40g planted

[countryfan05]

Hair algae and high phospates, please HELP!

I have a 26 galloon aquarium with 25 fish (I know too many). It is full of live plants that I just replaced because hair algae took over my tank. I was getting a ton of algae and snails. All test are normal except ph is 6.4. I added the stuff to regulate ph but then my phosphates were 10. I put the phos guard to lower the phosphates but it is not working and every two weeks I am covered in algae. I dont want my new plants to get destroyed, what should I do, please help.

 

[workfortheman]

kudos!

 

[Jason the Lost]

I have the worst luck with barbs, have had three of these die in 3 days. They were at the LFS for weeks. All my levels are ok, the tank is new...theres no high counts of anything yet to even necessitate a PWC and the fish seemed playful and healthy...yet I wake up to floaters.

I noticed they dont seem to eat much

 

[workfortheman]

yup, I always thought that low light plants meant that they can tolerate low light, but I'm coming to understand that they actually PREFER low light. . . . who'da thunk it!

 

[Jchillin]

Plsu, the material is geologically recent, so more trace elements like iron are available sooner and longer.

The above sentence alone displays the sincerity of the writer. No cut and paste from a form letter. Very nice indeed.

I agree with Ernie...kudos for providing this info.

 

[Jchillin]

(Low-light java fern keeper chimes in): I have java in three different areas of my tank, each area recieves a different amount of light. What I've noticed is the ferns on the left and right side do not do as well as the one I have behind my driftwood, which is the back of the tank and in the darkest area of the tank. You may be able to see some of this in my tank clicky.

 

[workfortheman]

Yea, I think if I ever go that big, I'll try to rig up an open-top system somehow, maybe MH pendants or something. Keep up the work, it's really paying off!

Sorry to hear about the discus plague incident, but kudos for keeping the same discus for 10 years! That's more than most hobbyists can claim. Was it planted for the whole duration, or did you go bare-bottom at some point?

 

[drjimmy124]

HELP - my plants are melting!

Hi,
thanks in advance for any help!

As background - I have a 2.5 year old planted tank with a JBJ compact flourescent light and a biowheel filter (flowing into a DIY "containment chamber" to reduce surface splash). I use Seachem Alkaline buffer for pH, Equilibirum for minerals and GH, and a couple of months ago I switched to NovAqua+ for chlorine/chloramine. For the first 2 years I supplemented CO2 with a reactor, but the CO2 finally ate through the tubing and honestly, I haven't repaired it so in the last six months or so I've been using Seachem Acid buffer to bring down the pH rather than CO2. The only difference I noticed was that my Java Moss slowly lost vigor and was mostly algae, so I tossed it. However, my Java fern seemed even happier without the CO2, continuing to grow and fill the tank.

As of two weeks ago, my tank was at least half full of Java fern - a real forest. I also have a nice small leafed Annubias (sp?) that has grown to about 8" in length with several dozen leaves.

I change 5 gal of water every 2-4 weeks, and the plants and fish seem happy (pH always good, no ammonia). Last week I decided to do a bigger cleaning - removing 12 gal of water, pruning and rearranging the Java fern (something I have done before without problem). During the past week. 95% of my Java fern has melted. Out of a mass of easily over a hundred leaves, I have exactly 8 left. Everything else is gone. The annubias doesn't look great, but it's not melting. There are only two things that I can think of that I did differently from any other time: 1) I used a few cups of hot water from the bottled water dispenser to bring the replacement water up a few degrees of temperature (the tank is at work and we do not have a hot water tap). The replacement water went in around 74 and the normal tank temperature is 80. 2) I pulled the ferns out of the water for about 10' while I cleaned the tank. I pulled them out still attached to the various rock and substrate they are rooted to, and did my best not to dislodge or break roots.

At this point, I'm mostly interested in what might have gone wrong, so that I can avoid it in the future. I'm not sure that I will restock the tank now, as I am frankly looking for a new job and so the tank might be moved soon. However, I would ultimately like to get it going once I'm there. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Devilishturtles]

First off, get rid of some fish. You likely have high nitrates as well that are really giving your plants(algae) some fuel to grow (plants consume nitrate and phosphate). What fish are in your tank?

You mentioned pH, but what are the rest of your water readings?

 

[BrianNY]

You need to be doing daily water changes to help reduce the nutrients which are feeding the algae. Clean your filters regularly. Reduce the time you leave the lights on.

Like Devilishturtles says, the high bioload isn't helping. I too would like to know the readings on phosphates and nitrates. This will at least give you a clue.

 

[BrianNY]

Although I've grown out my share of discus in bare bottom tanks, I can't take the credit for these. They were discus that were gifted to me. Being that these fish were well past their breeding prime, I put them in the planted 125 Ernie.

