- 36 Gallon bowfront (20" deep)
- (2) 24" (48 Watt total) AquaticLife T5HO lights (1 of them the pink kind) 4" above water plus 18 watt LED strip in water (bulbs 4 months old), lights on for 8 hours / day
- Lid is egg crate lighting panel
- Pressurized CO2 with yellow drop checker for 6 months (CO2 on when lights are on)
- Dosing dry ferts after water change (1/8 tsp KNO3, 1/8 tsp K2SO4, 1/32 tsp KH2PO4), 5 mL micros the next day (seachem flourish)
- Plants: 3 Anubias Nana, Ludwiga Fladulosa, Water Lettuce, bacopa caroliniana
- 50%-75% water changes every week (haven't missed one yet)
- Fish stock is light at the moment with 5 zebra danios, 7 guppies, 4 corydoras, 1 pleco
- Filtration = Penn Plax Cascade 700 (185 gph flow) plus a circulation pump
Here's the thing: my plants aren't growing. In the 6 months I've had them, I have only trimmed or mitigated a total of 3 times I think. Especially considering the water lettuce and bacopa caroliniana, seems very strange. Here's another weird observation: I have brown Brush/Red Algae spots on the glass, on plant leaves (I usually have to toss most of the plant or trim it waaay down, on my driftwood, on the LED light strip, on the filter output, etc).
Before my water changes, I usually do full tests, here are my typical results:
Ammonia = 0
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = 20
Ph = 7.2
KH = 6
GH = 10
Phosphates = 2.5
I'm predicting a couple of replies:
1) Not enough light. My rebuttal is that I have algae growing just fine, and 2 24" T4HO plus LED strip is not enough for 36 gallon?
2) Dose EI throughout the week and that I'm only doing it once (and that I'm dosing less than a third of what is suggested). My rebuttal: true, but at the end of the week with even dosing micros and macros once each, all levels are good. I started dosing EI at the suggested levels, and even with 50% water changes weekly, my phosphate levels were around 8.
I'm not saying I'm not wrong here! Clearly something(s) can be improved, but I'm at a loss of what?
- (2) 24" (48 Watt total) AquaticLife T5HO lights (1 of them the pink kind) 4" above water plus 18 watt LED strip in water (bulbs 4 months old), lights on for 8 hours / day
- Lid is egg crate lighting panel
- Pressurized CO2 with yellow drop checker for 6 months (CO2 on when lights are on)
- Dosing dry ferts after water change (1/8 tsp KNO3, 1/8 tsp K2SO4, 1/32 tsp KH2PO4), 5 mL micros the next day (seachem flourish)
- Plants: 3 Anubias Nana, Ludwiga Fladulosa, Water Lettuce, bacopa caroliniana
- 50%-75% water changes every week (haven't missed one yet)
- Fish stock is light at the moment with 5 zebra danios, 7 guppies, 4 corydoras, 1 pleco
- Filtration = Penn Plax Cascade 700 (185 gph flow) plus a circulation pump
Here's the thing: my plants aren't growing. In the 6 months I've had them, I have only trimmed or mitigated a total of 3 times I think. Especially considering the water lettuce and bacopa caroliniana, seems very strange. Here's another weird observation: I have brown Brush/Red Algae spots on the glass, on plant leaves (I usually have to toss most of the plant or trim it waaay down, on my driftwood, on the LED light strip, on the filter output, etc).
Before my water changes, I usually do full tests, here are my typical results:
Ammonia = 0
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = 20
Ph = 7.2
KH = 6
GH = 10
Phosphates = 2.5
I'm predicting a couple of replies:
1) Not enough light. My rebuttal is that I have algae growing just fine, and 2 24" T4HO plus LED strip is not enough for 36 gallon?
2) Dose EI throughout the week and that I'm only doing it once (and that I'm dosing less than a third of what is suggested). My rebuttal: true, but at the end of the week with even dosing micros and macros once each, all levels are good. I started dosing EI at the suggested levels, and even with 50% water changes weekly, my phosphate levels were around 8.
I'm not saying I'm not wrong here! Clearly something(s) can be improved, but I'm at a loss of what?