D-DAY FOR THE TANK!!
Having taken some photo's of the algae and gathered some water in an empty 'Colman's' jar have headed off to "Pet's At Home" store in Poole for some advice and a free water test. Spoke to a kind assistant called Jennie who advised me wonderfully on what to do, and also did the water test for me.
The water test came back that the Nitrite and Nitrate levels were at a 'Warning: Unsafe' situation. Have been advised to add 4 1/2 tsp of Aquarium salt, and treat with 3 capful's of Stress Zyme +. She also said that as we had bought the infected plants from the company that they would replace the free of charge, which is very good of them. So I picked out 3 new plants and came home. Once at home the fun began.
AT HOME:
As so many things needed to be done it was tricky knowing where to start, so I started with the tank itself. I removed the two remaining plants and gave them a wash in a bleach solution that aims to combat blue algae just in case they had contracted it too. The bleach solution equates to 1 part bleach, 19 parts water. Gave the plants a rinse under the tap, then back in the tank they went, crossing fingers.
I then washed the 2 infected plants in the bleach solution, taking off as much with my fingers as I could, then again rinsing them off in fresh water and inspecting for badly affected leaves and removing accordingly. The 2 plants were then placed into quarantine separately to limit
any further contamination. Now I know the lady said to ditch them, but what a shame and waste of good plants if they do recover. Then came the time to deal with the new purchases. I had the 3 new replacement plants and a large piece of driftwood which all needed bath's. Under the tap they went for a quick rinse then into another large bucket of water to see how they fair before being transplanted, possibly, into the tank.Having taken some photo's of the algae and gathered some water in an empty 'Colman's' jar have headed off to "Pet's At Home" store in Poole for some advice and a free water test. Spoke to a kind assistant called Jennie who advised me wonderfully on what to do, and also did the water test for me.
The water test came back that the Nitrite and Nitrate levels were at a 'Warning: Unsafe' situation. Have been advised to add 4 1/2 tsp of Aquarium salt, and treat with 3 capful's of Stress Zyme +. She also said that as we had bought the infected plants from the company that they would replace the free of charge, which is very good of them. So I picked out 3 new plants and came home. Once at home the fun began.
AT HOME:
As so many things needed to be done it was tricky knowing where to start, so I started with the tank itself. I removed the two remaining plants and gave them a wash in a bleach solution that aims to combat blue algae just in case they had contracted it too. The bleach solution equates to 1 part bleach, 19 parts water. Gave the plants a rinse under the tap, then back in the tank they went, crossing fingers.
I then washed the 2 infected plants in the bleach solution, taking off as much with my fingers as I could, then again rinsing them off in fresh water and inspecting for badly affected leaves and removing accordingly. The 2 plants were then placed into quarantine separately to limit
The I delt with the water itself, the lady recomended 4 1/2 tsp of the Aquarium salt, upon reading the packet further, it should actually of been tablespoons not teaspoons, so that's what I measured out and put in, 4 1/2 tablespoons. Or she could of just been mistaken in her abbreviations between teaspoons and tablespoons. Anyway, I then added the 3 capfuls Stress Zyme + to the tank.
It is thought that the rapid growth of algae in the tank may have helped by excessive light, adivsed to only have the lights on for 3-4 hours per day.
Hopefully all that has been done today will help the tank reach perfect levels to enable me to add fish very soon.
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