Product Test - Easy-Life AlgExit

I read some positive reviews about AlgExit, so when i chanced upon it at a shop a few weeks ago, i decided to get a bottle to try out.

Although i don't have any major algae issues in my tanks at the moment, i do allow a layer of green fuzzy algae to grow on bare hardscape, which i actually consider as part of the aquascape. So i figured it would be interesting to see the treatment's effect on this type of algae (in case i need to manage it in the future).

I dosed according to the bottle instructions at 1 ml per 10 liters of tank volume per week. My tank volume is around 64 liters so i dosed slightly less at just 6 ml each time. The active ingredient listed on the bottle is salicylate.

There was no change in my routine maintenance, water changes, lights, Co2, fertilizer dosing or feeding regimen... everything was still kept the same. No noticeable issues encountered with the fishes and shrimps during the treatment, so it seems to be safe with most fauna.

Here is the effect shown on Week 1 (left photo) vs Week 4 (right photo):

From the side-by-side comparisons, the treatment worked quite well to gradually reduce this type of algae. At least now i know how to manage it if required.

After completing the 4 week recommended treatment course, i missed seeing the nice green fuzzy algae covering the rocks... so i've since stopped treatment dosing to allow the algae to grow back. :)


- Update (12 October 2014) -

Since i had a fair bit of extra AlgExit solution leftover, i decided to do a follow-up side-by-side comparison test of the effects of this algae treatment to see the difference between tank water samples that have it added versus those that don't have any treatment.

I set up the comparison by using 2 clear plastic containers, one has old tank water with AlgExit added, while the other one also has the same old tank water but no AlgExit added. Both containers are overdosed with Tropica Specialized fertilizers (contains macro + micro nutrients) and are placed outdoors at a balcony area which receives full direct sunlight.

Left Container: With AlgExit / Right Container: Without AlgExit

After a week, these are the results...

The container with AlgExit added has very little traces of algae... on the otherhand, the container without AlgExit has a visible coating of green algae.

I guess this simple comparison demonstrates the effectiveness of AlgExit at helping to inhibit green algae growth. :)

Outdoor Plant Grow Project - Fissidens

I started this outdoor project a month ago, it was originally meant as a way to keep excess harvested fissidens and get them to continue growing outside without taking up valuable space in my indoor tanks (and with minimal attention required).

Here is my setup...



To start with, i layer strands of fissidens on pieces of coconut shells (didn't bother to manually tie them on, the fissidens will eventually root in and attach on their own anyways) and then add abit of water into the container.

I prefer to use coconut shells as the base as they have a more natural curved shape once the fissidens establish (like small green hills), compared to using steel meshes which tend to create a rather flat artificial look.

This process is sort of like a "dry start method" (aka DSM) whereby the plants are grown emersed for a while before being submerged. The bottom layer of water will naturally wick up the coconut shells to keep the fissidens hydrated during this period of time.

The containers i use are just transparent IKEA plastic boxes. The lids are kept closed at all times to retain high humidity in the container (very important for fissidens undergoing DSM) and also to prevent mosquito breeding.

In the photo above, the top container  has fissidens growing on coconut shells, while the bottom container has loose fissidens just grown floating in the water. The containers are stacked up to save space.

After 1-2 weeks, once the fissidens attach to the coconut shells, i fill the container with water and they will continue their growth submerged.

On a weekly basis, i do a full water change with de-chlorinated water, no fertilizers added. So far, i've not spotted algae in any of the containers, even in the presence of direct sunlight. Most likely the limited nutrients available are all used up by the fissidens and the sealed environment probably helps prevent external contaminants/spores from being introduced too.

Here is a batch showing the growth rate after around 1 month...

As you can see, there is "pearling" (excess oxygen bubbles from active photosynthesis) even from the fissidens... sunlight is a very powerful light source indeed!

Due to direct sunlight exposure and the covered container environment, the water temperature in the containers can often times reach 31-32°C, but interestingly the fissidens didn't seem to show any signs of deterioration and instead seem to grow even faster and greener (compared to my indoor tanks), so i guess fissidens can adapt and thrive in high temperature conditions too.

