Bristlenose Plecos Safe for Planted Tanks?

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Hey Jeta I cant figure out this whole par thing. I dont see it on the box when I buy a bulb and it throws me off anyway.

Light bulbs/fixtures are not going to list their PAR data on the box. The data on that chart is what was gathered through actual testing. The chart just shows the different PAR levels for each fixture type to get an idea of how much light they actually are putting out. The bulb type is assumed to be a bulb that is conducive to plant growth, so for the sake of testing it can be assumed that all used basically the same kelvin bulb since the differences between plant-friendly bulbs is negligible.

That thread, and the one before it (par vs distance) are great reads and really explain everything well.
 
I can agree here with aqua chem as I too suffered with quite a bad algae out break in my planted tank due to insufficient nutrients for the plants.

I completed a good clean and trim of my plants and tank and filter. Then began regularly dosing with ferts every other day adding 2days worth of nutrients. In my case 5ml of Micro ferts and 5ml of potassium every other day.

It's very hard to believe that you need more ferts as it seems counter productive as you think you're going to be fuelling the algae but it makes your plants grow better and then they outcompete the algae.

I only had 60w of T8 6700k over my 50g tank. With your lighting your plants want to grow quickly and it sounds like your not providing enough nutrients to help them grow and because of this your experiencing algae.

What is your current dosing schedule for ferts?




Jon
 
I was dosing trace elements, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. And the substrate is nutrient-rich too. I haven't been on schedule lately because of the algae but if it will fuel the plants I'll resume it.
 
Bettafanatic said:
I was dosing trace elements, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. And the substrate is nutrient-rich too. I haven't been on schedule lately because of the algae but if it will fuel the plants I'll resume it.

What helped me was a thorough clean of tank and filters and decor. Trim any uncleanable plants and I performed a 50% PWC. Then after this I began dosing my ferts. I based it on manufacturers recommended weekly application and worked out a daily dose for my tank size I then applied 2 days worth of nutes every other day.

I still get the odd bit of algae but it doesn't get out of control.


Jon
 
Since you have pressurized co2 and good light, your tank is an excellent candidate for dry ferts. They will run you around $20, but will last you years at a fraction of the cost of premade ferts like Seachem, and give you much more control over dosing. There is a bit of a learning curve associated with it, but it's not all that bad.

FYI, Ecocomplete is not nutrient rich. It really doesn't have any inherit nutrients in it, but rather presents water column nutrients to the roots of a plant in a way that they can easily absorb.
 
I will look into it but I have to wait until I've saved enough. For now I'll just use the Seachem ferts I have.
 
Light bulbs/fixtures are not going to list their PAR data on the box. The data on that chart is what was gathered through actual testing. The chart just shows the different PAR levels for each fixture type to get an idea of how much light they actually are putting out. The bulb type is assumed to be a bulb that is conducive to plant growth, so for the sake of testing it can be assumed that all used basically the same kelvin bulb since the differences between plant-friendly bulbs is negligible.

That thread, and the one before it (par vs distance) are great reads and really explain everything well.
ok thanks :)
 
Near the end of my tank's cycle, I experienced an aggressive diatom algae bloom. I thought it was due to a couple of possible factors (plants or the use of peat to reduce hardness) until I discussed it with my LFS. I didn't realize the actual culprit until he pointed it out to me. My T-12 system failed and I replaced it with a 2 WPG T-5 HO system about 2 weeks before the algae bloom and was leaving the lights on for 14 hours/day. He suggested three things. 1) reduce the amount of time the lights are on, 2) manually clean as best as possible and 3) get a couple Bristles (he had a red/black variety). The little guys are great for planted tanks since they don't get more than 6" and eat algae off everything, including my rocks, slate, vals & swords. In short, these little guys are great in planted tanks.
 
Near the end of my tank's cycle, I experienced an aggressive diatom algae bloom. I thought it was due to a couple of possible factors (plants or the use of peat to reduce hardness) until I discussed it with my LFS. I didn't realize the actual culprit until he pointed it out to me. My T-12 system failed and I replaced it with a 2 WPG T-5 HO system about 2 weeks before the algae bloom and was leaving the lights on for 14 hours/day. He suggested three things. 1) reduce the amount of time the lights are on, 2) manually clean as best as possible and 3) get a couple Bristles (he had a red/black variety). The little guys are great for planted tanks since they don't get more than 6" and eat algae off everything, including my rocks, slate, vals & swords. In short, these little guys are great in planted tanks.

THey seem like great fish. I already have a big stock planned so if I decide to get a better filter in the future I'm gonna get one too. My school science lab had a common pleco, fell in love with that guy.

By the way, I got three platies today for the cycle. I was gonna get zebra danios but I learned that sometimes they don't do well with bettas and I decided not to risk it. I know trouble doesn't always happen but sometimes it does, so I decided on platies instead.

Also, most of the algae is gone now. I manually removed a lot of it off the plant leaves and caught some floating pieces with a fish net. Worked like a charm! Now there's only a little hair algae left and still some green algae on the side walls but I don't mind the green.
 
I have 18 oto's in a heavily planted 220g and those little guys keep the leaves on my stem plants spotless. I have a long finned albino BN pleco and he mainly works on all the driftwood and glass. I also have 3 whiptail cats (some call them twig cats) and they are really active algae cleaners, they are always working on either the plants or glass, and they are really cool to look at too.
 
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