5 Gallon Planted Tank

[maxwellag]

Yeesh man you have enough to start with a full carpet! Its key to crank the co2 when you start with emersed grown hc.

I might actually do that.

 

[MyanRan]

Sounds like you got it sorted out. The HC is definitely adjusting to a submersed setup.

 

[maxwellag]

I just did a 75% water change, redosed EI ferts and planted a whole bunch more HC. Planting individual chunks is too hard in this small of a space, so I simply tore the giant mat of it I grew emersed into desired shapes. The HC that I planted a few days ago died and was rotting, so I felt it needed to be removed. Hopefully I have better luck this time. I removed the other plants because they were going all over the place. I'm hoping this is enough plant matter to combat algae for now. The substrate got messed up a bit when I planted it, but I decided I would fix that later.

 

[maxwellag]

Ok, I need to choose a drop checker. I can't decide which one to get. What do you guys think?

Here are my choices:

The hanging external one (ph indicator is on the outside of the tank)

The oval (Brian has one like this)

The ball (similar to the oval)

 

[jetajockey]

Whichever one you like looking at the most.

 

[Jkeating8]

I personally like the hanging type

 

[tropicalmackdaddy]

Id go with the smallest/least obtrusive since the scape is so small

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I like the hanging one best.. you'll never have to worry about a failing suction cup.

 

[maxwellag]

Ok, I just ordered the hanging one. Now I just have to wait for it to arrive from China. Shouldn't take more than about a month. If this was a set of lily pipes, I wouldn't consider trying some from China again. I've had too many bad experiences. But since this is one single item of low value, I figured it isn't much of a risk.

 

[maxwellag]

Well, the HC is growing. But so is the algae.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

What kind of algae? Don't you have other drop checkers you sell? Maybe use that meantime so you know you're getting enough co2. Start dosing Glut too.

 

[Jkeating8]

Seeing as you already are getting algae again, I would either look into suspending the light or dose glut/excel at 1ml per gallon.

 

[maxwellag]

Nope, I don't have any drop checkers at the moment. The ones I received were TINY and not as described, so I had to return them (my most recent bad experience buying glassware from China). I'm not exactly sure what kind of algae it is, but I noticed some cyano growing on the substrate as well. I did a 50% water change and dosed NPK+T again. I also dosed Excel (1ml/gal as Jkeating8 suggested). Any ideas on what kind of algae this is? It's light green, stringy and feels slimy. It grows in strands and is hard to remove.

 

[Billbug68]

Forgive me, I really don't wanna read back as I don't remember, are you running the ray2 or fugeray?

Like Joey and Brian said, you may just have to dose excel on the heavy side daily to act as a preventative measure. 5ml a day is what I would probably do, especially since you have no fauna in there yet.

FYI, when I was running the ray2 on my shallow tank, I could only manage about a 4 - 4 1/2 hour photoperiod, anything longer and I'd get algae.

 

[maxwellag]

Forgive me, I really don't wanna read back as I don't remember, are you running the ray2 or fugeray?

Like Joey and Brian said, you may just have to dose excel on the heavy side daily to act as a preventative measure. 5ml a day is what I would probably do, especially since you have no fauna in there yet.

FYI, when I was running the ray2 on my shallow tank, I could only manage about a 4 - 4 1/2 hour photoperiod, anything longer and I'd get algae.

I have a Ray 2. My photoperiod was like 10 hours a day. I just set it to about 4 and a half. I will see how it works out. I will see how it goes without dosing Excel daily. If algae comes back I will start dosing it more often.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Oh man... that long green filamentous algae looks like spirogyra, I think. If you have exhausted other safer suggestions of eradication, I suggest, as a last option, (dare I say it) Algaefix. "If" it's spiro, that's one of the most stubborn I've dealt with. But dosing Algaefix sparingly will knock it out.

 

[maxwellag]

Oh man... that long green filamentous algae looks like spirogyra, I think. If you have exhausted other safer suggestions of eradication, I suggest, as a last option, (dare I say it) Algaefix. "If" it's spiro, that's one of the most stubborn I've dealt with. But dosing Algaefix sparingly will knock it out.

From the pictures I just looked at for reference, I am pretty sure that it is indeed spirogyra. I was actually thinking about Algaefix, but I thought it might harm the HC that I have in there now. I will definitely look into it if I can't prevent it with a shorter photoperiod, frequent water changes and Excel.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I feel your pain, max... good luck.

Here's some interesting reads and tests with Algaefix. Tom Barr has endorsed it as a "selective killer," which I like. When I used it, it didn't even harm my moss. It does have some effect on O2 levels and kills inverts...But if you don't have livestock, then that doesn't matter.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=197452&page=3

---------

http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/10495-Algaefix-toxicity-test-on-Red-Cherry-shrimp

---------

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=192084

 

[Billbug68]

Yeah dude, 10 hours a day was definitely your problem. Run it at 4 or 4 1/2 for a few weeks then bump it up a half an hour every few weeks till you start seeing algae again, then go back to the previous time right before the algae. Take it slow, and that'll be your sweet spot. I'm betting you won't be able to do more than 5, though, just from my experience with my 12 long.

 

[maxwellag]

My new drop checker is already here (pretty fast from China). But it's crooked. I will probably post a pic of it later.