In need of some serious plant advice

[NYgiantsRP]

I have a 65 gal 24'' tall tank. I have current nova dual t5 HO with a 39w 12kk power white and 39w floral freshwater, also I have the stock hood that came with the tank that holds a 24'' 17w 8kk "plant" light. I have a 50-50 mix of eco complete and gravel. I dose seachem fundementals (iron, excel, and another one that just label comprehesive suplement) plus leaf zone plant food.

I have 5 anubis 4 amazon sword and 4 Cryptocoryne 1 Mellon Sword and 1 Ruffle Plant and here are my problems
- They all have light to moderate algea growing on them
- The new leaves that grow in are light green or yellow and some times translucent
- The swords arent growing the sproters with the new little plants on them
- Algea growth on my glass, AND I am getting little white spots the look like green spot algea but white.

All of the root systems and REALLY good. What am i doing wrong?

 

[rich311k]

How long are the lights on? Do you add fert tabs or liquid supplements? What are your test readings?

 

[NYgiantsRP]

How long are the lights on? Do you add fert tabs or liquid supplements? What are your test readings?

the light are 36''. The ferts are liquid, I did use tabs like 4 moths ago. ph is around 7.0-7.5 , am 0-.25 , nitrite .25-.50, nitrate 20-40 ppm

 

[mfdrookie516]

The 12,000k bulbs may not be ideal. Typically, it is recommended that the bulbs be betweeen 6500k and 10,000k. That isn't necessarily always the best, it realy depends on the spectrum. You might consider replacing the 12,000k with something more in that range.

Swords almost require root tabs. They don't pull nutrients from the water like your average stem plant. They have massive root systems, that's where they get their nutrients.

How long are you keeping your lights on?

 

[NYgiantsRP]

My lights are on 10-12 hours.
The eco-complete is suppose to supply the roots with nutrients. How is the lighting creating the algae and not aiding the growth of the plants.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Plants only use light within certain spectrums... algae uses light in a much more broad range. If the lighting isn't appropriate for plants, it'll just grow algae.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Having some problems with my plants.

I have a 65 gallon tank. It is 36''L x 18''W x 24''H. I have a 36'' current nova dual t5 HO with a 39w 12kk power white and 39w floral freshwater, also I have the stock hood that came with the tank that holds a 24'' 17w 8kk "plant" light. I have a 50-50 mix of eco complete and gravel. I dose seachem fundementals (iron, excel, and another one that just label comprehesive suplement) plus leaf zone plant food.

I have 5 anubis 4 amazon sword and 4 Cryptocoryne 1 Mellon Sword and 1 Ruffle Plant. They have been in the tank for about 2 months. Here are my problems
- They all have light to moderate algea growing on them
- The new leaves that grow in are light green or yellow and some times translucent
- The swords arent growing the sproters with the new little plants on them
- Algea growth on my glass, AND I am getting little white spots the look like green spot algea but white.

All of the root systems and REALLY good. What am i doing wrong?

 

[rich311k]

Are you using root tabs for the sword plants? They are heavy root feeders and really need it. How long is your photo period? What are your water test readings?

A Magfloat will help with the algae on the glass.

 

[Hubert90]

I have a 65 gallon tank. It is 36''L x 18''W x 24''H. I have a 36'' current nova dual t5 HO with a 39w 12kk power white and 39w floral freshwater, also I have the stock hood that came with the tank that holds a 24'' 17w 8kk "plant" light. I have a 50-50 mix of eco complete and gravel. I dose seachem fundementals (iron, excel, and another one that just label comprehesive suplement) plus leaf zone plant food.

I have 5 anubis 4 amazon sword and 4 Cryptocoryne 1 Mellon Sword and 1 Ruffle Plant. They have been in the tank for about 2 months. Here are my problems
- They all have light to moderate algea growing on them
- The new leaves that grow in are light green or yellow and some times translucent
- The swords arent growing the sproters with the new little plants on them
- Algea growth on my glass, AND I am getting little white spots the look like green spot algea but white.

