I ran the Diatom filter in the 55 gallon tank again on Saturday and it went much smoother than the previous attempts. The only issue I had was air trapped in the filter that kept spewing bubbles out of the exhaust. It didn’t harm anything it was just annoying to listen to for an hour. Other than that the filter preformed great, the water was clear and their were no big messes to clean up afterwards.
I thought that after the last trim I’d be able to wait at least a month before having to do it again…
There’s a period of about 5-10 days shortly after a trim that this tank looks absolutely amazing, when the new growth has started to come in and the “bushes” still have their manicured form. Unfortunately we’ve reached the end of stretch and it’s time to start the process all over again. Oh well, it’s worth it.
The Diatom Filter that I ordered from PetSmart.com arrived right on time Tuesday and I was more than a little excited at the prospect of having crystal clear water in the 55 gallon tank for a change. That however, was easier said than done. For starters, the manual looked like it had been reproduced on a fax machine. The text was tough to read and the illustrations, some of which were cut off, were barely discernible. Fortunately their are not a lot of parts to the filter and despite the manual I was able to get things setup properly. The addition of the powder went pretty smooth. It took about an hour to get things setup which wasn’t too bad. To my amazement after a little more than an hour my green aquarium was virtually crystal clear. The filter actually does what it claims to!
I figured it would easier leave everything hooked up even though I wasn’t to pleased with more hoses hanging off the back of the tank. I decided to run the filter a little bit more today just to see I could get the water any clearer. So, I cracked open the manual and followed the instructions on restarting the filter. This is when the fun began… Either I missed something or something was setup wrong with the filter, all I know is that crimping off the exhaust hose and running the filter for two minutes as instructed to stir up the powder and re-coat the bag actually created so much pressure in the filter that it pushed the motor up off the glass jar causing green, powder filled water to leak all over the base of the tank stand. I quickly shut the filter off, placed it in a tub, and started sopping up the water. That was only the beginning…
To make a long story short, after seeing green powdery water spewing in to the aquarium, I ended up removing the filter and hoses and pouring all of the green water that had spilled into the tub into a bucket. I drained half of the water from the filter into the bucket as well. I washed off the filter and made sure there was no powder on the o-ring that creates the seal between the motor and the glass jar. I then followed the instructions to initially start the filter that I followed yesterday. Once the filter was running in the bucket I waited for the water to turn clear so that I was sure the damn thing was doing what it was supposed to. I then used a 2 liter Pepsi bottle (with the top cut off) to scoop up the intake and exhaust hoses from the bucket (the filter is still running at this point) and placed the hoses in the aquarium.
The verdict? I’m not sure yet, the first use went relatively smooth, the second was a disaster. I’m going to run the filter again on Friday using the bucket method described above and we’ll see what happens.
I’m having mixed results with the new plants in the 55 gallon tank. The Diandra is growing great and is forming really nice bright green bushes and the Ammania Senegalensis is taking on it’s submersed form and growing fairly quick. The Rotala Indica is hanging in there and doing well considering how many times it has been pruned and replanted over the past few months.
The Rotala Magenta on the other hand has been a mess. For reasons currently unknown to me the tops of the plants actually look good and have new growth but the stems are basically melting from the ground up. Everyday I’m finding 5-10 plants that have floated to the top because their stems have melted. I have about 1/10th of the R. Magenta plants that I originally planted left in the tank.
I think the amount of algae clouding the water may be having an impact on the plant growth. The Glosso has started growing taller than usual which is a good indicator that there is not enough light reaching them. I placed an order for a Diatom Filter last week that should arrive tomorrow. I’m hoping this will at least keep the water clear while I try and figure out the cause(s) behind the algae.
I had some spare time this evening so I went to the LFS and bought 10 juvenile White Clouds and 2 Otos for the 55 gallon tank. That brings the school of White Clouds up to 18 but 4 of them are currently in the breeding tank. There is a total of 8 Otos now but I think I will add about 4 more over the next month to help keep up the algae control.
I found one of the original Otos in the Grass tank dead when I was doing a water change.