Looks like growing aquarium plants outdoors can be a useful method to cultivate them... sometimes even better than growing them indoors. :)

64 Litre "Forest Edge" Tank - Boraras Brigittae

Managed to get a rare snapshot of my Boraras Brigittae group chilling out together...

64 Litre "Forest Edge" Tank - Week 30 Update

Just a quick update, this tank has now been running for around 7+ months and the tank conditions are still stable, plants are growing well, the fishes and shrimps are healthy, algae is still minimal so its stayed relatively low maintenance so far.

Due to the dense growth of plants, i found it difficult to feed the fishes and shrimps without food quickly disappearing into the plant mass (especially when feeding algae wafers)... so i recently installed a feeding dish to help contain the food in one convenient spot.

I chose to use an acrylic dish with an attached feeding tube (those commonly used for shrimp tanks), but soon discovered that the curious Otocinclus Cocama like to swim into the tube and get stuck in it, so i removed the tube and just used the dish on its own.

Otocinclus feeding time with a nice buffet spread of zucchini slice and wafer bits...

Alot less messy and makes it much easier to remove uneaten food... i should have installed this months ago! :)

108 Litre "Puddle Garden" Outdoor Balcony Pond - Week 6 Update

Quick update on the "Puddle Garden"... i noticed the Limnobium Laevigatum (aka frogbits) starting to display a yellowish hue on their older leaves, which from my experience, could be an indicator of nutrient shortage.

So i did a set of water parameter measurements and these were the results...

From left: pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.

I took the water sample at night, and as expected the pH (yellow) is on the lower side, most likely due to the increase in Co2 levels from the high plant density respiring during darkness.

Ammonia (yellow) and nitrite (light blue) measurements are zero which indicate that the cycle is stable.

Nitrate (yellow) is also at zero level as expected , which means the fast growing plants are indeed consuming all the nitrates as soon as its produced.

Looks like the plants in the water garden are able to more than handle the current bio-load so far, therefore i might have to start dosing some fertilizers (or perhaps increase the bio-load progressively) to supply more nutrients to the growing plant mass.

108 Litre "Puddle Garden" Outdoor Balcony Pond - Week 3 Update + Koi Sanke Swordtails

Its been around 2 weeks since my initial post on the "Puddle Garden", all the plants have grown fast and filled in very quickly within that time.

Its now starting to become more like looking down into a dense forest canopy...

The Hygrophila Difformis and Ludwigia Repens bunches have grown so much that they now fill substantial sections of the base area. 

Bacopa Caroliniana have started to develop a reddish hue on its new leaves, most likely in response to ample sunlight.

Limnobium Laevigatum (aka frogbits) keep growing fast enough that i have to remove a portion every few days, or else they'll start to cover too much of the surface and shade the other plants.

Cyperus Haspan continue shooting long stems upwards, we'll have to see at which point they start to develop their characteristic emersed mop head of flowers.

Got abit bored with not being able to observe much of the Boraras Brigittae, as they are very small and slim fishes, when viewed from above i could only seeing tiny shadows moving around, not very interesting... they are much nicer to view in an aquarium instead, so i shifted them back to my planted tanks.

After much deliberation, i decided to just go ahead and get some Xiphophorus Helleri var. Koi Sanke (aka Koi Sanke Swordtails)...

These fishes have vibrant colors with nice koi sanke style body patterns, and they look superb when viewed from above.

Due to their larger size (compared to Boraras Brigittae), i'll have to do more regular water changes to maintain water quality and hopefully the established dense plant mass can help handle and process the increased bio-load too.

After an extended period of drip acclimatization, i introduced them into the container pond.

I guess for those without the space for large ponds to house real Koi fishes... these specially bred Swordtails could be an interesting alternative. :)

108 Litre "Puddle Garden" Outdoor Balcony Pond

This is my latest balcony water garden project which was started a few weeks ago...

