Algae Has Hit! New Pics Added 25/04

Your tank looks great! How many fast growers did you get? I like the drop checker, little bit if a shame about the black sucker cup, you should change it for a clear one

Well today i also went to my LFS and bought a bunch of Egeria Densa and a nice big amazon sword. I also added another moss ball. The algae on the glass seems to be under control, I wiped it all off and now is only growing back very slowly, but it has started growing on the plants! Included as a picture of the tank in its current state and a picture of the moss ball.

Do you think i still need more egeria densa and other fast-growers?

Maybe 10-20 (at least!) times that you already have if this is a new-ish tank

op

^ Agreed.

Expensive things plants....

Andy

BTW, why does looking at that moss ball floating there make me laugh?

Ok then, looks like i will be buying a fair few more egeria stems!

Well, im still having major hair algae troubles! Its growing pretty slowly on the glass, but it growing quickly and all over the plants! For now i have replaced my wood with 4 bunches of egeria, to help fight the algae. I have also ordered an army of 6 Tiger shrimp in to have a go at the algae and today i added 4 tetras. Does anyone else have any ideas on what to do about it? Does it need more egeria still? (there are about 25-30 stems in atm)

And the drop checker is still showing 30ppm, although i suspect it is more like 20-25 ppm as i only have nutrafins running atm, the pressurized is begin refilled. I also included a pretty cool picture i managed to get of the tetras!

I was also in the middle of clearing out the algae when the picture was taken, so heres two pictures showing the difference before and after cleaning!

Underwurlde said:

^ Agreed.

Expensive things plants....

Andy

BTW, why does looking at that moss ball floating there make me laugh?

Click to expand...

I still think you need more stems.I Would try wisteria.So fast growing! I have some in a 20 gal with a 24watt reptile tube and it is setting of new shoots everyday.

Also don't forget that the corners are full of rotundifolia, diandra and arcuata

If Mbunas like that algae I wouldn't mind having it

Send some to me! Nice tank! Its got to be hard work to get a good planted tank going.

Any other ideas?

At 3.4wpg with 30ppm CO2 I honestly believe you do not have enough plants. Is your tank new?

I went through multiple algae types and I believe I'm getting to the bottom of my errors. In order of appearance

Brown diatoms
Green fuzz
Green hair
Brown hair
Staghorn
GDA
Green water

Milestones have been when I have got the nutrient dosing right and TIME! Any changes made will take a few weeks to reflect. I had to put about 200 fast growing stems in to combat algae growth and that was at 1.5wpg! My tank is clearing up - new posts up soon!

My personal experience is get a lot of fast growing stems in there and ensure the nutrients stable. What nutrients are you
dosing?

sophos9 said:

At 3.4wpg with 30ppm CO2 I honestly believe you do not have enough plants. Is your tank new?

Click to expand...

Sophos9 is right.

I've addressed this issue before in your journal thread, and I really do hate being right. You need a lot more stemplants, at least 75% of the substrate covered with said weeds. The "corners" of stemplants aren't going to cut it. I don't think beginners in high-tech should initially plant with their final layout, you waste money. Even experts sometimes lose good plants if they miscalculate their nutrients or miss a dosing. Unfortunately, you may loose your hairgrass in the process. I'm sorry I'm ragging on you, but I'm a cheapskate, and the thought of you having to spend more money now to fix your situation irks me a little. It's just me. A little more patience, and you would have saved yourself a load of trouble and possibly some money. Your tanks super new too, all the more reason to have waited on the final scape.

Patience is a virtue.

Good luck to you! I still absolutely adore your wood.
llj