Blackout, going south.

[Glenc]

Hello all. Havn't been around as much as I've been dealing with this. This is my 20 gallon tank as of this morning. Wrapped in garbage bags, CO2 is off, air stone bubbling away, 80% water change. Seems this all started when I decided to run at 6WPG for a few weeks. That lighting has been removed for over a month. In the last few weeks I have lost a few of my plants. Rotala Mac, Rotala arcuata, and now Ludwigia Glandulosa. I have a wierd brown algea that looks like diatoms all over everything, including the glass. It's not that thick, as I have four otto's eating it. Without them I believe it would over-run the tank. It's killing my Hemianthus callitrichoides as well. Water is getting green also, real green. The tank is long cycled with no ammonia or nitrite levels. Macro levels are good, I have bought numerous test kits to confirm this. Keeping them at NO3 10ppm, PO4 1ppm. K at 15ppm. My water is very hard, so micros havn't been a problem. I started dosing Tropica Master grow for micros when I noticed the problems. I have done a million water changes and re-set all fert levels at least a dozen times. I reduced lighting time, lighting intensity, increased CO2, Nothing is working. I tried to leave it alone for a while and it is only getting worse. Now the Ammania sennegalinsis I just got and was starting to sprout is going south. Ill give this till Sun and see how it looks. Hopefully this blackout will kill off whatever has invaded my tank. I could understand if this was an old tank, but it's not. If it's not better and plants keep going south, I'll be draining it, cleaning it and starting over. Live and learn.
Purrbox, czcz, and Mr. funktastic, Can't send stuff from this tank. Don't want to give you whatever is in here. I havn't shipped any plants yet as I've been going crazy with this mess. I will ship what I can from my other tanks on Fri, sorry for the delay guys.

 

[malkore]

I've never tried to run 6wpg. I know when I had 2x55w over my 29gallon, I had beard algae like no tomorrow, no matter what I tried.

Its a big reason I never suggest much over 3wpg if using PC bulbs. Its just too much to control.

 

[mr funktastic]

i dont mind waiting for the plants and i hope everything goes well for u. i have been fortunate enough to not have any major problems since updrading to highlight but i am sure someone will put a fork in the road for me. keep us updated as to how it is going.

 

[gfink]

Before you break the whole tank down, how about dosing some Excel? It has some unadvertised algacide properties which may help.

 

[gfink]

I've never tried to run 6wpg. I know when I had 2x55w over my 29gallon, I had beard algae like no tomorrow, no matter what I tried.

Its a big reason I never suggest much over 3wpg if using PC bulbs. Its just too much to control.

I have 2x65 over my 29 right now(4.5 WPG) 8) ..however...I run a staggered timer setup so I have no idea how much light that equates to.

Bulb 1 on 3 hours
Bulb 1 and 2 on for 5 hours
Bulb 2 on for last 3 hours.

If you use some creative math you get 3.3 WPG on average.

 

[czcz]

Good luck, Glenc! Don't worry about the plants: I'm filled up plant-wise with stuff I need to learn Let me know if you think more plants will help. I still have that stuff I've not trimmed.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

If you need more Hemianthus, I have a lot here.. Kept getting pulled up and you wouldn't believe how fast it grows floating, 1 plant is now about 1sq foot. Also always throwing out rotundifolia, I won't bother offerring the rosenervig . The crypts you gave me are also large enough that I can split them up if needed..

Good luck getting it under control, I'm not sure why it's done what it's done..

Curious tho. How fast was your nitrate level dropping before you blacked out the tank? Do you have another tank you can move the fish to briefly? you can try dosing nitrate up to 30ppm (would shock fish if increased suddenly)

 

[Glenc]

Thanks for the replies all. I did dose quite a bit of exel with no effect, even over dosed it a couple of times. By the time I blacked out the tank the N03 levels were holding steady at 10 ppm, dosing them every other day. Wizzard, never thought about moving the fish and dosing heavier, that would have been a great idea, to late to do it now. Keep you all posted.
Thanks again.

 

[Glenc]

Uncovered the tank today and it is crystal clear. Lost most of the the reds but some plants actually greened up and grew, the H cuba especially. The ammania senegalinsis on the right lost all it's bottom leaves but kept the new sprouts on top, they grew a little. You can see leaves from the hygrophila corymbosa floating around on top of the tank, they are still falling off, but getting better. Thinned out the weak or dying stuff. I Gonna down grade to 3 WPG for a while and see how it goes. I have a bunch of stuff in a ten gallon grow out tank including 4 stems of my original Rotala Mac that has started to come back. I'll be moving most of those plants into my 20 gallon once I know it's healthy. I have planted 4 stems of Ludwigia repens from the ten in the back to test the water. If it stays clear and this stuff survives, I'll be busy planting again soon!

