Hi RC,
I'm back! I have waited and now the diatoms have gone. Very pleasing. I have now added fish and they appear to be very happy.
Just wanted to show you the tank as it is now for your thoughts. The Macrandra seem to be growing nicely, the Wallichii dont though, well not to my mind. The Cuba look a little ill to me. Some of the leaves have 'dissolved' almost like they have turned to dust. They seem to be growing up but not sideways much. Though perhaps its too early to tell.
I reduced lighting as you advised to get rid of diatoms, that worked. Lighting has resumed to 10 hours a day now. Is that ok? Co2 is kept constant during photosynthesis period ie when lights on.
I have bought a TDS meter, the TDS is 350 aprox. I have been dosing macro/micro and the plants have responded well in many ways. The lighting you recommended has also means the algae reduced significantly
The pictures attached are:
- DSC03561.jpg (when initially planted)
- DSC03563.jpg (diatoms outbreak)
- DSC03589.jpg (how things are today, you can see some growth)
- DSC03593.jpg (close up on the cuba)
Nitrate will still be high im afraid. My landlord wont let me fit a RO system, so I will have to purchase RO water from the LFS I guess. Will the plants not use up the Nitrate eventually? I mean the 6 tiny fish are hardly going to excrete my ammonia > nitrate > nitrate are they? I was hoping that as the tank is quite heavily planted it will eventually consume Nitrate.
Would really appreciate your feedback as always
Thanks
I wouldn't just up your lighting from 6 to 10 hours. Go up to 7 for a couple weeks and see if algae stays away. Then go up to 8 for a couple weeks and see if algae stays away. Personally I wouldn't run the lighting more than 8 hours.
Rotala Wallichii really likes softer water so that might be why it's not doing as good. Try adding some root tabs to the HC and see if that helps.