Here's a link to the thread that tells the story

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=33222&highlight=blessing++curse

 

[kristap]

Trying to gain upper hand on algae

Still not certain of what kind of algae I'm dealing with, I I tried removing the algae 'mechanically' (guessed that means with a toothbrush) but it did not come off. Also tried pulling with fingers but to no avail so I used scissors and removed heavily infested leaves or gave the algae a haircut depending upon infestation level.

I don't have an iron test so can't tell if it's too high. If this is staghorn algae - how do I lower the iron if indeed there is an iron problem?

Currently running 26ppm of CO2 based on these readings & CO2 calculator:
ph: 6.4
NO3: 40ppm
NO4: 0
NO2: 0
KH: 40ppm
GH: 75ppm
Phospath: 1.5mg/L
75F
48G
Corallife 96w - 11 hrs of light at 2wpg

Am using Red Sea Turbo CO2 kit - been running for about a week. I have been using Seachem Stability 1x week, per LFS. I have a new bottle of Flourish comprehensive which I havent used yet because am afraid that would encourage the algae. Also, have 2 aquariumplants.com fert tabs in the substrate under clumps of dwarf sag & corkscrew val.


What can I change or do differently to address the algae - it's not coming off with a toothbrush and while my plants seem to be growing ok and there is new growth, the algae seems to be growing just a 'hair' (pun intended) faster. Would more plants help? Have tried keeping lights out for 2 days (not total blackout, just left tank light off - tank has some indirect sunlight) but didnt affect anyting and am willing to try total blackout if would help.

 

[sudz]

Advice - Lighting and CO2

Hey! 2nd post here, EVER, and i'm lovin the place already.

I've come across many contradicting pieces of advice while researching. And i want to be set straight!

A)

I've been told 1-2 Watts per gallon is great for growing plants.
I read articles, and have found facts that 2-3 watts is also great, but i must have C02.

I have a little 10 gallon, and i've taken the ballsy move of overstocking it with plants so i can put them in my brand new 44 gallon tank that was SUPPOSED to be in next week... its been bumped back to 3-4 weeks now :-(

Sooo i have a bunch of a plant i got from Big Als 12 months ago, and i thought i was pushing it with that, and now i have hornwort and watersprite (3 or 4 small plants of each) Right now its all floating as it needs a bit of a booster as it was trapped in an evelope for 3 days and started to yellow.

I do about a half gallon water change every other day, i put in a tablespoon of fertalizer every week, i have a bubbler, and have JUST started my own DYI (look at me! using acronyms already! *beams*) CO2 injector. just a 700ml bottle, some yeast and sugar water.
It lowered my PH from 7.0 to 6.8, which i find is acceptable, but i lost a frog! It was 8 months old, so i'm hoping that was all that was wrong.

ANYWAY, The whole point of this post is to ask if 2 X 24 watt 50/50 lights would do it for my tank with plants? Also, i have a transformer designed for those 2 24 watt lights by coralife... Can i just put higher wattage lights with that transformer, or must i buy a new transformer, say if i wanted 2 X 36 or 40-someodd lights?

Would i NEED a CO2 injector? or just a 2 liter pop bottle, or None!

New tank stats:
44 Gallon perfecto pentagon (diamond)
aquaclear 70
rena 300 air pump, with a single 3inch disc bubbler (for now)
200 watt rena submersible heater

Also, there are so many guides to substrate, i'm overwhelmed. I want a clean looking but natural substrate for my plants. Preferably a brownish tint, but not all the same color (salt and pepper)

is there such a thing? what's is it called?

I have so many questions! the articles here helped... but i ne!!ed personal advice!

Thanks so much! I promise i'll help out n00bs like me when i get more experience

 

[malkore]

Bubble stones on an airpump don't mix well with DIY CO2....the airstone will cause a loss of CO2.

50/50 bulbs are for salt tanks, not planted tanks. You want daylight bulbs, with no actinic spectrum. Anything labeled 5000K - 10,000K will work fine and will look good in the tank.

Definitely read the stickies at the top of this forum.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Are you using a liquid reagent test kit? What are your exact ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?

 

[malkore]

Nitrate is a little high.

Phospath? Phosphate maybe?

you want a 10:1 ratio of nitrates to phosphate, so 15ppm : 1.5ppm would be good.

 

[Acer]

what LFS did you but them at?

 

[Acer]

from my experiance tiger barbs are survivors even though they should have pwc every week i was under the impression that it takes alot to bring them down..

 

[greenmaji]

and tanks under 20 gallons seem to need more light in general then tanks that are bigger (small surfase area). comparing the performance of the plants in a 10 gallon and 44 gallon wont translate well.. HTH

 

[Andos99]

Start with some zebra danios.....it's practically impossible to kill them unless you are doing something way off.