Angelfish spawn for first time

• pH: 6.5
• Temp: 76-78
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 1
• PO4: 1.25
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate, 17.5 ppm NO3, 0.8 ppm PO4, (5 mL Flourish and 0.5 ppm iron chelate yesterday)
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 42.5:3.5 = 12.1

Notes:
The angelfish pair spawned for the first time today! They started at around 11 am and finished a couple hours later.

I currently am letting the green dust algae grow on the tank walls in order to try to eradicate it (see previous posts), so it was difficult to find a clear patch of tank wall to snap the picture of the eggs. Every time I pointed the camera at the tank, one of the angel fish would try to drive me off like I was a paparazzi. The mother is the one who's trying to attack me, the male is in the back.

The larger, mostly black female (now I know which is which) laid eggs on a large leaf of the Kleiner Bar sword plant, while the slightly smaller, more silver marked male followed her, fertilizing the eggs. Apart from which fish lays the eggs, you can tell the male and female apart by their "papilla" or the sexual organ which protrudes from the ventral side of the body during spawning: the female has a larger and more blunt papilla, while the male has a smaller, pointier papilla. After the female laid her eggs, the male brushed his papilla against the eggs several times. Sometimes, eggs would get dislodged from the leaf, and I've seen both the male and female eat eggs that come loose from the leaf. I also noticed that the female like to clean the leaf in between egg laying passes. She will also take eggs in her mouth if they come loose, but instead of eating them, she will often reposition the eggs back onto the leaf. The male is often busy chasing away any fish that come to close. It looked like the female ended up laying roughly around a couple hundred eggs.

I purchased the two angelfish together several months ago when they were juveniles (about the size of a nickel), and their markings are so similar that I suspect that they are probably siblings. I don't know what problems that could cause breeding wise!

Some resources:
http://websvirginia.com/angels/
http://www.angelsplus.com/Breeding.htm

I noticed that the pH was 6.5, because the CO2 bubble rate had crept up (2.5 b/s). I lowered it back down to about 1.9 b/s.

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH: 9
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 2
• PO4: 1.25
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate, 10 ppm NO3, 0.8 ppm PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 25:2.7 = 9.3

• pH: 6.8
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 10
• PO4: 1.75
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Fluctuating CO2 levels

• pH: 6.8-6.9
• Temp:
• KH: 5
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 0 before dose
• PO4: 0.5 before dose
• Iron:
• Dosing: 15 ppm NO3, 1.4 ppm PO4, 2 tsp CaCl2, 0.5 tsp epsom salts
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 15:1.9 = 7.9

Notes:
50% water change:
25 mL Amquel+
2 tsp CaCl2
0.5 tsp Epsom salts
2.5 tsp baking soda

The last extra dose of CaCl2 a couple days ago seemed to help the plant growth a bit. For this week, I did not add any Equilibrium, just Ca and Mg, meaning no K.

The BGA seemes to have gone away, probably due to the nitrate dosing. Other algae, including staghorn and what disturbingly looks BBA have been growing in more. The CO2 levels might be fluctuating, because the CO2 levels haven't been as high as expected even when I noticed that the CO2 bubble rate had creeped up. For whatever reason, I haven't been able to keep the Co2 flow rate steady. I'm going to keep a closer eye on the CO2 this week.

The leaves of the new Kleiner Bar plantlet are starting to grow in nicely.

This is a picture of the tank after week two of letting the green dust algae remain on the tank walls. The green dust doesn't seem to be increasing any more, and some spots have even been clearing up, probably due to the otos or SAEs eating away at it.

• pH: 6.8
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH: 10
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: (5 ml Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate yesterday)
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

CaCl2 kills algae on leaves?

• pH: 6.7
• Temp:
• KH: 5
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 5 (before dose)
  
• PO4: 1.0 (before dose)
  
• Iron:
• Dosing: 2 tsp CaCl2 (5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate yesterday), 10 ppm NO3, 1.2 ppm PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 28.5:3.6 = 7.9

Notes:
There seems to be depressingly little growth in the plants (except for the algae, of course, which is flourishing. This week, the green hair algae seems to be the star grower). Whatever is growing from the Rotala rotundifolia/indica is very stunted. In desperation, I added 2 tsp CaCl2 to see if that would make any difference. I've tried everything else, it seems.

