What's Going On

[Atlantis]

I only have two swords in my planted tank. I am getting about 12 more assorted plants though on Friday when my shipment comes. The swords have been doing fine but I have been noticing they are losing their clorophyl. There's about 5 leaves altogether that you can see through. The tank is well established. It has 2.6 wpg. I do a 20% water change weekly and add Kent's Freshwater Plant fertalizer. I have about 1.5 inches of Shultz's Aquatic Soil under the gravel. My fish include 1 bristlenose pleco, 3 ottos, 3 rosy barbs, 1 buenos aires tetra. Why is this happening?

Another question. Why don't my 3 ottos and pleco get the algae? My piece of driftwood is filled with algae and there is usually algae on the glass 3 days after doing a water change.

I like to attach pictures so here's a picture of my plants for the first question.

 

[Guest]

Do you test for nitrates and phosphates? Do you dose potassium? Do you dose iron or traces? What are the kH and gH of your water?

What type of algae is on your glass? And what type is on the driftwood?

 

[Atlantis]

I do not test for nitrates or phosphates. I do not have those tests. I can take water to the lfs and have them test it though.

I do not dose potassium.

Going by what the Kent fertalizer says it includes trace minerals and iron.

KH- 89.5ppm
GH- 35.8ppm

It is green algae on both the driftwood and glass.

Hope this helps.

 

[Guest]

Fuzzy green algae or little hard green spots? Ottos don't really eat green algae. They prefer brown algae. But will eat some types of green algae. Are you sure on the kH and gH numbers? Is it possible you reversed them? Normally gH will be higher the kH. You need to get your nitrates and phosphates tested. And buy your own kits. I prefer the Red Sea kits. It's really hard to run a planted tank without those kits. Are you running any CO2 into the tank?

Once you find your nitrate and phosphate results you may find that you have to add one or both. Nitrate levels should be around 5-10 ppm, phosphate levels should be around 0.5-1.0 ppm. Then you need to find a source of potassium and dose potassium to around 10-20 ppm. I prefer to use K2SO4, potassium sulfate. You can get it pretty inexpensively at Plant Geek store, www.plantgeek.net

 

[tkos]

I agree with Rex, Ottos are really only good for brown algae.

How big is your tank? If you have room SAE are great algae eaters, though getting to the root of the problem before adding fish is probably the best thing.