Does anyone have Planted or Biotope Monster fish tanks?

[RyanScanner]

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Very nice. What are your water parameters GH 0 , KH 0, ph ?

I keep my 450gal as a South American tank and my tank water stays at pH 4.4 , GH 0.8 ppm , KH 0.6 ppm. My phosphate averages at about 2.1 ppm but the tank also builds up ammonia reading pretty quick usually 0.6 ppm to 1.6 ppm at any one point in time (actually mostly ammonium at that pH, so harmless).

My KH is around 4 GH 5-6. 0.0.0 was ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. My ph is 7.5 in the morning from the boulders and CO2 set for 7.0. Only thing I can think for my algae problem is slightly over stocked but nothing is showing from testing or my lights are not good enough, I’ve ordered 2 two twinstar 900 s to see if that makes a difference. I’ll replant all the tips of my stem plants when they arrive and restart my nutrient dosing (dosing made it worse with poor lights). My phosphate is stubbornly at 0.5-1.0 though.

 

[ken31cay]

By
My KH is around 4 GH 5-6. 0.0.0 was ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. My ph is 7.5 in the morning from the boulders and CO2 set for 7.0. Only thing I can think for my algae problem is slightly over stocked but nothing is showing from testing or my lights are not good enough, I’ve ordered 2 two twinstar 900 s to see if that makes a difference. I’ll replant all the tips of my stem plants when they arrive and restart my nutrient dosing (dosing made it worse with poor lights). My phosphate is stubbornly at 0.5-1.0 though.

It appears that not much survives in my tank due to the low pH; no algae, nitrate increases very slowly so I assume low levels of nitrifying bacteria. I never see nitrite, just ammonium levels increase. And only black water fish have survived in the tank; severum, silver dollars, cories, clown loaches. To my surprise all the Oscars I put in there start getting lethargic after 2-4 weeks. Maybe wild caught Oscars might do better so I've considered getting some. I think it's an interesting tank though.

 

[ken31cay]

It appears that not much survives in my tank due to the low pH; no algae, nitrate increases very slowly so I assume low levels of nitrifying bacteria. I never see nitrite, just ammonium levels increase. And only black water fish have survived in the tank; severum, silver dollars, cories, clown loaches. To my surprise all the Oscars I put in there start getting lethargic after 2-4 weeks. Maybe wild caught Oscars might do better so I've considered getting some. I think it's an interesting tank though.

I have Alison Lowe at Cichlids & Herps trying to source some blackwater fish for me. I've inquired with a few other online vendors over the past 5 years but none were able to obtain the USDA-endorsed health certificate for my orders (which I gladly pay the fees for) which is a requirement to import them here, so hopefully she can help me with this.