New Aquarium Tragedy

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7aradox

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Nov 22, 2017
Messages
4
Hey guys, so I have started a new aquarium almost a month ago and have encountered some frustrating problems. This is my first ever planted aquarium that I have ever done and wanted to experiment and practice in order to learn more. This what it looked like after I first finished setting everything up:Image

The tank is partially dirted with organic top soil (an inch or so on both sides of tank) and Seachem Fluorite Black as the top layer. Among those planted, I have just Java fern and dwarf baby tears to start out with. In order to promote plant growth, I have an semi-automatic CO2 system running and an Fluval A3992 Aqua Fresh & Plant 2.0 LED for light. I figured this would be enough to grow dwarf baby tears but apparently I was wrong. When I first planted the tears I was told to put a rock on top of the plant because it tended to float.
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This worked but as weeks went by, I noticed that the roots were not anchoring themselves at all (or at least did not seem to). I would accidentally hit them while cleaning and they would become easily uprooted. After securing them under a rock repeatedly I noticed that they were gradually starting to die and were not really growing at all. Frustrated, I purchased a glass CO2 checker to put in my tank. After dialing my CO2 in, I noticed an increase of algae growth. I know that this is common with new aquariums but I think the algae were feeding off the excess CO2.

(Also, mind you, I have another established aquarium as well which I have been taking water from and filling it with each water change of the new one.)

With the increase of algae, I figured that I was providing too much excess nutrients in the tank since the nitrogen cycle had not fully been established. I cut the CO2 flow down by half and as well as the light intenisty. I even lowered the temperature down to 80F too (which is where it should be). I did this for a few days but there wasn't much of an noticeable difference.

Fast-forward a week and that's when things started to get really bad. I'm a college student and recently finished my finals for the Fall Quarter. During this time, I hardly did any maintenance on my tank. This is what it looks like now (before I just cleaned it):
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As you can see, it has completely succumbed to algae within a week and a half. I even got strange little "worms" as you can see on the glass of my aquarium.

What am I doing wrong? Is my substrate too big for the dwarf baby tears? Am I providing too much light?(there is a window nearby) Am I too impatient? Has my bottom layer of substrate become anaerobic? I am not sure.

I know that I have not been keeping up with maintenance for a week but I feel like this algae is a bit more severe than normal.
 
Firstly, none of the pictures are working properly. I like to upload them to imgur and then post them from there.

Second we need a little more info about what you're doing with the tank.

1: What fertilizers are you adding to the tank and how often are you adding them?
2: how long are your lights on daily?
3: how deep is your tank?
 
Pictures

I don't know why the pictures didn't post but here they are again in order.

Before:
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After:
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Firstly, none of the pictures are working properly. I like to upload them to imgur and then post them from there.

Second we need a little more info about what you're doing with the tank.

1: What fertilizers are you adding to the tank and how often are you adding them?
2: how long are your lights on daily?
3: how deep is your tank?

I have reposted the pictures below. As of now, I do not use any fertilizers in the tank. I have been told they aren't completely necessary but they can help.

The lights run on a 24/7 light cycle. Daylight starts at 8am and ends at 8pm.

My tank is 29 gallons (12.5"L x 30.25"W x 18.75"H). Substrate varies from 1-3in. in height around the tank.
 
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