Pics of my 10 gal tank

[bballsosh]

I am having great success with my 10 gal tank that has been setup for 3 weeks now and algea growth is at a minimal to almost none except for some diatoms which i have heard will go away. For all of you expert HC grower how long do you think it will take for mine to grow in and am i planting it correctly?

Specs:
Pressurized co2 (Red Sea)
Ac hob
Flourite subsrate
Catalina 36 watt fixture

HC plantings

 

[Purrbox]

The HC will fill in quicker if you spread it out more. Plant individual plantlets with a tweezer. It takes forever and a day, but is well worth it as the HC fills in faster and will give a much smoother lawn appearance. How fast it fills in is largely dependant on the health of your plants, whether it's submersed or emersed growth, and the conditions of your tank.

 

[Zagz]

Very nice looking tank!

 

[clubsuperduty]

Full tank shot looks great. I have no luck with plants but your tank looks amazing.

 

[bballsosh]

Thanks all for the nice comments and im glad you like the tank. Right i am staring to get some brownish algea on my narrow leaf temple plants. Its kinda slimy and will come off esaily. I added a couple of algea eater, but they dont seem to be doing their job. What should i do? Is this normal?

 

[SparKy697]

I had great results with a couple catfish oto's. They attacked that stuff like it was their first meal in a year.

 

[Purrbox]

Sounds like Diatoms. They are fairly common in new tanks and generally go away on their own within a few weeks. Otos are one of the few fish that will eat it if you are looking to get rid of it sooner, just make sure you've got other things for them to eat once the diatoms are gone.

 

[Glenc]

I grew a lawn of HC in a ten gallon with the same light as you in about 3 months, it went from front to back, nice and thick as well. Purrbox is right on, plant it thinner and spread it out as much as you have patience for. You have to use tweezers because it will keep following you fingers up! I have a thread in the planted aquascaping section called "Trying something Different" It shows how I planted the HC and the progress of how the HC grew in. Some of the pictures may be missing now, but take a look

 

[blazeyreef]

were did you get that light? what kind? its awesome!