All of the root systems and REALLY good. What am i doing wrong?

Whats Ur nitrate, phosphorus readings? And ya how long is ur photosynthesis period?

 

[NYgiantsRP]

I am guessing you are asking how long I leave my lights on....10-12 hours a day. I did use root tabs a few months ago and it did not help at all, BUT the eco complete is supposed to supply the roots with nutrients. pH 7-7.5, ammonia .25 -.50 ppm, nitrite .25 -.50 ppm, nitrate 20 - 40 ppm.

 

[rich311k]

I would not leave the lights on more than 10 hours. The extra length is just feeding the algae. Your tank is pretty high which would be effecting the light intensity at the bottom of the tank. You have plenty of nitrogen so it is not that. How old are your bulbs? I run a mix of 6500 and 10000k. I know you don't want to add anything but some Excel for carbon and some potassium maybe just what you need to get things rolling.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Merged 2 threads together. Please only start one thread per topic.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

the bulbs are less than 6 month old

 

[NYgiantsRP]

i posted a thread in the "aquascaping" category because i thought that was the best place for it but realized there was a "planted tank" category so i re-posted.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

i already add excel. *refference post 1, 7 and 9*

 

[rich311k]

I missed the Excel, sorry about that. I think you need to reduce lighting to 8 hours a day on a timer, and you need to dose a bit of potassium. These things take time and it could be a month before your really see changes. There are no quick fixes.

Some swords will never grow flower stalks. I have had Amazon swords that filled a 75 that would never grow and stalks. Hopefully in time your plants will reproduce.

 

[jsmith24]

Lighting is definitely an issue. I wouldn't leave the lights on longer than 8 hours a day and it probably wouldn't hurt to leave them on a little less than that. Another thing that could be causing algae is too many nutrients. I read that you were dosing with several different ferts and you may be dosing too much. But don't be too bummed out about getting algae its a natural thing. Algae grows in the wild just like it does in aquariums it's just a natural thing, but if your getting too much algae then you need to cut down on the lighting and probably the ferts as well.

 

[Hubert90]

Lighting is definitely an issue. I wouldn't leave the lights on longer than 8 hours a day and it probably wouldn't hurt to leave them on a little less than that. Another thing that could be causing algae is too many nutrients. I read that you were dosing with several different ferts and you may be dosing too much. But don't be too bummed out about getting algae its a natural thing. Algae grows in the wild just like it does in aquariums it's just a natural thing, but if your getting too much algae then you need to cut down on the lighting and probably the ferts as well.

That isn't all true. I leave my lights on for 12 hours and I dose all kinds of fertilizers. Algae up break can be due on imbalance of nutrient. I had fuzz algae Coz I had low co2 and low nitrate and phosphate. And Ive managed to fix that with more dosing. Hahah

 

[mfdrookie516]

That isn't all true. I leave my lights on for 12 hours and I dose all kinds of fertilizers. Algae up break can be due on imbalance of nutrient. I had fuzz algae Coz I had low co2 and low nitrate and phosphate. And Ive managed to fix that with more dosing. Hahah

I disagree. just tossing in ferts is not a good idea. While I dont think (and hope) that your intention was to suggest just pouring ferts in, it sounded like it. 12 hours is very excessive for lighting IMO. 8 hours is all you need. 10 hours is the most I'd ever do, and that woudl only be for speeding up the growth to get things giong.

 

[Hubert90]

I disagree. just tossing in ferts is not a good idea. While I dont think (and hope) that your intention was to suggest just pouring ferts in, it sounded like it. 12 hours is very excessive for lighting IMO. 8 hours is all you need. 10 hours is the most I'd ever do, and that woudl only be for speeding up the growth to get things giong.

XD when I mean fertilizers I mean the ones I need. E.g. Low on phosphate. Dose sachem phosphorus. Haha