An interesting observation I saw is that when I added the CaCl2 flakes into the water, many of the flakes fell on top of the anubias leaves, some of which had this very tough dark green/black algae dotting the leaves. Wherever the flakes landed on top the algae, the algae turned a brown/red color within a few minutes and even disappeared from the leaf, as if it had died. Interesting. I took a picture of it, it's hard to see through the green dust algae growing on the glass, but I circled the leaf where it's most apparent. You can see the cleared patches ringed by the red of the dying/dead algae (along with some fish poo).

Once I get the general algae problem fixed, instead of dosing the CaCl2 dry, I might try making a concentrated solution of the CaCl2 and use a dropper/baster to drip it directly on the most algae ridden anubias leaves. I know other people have used hydrogen peroxide to kill algae, though I don't know if it would work on this particular type of algae, which is very tough, feels rough, and does not rub off with my fingers. It also dots some of the leaves of the Alternathera reineckii.

Trouble using the Seachem nitrate test

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 5
• PO4: 1.5
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate, 7.5 ppm NO3, 0.4 ppm PO4, 2 tsp Equilibrium
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 18.5:2.4 = 7.7 (estimate 1 ppm nitrates, 1 ppm phosphates before dosing at water change during weekend)

Notes:
I had trouble using the new SeaChem nitrate test. The colors were difficult to match up, and I kept getting different readings when I retested several times.

The stargrass was showing black patches on the leaves, so I added 2 more tsp of Equilibrium to see if that would fix the patches. The added Equilibrium should raise the GH about a degree.

The flower bud growing from the anubias nana has opened up today, looking like a cala lilly. Another flower bud has also sprouted up. It looks like having higher levels of phosphates (2 ppm or more) encourages the nana to sprout flowers.

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH: 5
• GH: 7
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 10 mL Flourish, 1 ppm iron chelate
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:
A picture of the tank after the water change, but without wiping off the green dust algae.


I'll probably let the green dust stand another week or two before wiping it off and seeing if it grows back.

Inaccurate AP nitrate test?

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 2
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 3.75 ppm NO3 (morning), 10 ppm NO3 (evening), 1 ppm PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:
There was a noticeable increase in algae (drk green) today. I had added an extra dose of phosphates yesterday to see if it made any difference, so it seems that it must have affected algae levels. I received the new Seachem phosphate test and a Seachem nitrate test. I tried out the new nitrate test, and found to my surprise that the nitrate levels read near zero (~2 ppm). That 2 ppm reading was taken in the evening after the morning dose of 3.75 ppm nitrates, so that means the nitrate levels must have been running at zero these past several weeks. I double checked the Seachem nitrate test against a reference nitrate sample which comes with the test. The old Aquarium Pharmaceuticals nitrate test that I had used until now read between 10-20 ppm. If the levels are more closer to zero, that could finally explain why the plants have been stunted and algae levels have been increasing these past weeks, despite my increasing the levels of all nutrients except nitrates.

50% water change:
25 mL Amquel+
2.5 tsp baking soda
3 tsp Equilibrium

After the water change this evening, I promptly added 10 ppm NO3.

Trying to get rid of green dust algae

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 10 mL Flourish, 1 ppm iron chelate
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:
The layer of green dust algae on the tank walls has been growing steadily over the past week. Usually, I wipe off the algae right before a water change, but it keeps coming back. I've read a suggestion on a forum that a solution is to actually let it grow for 2-3 weeks, until it has grown out of its "spore" stage, and then wipe it off. Theoretically, it should then not grow back. I'll try this out. I won't wipe it down for a couple more weeks.

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 10-20 (almost 10) before dose
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate, 2.5 ppm KNO3, 1.2 ppm KH2PO4, (10 mL Flourish yesterday)
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 16.25:4.2 = 3.9

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4: 0.75 ppm
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate, 1 ppm KH2PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 13.75:3 = 4.6

Notes:
Ran out of the phosphate test. Still getting a lot of staghorn and hair algae.

