BCarl's 26 gallon Bf Build

[bcarl_10gal]

I just measured my KH and it came in much higher than expected... 7dKH. This would limit the available CO2


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[Caliban07]

Nutrients are not what drives plant growth speed. That honour belongs to lighting


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That can only be true if the nutrient and co2 needs of the plant have been met?


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[Brookster123]

That can only be true if the nutrient and co2 needs of the plant have been met?


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Remember algae is a plant

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[Sk3lly]

That can only be true if the nutrient and co2 needs of the plant have been met?


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Co2 yes. Nutrients not necessarily. Plants often grow too fast in our tanks with insufficient nutrients. Thats why we see plant deficiencies.

You can flood the tank with nutrients and run at well over 30ppm co2, but lower the light right down and your only ever going to get slow but healthy growth


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[Caliban07]

Remember algae is a plant

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Can algae grow without nutrients?


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[Brookster123]

Can algae grow without nutrients?


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I have a feeling there is an algae out there that would grow until it absorbed all the water in the tank and dried out. In its emersed form it would crawl out of the tank and steal the car.. no but seriously yah.. algae will grow no matter what I think..

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[bcarl_10gal]

Im okay with a little algae its natural and gives us reasons to have snails shrimp etc. Im more concerned with melting plants and stunted growth.


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[Sk3lly]

Im okay with a little algae its natural and gives us reasons to have snails shrimp etc. Im more concerned with melting plants and stunted growth.


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Algae on plants is a sign of poor health. You should be concerned if you have any algae on your plants


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[Caliban07]

Co2 yes. Nutrients not necessarily. Plants often grow too fast in our tanks with insufficient nutrients. Thats why we see plant deficiencies.

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Would the plant grow faster if the nutrients were sufficient?



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[Sk3lly]

I would say nutrients are very much needed for optimal growth.

I would also say if you took away say nitrate. A plant would still grow, just it would be riddled with deficiencies

You take the light away and you'll get no growth at all


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[bcarl_10gal]

Sk3lly, My tank is not an example of what I'd call "healthy" algae. I'm sure even the greats like Tom Barr and least have one cell of algae somewhere in the tank. My point is we can never 100% be algae free. But of course when it gets onto the plants that's not healthy!

 

[Brookster123]

B needs more otos!! You've bot witnessed the magic unless s you unleash 4 hungry otos on a planted tank! Its nuts..
Yes, while sk3lly is spot on.. it is pretty much ridiculous to have and maintain a spot free tank.. especially one that is reasonably stocked with fish.. algaecide is always an option but it may kill your stock? ? I've heard tomato employs such tactics himself?
Sk3lly.. while I myslef totally appreciate the matter if fact, straight forward approach.. some may mistake it for snide and condescending we Americans can be sensitive you know
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[bcarl_10gal]

Well i though my SAEs were not interested in algae anymore but ive seen them grazing. The plan was to trade them for otos. I just need to go pick them up!


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[Caliban07]

I wouldn't worry too much about having GSA as long as new growth shows no signs as Skelly mentioned. Having GSA can be a bad sign but not necessarily detrimental. You see, many plants will recover if sufficient nutrients suddenly become available. My wisteria did this before i realised I had to supplement but the GSA did not go away when I started to. The plant simply chose not to invest nutrients in the infested leaves and placed them all towards new growth,

The plant is more than happy just to 'cover up' the overrun leaves. What better way to destroy algae than putting it in the shade?


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[Sk3lly]

BCarl as brookster pointed out, i am in no way trying to be condescending or argumentative in anyway. Simply trying to express my thoughts and opinions on algae.

Im lucky to have a setup that is 95% algae free id say. Little bit of staghorn on some old hygro pinatifidia leaves from the old tank. This will be ready to snip soon.
A sprinkling of gsa on back glass, but im still trying to dial my lighting in as its only been up about a month now.

No BBA thank god

Now back to my opinions on algae...

Algae i believe grows on the leaves of plants when they become damaged or unhealthy. This is because the leaf starts to shut down. As the leaf does this it leaches nutrients, mainly ammonia i think. The algae thrives on this and thats when it appears.

Im not to sure on why gsa and gda latch onto the glass though....


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[bcarl_10gal]

100% agree Sk3lly. My tank used to be 95% algae free until all these recent problems. Deficiencies and excess nutrients and plenty of light allowed the algae to gain a foothold. My tank is probably 80% algae free. Those bad leaves on the mini need to be trimmed since they've been there since the tank was at its worst.I was hoping to get new non-stunted growth to replant and restart the mini but as you can see that hasn't exactly happened yet LOL.

I never take your posts to be argumentative, you can never communicate effectively over the interweb. I enjoy getting your feedback among other to learn even more about how our tanks work. Long journal threads are great to document all the struggles/successes we encounter to learn from them and help each other with our "issues."

But with all that being said. What could be the causes of my stunting...? If we sort out the plant issues the algae will go away as the plants should out-compete it.

 

[Brookster123]

Morning B, i apologize if this is redundant, have you considered going ei? Bombard the substrate with root tabs and see what happens?

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[bcarl_10gal]

I am pretty much on an EI dosing schedule. According to my math I still may have iron levels above 1ppm which could cause toxicities. I have seen significant improvement from trimming down my micros, the star repens is not melting like it was.

I put about 10 root tabs in about a month ago now, the only things left are CO2, calcium, or toxicity from either micros or iron.

 

[Brookster123]

Ok, that's about where I'm at too.. i add extra potassium at wc's as well.. i no longer use my stars to gauge overall plant health haha, they melt and grow like nothing I've ever seen before.. wild. .

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[bcarl_10gal]

Don't you add extra micro's as well?