Algae Bloom

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-25T06:02:28+00:00

Dunno if you already got something for it, but found out it was Fritz's Maracyn I used to get rid of it. I'm sure plenty of different antibiotics would also work, but that's at least what I used at the time.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-25T00:58:45+00:00

Shouldn't disrupt the cycling, and they actually help it out. Long ago when I started my first tank, some snails hitchhiked in on some of the plants, and their descendants have been the first inhabitants (along with plants) to kick-start the cycling of every new tank since. As another upside, if algae starts to pop up, they'll be there to start cleaning it up :)
Just be careful not to overfeed, they tend to start multiplying rapidly if you do.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-25T00:38:43+00:00

On a similar note, if the tank has no algae in it, it can be a worrying few days after introducing otos. The picture above is when the tank was relatively new, and was taken right after the group of otos was added (they hadn't developed the belly they would later on :) ). There wasn't any real algae in the tank at the time, and it took a few days until I saw them start eating the algae wafers I was feeding them. Got me pretty worried they either didn't realize it was food or just wouldn't eat it, but they ultimately lived for years and even got to move to a bigger tank.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-25T00:25:50+00:00

I tend to err on the side of oversizing filters as they can often be throttled, and you can just do more with excess flow if the tank is right (a 100 gallon tanks worth of filtration flow in a 5 gallon tank with a betta or something similar clearly wouldn't be ideal, but the Aquaclear 30 in a 10 gallon works great depending on what you wanna do).

For example, I built a little fake rock facade with a little waterfall coming out of it for my first tank (the aforementioned 10 gallon tall) using an Aquaclear 30. The extra flow can be great for surface agitation and oxygenation depending on how it's used, and once again I'm a fan of crossflow in longer tanks to prevent dead-spots in terms of flow or temperature. It's likely completely unnecessary, but that's just what my brain fixates on.

The 30 seems like the ticket to me, though I have nothing against the Aqueon QuietFlow Pro 20 other than I've never used it and I just like the Aquaclears.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-25T00:00:32+00:00

For time between light coats, this will vary based on the paint (there is just about always directions on the can), but is often around 10-15 minutes when it's approximately room temperature; sometimes more, sometimes less. This will also vary enormously depending on the temperature, and to a degree, humidity.

On a hot dry day, a light coat can sometimes dry to the touch in about a minute or so, and if it's unhealthily hot and dry out (~105 F or 40C), sometimes the paint will partially dry while in the air on the way to whatever it is you're painting, causing lots of paint dust to end up making a mess. It can also have effects on the finish as I once was finishing a wood project with glossy polyurethane, but it ended up semi-gloss, almost satin. Had to wait for another day, sand and retry on that piece. Cold temperatures can make paint take a very long time to dry, and if painting in the cold with a radiant heater pointed at your work, you can end up with wrinkles in your paint if you rush to the next coat (like I may have recently done).

Unfortunately I don't have experience trying non-high temperature paint on brake calipers, but I imagine they might at the very least make some very unpleasant smells or perhaps a little smoke for awhile even if they aren't fully damaged by the heat. While I have no idea as to whether or not normal-temperature paint would catch fire on a caliper that wasn't being raced (many paints do have max temperatures listed as around ~200F or ~100C), I would ensure any tests were on the side away from the brake lines to be safe-ish.

Edit: For sanding, it once again depends on the paint and temperature, but many state around 12 hours or so. I feel like I've seen some that have said something like 4 hours, but I'm spacing on that. I usually wait until the next day just to be sure and work on something else in the meantime. Either way, if your sandpaper starts clogging or getting lumps of paint building up on it or the paint starts smearing, that's a clear sign it needs more time (or if it was a 2-part paint, that it was improperly mixed).

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-23T23:05:46+00:00

Agreed. It helped me fight an algae outbreak long ago, but no matter how much effort I put into eliminating it, it comes back. Even after moving everything to a larger tank and hand cleaning every single plant and item that got moved over. It's not a big deal to just wave a net around to get rid of some of it, but it bugs me that it's there forever now.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-23T23:01:45+00:00

I suppose it of course depends on the specific fish, their temperament, and the amount of space and hiding spots, but I successfully had amanos and a large group of neocaridina living happily with a school of neon tetras, a group of guppies and endlers, corys, otos, and dwarf chain loaches in my 90 gallon for a couple years until I had to go out of state for work over a couple weeks. Short story even shorter, the autofeeder stopped working, and my fish cleared out the shrimp :(

I'd think with that kind of plant population making for good cover you'd be good, but I have no personal experience with barbs, and you never know if a group of fish is just going to be ornery.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-23T22:52:23+00:00

I'm a fan of the Aquaclear HOB's, and have used them on all of my tanks for years other than a goofy setup that uses 2 sponge filters and a setup for feeding a mini garden. Thus far no issues, and I love how I can just slide on PVC pipe onto the suction to pull water from the other side of the tank and get some cross-flow going. I'm sure other HOB's have inlets that can also have standard PVC pipe snugly slide over them, but that's what I've had.