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH: 5
• GH: 9
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 10 mL Flourish, 1 ppm iron chelate, 0.6 ppm KH2PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 13.75:2 = 6.875

Misc tank status notes

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:

The Alternathera reineckii has been growing in pretty bushy, I've been trimming the tops off to keep them from growing taller than the currently stunted Rotala rotundifolia behind them. The Limnophila hippuroides to the left of the reineckii has been growing in so nicely, I will probably start thinning out some of the reineckii in the back to let more of the hippuroides grow in its place.

The Anubias nana seems to have sprouted a flower stalk, I am waiting for the the flower to emerge so I can snap pictures. You can see in the picture that the flower/plantlet stalk for the Kleiner Bar has doubled in height, and the leaves/flower is just starting to unfurl.

There hasn't been any further browning of the java fern in the past couple weeks. It seems that whenever overall plant growth slows down (some plants showing stunting), the java fern can more successfully compete for nutrients in the water. When overall plant growth is fast, then the java fern seems to be unable to compete as well, resulting in the brown patches. Or perhaps the growth rate of the java fern speeds up during this time, so that it requires more nutrients than is available. Perhaps nutrient concentration (which??) has to be increased to compensate.

The Ammania seneglaensis and Ludwigia peruensis are slooowly recovering, though the new leaves of the peruensis are growing in stunted, like the Rotala indica/rotundifolia. One stalk of the senegalensis is growing in normal sized leaves, though the other stalks are throwing out small leaves.

I didn't run the UV this week before the water change. It almost seems like running the UV might have some relationship to causing some of the plants to stunt, though this is just speculation, since I have been changing too many other parameters in trying to fix the stunting. The UV definitely seems to cause some sort of chemical reaction/precipitation, though. I'm surprised that I don't see any others on the forums with the same observations, even those running the UV 24/7. It might be that their UV has a weaker effect because they have a relatively smaller sized UV unit or a faster water flow rate through their filter. I will try to get the plants to grow normally again without running the UV for a couple weeks, and then see what changes after running the UV.

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 5-10
• PO4: 0.2
• Iron:
• Dosing: 10 mL Flourish (before water change), 1 ppm iron chelate (before water change), 6.25 ppm KNO3, 1.2 ppm KH2PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 13.75:1.4 = 11.5

Notes:
50% water change:
25 mL Amquel+
2.5 tsp baking soda
4 tsp Equilibrium

Clean out the AquaClear filter during the water change.

Throwing in some potassium

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 10-20
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 10 mL Flourish, 1 ppm iron chelate, 8 ppm Flourish potassium
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:
No changes in growth still. Threw in som potassium tonight to see if that would make any difference over the next day or two before the weekly water change. I'm really scratching my head as to why there's no change in the stunting. I've also noticed that although the amount of phosphate is being used at the usual rate (approx 0.25-0.5 ppm per day), nitrates don't seem to be used at all. I don't know if whatever deficiency is somehow tied to this...

This week, the stargrass has been growing okay (though not with the giant leaves I've been able to get in the past). The leaves, though have been growing in pale again. I had always thought that it was always because of an iron deficiency, but I have not changed the iron dosing routine much. Over the past several weeks, the leaves were green with the same or less amount of iron dosing. Perhaps there is another mineral deficiency or perhaps this other deficiency is tied somehow to iron uptake. I have no idea, as usual!

• pH:
• Temp: 80
• KH:
• GH: 10
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4: 0.75
• Iron:
• Dosing: 10 mL Flourish, 1 ppm iron chelate, 1.25 ppm KNO3, 0.8 ppm KH2PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 16.25:2.8 = 5.8

Dosing some more Ca/Mg

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 10-20
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate, 2 tsp CaCl2, 0.5 tsp MgSO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:
Green dust algae building up on tank walls. I also noticed an increase in staghorn and thread algae. The Rotala is not growing much this week, so I've added some more Ca/Mg to see if that would help. It is said that staghorn flourishes when there is not enough macro nutrients (which one??). I remember last time when I increased nitrates that the staghorn seemed to go away. I had bumped up the nitrates yesterday, so hopefully that will help with the staghorn. I'm also going to double the micro dosing for the rest of the week to see if that makes a difference.

