Brown spots on plants HELP!

[iamkush]

Alright, so I just put plants and fish in my 72 gallon bow front (after a month of cycling) and its been about three weeks since I added livestock and I'm getting brown spots on almost all of my plants. I checked all the levels and their all great! 0 nitrate/ nitrite. ph is at 8.2 could that be the problem? do i need PH buffer? ammonia is also at 0, the tank has been steady between 80 and 80.2 degrees. it also has 250 watts of 6500k lighting and a canister filter. any ideas on what is causing this? any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time guys.

Take a look at these pictures.

 

[Gboy66]

Alright, so I just put plants and fish in my 72 gallon bow front (after a month of cycling) and its been about three weeks since I added livestock and I'm getting brown spots on almost all of my plants. I checked all the levels and their all great! 0 nitrate/ nitrite. ph is at 8.2 could that be the problem? do i need PH buffer? ammonia is also at 0, the tank has been steady between 80 and 80.2 degrees. it also has 250 watts of 6500k lighting and a canister filter. any ideas on what is causing this? any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time guys.

Take a look at these pictures.

Same if happening to me!!! Ill be following

 

[aqua_chem]

250w of what? Watts mean very little nowadays.

Im guessing it might be t5ho. It looks like you might have a crop of bba growing.

 

[iamkush]

Yes its t5ho, whats bba?

 

[aqua_chem]

Black Brush Algae. It's indicative of too much light and CO2 requirement. Is that a 4x54w or a 6x54w fixture? Either one is too much light and is probably pushing you over the CO2 threshold.

 

[iamkush]

Its 54x4... So im right at 3 watts per gallon

 

[iamkush]

Im thinking about over a few days moving the ph back to 7.0 as well as dropping the temp from 80 to 78, as well as adding a screen to the top of my aquarium to cut down on the light. Think this would help?

 

[aqua_chem]

First off, don't muck with you pH. I really think that people overestimate the effects of pH on both flora and fauna. More damage can be done than prevented that way.


As far as the light, you might, might be able to get away with 2 bulbs. Check to see if you can run the fixture with only two bulbs plugged in (probably the two outermost, but try other combinations). That will save you a load of trouble.

WPG means very little with current technology. That rule was made when T8 reigned, but newer technology, such as T5HO, far exceeds the intensity of previous generations. What's more important now is distance from the bulb rather than bulk size.

 

[Gboy66]

Does a powerhead help keep algea off of plants?

 

[aqua_chem]

There are in fact several types of algae that can be caused by insufficient water movement. It is possible to have bba in a co2 injected tank if the flow is not properly delivering it to the right places.

Certain hair and brush algaes, and bga, can ne caused by low levels of water movement.

 

[ashleynicole]

The plants in your tank appear to be terrestrial... Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[mfdrookie516]

That's what I was going to say ^^. Doesn't appear to be aquatic.

 

[iamkush]

They may not be fully aquatic plants.... I didnt even think of that, i know the banana plant is but the rest of them may not be... Duh

 

[Gboy66]

Ya neither is the bamboo in the backround

 

[mfdrookie516]

The 2nd picture you posted definitely doesn't look aquatic. That is a plant in the same family of peace lillies I believe.. the name escapes me.

 

[iamkush]

Another person at my LFS that will be getting a talking too... I'll just order a plant package off liveaquaria that i know are FULLY AQUATIC Thanks for all your help guys!