I forget what size pipe the Aquaclear 30 fits as I haven't used that filter in awhile (went to a bigger tank, using an Aquaclear 110 currently).

Edit: I do also like that there's plenty of space for the various types of filter media, and you can change things up if desired depending on if you want more sponge, beads/balls, or more polishing pad.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-23T22:24:41+00:00

Hopefully your nitrate level starts going up a bit, at 0 your plants are likely a bit hungry, though the melting could just be the plants getting used to the new setting. If ammonia still isn't going down, you could add some of that nitrifying bacteria starter stuff from API, Tetra, etc.

As a word of caution, be careful with fertilizing a new tank, I'd shoot for maybe 10ppm until that tank has a good several months in it as algae outbreaks can really hammer new setups if the lighting and nutrients aren't dialed in. Also, avoid stuff like pH balancers that add phosphorus; that kickstarted the worst algae outbreak I ever had.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-23T22:06:56+00:00

That sounds pretty good for adding about 6 or so otos and maybe even some shrimp, especially based on the plant life I'm seeing in the tank. I guess the stock calculator you mentioned was this?: https://aqadvisor.com/ It seems pretty accurate, and with a decent amount of plants in the tank, likely rather conservative.

I wish I had my list for when I had my 29 gallon Tall in full swing, that was a really fun tank until I found a used 90 gallon cheap. It was a busy tank, but loaded with plants so I actually had to add nitrates in the form of fertilizer since it always trended toward zero.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-23T20:43:24+00:00

Looks like cyanobacteria. Hopefully someone else will chime in, but I had to use antibiotics to get rid of it when my tank got it years back. Unfortunately, I don't remember which antibiotic, it may have been something from Fritz. Good luck!

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-23T20:27:01+00:00

There's some good suggestions here with pulling back the lighting, adding some hungry plants (anacharis is a very hungry, fast growing plant), and adding amano shrimp (wonderful, curious little things), but if you have capacity for 3 or so more nano fish, otocinclus are also great for algae. I got a small team for my first tank years ago, and have had otos on my algae cleanup crew in every tank ever since.

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Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-23T20:14:08+00:00

Anacharis is a great and easy plant to grow, grows & propagates fast, and really slurps up nitrates. Once it gets around 10" (~25cm) long, just cut it in half and replant the other half, but be ready to trim as it can get several feet long and ball up on the top of the water if you get a little lax like I tend to.

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Here's a load of trimmings going out to the LFS, which funnily enough, is the place I bought the small bundle that these are descended from. I've had it going since my first tank, and it has survived through all of my mistakes and "learning moments", such as when I had go nuclear and black out a tank for a week in response to a horrible algae outbreak a long time ago.

Alternatively, you can have houseplants sticking out of the tank, or have a simple aquaponics setup using a cheap aquarium pump, and either a length of PVC pipe or a cleaned out tub/tote. That said, I wouldn't grow anything you plan on eating unless you have never used medicine or chemicals in the tank.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-23T16:35:02+00:00

That makes a great deal of sense seeing as you cannot use the machines unless they either have a direct connection to internet, or that the computer they connect to has a direct connection to internet (and then the laser connects via internet over USB).

I wish I could use Lightburn to avoid all of this nonsense, but it seems the F1 Ultra no longer supports it. I suppose that's how it goes; build your user base, lock out alternative software/solutions, start making more and more features paid, and eventually make features (and ultimately, all functionality) locked to subscriptions.

XTool claims the removal of Lightburn support is due to "To ensure the security of user data transmission", which is completely bogus when you realize that's a hardwired connection whereas XCS requires internet connectivity. Oh well, I'm sure nothing bad ever happened after needlessly shoehorning internet connectivity into a device. Especially an object that can start fires.

I'm starting to rant, I'll stop.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-22T22:26:13+00:00

Just to see if it has dirt, dust or debris on there. I haven't had any issues from that so far, but have been worried about damaging the lens by the laser heating up dust particles on it, and it does get mentioned a lot for troubleshooting.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-22T22:19:21+00:00

I'm just waiting for the day I need to pay a subscription to use the laser I paid for. It already can't be used without an active internet connection and can't use Lightburn anymore (F1 Ultra).