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 5-10
• PO4: 1.25
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate, 5 ppm KNO3, 0.4 ppm KH2PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 15:2 = 7.5

Increased pearling

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH: 5
• GH: 7
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:
Yesterday and today after the water change, everything seems to be pearling more than usual. There was a growth spurt in the stargrass, and the Kleiner Bar sword has sprouted what looks like is going to be a flower bud (the root tab might have helped). It looks like the tweaking of the Ca/Mg/K levels might have helped the plants.

Running the UVS before the water change for several hours also has cleared up the water nicely.

Upping Ca proportion

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 ppm KNO3, 1.2 ppm KH2PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:
50% water change:
2.5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Equilibrium
1.5 tsp CaCl2
1/8 tsp MgSO4
25 mL Amquel+

I noticed that some of the leaves of the stargrass were white and curled, perhaps indicating a Ca deficiency. I think I had dosed enough Ca during the last water change, so for this water change, I reduced the relative amounts of Mg and potassium (potassium from ~20 ppm to ~15 ppm) instead.

Last night, I also ran the UV sterilizer for about 5 hours after lights out to get the water clearer. I ran it before the water change so that if the UVS has some effect on precipitating out any minerals, then that would be mostly fixed during the water change. I also added in a Flourish root tab near the base of the Kleiner Bar sword to see if that would help it out any more. The sword is growing in about one nice red leaf a week, but hopefully, the root tab will help prevent any black spots from developing in the older leaves.

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4: 1.25
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 ppm iron chelate, 0.2 ppm KH2PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 15:2.1 = 7.1

Bumping up nitrates

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 ppm KNO3, 0.2 ppm KH2PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:
I'm not sure if the algae increase is due to the increased GH hardness, or if because the UV was not run this week after the water change. Some of the rotala indica/rotundifolia seems to be bouncing back with the expected larger leaves, though the rest is still stalling, stunted. Although I wanted to keep the nitrates low to see if the R. magenta grew better, I decided to bump up the nitrate levels 5 ppm to see if that would make any difference with the indica/rotundifolia growth. At least it should help suppress the BGA.

Bumping up nitrates

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 ppm KNO3, 0.2 ppm KH2PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:
I'm not sure if the algae increase is due to the increased GH hardness, or if because the UV was not run this week after the water change. Some of the rotala indica/rotundifolia seems to be bouncing back with the expected larger leaves, though the rest is still stalling, stunted. Although I wanted to keep the nitrates low to see if the R. magenta grew better, I decided to bump up the nitrate levels 5 ppm to see if that would make any difference with the indica/rotundifolia growth. At least it should help suppress the BGA.

More BGA

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH: 5
• GH: 9
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 10
• PO4: 1.5
• Iron:
• Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 0.5 mL iron chelate (same for yesterday)
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:
I've noticed that since I've upped the phosphates and lowered the nitrate levels, there has definitely been some increase in BGA (blue green algae, or cyanobacteria). Not too much, but it's noticeable. I want to keep the nitrate levels down, though, to see if the rotala magenta will respond favorably to the lower levels.

I was expecting a GH of 8, but it was a bit higher at 9. I had added a listtle bit more of CaCl2 (2 tsp versus the 1.8 calculated dosage), so that might have pushed it up over 8 degrees. Even though it has only been a couple days since the water change and K/Mg/Ca tweaking, the plants that had melted (A. senegalensis, L. peruensis) already seem to be recovering slowly. New leaves are starting to grow in.

I really suspect, though, that the UV had something to do with the severe deficiency/melt down. Another observation I had forgotten to mention before was that immediately after running the UV overnight last week, a couple of the A. nana leaves developed black patches/holes overnight. By the end of last week, though, each nana rhizome had grown a new leaf.