Setting up a 29 gal

[andresdeo]

Hey, I was going to upload soné photos, but I have an algae outbreak nothing thaaat serious, but its covering some leaves and Im concerned if that might interfere with their growth. Its brownish looking very fine and almost none on the glass which I thought was kind of strange. Any thoughts my photoperiod was 10 hours and I just reduced it to 8 will that work?

 

[andresdeo]

Here are the new photos, dont know if the algae can be seen or not. Any recommendations?

 

[Joyler]

That really looks fantastic!! I love how they are all in their own little shoals...makes each one pop!

 

[andresdeo]

Any advice on the algae described?

 

[allaboutfish]

ive never experienced algae. even with a photo period of 12 hours or above but the 4 on 4 off and 4 on is a good method ive heard of

 

[rich311k]

I do not see the algae. Nice looking tank. if it is brown does it come off easily in a cloud of dust?

 

[andresdeo]

Yes, thats it, what can I do about it!

 

[rich311k]

It is diatoms, common in new tanks. it is a microscopic organism that feeds on silicates. It will go away on its own once the food source is gone. You can wipe it off if you dont want to look at it.

 

[andresdeo]

Maybe a dumb question, when do silicates ran out? Aprox

 

[rich311k]

It generally takes 2-3 weeks. I have never setup a new tank without getting them and I have set up a lot of tanks.

 

[andresdeo]

Great, thanks Rich, I'll read up on them, at least its nice to know they probably are transitory.

 

[andresdeo]

Reading up on diatoms I've noticed I also have green spot algae, which seems to grow in good lights, but CO2 deficit. Would it be ok to give a try my old DIY reactor for the yeast method and see how it goes? Its got a two bottle capacity and a good inverted diffusor with an airstone.

 

[Hubert90]

Reading up on diatoms I've noticed I also have green spot algae, which seems to grow in good lights, but CO2 deficit. Would it be ok to give a try my old DIY reactor for the yeast method and see how it goes? Its got a two bottle capacity and a good inverted diffusor with an airstone.

U can but imo I wouldn't unless u have high light plants. I used to have 54watts for my 10gallon and had my light on for 12 hours! All kinda algae started growing; fuzz, green spot, and diatom. I solved this by reducing my light voltage in half and reducing my light on period to 8 hours. Together with split photosynthesis, all those algae are almost near zero!

 

[andresdeo]

Ok, so the photoperiod down to 8 hours and split it 4 on 4 off 4 on. What I didnt get is reducing the voltage, did you mean wattage?

 

[Hubert90]

Ok, so the photoperiod down to 8 hours and split it 4 on 4 off 4 on. What I didnt get is reducing the voltage, did you mean wattage?

Yes! Lol haha sorry,

 

[andresdeo]

Couple of days on the new lights time schedule, might be a minor decrease in the diatoms, but nothing mayor. Plants are growing, elodea going up and sides, vals throwing spurts to the sides, the higrofila is not going as fast as earlier, but the cabomba is recuperating after the insuficient lighting it was under for about two weeks.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I think that photoperiod will work well for you. If you have any signs of deficiency in your plants, you can start dosing ferts based off the symptoms (like brown spots, holes in the leaves, etc). If you still can't control algae with the split photoperiod, and not the diatoms as lighting doesn't really do much for them, you might consider co2... but I dont think you'll need it.

 

[andresdeo]

The diatoms have reduced a lot since my last post, maybe the elodea I added, as it is very fast growing, is competing with it dont really know.

The cabomba is turning green again, specially the top part. The elodea grew an inch and a half in about a week, amazingly fast. The vals are sending a lot of roots to the sides with new leaves.

I want a couple of plants with broader leaves to have some variety, but happy with the progress so far.

I think inevitably I'll setup a high light system with CO2 setup, because everytime I expect more out of the tank, but still some time away from it.

 

[andresdeo]

Photo update, its been a while and I was out of town for a couple of weeks so its a little wild out there. The cabomba was going weak in spots and very broad in others so I decided to take it out. The algae problem has improved a lot with the new photoperiod.

 

[andresdeo]

Better quality?