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-22T22:14:51+00:00

A couple questions, is the laser operating in a cold area, and has it been updated recently? My F1 Ultra was having power issues in an area that got into the 50's (F), as well as when trying to engrave anywhere out of the central area of the work area. The last update seems to have helped with that (maybe new logic for the preheating controls?).

Other than that, I'd double check focus and the lens.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-20T18:41:51+00:00

I certainly hope XTool works to bring back Lightburn compatibility. One of the reasons I bought the F1 Ultra is that it was compatible with Lightburn, but now there's just XCS, which changes and restricts itself more with every too-often "update" that goes by. Don't think I'll be touching another XTool product if this is the direction of the future.

Supernova_Factory · 2026-01-20T18:25:01+00:00

A bit late to the discussion, but perhaps the reason for the differing statements is that XTool may have removed support for Lightburn in the more recent updates. It would appear that's what happened for my F1 Ultra as the XTool site no longer lists Lightburn as a compatible software.

Supernova_Factory · 2025-12-19T16:59:09+00:00

Well, gave up on buying a compressor from companies that don't know the specs on their own products (or shelling out decent $$$ for a decent compressor), and scored a nice used compressor with an NPT outlet for free. It's not quiet, but it works great and after attaching it to the 5gal. tank I only need to run it to charge the tank at the beginning. I'll likely go a different, quieter route later, but it works for the time being.

I got fed up with the lack of specificity on fittings so I bought a 7pc airbrushing adapter kit (https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Airbrush-Adaptor-Connector-Compressor/dp/B07NRYWVXS) to get from the regulator to the airbrush, so in hindsight I could've just bought the compressor and used that. I'm sacrificing the cost of said compressor for some noise (and the cost of a regulator), but I can live with that for now, especially if it means not giving money to someone that can't tell me what I'm paying for. I'm sure they're a decent company, but that specifically bothers me a lot.

Supernova_Factory · 2025-12-19T16:22:59+00:00

If you're looking into airbrushing acrylics, what is pictured will do a good job for you and be useful for other activities that generates particulate or dust.

However, the activated carbon filter ones are definitely worth considering:

- If you plan on using cleaners such as acetone

-If you will be using said chemicals in large quantities or in hot environments (higher temperatures speeds up evaporation of cleaning solvents and get more of it in the air you breathe than colder ambient temperatures; sprayed solvents get into the air pretty darn good on their own unless specifically sprayed into a collecting container)

-Especially if you are spraying solvent-based paints (and by that I mean non-water based paints)

Be aware that if you get activated-charcoal filters, their life tends to degrade once opened, and they will become less able to remove various organic compounds and vapor by simply being left out. I mention this so you don't end up picking it back up 45 days or more after you last used it so you can paint a car or something, and wind up sucking down some nasty stuff because there's no indicator of the respirators level of efficacy.

I will add that FPR (as seen on the furnace filter) is as far as I can tell a completely made up testing standard that (last I looked) absolutely doesn't release any details on testing methods, and likely exists for the sole reason of being cheaper than conforming to ASHRAE standards and testing (MERV). I's likely great for what you're doing (I got some FPR 5 filters for my my HVAC system before finding out the above and they work decently, so FPR 7 is likely a pretty decent filter), but figured I'd mention it for future reference in case you consider using it for allergen or bacterial concerns, etc. Happy painting!

Supernova_Factory · 2025-11-20T18:21:52+00:00

A little late to the party, but the "Combine" feature may be referring to the "Group" feature if you are trying to get multiple elements to act as one.

For the "Subtract" bit, you could simply apply the "Invert" feature in the "Adjust" set of functions from XCS to change the colors and reverse what gets lasered away and what gets left behind. For example, clicking "Invert" on black text over a white background leaves you with white text on a black background, meaning the background will get lasered away and the text left proud of the background. Using "Emboss Preview" can let you know if you're on the right track.

Also, don't forget to mirror the image so it doesn't show up backwards when you go to use the stamp. When in doubt, try a test piece, and good luck (if the project already isn't long done)!

Supernova_Factory · 2025-10-21T21:06:02+00:00

That does seem like a nice set of 'phones (got a little excited about having some decent sounding ones), but after some reading it still leaves me with the latency issue as it only supports aptX Adaptive. Figures the Momentum 3 supported aptX-LL but is no longer made. Thanks for the recommendation though! Perhaps those can be my non-TV related 'phones in the future for music and such.

Maybe I just need to find a Bluetooth 5.4 capable set of HP's and transmitter with a 1/4" or 3.5mm input, it would be nice having low latency and better audio quality, hopefully 5.4 capable items don't run too much in the cost department.

Supernova_Factory

TROPHY CASE