxide?

Or would it be better for one day to take off neocaridines and wash everything and reassemble on the same day?


many thanks

 

Thanks and best regards

Edited April 6, 2021 by dragonbolas

[sdlTBfanUK]

You're probably best treating the tank as it is. A proper balanced tank shouldn't have BBA so you need to identify why you have this problem. Sometimes it happens early on after a tank has been set up and it clears itself with time as the tank balances itself out - I have had this happen! The other usual problem is regarding the light, too much, too little, in direct sunlight etc etc.

I would just remove as much as you can manually without disturbing the plants and see if it clears up naturally, if this tank is fairly new! I have had this, and fungus with new tanks and left alone it has always vanished as the tank becomes balanced/settled/mature?

You may be best holding off getting CRS at this stage, until you have the tank properly sorted as caridina shrimp are more sensitive/delicate than neocaridina shrimp?

Simon

[dragonbolas]

Hi the tank have 14 mounths mature. The bbas only appears when a put a new filter s15 with eheiem substrat pro, and the pH Change from 6.5 to 7.5 because the eheiem médias. Now i try to treat BBA with florish excel but without many results. Thanks

[sdlTBfanUK]

How long ago did you change the s15 filter and eheim substrate? New substrate may be rich in fertilisers/nutrients and that may have caused the BBA to grow but this may settle down with time and water changes if the substrate was changed recently?

The PH 6.5 will be good for crystal shrimps but not the PH 7.5?

I have heard (but never tried myself) that flourish excel can clear BBA but it usually takes time and most reports use double/triple the recommended dose, be careful not to use too much that would affect the shrimps though! It usually goes red before dying off?

Simon

[dragonbolas]

Hi,

eheim substrat pro its not a substrate but is a media to the filter

https://eheim.com/en_GB/aquatics/filter-media/biological/substratpro/substratpro-180g

but this media is very alkaline and raised my PH.

 

now with new media neo media soft the ph is lower again.

 

I dont use the double of the excel because im afraid too i use an half of the recomended.

 

Thanks

[Crabby]

Hi there! I dealt with BBA a while ago, and came at it from a bunch of different angles - I did full doses (but not doubles) of excel (directly on the algae), manually removed what I could, did vinegar dips, experimented with some week-long blackouts, decreased hours of lighting, and added in a couple Siamese Algae Eaters to eat the remainder (they did a great job)! In the end, I pretty much eliminated the BBA from that tank (actually, besides a teeny bit of green spot on the glass, my tank is algae free!!!)

In the end, I think the problem was my light. Using a timer, I’ve cut my lighting hours down to about 6 hrs per day, and the tank gets maybe an hour of nice full sunlight in the morning too. I suggest trying whichever of the above options you can, especially the lighting. 

[sdlTBfanUK]

What happened to the Siamese Algae Eaters after the tank was cleared of BBA? If they are Algae eaters, are they shrimp safe longer term?

Simon

 

35 minutes ago, Crabby said:

Hi there! I dealt with BBA a while ago, and came at it from a bunch of different angles - I did full doses (but not doubles) of excel (directly on the algae), manually removed what I could, did vinegar dips, experimented with some week-long blackouts, decreased hours of lighting, and added in a couple Siamese Algae Eaters to eat the remainder (they did a great job)! In the end, I pretty much eliminated the BBA from that tank (actually, besides a teeny bit of green spot on the glass, my tank is algae free!!!)

In the end, I think the problem was my light. Using a timer, I’ve cut my lighting hours down to about 6 hrs per day, and the tank gets maybe an hour of nice full sunlight in the morning too. I suggest trying whichever of the above options you can, especially the lighting. 

 

[Crabby]

Oh, sorry, forgot to mention - this is a fish only tank. I’m not sure how I’d feel about putting them in with my shrimp (especially now the one I kept is getting pretty big). I’d say it’s possible if the tank is decent sized (10G+) but you should be wary and attentive, and you might lose a couple baby shrimp. SAE are omnivores, not purely algae eaters, but they’re one of the only fish who will eat BBA. Unfortunately, the best way to get them to eat it is by giving them very little food, and that may provoke them to eat shrimp. 

[sdlTBfanUK]

I looked the SAE up last night and I probably hadnt come across them as they grow quite big, up to 6 inches, so would have ignored them on size alone.I don't think I woould risk them with shrimp!

Simon