I have a 29g tank with a fluval plant life set to planted setting all my plants just get full of what i thinknis black hair algae and the tips get covered in dark green algae as well as my substrate i dose api leaf zone once a week and use the liquid co2 but nothing seems to grow except for algae
Cant grow plants to save my life
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Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
I use " Leaf zone" also.
However, what I have found that really makes my plants really grow is "Seachem Flourish"
I dose both once a week and my plants are doing great
.
"Leaf Zone" mainly contains Iron
"Flourish" contains just a little Iron plus many more ingredients that plants need
BTW, I have read pros and cons about "liquid Co2" but, mostly cons from those who tried it and said it did no good at al
Also, less light time will most likely help the algae issue .
However, what I have found that really makes my plants really grow is "Seachem Flourish"
I dose both once a week and my plants are doing great
.
"Leaf Zone" mainly contains Iron
"Flourish" contains just a little Iron plus many more ingredients that plants need
BTW, I have read pros and cons about "liquid Co2" but, mostly cons from those who tried it and said it did no good at al
Also, less light time will most likely help the algae issue .
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Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
BTW, IMO unless someone has a big tank and has a gas co2 injection system, they should only get plants that are known to grow fine without added co2.
Thats way too much light. Lighting is finding the balance between plant growth and algae growth. What people usually find is this is 6 to 8 hours lighting per day. You will have to find your own balance but 13 hours is too much. Dial it down to 6 hours, see how things progress over an extended period of time (at least a month) and adjust again. If the algae clears up you can then look to gradually increase the lighting. I would do a thorough manual cleaning too, gently clean what you can off the leafs. Maybe up the water changes to ensure nutrients arent too high. Dosing fertiliser to the correct dosage with your water changes.
You need a balance of light, nutrients and CO2. Too much of one and algae will take advantage. Low demand plants dont need much in the way of light, nutrients or CO2 so if you flood the tank with light or heavily dose nutrients the plants cant take it all up and algae will take up the excess. You need the right amounts for everything to be balanced with not too much excesses for the algae to be manageable.
Liquid CO2 is no substitute for CO2 and adds no CO2 to the water. Its actually a mild algaecide that will help keep the plants leafs clean and they can then more easily take in CO2 from the water. It wont be doing anything with the heavy levels of algae you are seeing.
You need a balance of light, nutrients and CO2. Too much of one and algae will take advantage. Low demand plants dont need much in the way of light, nutrients or CO2 so if you flood the tank with light or heavily dose nutrients the plants cant take it all up and algae will take up the excess. You need the right amounts for everything to be balanced with not too much excesses for the algae to be manageable.
Liquid CO2 is no substitute for CO2 and adds no CO2 to the water. Its actually a mild algaecide that will help keep the plants leafs clean and they can then more easily take in CO2 from the water. It wont be doing anything with the heavy levels of algae you are seeing.
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Do not use liquid co2 as it can kill some plants. This is two of my non-co2 tanks. Both of these tanks have decent fish load so i only fertilize a little with nilgoc thrive but not very much. With a tank with much lower fish load you will require more fertilzer but do not over dose fertlizer. Also the amount you use depends a lot on water changes. If you do little water change you should need less fertilizer.
I post these pictures to show you that co2 is not needed (and liquid co2 is never used in these tanks) - both of these tanks have been setup for years so quite mature.
Btw patience is a blessing. Plants move in weeks and month time line not hourly or daily.
I post these pictures to show you that co2 is not needed (and liquid co2 is never used in these tanks) - both of these tanks have been setup for years so quite mature.
Btw patience is a blessing. Plants move in weeks and month time line not hourly or daily.
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Thanks appreciate the feed back only been in the hobby gor a little over a year the tank is only 6months old i changed the light settings to 7 hours hopefully my hairgrass carpets but well see hopefully i get the algae under control
Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
FWIW...
I have a great glass hood that is hinged for feeding, etc
.
For lighting I have a LED light bar that has many white LEDs with few red and blue ones
It is also highly configurable for brightness and color..
I highly recommend something like this. They come in many sizes.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...e=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B
I have a great glass hood that is hinged for feeding, etc
.
For lighting I have a LED light bar that has many white LEDs with few red and blue ones
It is also highly configurable for brightness and color..
I highly recommend something like this. They come in many sizes.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...e=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B
Attachments
Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
That is great if if works for you.
Personally, I am against all blue tooth items just for the sake of using blue tooth when all that is necessary is to push an easily accessible button.or two.
.
I'm all for cutting edge wireless technology when necessary but, not when not necessary..
.
Personally, I am against all blue tooth items just for the sake of using blue tooth when all that is necessary is to push an easily accessible button.or two.
.
I'm all for cutting edge wireless technology when necessary but, not when not necessary..
.
Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
OK.. then it is a necessary thing. for you
Caliban07
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hair-grass is notoriously difficult. In my experience the substrate has to be fertile. Soils are the best for hair grass. It rarely works without co2. Plants that can use carbonates as a source of co2 will do just fine in hard water but you can’t compare apples to oranges. Plants with large leaves and think long roots will normally always do better than the tiny carpet plants that are restricted to the most hostile areas of aquariums.
Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
I had similar issues with my 29g a few months after setting it up. I was just turning the light on and off when I got up and after I got home from work.
This wasn’t usually an excessive amount of lighting hours, but it was inconsistent and some days I would work late and the light would end up being on for 16+hrs. Obviously that wasn’t going to work!
Picked up a cheap timer and run the light for 2 hrs in the morning and 6hrs in the evening with the tank being indirectly lit by the sunlight that shines into the room the rest of the day. Ever since, the water has cleared and no more algae/diatoms on the leaves and even the glass barely gets algae on it. Best $10 ever spent
I run the fluval light on my 75 and it’s great. In you’re case I would knock down the lighting mid-day as that’s a pretty long lighting duration and the plant 3.0 is a pretty powerful light compared to the aqua sky I have (but I run mine at 100% morning and evenings)
This wasn’t usually an excessive amount of lighting hours, but it was inconsistent and some days I would work late and the light would end up being on for 16+hrs. Obviously that wasn’t going to work!
Picked up a cheap timer and run the light for 2 hrs in the morning and 6hrs in the evening with the tank being indirectly lit by the sunlight that shines into the room the rest of the day. Ever since, the water has cleared and no more algae/diatoms on the leaves and even the glass barely gets algae on it. Best $10 ever spent
I run the fluval light on my 75 and it’s great. In you’re case I would knock down the lighting mid-day as that’s a pretty long lighting duration and the plant 3.0 is a pretty powerful light compared to the aqua sky I have (but I run mine at 100% morning and evenings)