 

[Purrbox]

Looks awesome and such great news. I look forward to the new pics as everything recovers and fills back in.

 

[mr funktastic]

wow everything seems to be doing fine except for the one plant but it will spring back to life. i am at 3 wpg right now and dont dose anything but flourish trace like once per week and have my piddly little hagen co2 system and everything has been fone for weeks now. my plants have gotten a little "thick" actually lol i would like to trade some plants with you whever u feel they are healthy. glad it all worked out for ya

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Looks great. Far better then before..

 

[czcz]

Hows it doing? Staying clear? Very encouraging thread.

 

[Glenc]

Here is the tank this morning. It is still crystal clear. I come home from work every night fearing the worst but it is still looking good. I'm running two hagen bubble ladders with decent C02 levels for the light level I'm now running, 3WPG. The Ludwigia repens in the back is starting to grow. I put one of my skinny surviving Rotala mac in a couple of days ago an it to is starting to lift it's head. I believe I caused my own problems for the following reasons
To much light to fast, nutrients disappeared faster than I could put them in. I think you can run very high light safely, just do it gradually.
To many fish. In an attempt to introduce N03 naturally so I would'nt have to dose it so often, I probably over loaded my filter system with to big a biolaod.
It then began a constant game of catch up with the dropping fert levels, never really getting on top of it. It took 2 weeks running 6WPG to start this snowball down the hill. It was doing amazing at first, but once the imbalances took hold, there was no stopping the problems, mainly green water and a strange diatom like brown algea that was covering everything. Plants were definitely all dying off, red plants first. I fought back hard with many water changes and re-setting of fert levels. I was losing everything anyway, so in desperation I tried a black out. It worked amazingly well. No algea, anywhere, fish are all fine. So far, so good. Of course, I'm going to slowly increase my light up to 4 WPG again as soon as possible!
Got to get that Ammania to grow!

 

[sudz]

Your tank looks AMAZING! i want that ground cover! What is it?

 

[mr funktastic]

u seem to have alot of bubbles on your hagen ladder. how fast is it producing? mine doesnt seem as efficient this time around for some reason. plants look good thouhg i hope they all spring back to life

 

[Glenc]

Tank is doing ok this morning. Even the Rotala mac seems to be hanging in. Hey sudz, thanks for the compliment! The ground cover is Hemianthus callitrichoides "cuba". Great little plant, grows pretty fast in higher light, does good in lower light to, only grows slower and dosn't pearl as often. If you get some. plant it in lots of small peices and it will spread quicker. If you put it in in bigger clumps it grows lumpy looking and dosn't form a nice flat carpet. I found that out the hard way, dug mine up and re planted it! Mr. funktastic, I think I'm getting more bubbles per sec on the hagen ladder because one, I'm not using the cannister they supply for my C02 brew. I use 1- 2 liter coke bottle for each of the hagen ladders I'm running, getting a bubble a second. Two, I tilt the ladder slightly so the bubbles stay in the ladder longer. They will go faster on one side, but move much slower on the other side on the way up. I tilt it to get the slowest rate possible, just before the bubbles stop moving. Takes a bit of trail and error to get it, but by the time the bubbles reach the top, they are very tiny, almost gone. More bubble contact time with the water, better C02 levels.

 

[mr funktastic]

thanks glen i will have to look into getting another mixture running on on my ladder. mine is also tilted a little, i figured that out aswell. i also leave a small coat of algea on it which slows the bubbles down aswell. mine will sometimes produce very well then the next mixture is a dud. kind of annoying. i cant wait to go pressurized. if i get some extra cash soon i will be buying a system.

 

[Glenc]

Pressurized IS the way to go. DIYC02 is inconsistent at best, works ok if you are not running a very high light tank. Works better if you run two bottles and switch them out once a week, still bubbling or not. The higher light level you run, the less the margin for error, believe me, I know! I to am going to go pressurized as soon as I can afford it. I to have had dud batches of yeast-suger. Being the patient person I am, if it isn't going in a couple of hours, I make a new batch. I also pre-mix my yeast with a half spoon of sugar in a small cup of warm water before I dump it in the bottle. This seems to kick start the mix. Usually going full force in a couple of hours every time.

 

[sudz]

Hey Glenc, If you ever get in access of your "cuba" can you send me a PM? I haven't seen it at any local fish store. I bought some "grass" type carpet plant for 12 bucks at PJ's Pet Centre, but its just turned all brown. its a very high light plant. (picture of it in my gallery i think)