Tank disaster

[ImACoolguy]

Hello everyone so I've hit a roadblock on my planted tank and it's leaving me VERY frustrated to the point of contemplating taking the tank down. This is not in my build thread so I can get as much eyes on the issue as possible and get it resolved hopefully.

The issue: in 48 hours I went from minor GSA on the glass to full blown hair algae explosion on everything and decline in plant health.

Tank has been running 2ish months. It sat empty with plants(but yet cycled) for a while. Only had the fish/frog a few weeks.

Tank:
Standard 10g tank

Lighting:
20 inch Finnex 24/7

Been running 24/7 mode until now.

Filtration/heating:
Aquaclear 20
100 watt marineland heater

Stock:
1 dwarf puffer
1 ADF
Unknown number of pest snails

Plants:
Rotala Nanjenshan
Hygrophila Pinnatifida
Staurogyne Repens
Dwarf Hair Grass
Cryptocoryne Undulata
Cryptocoryne Parva
Cryptocoryne Wendtii
Limno Aromatica
Cyprus Helferi
Tiger lotus
Java moss
Hygrophila Corymbosa

Pic before the disaster:
http://i.imgur.com/qjtYwHK.jpg


EDIT: my finger posted before I could finish....

Pics after disaster:
http://i.imgur.com/o263aiX.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/VT7X5Mf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ma3dTzq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/yB82zFt.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/AbEMsIn.jpg


Dosing:

Before outbreak:
2mL PPS-PRO
3mL Iron and Potassium day after water change, 1mL daily.

Pressurized co2 at 2-3bps.

Post outbreak:
Just finished a 2day blackout.

Halt on fertilizers.

Lighting on timer for 6 hours daily, 2 hour break in the middle.

Any help appreciated.

 

[bcarl_10gal]

More co2. Trim the existing algae out. A few big water changes. Should help quite a bit


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[philipraposo198]

Bps is a horrible method of measuring co2. Chances are you not running enough co2. Use a ph pen and check you kh.


Also you light is likely too much for a new tank with non established plants. Start with 6 hours of light and go from there as time goes on.

At this point pump the co2 till you fish and frog start to react then dial it down a bit from.there. keep up with water changes and make sure you have good surface agitation with no splashing but a good ripple.. Dose ferts regularly and keep the tank clean, this means no overfeeding or leaving dead plants around. Manually remove as much as possible.

 

[Caliban07]

Bps is a horrible method of measuring co2. Chances are you not running enough co2. Use a ph pen and check you kh.


Also you light is likely too much for a new tank with non established plants. Start with 6 hours of light and go from there as time goes on.

At this point pump the co2 till you fish and frog start to react then dial it down a bit from.there. keep up with water changes and make sure you have good surface agitation with no splashing but a good ripple.. Dose ferts regularly and keep the tank clean, this means no overfeeding or leaving dead plants around. Manually remove as much as possible.

Ph pen and dkh is great in theory but it means little in practice. Unfortunately, a drop checker is the most accurate way to measure co2 unless you have a few thousand quid knocking around for a submersible partial pressure co2 meter.

I also wouldn't encourage mild asphyxiation as a means of confirming co2 levels. If you haven't already, get a reputable drop checker.


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[philipraposo198]

Either way, the fact remains that bps is nowhere near a way to measure co2. And I did mention to dial it back down a bit after you notice behavior change in your fish. Some fish dont handle co2 well, does this mean you are going to run 30ppm co2 just because and ignore your fish well being? Of course not, you are going to watch your inhabitants and adjust accordingly.

 

[azmodan]

Yeah we need to know what the drop checker reads. It's quite a bit of light on a 10g so the co2 would need to be high.

 

[fishenthusiast]

I notice that in the first picture that the water level is sort of low when compared to the filter output. That extra surface agitation is making for more CO2 loss. Increase that water level a bit, do some water changes, and adjust lighting and CO2 as needed. Also, when I had hair algae, I spot dosed Excel and it killed the algae.


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[Sk3lly]

In my opinion a drop checker is a poor measure of CO2. Quite a long lag time on the checker. More of a reference. Not the point though.

Am i right in thinking 24/7 mode gives you light permanently? Low light in morning up to strong light at midday, then to a dusk light, before finishing on a moonlight setting??
If so this is ridiculous lighting time for a newish tank.

I would cut lighting to 5 hours until algae resides. Then slowly dial it back up. Maybe half hour increments, whilst waiting a month or so to monitor tank changes


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[bcarl_10gal]

A 24/7 ran at 60 par on a 20 high so a guesstimate for a 10 puts you around 70-80ish. Co2 has to be really solid. Make sure you dont have a bell curve the represents the co2 over time.


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[ImACoolguy]

Wow thank you for the abundance of replies!

I actually have 2 drop checkers and trying to get them dialed in. One is a fluval that's past its prime and the other is a Chinese glass checker.

Is there somewhere I can get a print off pH chart regarding the drop checker color? All I have at the moment is knowing yellow is bad.

I'll do some water changes tonight/in the morning and dial back lighting.


Caleb

 

[Sk3lly]

Wow thank you for the abundance of replies!

I actually have 2 drop checkers and trying to get them dialed in. One is a fluval that's past its prime and the other is a Chinese glass checker.

Is there somewhere I can get a print off pH chart regarding the drop checker color? All I have at the moment is knowing yellow is bad.

I'll do some water changes tonight/in the morning and dial back lighting.


Caleb

Yellow is only bad for fish. Yellow is amazing for plants


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[ImACoolguy]

In my opinion a drop checker is a poor measure of CO2. Quite a long lag time on the checker. More of a reference. Not the point though.

Am i right in thinking 24/7 mode gives you light permanently? Low light in morning up to strong light at midday, then to a dusk light, before finishing on a moonlight setting??
If so this is ridiculous lighting time for a newish tank.

I would cut lighting to 5 hours until algae resides. Then slowly dial it back up. Maybe half hour increments, whilst waiting a month or so to monitor tank changes


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Yes it ran on 24/7 mode for a little over a month with only minor GSA on the glass. Just woke up the other day to this mess.


Caleb

 

[Caliban07]

In my opinion a drop checker is a poor measure of CO2. Quite a long lag time on the checker. More of a reference.

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I agree.


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[Caliban07]

Either way, the fact remains that bps is nowhere near a way to measure co2. And I did mention to dial it back down a bit after you notice behavior change in your fish. Some fish dont handle co2 well, does this mean you are going to run 30ppm co2 just because and ignore your fish well being? Of course not, you are going to watch your inhabitants and adjust accordingly.

I understand what you're saying bud. It's just not something I would personally advise someone does that's all.


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[azmodan]

I agree that a drop checker is not the best overall measure for co2 in your tank but in this particular instance it's just one of those "the more collective information we have the more we can help this person" sort of things.

 

[Caliban07]

Unless you have one of these

http://www.analyticon.com/products/portable-handheld-meters/Carbon-Dioxide-Meter.php

A drop checker is going to be the best your gonna get haha.

You know they are expensive when you have to contact them for a price.


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