Stefernini
Aquarium Advice Freak
50g, dual T5HO 6500k lights on about 8-9 hours a day, magnum 350 filter. I have only recently added Co2 and the tank has been running since mid/end January and has been cycled since the beginning of February.
My plants: Bacopa, Java moss, java fern, wisteria, skinny leaf ludwigia, micro sword, glosso, moss ball, star grass, cabomba, frogbit, dwarf water lettuce, pennywort, amazon sword
My fish: A dozen cherry shrimp, 8 celestial pearl danios, 2 otos, an albino bn pleco, 4 lemon tetras, 2 honey gourami, 3 swordtails
I have a major algae issue going on and I'm not seeing the plant growth I was hoping for and I think it's actually because I have too little Nitrates.
Since the tank stabilized, I have never seen the Nitrates above 10 and most of the time the color is light enough I'm sure it's below 5. I do weekly water changes of roughly 25% simply to keep up on the poop, not to control the chemicals. Ammonia and Nitrites are 0, pH is consistently 7.8. Apparently, I have an awesome filter. The pleco and otos all have fat bellies and are constantly pooping, so I know they are doing their job, but not eating what is driving me the most nuts.
Anyway, here's my question: What's the best fertilizer I can add to supplement the plants for the missing Nitrates?
I use flourish once or twice a week, have eco-complete, and have stuffed root tabs in it.
I am thinking about adding a couple nerite snails and some amano shrimp to take care of the hair/string algae and the green stuff on the walls for an immediate fix, but I would like to figure out the cause for a long term fix, any ideas besides too little nitrates?
Thanks in advance.
My plants: Bacopa, Java moss, java fern, wisteria, skinny leaf ludwigia, micro sword, glosso, moss ball, star grass, cabomba, frogbit, dwarf water lettuce, pennywort, amazon sword
My fish: A dozen cherry shrimp, 8 celestial pearl danios, 2 otos, an albino bn pleco, 4 lemon tetras, 2 honey gourami, 3 swordtails
I have a major algae issue going on and I'm not seeing the plant growth I was hoping for and I think it's actually because I have too little Nitrates.
Since the tank stabilized, I have never seen the Nitrates above 10 and most of the time the color is light enough I'm sure it's below 5. I do weekly water changes of roughly 25% simply to keep up on the poop, not to control the chemicals. Ammonia and Nitrites are 0, pH is consistently 7.8. Apparently, I have an awesome filter. The pleco and otos all have fat bellies and are constantly pooping, so I know they are doing their job, but not eating what is driving me the most nuts.
Anyway, here's my question: What's the best fertilizer I can add to supplement the plants for the missing Nitrates?
I use flourish once or twice a week, have eco-complete, and have stuffed root tabs in it.
I am thinking about adding a couple nerite snails and some amano shrimp to take care of the hair/string algae and the green stuff on the walls for an immediate fix, but I would like to figure out the cause for a long term fix, any ideas besides too little nitrates?
Thanks in advance.