# I quit!



## xavierj123 (Aug 24, 2008)

I think all my hopes and dreams of having a beautiufl aquatic garden have gone down the tubes. The beautiful driftwood that I found and boiled is blooming with a while cottony algae or fungus or whatever you call it. In haste to plant some new plants one evening, I stirred up the substrate too much and now have a brown ugly coating on each plant. To top that off, yesterday evening I installed a new 2900k 15W fluoresent tube in the 10 gallon tank. The color was awesome however this morning----even tho the light fixture was off all night----a have a new bloom of green algae on all the plants. I quit.


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## freydo (Jan 7, 2006)

you have to keep in mind that this hobby is all about patience. everything that you're going through, everyone else has as well to one degree or another. you're definitely not unique in this aspect.

i had problems with driftwood, which is why i leave them out of my aquascapes now. i've went through substrate dust clouds whenever i rescape or perform tank maintenance.

and the algae... EVERYONE deals with algae. there's even a thread about who has/had the worst algae. i even had a hose on my DIY CO2 pop off, and spray sugar/yeast liquid all over my livingroom walls and ceiling when i first tried CO2.

you're not alone in any of this. you're not going to get the beautiful without going through the ugly.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Read post #5 in the thread I pasted below for a fail-safe way to re-start your tank without the algae issues:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/54943-how-start-new-aquarium.html

Also, there is a sticky in the Fertilizer forum titled the same as the above thread "How to Start a New Aqaurium" that Edward started. Same principle. "The best things come to those who wait."

As for the driftwood fungus, after the fungus has consumed whatever it is feeding on from the wood, it will go away on its own. You can also try boiling, soaking in bleach water, then boil again or bake in the oven. No guarantee that it will work, though. Your best bet is to find aged wood that has been in water or another aquarium for some time.

-Dave


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## thief (Feb 20, 2008)

Please just have some patience. Remember you have only been here since august. Others have been in the hobby for who knows how long. What you have going though is normal. Just do Lots of reading because many of your Q's have been answered.

For the driftwood that fuzzy white stuff is part of the colonization of bacteria in the driftwood. It might take a month for the process to be over with. Boiling the wood won't help as it would kill the bacteria and start the whole process over again.

Here's would of my thread on it: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/g...8956-fuzzy-white-stuff-my-driftwood-help.html

To tell you the truth what your going through right now in my eyes is all the fun stuff. Once you learn it you can solve it in future tanks.

If you need anything or having troubles just post a topic here about the specific subject or go searching for an answer here or on google. But just don't quit!


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## xavierj123 (Aug 24, 2008)

I would like to thank you all for your support and great advice. I know patience is a virtue and the Lord knows I am discouraged. Maybe things will look better in the morning. Maybe, like the song goes, "the sun will come out tommorow." I may very well win the next contest for the "most discouraging tank".


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## Sunstar (Sep 17, 2008)

try me for the most discourging tank. I think we've all had ups and downs. the trick is to stick to your guns and fight back.

the fungust thing will fade in time, it happens to driftwood when boiled or baked. Once the bacteria in your tank complete itself, they should out compete the fungus. I've had it. the first time I ditched the wood, the second time I let loose some snails. they cleared it up and not a problems since.

Algae can be managed. It takes time for a tank to stabalise. Heck with my tank I had an issue of the week.

I have had brown diatom, exploding ferts (lost fish and could not see into the tank more than 2 inches) Blue green algae, black beard algae, thread algae, green spot algae and Hydra...

its disheartening.

But have faith and keep strong, you like me will have your aquarium garden dream. it takes work and if you want it bad enough, it will happen. This thread on Sunstar's Seeker Sanctuary goes into a lot of detail the hassle I went through to get my tank looking what it is today. I hope this gives you some comfort. I also have a thread in the journals section.


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## rodrigaj (Aug 17, 2008)

I fought staghorn algae for 5 years in a 55 gal tank.

I won the battle with EI, 4 SAE's, 8 plecos, an army of snails and lots of CO2.

It was fun. I remember trimming crypts to the point of near extinction. Ditto with my anubias.

Funny thing is I can't recall the exact time the staghorn went away. All of a sudden the plants took off and the staghorn was gone.

My phosphates are sky high, the nitrates are sky high, the iron is sky high. The tank is over populated with rosy barbs. 

Yet I have no more staghorn.

Patience will pay off.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I spent thousands of dollars and put in dozens of hours of work to accomplish this:










A few months of HARD WORK later I had this:










Where you are isn't as important as where you're going. Hang in there. Let others help you. Keep after it. You'll win eventually.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Bryce, I love your post! Hey man.... you get what you pay for!!! 

