[optimus73]

Hi,
I am new to this site, and I used to have 120G reef aquarium from 1997 - 2005, and due to my busy schedule and kids, I had to give up my hobby. A month ago, I went to Petsmart to check out what is new out there, and found this tank on sale for $40.00. It fits perfectly on top of my desk, but I also went and purchased ZooMed 501 canister filter because I think the existing filter occupied too much in tank spaces... and also other reasons.

Here is what I have in my tanks:
1. few grass and Anubias plants - I think that is called
2. 4 cardinal tetras

I just recently added the driftwood after 3 weeks of curing. However, yesterday my driftwood covers with white algae... after checking around the internet, looks like this is common on newly tank/driftwood, and it will disappear in time... any ideas? FYI, I feed them 1/day with cyclop-eeze.

Comments and ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

[Sakura8]

Hi optimus73 and welcome to the forum. Yes, that kind of white slime stuff is common on new mopani driftwood. The way I got rid of it off my driftwood was to take the wood and hose it down with untreated water, out on the porch. The stuff came right off and never came back.

The tank looks very beautiful and professional but just a heads-up, if you bought the grass plants from a tank at Petsmart, then that is mondo grass and it is not strictly aquatic. It will die after a while. Suitable replacement plants would be echinodorus tennellus (pygmy chain sword), sagittaria subulata (dwarf sag), or cyprus helferi (dwarf rush). Out of all of those, the only one I've seen Petsmart carry is the cyprus helferi. If your Petsmart carries it, it will be in a small package hanging on a wall with the roots in a gel-like substance. Try to get the plant soon after it arrives because the longer it stays on the wall in minimal light, the worse the plant will be.