# Please post your horror stories here



## russm4a3 (Aug 24, 2005)

I have my plants on order for the end of this week, then I had a thought, what happens if something happens and I accidently kill my rhom? So does anyone have any stories of them setting up planted aquaria and accidently killing their fish somehow?


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## TFMBIGDOG99 (Mar 19, 2006)

Just stay on top of your params, and CO2 levels.... You should be fine.


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

I killed around 100 cherry shrimp due to a pH issue after a needle valve failed on a CO2 manifold... it was faulty from the factory and the actual valve broke inside of it due to pressure issues... same would have happened to fish, etc... good reason to have pH controller to shut off the CO2... cherry shrimp are worth $1 each online... from my LFS they are $5 each... it was a big loss to say the least...


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

i also worry about stunting my rhoms growth cuz of all the plants,, thats bout my only worry since you are suposed to have some nitrates in a planted tank.


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## SNAKEBITE (Oct 7, 2006)

nothing happened because i havent started but one thing im worried about is my ph dropping..


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

i am running my planted tank for a month or more without my piranha in it for exactly those reasons. I want to work out the kinks before i put my prized fishy in there.


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## Round Head (Sep 26, 2005)

If you use pressurized CO2, make sure the regulator is working properly.
A malfunctioned regulator may dump too much CO2 in the tank and will choke the fish to death.
That's what happened to me once and it killed an entire tank full of tetras.


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## russm4a3 (Aug 24, 2005)

Sounds like the main issue is having a bad regulator. I quess I need to get a pH controller, I would rather spend the cash on one then loose my rhom.


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

russm4a3 said:


> Sounds like the main issue is having a bad regulator. I quess I need to get a pH controller, I would rather spend the cash on one then loose my rhom.


Its not even entirely due to a faulty regulator....this can happen if your water has a low buffering ability due to a low KH.

Its not fun watching your PH hit the basement floor......

Pick up a controller. Peace of mind is golden.

Might i reccomend the Milwaukee sms 122....they were on sale last month in Therizmans basement. Even came with a complimentary arby's cup full of water to ensure that the orb glass didnt dry out. LOL


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

flashover00 said:


> Sounds like the main issue is having a bad regulator. I quess I need to get a pH controller, I would rather spend the cash on one then loose my rhom.


Its not even entirely due to a faulty regulator....this can happen if your water has a low buffering ability due to a low KH.

Its not fun watching your PH hit the basement floor......

Pick up a controller. Peace of mind is golden.

Might i reccomend the Milwaukee sms 122....they were on sale last month in Therizmans basement. Even came with a complimentary arby's cup full of water to ensure that the orb glass didnt dry out. LOL
[/quote]

My basement will soon be having another sale of a ton of random crap... emperor filters, couple tanks, heaters, powerheads, aerators... I collect way too much fish crap.


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

therizman1 said:


> Sounds like the main issue is having a bad regulator. I quess I need to get a pH controller, I would rather spend the cash on one then loose my rhom.


Its not even entirely due to a faulty regulator....this can happen if your water has a low buffering ability due to a low KH.

Its not fun watching your PH hit the basement floor......

Pick up a controller. Peace of mind is golden.

Might i reccomend the Milwaukee sms 122....they were on sale last month in Therizmans basement. Even came with a complimentary arby's cup full of water to ensure that the orb glass didnt dry out. LOL
[/quote]

My basement will soon be having another sale of a ton of random crap... emperor filters, couple tanks, heaters, powerheads, aerators... I collect way too much fish crap.
[/quote]

We should have a yard sale......perfect weather for it


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

cueball said:


> i also worry about stunting my rhoms growth cuz of all the plants,, thats bout my only worry since you are suposed to have some nitrates in a planted tank.


Seriously, there is nothing going on in a planted aquarium that would stunt any fish's growth. It is a perfectly healthy environment, for the fish and plants.
I have had no issues with fish health, nor have I heard from anyone in the planted aquarium hobby of such an issue. It is safe to say that you do not have to worry.
Unless, of course, like therizman, your equipment fails. That is my biggest worry--CO2 pumping unrestrictedly into the tank.. lol -that can suffocate your fish.
Nitrates between 10-25ppm is normal for a tank anyway, and does no harm to your fish in the least at those levels. I have issues keeping nitrate levels above 10ppm in my tanks, (especially my low light tank) so that tells you that in no time at all, the plants are taking in lots of it every day.

But here are some horror stories for Russ:
When I first started the hobby, I bought GW's 'PMDD' mix, and did not realize that it did not contain any phosphate. The enevitable happened.. 0 phosphates in a planted tank = massive amounts of the worst green spot algea that you can imagine! After about a week or so, the spots get really hard, and it's a nightmare trying to scrape them off the glass.. and I had to trim my plants down to nothing several times before I realized the problem..lol
Also, I didn't check my water params in my new tank either.. so after I defeated the GSA-phosphate issue, I didn't check my CO2 levels, and got BBA-- the kind of algea that grows black tar looking stuff all over the leaves of plants..

Then, in my low light tank, I thought that nutrient uptake would be slow in there.. I let the nitrates hit 0 for a few weeks in there, and got a really bad case of cyanobacteria, and a different type of BBA--the kind that grows tufts of black junk on plants..

On occasion, I'll overdose nitrate, and get green dust all over the glass.. not really a nightmare, because it wipes right off with no effort. I also overdosed iron for a long time as well, and got some interesting string, or thread algea..

Closing thoughts: Planted aquariums are little eco-systems that need a proper balance, or it won't work properly. That balance is sometimes not always quickly obtained. That being said, every planted aquarium hobbyist--at any level of experience--deals with algea in one way or another, at some point or another. It just comes with the territory.


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## russm4a3 (Aug 24, 2005)

Thank you dippy for all the sharing all your experiences. I'm prepared to deal with algae, just not killing my fish. Im curious to see how much time it will take per day to make this project a success, only time will tell.


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2007)

therizman1 said:


> I killed around 100 cherry shrimp due to a pH issue after a needle valve failed on a CO2 manifold... it was faulty from the factory and the actual valve broke inside of it due to pressure issues... same would have happened to fish, etc... good reason to have pH controller to shut off the CO2... cherry shrimp are worth $1 each online... from my LFS they are $5 each... it was a big loss to say the least...


Really? Our store had them for $2.99 I believe. Nice little guys too, I like them.

My biggest mistake was not buying enough plants, oddly enough. Also, not being patient.


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## igor700 (Jul 15, 2006)

The algae battles can seem futile at times, but then a couple of months in...zing, things are crystal and stable, virtually no upkeep at that stage. At one time I had so many diatoms in my tank (the brown clumps) that it almost looked like somebody lost a weave or hair extension in the tank.

Igor


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## KINGofKINGS (Jul 24, 2006)

i was in your same shoes man--- and decided against going the whole 9 yards and getting co2--- didnt want to run the risk of losing my rhom- I would suggest educating yourself to the fullest before going through with this!


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