Tropical Fish Keeping banner

15g question

836 views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  Boredomb 
#1 ·
Hey Guys, its been a while :)

so i have this 15 gallon, has a pair of kribs in it. They breed like crazy. its really fun.

bad thing is this: its gross i cannot keep it clean looking.

i have a HOB which might be too small, it has a hood with 2 of the screw in bulbs that have coils on the inside.

this tank is in my living room, with a very nice stand i built for it, but i keep getting this really gross almost grey colored algea on everything, the plants, the decorations. (not on the sand though)

it gets no direct sunlight.

what im looking for help with is some better lighting solutions and a better filter suggestion.

i *THINK* a sponge filter would work better? what do you think?

Lighting solutions: right now it has a hood with 2 of the screw in bults that have the curly tubes (this tank/set up was given to me) i have never had a tnak this small so im a little lost on what hardware would work best.

LED strip? just different bulbs?

im at work right now so i dont have specifics or anything but this is bugging me so i thought i would ask :)
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Assuming that your plants are live, you can get "daylight" CFLs almost anywhere. They have a good spectrum for plant health. Do you use plant food ? Striking a good light and nutrient balance usually keeps algae in check. A sponge filter would be a good choice for a breeding tank of this size. Does your current filter get dirty quickly ? Other than the algae, is there a lot of detritus present in the tank ?
 
#3 ·
the tank does get dirty quicly. i am not sure if it is the algea or detrious. the Algea is like a grey/green very...umm dusty??? looking, if that makes sense.

if you touch/move something in the tank i do get alot of it floating around.

im definatly replacing the filter. either a sponge or something a step up from what i am using. i think its one of those tetra whipers for a 10g (since i only have two fish in there i figured it would work)

the plants are live. one is a small sword and the other is a type of Val i think.

if i do keep the CFLs how often should i replace them? maybe the is the issue?

i dose flourish once a week
 
#4 ·
The Marineland slimline filters are good and reasonable. Watch your feeding. It's easy to over feed a tank with only a couple of fish. I'd change the CFLs at least every 6 months. Some people change them every 3 months. The light quality changes over time even though it looks the same. Really, it sounds like filtration / feeding are causing your problem since you have a lot of waste laying around.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top