My Planted 55 gallon: Rebuild

my angels just laid eggs again! i will post pictures when i get back home.

 

very nice tank, just put up a planted 90 for some oscars.

 

good luck with plants and oscars! oscars are cool fish but from my experience them and plants just dont mix well.

 

nice tank i have never had any luck with my planted 30g it always looks like an algae experiment lol. i just tore it down last week for the 2nd time.any suggestions for the 3rd try? its a 30g with a 96w pc 6500k light. Is white sand any good for substrate?
sorry i'm not trying to hijack your thread just want something as nice as yours.

 

From my experience, snails are you best algae control team. Tiny freshwater snails. The downside is that they breed like crazy and can take over a tank. Snails are easier to keep under control than because there is a simple solution: Loaches. They hella like to dine on snails.

 

its alright. just make sure you use ro water. that made a big difference for me. i have lots of snails like ultimatewarrior said, but not too many that would be an annoyance. just take your time setting it up. i rushed my freshwater set up before and ended up with algae and headaches like crazy. patience has worked the best and good results followed.

the white sand will also work well but it will show waste much easier and will almost always look dirty. that is one of the reasons that i went with the pigeon grit gravel.

 

thanks for the reply,do you add anything to the ro? i thought it was too pure for plants

 

i just add aqua safe and florapride. both are tetra brand products. but my plants are all going strong. a little too strong sometimes lol. i used to have to cut them down almost weekly.

 

Nice tank, could use more of those community fish though. I've never had an algae problem in my FW tank, they say plecos aren't effective but there has to be a reason my tank is sparkling clean. Also, those snails came with the plants, I always dip new plants in malachite green before adding to the tank(I would to hate to get the same problem my cousin has).

 

i decided to keep my amount of fish at level they are now. mostly because the angels are the focus of the tank and with them breeding the others are sure to interrupt and for the most part just cause a ruckus. lol when my angels breed all my tetras pile in one corner of the tank and stay there. that still isnt good enough for my male angel, he wants them out. so more wouldnt work well for me.

plecos never worked for me when i used normal tap and had an algae problem. they were just pretty much useless. i still liked mine, but it wasnt a efficient cleaner at all. he made more waste than anything. even then the snails didnt put that much of a dent. in my opinion the best way to keep algae under control is to not get it in the first place. its not always the easiest but it is the best way. i switched over to ro, kept my lighting time a little lower, kept my parameters perfect and the tank has been spotless for months now.

oh and the malachite green dip is a good idea.