XvierJ123 - Hang in there. You get what you pay for! If your price is high you may just have your tank turn out like Bryce did! You must not have read enough posts on this forum. You should read my 6mth battle with Amazonia II just to have to redo my entire tank again with Amazonia regular and wait another 5 weeks to put my fish back in! Just consider it your initiation into the club of aquascaping. :mrgreen:


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## info scavenger (Jun 25, 2008)

From one newbie to another don't give up yet. You may not have the aquascape of your dreams now but you will end up with something much better in the future. This hobby demands patience, perserverence and lots of trial and error.  LOL Keep reading, learning and try to enjoy the process.


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## xavierj123 (Aug 24, 2008)

Wow, if ever a picture was worth a thousand words, BryceM's pictures put a smile on my face and gave me hope. And I appreciate all the others who took the time and trouble to give me the motivation to hang in there and achieve my dreams in this hobby. I will certainly agree that there is "indeed" an initiation into this fraternity. Thanks guys and gals.


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## The old man (Apr 12, 2008)

Hard to believe for an old man, but it really is fun. Just wait till you decide to go pressurized co2 and are totally confused or as happened to me last night when I wan't in my right mind and took off a intake tube from my 
cannister and dropped it lower than the tank. Thank god the wife didn't see it till I had the towels spread all over the carpet.


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## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

hehe...this is a great post for everyone to read. There's many disappointments when starting and heck after reading this thread, it even made me feel better about all my past "failed" attempts.

I'm finally getting rid of BBA....but when you get it right, it's very rewarding!


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## Sunstar (Sep 17, 2008)

my dedication to the tank is finally coming to fruition. So as we've all said, keep the head up. Soon you will be glowing with pride in all your hard work.


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## Yokomo99 (Aug 26, 2008)

Don't lose hope. I fought with green water for eight months. Sometimes it was so thick it looked like pea soup, my plants were melting, and everything in the tank was covered in green fur. For me the answer was Flourish Excel. When I started using it my tank water was crystal clear in two days. My plants started growing like crazy. Two months later my SAE's and Pleco have eaten the green coating off of everything and now my tank looks great. Flourish might not work for you but if you keep at it the answer will be found and you will learn in the process. Since I have my small tank running sweetly I am embarking on a new project , a much larger tank. I will probably go through some of the same problems but I now know that there is a solution but it sometimes might take a while to find it. Keep your chin up.

Matt


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## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

So what's the status....where are you in your progress so far?


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

Even experts at time have algae problems. When the algae gets bad some get rid of it by doing a 3 day black out. I got rid of BBA by taking all out and spraying plants with excel. Then dosed with KNO3.


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## wearsbunnyslippers (Feb 18, 2008)

i agree with bryce, you just need to get on top of things...

algae will eventually go away...

check this out, i went from this:










to this:










which caused this:




























now i have this:










you learn so much as you go along, if you stir up your substrate when scaping, do a large water change after. if you get green water, get a uv sterilizer - i tried a lot of the other remedies except a blackout and they did not work for me...

dont give up, this hobby is so rewarding, and a bad day sorting out your tank, is still way better than the best day working. you will have such a feeling of achievement when you get things running smoothly!


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## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

Even though it's considered taboo by some, I've had good luck with Seachem Clarity to get rid of green water. I haven' noticed any discomfort from fish or distress from plants. I put micro pad in the filter and apply the "Clarity" for two days and clean ou the canister filter. Bear in mind, I've only had to do this 3 times in 5 years because, I try to avoid disturbing the substrate as much as possible. I will uproot no more than 1/3 of the plants and rescape that 1/3 prior to the 50 % water change.


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

wearsbunnyslippers said:


> i agree with bryce, you just need to get on top of things. Algae will eventually go away.
> 
> Dont give up, this hobby is so rewarding, and a bad day sorting out your tank, is still way better than the best day working. you will have such a feeling of achievement when you get things running smoothly!


The problem is when dealing with nature things don't always go as planned.

I was wondering, do you have a thread on the tank with info on size, ferts, gh, kh, and ph?

I lost my first batch of plants to BBA. I posted a thread of this and got a batch of plants for free from 2 people. As you see people here want to help the newbies.


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## wearsbunnyslippers (Feb 18, 2008)

@dawntwister - http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/journals/61183-juwel-rio-400-400l-50g.html


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

xavierj123 do you have a link to your tank with size, lights and ferts you used?


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## hamsterman (Sep 19, 2006)

If you haven't already quit, go low tech. Low tech tanks can look very nice and require almost no work. You won't have to deal with ferts or that much algae either.


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

hamsterman said:


> Low tech tanks can look very nice and require almost no work. You won't have to deal with ferts or that much algae either.


That is not always true. I have a low tech 29 gallon tank. I have to dose KNO3 or I get BBA. I believe it is because what the city treats the water with causes a mineral imbalance. My water is very soft with a ph of 8.4.


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