Ive never been a big fan of planted tanks........ I AM NOW... AWSOM!

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Remember people the solution to pollution is dilution... weekly water changes!

That makes sense. But why not two filters of same kind. Two renas or two fluval. That way the expense of filters and maintence would be better.

I'll keep all updated. I'll be posting pics of my empty tank soon.

Sounds like coincedence or bad luck. Check your pH to see if it was affected at all. I can't see how a small change in kH could cause this. Make sure you are not adding baking power? Baking soda should just be 100% Sodium Bicarbonate.

Check the color of the "fungus". There are 2 types of mouth fungus, one is a fungus and the other is bacterial. Melafix and Pimafix are good for planted tanks.

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I started with the Fluval and did not care for it too much so I decided to try the Rena. If I had to do it over again, I would have 2 Renas. ;)

As far as expense though, I just use the same biomedia for both, and reuse the filter pads for the Rena. For the Fluval, I use filterfloss that I cut to size, since the Fluval pads are not fine enough for me.

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Thanks for the complement!

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All fish is fine right now ... All I did 30% WC (primed water), half a table spoon of aquarium salt, and raised temp to 80°.48 hours later, all gone. I have no idea what it was. But definitely was something because fish was not eating brine shrimp and had something on the bottom part of the head /mouth.

Sodium was regular (normal) not baking powder

Here is water conditions:
NH3/NH4 - 0 ppm
kH - 3 - 35.8ppm
gH - 6 - 107.4ppm (went UP)
pH - 7.1
T - 77°

Question about Excel.
I did some reading and all sources are talking about benefits of using it etc.
But no one is talking about dosage. I am doing the way that SeaChem is explaining on the bottle and website ...
But I think it's a little too much.
You did used it in your old tank right? any recommendations on 7 Gal?

Thanks

You can use it at the dose indicated on the bottle with no problems. Use 1ml per 10 gallons. If you have an algae problem you can double or even triple the dose safely. To dose 1ml go to a pharmacy and look for baby medicine. They usually have a 1-2ml plastic syringe around that area.

I dose every other day.

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Looking good!

thats awesome

Hey Dmaaaaax,

Any picture updates?

Thanks

all i can say is great job Dmaaaaax this tank is sweet, you've done with freshwater what i was trying to do when i switched to salt, i just wanted everything to be alive and you have done that. i love this tank, keep the pics coming

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Hey Dmaaaaax,

A few quick quick question.
1.) How much flourite (bags) did you use?
2.) Which type (seachem has many different tyes listed)
3.) Did you mix black and red to get the color you have?

And now a request:

Any new pictures of your aquarium. I like to see how it looks now after a few months.

I used regular Flourite gravel 2-3, Flourite black 2-3, and a bag of Onyx black sand. I got them online from Dr.Foster and Smith since they did not charge extra based on weight.

I have a few new pictures that I hope to upload sometime this week. We were on vacation, and so the tank suffered a bit. I did a heavy trim, and got it back on it's weekly cycle. The tank now has 4 Discus doing pretty well together, but we had to get rid of the angelfish who was too big and territorial. Had we gotten a smaller one now, it would probably be fine.

The worst thing is that in the summer time it looks like our city adjusts/treats the water by adding more phosphates. I am reading almost 1ppm, which seems to favor the brown algae and green dust algae (the one that likes growing on the glass).

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WOW! what a beautiful tank you have there.

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Calling aquariums and fish boring is like calling a hott model ugly.

http://www.aquariumforum.com/f2/save...fish-2930.html

Really nice! Congratulations.
But I should say, 4 Discus are not so recommended, they must live in groups, at least 8 of them....

But is absolutly a great aquarium...

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I'm looking for sellers on ebay (shipping to worldwide).
Please, contact me.

can we get some updated pictures?

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Ok. I got back from our weekend vacation energized and uploaded some pictures. The first 2 show the difference from when the plants started to take over after a long vacation and neglect, to where I did some serious pruning to try and get them back to a managable level. When the plants grow too much they can affect the nutrient levels, water flow, and light parameters.

June (prior to pruning):


July (following some pruning, still needs more):


BTW my amazon sword sprouted another amazon to the far right of the tank. This might have to come out sometime. My crypts continue to sprout, as does the chain swords that get removed every week. As I mentioned earlier, the angel fish was removed, and having 4 discus seems to be fine with all the plant to hide in...although I plan to add more if/when one catches my eye/wallet.

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I think it is mentioned earlier, but I dose with:

Water changes:
Equilibrium (for hardness)
Acid and Akaline buffer (for pH and carbonate hardness)
CSM+B (dry powder with metals: iron, magnesium, boron...etc)
K2SO4 (for potassium)

Every other day or so:
K2SO4
chelated iron
Flourish complete
Flourish Excel

I find that I can't add KNO3 (potassium nitrate) due to my nitrate levels and phosphates due to my city water having high phosphates already. :-(

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Here is a picture of my newest guy. He is a variation of Pigeon Blood:

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