Its basically made from a re-purposed fiberglass tank and wrapped with artificial grass to make it abit more "garden" like. Though compared to actual ponds, this is more like a puddle... hence the project name. :)

The concept is to cultivate pond/marginal plants and allow them to grow above the water with emersed leaves and flowers, while at the same time creating a self-sustaining aquatic ecosystem in the water.

For this particular setup, there is no substrate used and the plants are not potted in soil, they are all simply tied to pieces of wood, this makes it easy to move them around anytime without creating a mess. All the plants used were chosen based on their fast growth characteristics and ability to grow without soil. When such plants are grown in a soil-less hydro-culture method, the plant roots adapt to drawing nutrients directly from the water column, thereby cleaning the water more efficiently than if they were potted in soil.

There is no filter as i don't have an electrical point at the balcony area, so i'll have to rely on a higher plant density to perform the bulk of the natural filtration. I also decided to use a solar powered pump with a fountain head to provide abit of circulation and surface agitation during daylight hours.

Due to the filter-less setup, i maintained a very low bio-load by just adding a few Boraras Brigittae to help eat up any mosquito larvae or bugs that may breed in the water, and a group of Neocaridina Heteropoda as plant cleaning/algae management crew.

During this initial period before the water garden's ecosystem is fully established, the fauna are fed very lightly twice a week to maintain a balance in water quality and nutrients for the plants. Once the ecosystem is mature, there will be much less feedings required.

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Here are the water garden stats:

Tank Size: L90cm x D60cm x H20cm (Fiberglass Tank)
Substrate: None

Filter System: None
Filter Media: None
Water Feature: Solar Pump
Temperature: 29-30°C (Day) / 25-26°C (Night)

Lighting: Natural Sunlight (Shaded Balcony)
Co2: None
Fertilizer: None
Fan/Chiller: None

Water Change Regimen: 20% Weekly

Water Parameters:
Tested using API Freshwater Master Test Kit
pH = 6.8
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 0-5 ppm

Flora:
Hygrophila Difformis
Bacopa Caroliniana
Ludwigia Repens
Cyperus Haspan
Limnobium Laevigatum

Fauna:
Boraras Brigittae
Neocaridina Heteropoda

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I'm currently trying out a small solar powered pump which operates when there is sunlight (there is no battery storage capability in this model, but i may upgrade it soon).

As this solar panel didn't come with a mount, i just used an acrylic A4 stand to prop it up at the right angle to catch the sunlight, along with some clips to help secure the attached cord to the pump.

The solar pump is rated at 180 l/ph, but in reality the actual flow rate depends on the amount of sunlight that the solar panel receives. As the balcony is somewhat shaded, it only gets partial sunlight so the flow tends to be more of a trickle. Its still good enough to provide some gentle surface agitation and abit of ripple effect though, which helps reduce the buildup of surface film.

Here is an example of how it works in an overcast afternoon:

I've tried placing the solar panel under direct sunlight on a clear bright sunny day and the pump flows faster with more water height, but due to my balcony placement i can't mount it that far outside, so i'll just have to work with the lower water flow.

One factor that i noticed in an outdoor balcony pond setup is the much wider fluctuations in water temperature (compared to indoor tanks), in the day the water temperature averages around 29-30°C... but at night it can drop to as low as 25-26°C, which i guess is due to the direct exposure to much cooler outdoor temperatures.

Plant-wise, i was expecting slow growth since there isn't any fertilization or Co2 injection... but it seems the combination of naturally fast growing pond/marginal plants and natural sunlight was enough to encourage surprisingly fast and healthy growth. An example is the Ludwigia Repens that i added recently, it took less than a week for the bunches to grow up and above the water line.

Here is a photo of Cyperus Haspan, most aquarium keepers buy these from shops and add them into their tanks because they like the unique look of it, but its actually a pond/marginal plant. These plants will naturally grow long stalks up to 3ft above the water and sprout emersed leaves and flowers.

Some of them have already begun to send up stalks in the above photo.

I'll probably add more varieties of plants in the water garden, and hopefully see them grow emersed forms and flower soon. :)