55 Gallon Low-Tech / Low-Maintenance Build

[McLumpy]

so sorry about all these delay...talked to a rep from USPS today. I wasn't happy with their reply. PM you with it.

so sorry again...

heheheehehehe sorry.

Ahhhhhh! You did it again!! LOL

 

[McLumpy]

Advice Needed: Nitrates, Algae Bloom, and Ferts... OH MY!

Ok, advice time everyone!

I had a mild algae bloom occur recently and, since I'm new to the aquatic plant world, I need your guidance.

My Nitrates are still sitting at 40ppm and they refuse to go down even though I do a 50% pwc once a week. I'm using Flourish when I do a pwc. Also, I run a 12 hour photoperiod.

Would making a change to my routine help to decrease the Nitrate level and help control the algae bloom before it gets out of hand?

As always, TIA!

 

[daileene]

they said adding more plants will help as they consume nitrates more. I don't know if it is true. I could be totally wrong.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Ok, advice time everyone!

I had a mild algae bloom occur recently and, since I'm new to the aquatic plant world, I need your guidance.

My Nitrates are still sitting at 40ppm and they refuse to go down even though I do a 50% pwc once a week. I'm using Flourish when I do a pwc. Also, I run a 12 hour photoperiod.

Would making a change to my routine help to decrease the Nitrate level and help control the algae bloom before it gets out of hand?

As always, TIA!

Didn't you just make a big upgrade on your lighting? I'd try cutting the lights on time to 8 - 10 hours would be my first thought.

I'm having the same issues when I went from 17w to 55w and the brown/red algae covers my tank walls in 2 days lol. So I'm following along (still ).

+1 to daileene

I've heard that too and I can say that plants use no3 for food.

 

[daileene]

yeeyyy i got a +1...LOL....thanks..

 

[McLumpy]

they said adding more plants will help as they consume nitrates more. I don't know if it is true. I could be totally wrong.

I've heard the same thing. But I would think that by me adding a few plants, it would nudge at least a little. Oh and I would have added a few more plants, but... oh, nevermind. Ok, I'll stop teasing. For now.

Didn't you just make a big upgrade on your lighting? I'd try cutting the lights on time to 8 - 10 hours would be my first thought.

I'm having the same issues when I went from 17w to 55w and the brown/red algae covers my tank walls in 2 days lol. So I'm following along (still ).

+1 to daileene

I've heard that too and I can say that plants use no3 for food.

Yep, I went from having 30w T8's to 56w T5's. I've considered dropping the photoperiod down some, but then there's the question of will the plants get enough light?

Your algae is similar to what I'm dealing w/ in my 10g. But the algae on my 55g is in the form of round, green spots. I've always had a problem w/ this algae, but it has increased since I added the plants.

 

[daileene]

I've heard the same thing. But I would think that by me adding a few plants, it would nudge at least a little. Oh and I would have added a few more plants, but... oh, nevermind. Ok, I'll stop teasing. For now.

Hehehhehehe do not start teasing coz I will not stop apologizing....LOL...

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Yep, I went from having 30w T8's to 56w T5's. I've considered dropping the photoperiod down some, but then there's the question of will the plants get enough light?

Your algae is similar to what I'm dealing w/ in my 10g. But the algae on my 55g is in the form of round, green spots. I've always had a problem w/ this algae, but it has increased since I added the plants.

IMO the fact that you're providing more light (higher wattage) per hour, less hours are needed.

I saw a post about green spot algae but can't remember by who. I'll find the link and edit this post.

EDIT: I can't find the AA link, but here's the webpage that I bookmarked and it has some good info on many kinds of algae.

Hehe, here's the link:

http://gwapa.org/wordpress/articles/algae-in-the-planted-aquarium/

 

[McLumpy]

IMO the fact that you're providing more light (higher wattage) per hour, less hours are needed.

I saw a post about green spot algae but can't remember by who. I'll find the link and edit this post.

Ok. That makes sense to me. I'll reduce my photoperiod by 2 hours at first and see if that helps.

Thanks for tracking down the link about the algae. I'm interested to see why this type of algae is in my 55g. In my first tank, a long, long, long time ago, I only had to deal w/ the brown algae.

