Realitively new tank I think I have plant problems..

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emagatorone

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 30, 2005
Messages
13
Location
Maple Valley WA
Hey everyone, just joined up and am looking for more opinions as to what the problem is in my tank. It's a 10 gallon and I only have a few plants in there at the moment. I have an annubias, a cryptacourne (sp?), a Java Fern, and a madagasgar lace plant. I thought my crypt was doing ok until I saw this.
img_417690_0_ab8f24df0c05057b2da646f2e440a0e6.jpg


My annubias, is having similiar issues. Here are some more pics:

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img_417690_2_8ef33a174c90bd5ed531118d177bbffd.jpg


img_417690_3_1d95235ad29e040209003c8302bf3ca9.jpg


img_417690_4_b3f1a55a313162276e8bdddb62755fbc.jpg


img_417690_5_3b3bd20af2934fcfe31c43f73687ff9c.jpg


I've added 2 Flourish Tabs (Seachem) 1 week ago on opposite sides of the tank. I am not running a C02 setup as of yet. And, for lighting I have a Satellite Compact Fluorescent Fixture putting out 40W. Here is a link to my light fixture.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11418&N=2004+113176

I greatly appreciate any and all help/advice that you all can give me! I would really like to succeed with this tank!
 
2wpg is for moderate lighting needs of plants, 3+wpg is for high lighting needs, so 4wpg is way too high for beginner plants. on your anibus it looks as though diatoms are present. however otos love it. It is a kind of algae. also, the anibus looks to be getting burnt by all the light. as for the holes it looks like it maybe caused by snails, do you have any?? How long do you leave the light on?
 
The light is on from around 12pm until around 9 or 10pm so 10-11 hours at most.. No, I don't have any snails that I know of. Unless they just form, no, I don't have any snails. I got this light based off of a recommendation from someone who I thought had some fairly good experience with aquaria. I was using a basic 15w light before. The issue was present then as well. I want to get more plants in there to carpet my substrate so I'm guessing that this lighting is necessary. I got these to see if i could actually succeed with live plants.
 
Tony Starks said:
Thats 4 wpg of light, you need CO2 on there!
Click to expand...
you should follow tony's addvice and get co2 if your going to carpet the tank. even if you decide against carpeting the tank you still should get co2. all you need is a basic system for a 10 gallon. hope this helps!!
 
zilla870 said:
Tony Starks said:
Thats 4 wpg of light, you need CO2 on there!
Click to expand...
you should follow tony's addvice and get co2 if your going to carpet the tank. even if you decide against carpeting the tank you still should get co2. all you need is a basic system for a 10 gallon. hope this helps!!
Click to expand...

Close, but will that alone take car of what's going on in here? And if that's so, can someone provide me with a link to a simple/inexpensive DIY C02 setup for this tank
 
You'll need serious ferts in the water column too. Your leaves show nitrogen and potassium deficiency, at the least. http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm I think its best to read Rex Grigg's sticky and narrow search of this forum to "high light" or "plantex," especially Malkore and Travis Simonson's posts. Low volume means its not too expensive to use commercial products. Seachem's line is well respected and Excel is a carbon source. I'm learning through specific macro and micronutrient dosing, and GregWatson.com is an aquatic resource, fwiw. You have serious light, so you can't mess around with this. Your current plants should outcompete algae with the recommended dosing, but with 4wpg of PCL you can grow anything you want. I'm only getting there, but have found it more fun to learn with more demanding, colorful plants - Fun like golf, if you know what I mean.

If you only want to keep your current plants happy, you could limit nutrient uptake by lowering light. 2wpg and those plants are a great tank. Maybe trade your 40 watts for 20? Your old 15w was probably NO, which isn't as useful for this application as PC, but I am surprised you had these problems before. Consider Flourish's general use fert (Comprehensive?).
 
No. Sorry, but it will not. Having a successful planted tank is a perpetual work in progress. JMO. You're going to have to get a handle on your water chemistry. Especially KH, nitrates, and phosphates.

With that much lighting and no CO2, any plant nutrients (or fertilizers), will be consumed by the algae in your tank first. This is basically what I think is occuring in your tank now.
 
do you have a 50/50 bulb.. ie does one half of your bulb put out blue light? if so you only have 20 watts of useable light in the tank.. the blue light isnt for FW plants, reef stuff... though the blue light has been thought/known to cause algae problems.. has the tank cycled yet? you have some fish in there, there in the pictures, how many and what do you have in there? what are your water perimeters? ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, kh? if you want to go to a high light, CO2 injected tank you need to get a bulb that is compatable 5000-10000K on both sides, ie. no 50/50. hope this helps :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
Even though the watts per galllon 'rule' breaks down in smaller tanks, you definitely have enough light to require both CO2 injection, and closer monitoring of Nitrate and Phosphate levels. You probably have the equivalent of 2.75wpg of intensity, which still means you can grow just about anything (including glosso)

A simple $10 DIY CO2 setup will work fine on a 10gallon tank. I'd suggest JUST the hagen bubble ladder, and then a 2-4 quart DIY jug (like a large juice/gatorade bottle).
 
Ok, this tank has been up and running for a good 3 months I want to say. My NH3 is at 0, my N0-2 is at <0.3 (mg/l), my pH is in the neighborhood of 7.3, my GH is at 7 and my KH is at 4. I hope that makes sense to you all.. I'm using the Tetratest kit for these readings. As far as the light goes, greenmagi, did you look at the link I provided in my thread for the product description? It looks to be a 50/50 bulb. But, that's all I know. Again, I made that purchase solely based off of a guys recommendation who I thought had a pretty good knowlege with aquaria. Here is the link again in case you didn't get it. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11418&N=2004+113176

I appreciate everyone's feedback!
 
Also, malkore(or anyone else), can you find me a link for this hagen bubble ladder? I looked on their website but couldn't find it. Of course, I don't even know what I am looking for as this plant thing is a totally new realm for me. :oops:
 
I would highly recommend you get some CO2 in there. You won't believe how many problems it will solve for you. A 10G should be easy to set up DIY CO2 on :)
 
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