RIVERCATS 220G Transformation Journal

[MMantelli]

Congrats on the underwater flowers I would be happier than a pig in mud if I woke up to that lol.

 

[Rivercats]

Yeah I also woke up to fine the start of some hair algae on my fissidens fontanus moss. That didn't make me happy and I was afraid I was going to throw my perfectly balanced tank off with the new light and CO2. Not sure if it's the new light since it is right over the DW with the moss or if it's the fluctuating CO2 levels with me trying to get it adjusted or a combination of both! It's not on any other plants and the Angels are loving it since that is their favorite green food but I want it gone!

 

[Mebbid]

Yeah I also woke up to fine the start of some hair algae on my fissidens fontanus moss. That didn't make me happy and I was afraid I was going to throw my perfectly balanced tank off with the new light and CO2. Not sure if it's the new light since it is right over the DW with the moss or if it's the fluctuating CO2 levels with me trying to get it adjusted or a combination of both! It's not on any other plants and the Angels are loving it since that is their favorite green food but I want it gone!

I would be ecstatic if the only problem in my tank was a little hair algae

 

[Rivercats]

I would be ecstatic if the only problem in my tank was a little hair algae

It's disheartening to have any after a year without it. I added the CO2 so I wouldn't have this problem after adding the new light. So now I have to work on getting the tank balanced again

 

[Bdonaldson]

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the hair algae. I hope it gets better soon.

 

[Rivercats]

Thanks! I removed the Fissidens that had it and am adjusting the amount of time on the new lights so they only run 6 hours with the halides. I just have to find that balance again. That's what happens when you mess with a balanced tank, you can throw it out of balance really easily and then the dreaded algae can rear it's head. I actually think the new light is the culprit. Before I had it the Fissidens got low light since they were away from the halides.

 

[Bdonaldson]

It looks like you have a good plan. I need to put my finned ray ll fixtures on a separate timer so I can limit the time they are on. I have noticed that my water temp goes up with them and my t5hos on all day.

 

[Rivercats]

The upper level of my tank water warms up due to the metal halides but with having an open top it's not but a degree or two max.

I can't live without timers... lol! I have one built into the T5HO and metal halide fixture and then added one for the new LED's and one for the CO2. That way I can't forget and it's very consistant.

 

[simplicitysarah]

It's disheartening to have any after a year without it. I added the CO2 so I wouldn't have this problem after adding the new light. So now I have to work on getting the tank balanced again

That's got to be alil frustrating!! Alot of tweaking again and think how much you'll enjoy when it's balanced!

 

[Rivercats]

"When" can be such a big word... lol! Hopefully I'll get it tweeked sooner than later!

 

[Rivercats]

It's been awhile since I updated and boy has there been some big changes. I have a few pic's but need to get my daughter to load and resize them. The tank looks so different now with so many stem plants. It is looking really good and filling in to a point I am beginning to trim plants so they grow in the proper staggering style so all the tops are visable and looking more like a true Dutch scape.

The CO2 has made a difference. Now growth on many plants has me having to trim them weekly and many others every other week. The biggest difference is the size of some of the stem plants. Ludwigia sp. Cuba, Pogostemon Erectus, and Limnophila hippuroides have gotten huge, as in if you measure from the tip of the leaves on one side to the other side they are a good 5" across. I have fallen in love with the P. Erectus, it has a simple elegance to it combined with its size and bright green color really makes it stand out. Some plants like the Nesaea pedicellata 'Golden' is still a slow grower and has shown no benefit from the CO2 at all. I found that very interesting. Color is amazing on all the plants.

The new Build My LED fixture is great and makes colors look really good. BUT I am having an issue with trying to figure out if the new light and or the CO2 is giving me a time with some thread algae. I noticed I started getting it after increasing micro dosing and adding the new light. I am running the new light 5 hours with the metal halides but am going to go down to 4 hours this week along with slightly lowering the micro dosing again. It's quite irritating after having the tank algae free for well over a year.

 

[MMantelli]

Good to hear there lovin the co2 sucks about thr algae. Can't wait too see the new pics.

 

[Magicmarymac]

Following eagerly!

I am so excited to read about your tank, especially since I think that I will be approaching C02 installation on the 46 once I am down to just that and the two Evolve 4's.

Can't wait to hear about photos being posted!

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Are you still supplementing with Glut, despite adding pressurized CO2?

 

[MMantelli]

Are you still supplementing with Glut, despite adding pressurized CO2?

She posted a page back she is cutting it back by 1/3. I think I may have been the one whomasked I'm not sure though.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Thanks Mike.. maybe increasing the dose a bit may deal with the algae.

 

[MMantelli]

Thanks Mike.. maybe increasing the dose a bit may deal with the algae.

No problem Brian I just added riccia to my tank and found out glut will kill it :/ so ima have to cut mine back and up the diy co2 and hope it doesn't melt it too.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Yeah I annihilated my riccia and subbwastertang dosing heavy on excel to kill some green thread algae... algae disappeared quickly with that dose, unfortunately with other casualties.

 

[Rivercats]

I have just upped my Glut back to the full 9 ounces daily in "hopes" it helps with the bit of thread algae. I have to get a new toothbrush to manually remove it and try to figure out if the new LED's and or the extra micro's are causing it. I don't like when I can't pinpoint a problem. I kind of wondered if the new LED having a slightly higher blue spectrum at 8250K (I ) is a factor at since all my other bulbs are all 6000K. I haven't seen any thread algae since I had the 10K bulbs in the halides. Just trying to think of everything that is different in the tank now. Any thoughts?

Hope things are getting a better Mary! Are you beginning to break down any of the tanks yet?

 

[Bdonaldson]

Hey Rivercats,

My hair algae is finally going away. I set the Led lights on a different timer and I have them going off for a couple of hours twice a day. And I also put two Siamese algae eaters in there and they are known for eating the hair algae.