 

[Demonknight]

not yet, but I sure try to look before leaping..so far my lfs seems willing to order most anything if I know what it is I'm asking first.

 

[McLumpy]

not yet, but I sure try to look before leaping..so far my lfs seems willing to order most anything if I know what it is I'm asking first.

That's a good lfs! All I have is a Petco and Petsmart. Petco has some nice plants, (that's where I got mine), but I caught them right when they got the shipment in. I went by there the other day and there was a very limited supply and they were almost dead. I haven't tried Petsmart, but I think they only carry the plants in the plastic tubes.

 

[greenworld]

Some people black out the tank between photo period like 4 hours in the morning than black out for 2 hours than another 4 hours. I haven't tried it yet. I think the issues is the tank is in readjusting phase for your new light setup. Plants are shocked because the spectrum of the light is changed and unless they develop new leaves the old leaves can't photosynthesis with new spectrum. Just my humble opinion. Pardon my english. I hope the algae problems will be resolved when the tank is stable.

 

[McLumpy]

My Planted Tank Is Finally Complete!

I received my plants from Daileene today! She sent me some Cabomba and Wisteria and, even though they had a long trip, they were in great shape! Thanks again, Daileene!

I also took this opportunity to change my background to something, eh, less green. lol IMO, the new background tends to put more focus on the plants.

I'm pretty happy w/ this layout and I feel that my tank is finally complete! Well, sort of, I still need a few foreground plants.

Here's a full shot of the tank...

 

[McLumpy]

More Pics...

My Gold Dust Molly loves hiding in the Wisteria!

 

[ejaramillo01]

Great tank!!! Congratulations. Your pics always make me think to upgrade my tanks !! $$$$$$$$$$

 

[McLumpy]

Great tank!!! Congratulations. Your pics always make me think to upgrade my tanks !! $$$$$$$$$$

DO IT!! lol Thanks for the compliment!

My fish are really loving the plants and the new layout! When I was done, I caught Al, (my Dwarf Gourami), pacing through the rock walkway. lol Then, (as you can see in the pics), my Mollies and Swordtail are already attached to the plants.

Oh and I just realized that my Clown Loaches were asleep in their house the entire time I was working on the tank.
They're going to come out of their house in the morning and go LOL

 

[mommytron]

you guys are right, the more plants you add the more nitrate they will consume. in more heavily planted tanks, in fact, nitrogen will need to be supplemented.

your tank looks really nice, especially with the new background.

reducing your photoperiod will help deter algae. your plants will grow with only 6 hours of light, so don't be afraid to really cut back if you need to.

I would advise against Marino balls. they do better in medium-high light conditions and can easily pollute a tank (they are giant balls of algae after all).

for foreground plants you could get anubias barteri nana, they stay nice and small. DHG would probably not do so well with that low of light.

crypts are nice low light plants, java fern grows wonderfully. there are lots of options, just do your research before making purchases and you'll be good.

and just a word of caution if considering vals of any kind: flourish excel kills vals. I found out the hard way

looking good, keep it up!

 

[daileene]

wow dear they do look good in your tank..I am soooo happy they still look pretty okay considering that they were in the mail for 5 days...I love how your molly hid in the water wisteria. Oh, and with your picture I can see it better now that the cabomba I sent you was the purple one, not the green one.

Your tank is soooo cute....

 

[McLumpy]

Thank you for the compliment and advice, mommytron! I'm sorry you lost your Vals. Right now I'm only using Flourish, not Flourish Excel, but that is some very valuable info for anyone that does use it. I'm actually thinking about backing off a little on my Flourish. I'm currently using it once a week, but I'm thinking about either doing half-doses once a week or a full-dose every 2 weeks.

Do you have any advice on this?

 

[McLumpy]

wow dear they do look good in your tank..I am soooo happy they still look pretty okay considering that they were in the mail for 5 days...I love how your molly hid in the water wisteria. Oh, and with your picture I can see it better now that the cabomba I sent you was the purple one, not the green one.

Your tank is soooo cute....

They do look good, huh? However, I woke up this morning to the Wisteria floating. It looks like I have a joker in my tank that likes to uproot plants! lol

I thought it was a purple Cabomba that you sent me, but I wasn't sure.

Oh and sorry I went MIA over the last couple of days. Busy, busy!