MurphyFish
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
- Messages
- 26
My 38 gal rescape is well underway (pics below, let me know what you think!) For recap, I added a new light (39w t5HO) about a month ago, bought a ton of the Seachem ferts, and changed the substrate last week. I think the gravel in there was breaking down or something because the water was getting harder and harder despite changing it with deionized water.
I love the look of the EcoComplete, but it did mess with the pH quite a bit- took it from 6.4 to 7.6, the GH and KH is off the charts. The tank went through a quick cycle as expected with removal of the gravel that was 10+ years old, and things are going well. It is in a nitrate spike right now- 40ppm, normally is around 10 and I have to add N to the tank.
My tank walls and plant leaves are growning an assortment of algae, which I have not had an issue with before. The glass is easy enough to clean, but I am worried about the plants getting smothered. The Anubias is the most severely affected- it has black spots on the lefts and black edges, and green carpeting-like algae on the upper leaves. The snails eat some of it, but their population took a hit with the substrate change and removal of what seems like 8 million babies.
What do you recommend in terms of lighting/ferts to control the algae?? I ordered 2 SAE, but I am hesitant to put anything else in the tank- there are nearly 50 fish already. I purchased 10 ghost shrimp and the pictus ate them all in 2 days.
Current parameters:
pH: 7.6 NH3: 0 NO2: 0 NO3: 40
lights on 8 hours/day
Heavily stocked: schools of cardinals, harlequin rasboras, rummynoses,bloodfins, 5 cory cat, 3 misc fish from a previous tank
I have most of the Seachem stuff available to use- N,K,P, trace,excel, root tabs.
Here are some pics:
1. The before.. boring! this was the plants before the lighting upgrade
2. Early stages of algae covering the Anubias
3. The rescape so far. More background plants are on the way....stay tuned! Since upgrading the light the crypts have gone crazy, and are even starting to crinkle!
I love the look of the EcoComplete, but it did mess with the pH quite a bit- took it from 6.4 to 7.6, the GH and KH is off the charts. The tank went through a quick cycle as expected with removal of the gravel that was 10+ years old, and things are going well. It is in a nitrate spike right now- 40ppm, normally is around 10 and I have to add N to the tank.
My tank walls and plant leaves are growning an assortment of algae, which I have not had an issue with before. The glass is easy enough to clean, but I am worried about the plants getting smothered. The Anubias is the most severely affected- it has black spots on the lefts and black edges, and green carpeting-like algae on the upper leaves. The snails eat some of it, but their population took a hit with the substrate change and removal of what seems like 8 million babies.
What do you recommend in terms of lighting/ferts to control the algae?? I ordered 2 SAE, but I am hesitant to put anything else in the tank- there are nearly 50 fish already. I purchased 10 ghost shrimp and the pictus ate them all in 2 days.
Current parameters:
pH: 7.6 NH3: 0 NO2: 0 NO3: 40
lights on 8 hours/day
Heavily stocked: schools of cardinals, harlequin rasboras, rummynoses,bloodfins, 5 cory cat, 3 misc fish from a previous tank
I have most of the Seachem stuff available to use- N,K,P, trace,excel, root tabs.
Here are some pics:
1. The before.. boring! this was the plants before the lighting upgrade
2. Early stages of algae covering the Anubias
3. The rescape so far. More background plants are on the way....stay tuned! Since upgrading the light the crypts have gone crazy, and are even starting to crinkle!