Old leaves full of algae, new growth healthy

GFAJ · Jul 21, 2020

Hey all
My planted 45L tank is having some issues . I don't add Co2 and I have the light that came with the tank. I have a water wisteria , anubias , bacopa caroliniana , valisneria and some remnants of dwarf hairgrass. I am seeing lush and healthy new growth but all the old leaves get filled with algae( Diatoms I reckon). Also my valisneria is growing exceptionally slow. I am talking like 5 cm per 3 months.
I really hope you can help
Thanks

Colin_T · Jul 21, 2020

There are several types of Vallis available, narrow and giant Vallis are the 2 most common species sold in pet shops. Narrow Vallis does well in aquariums but Giant/ Jungle Vallis struggles in tropical tanks.

Vallis does best in tanks with a pH above 7.0 and a GH above 200ppm. In soft or acid water it struggles. It also likes light and struggles in low light.

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You could try adding an aquarium plant fertiliser like Sera Florena and it might help. You could also put a second light above the tank to increase light for the plants.

Byron · Jul 21, 2020

A photo of the entire tank so we can see the extent of the plants and algae would help. Also, data on your light. Type, intensity, spectrum, whatever you can give us.

It is difficult to tell if your issue is problem algae or just normal progression. Older leaves of healthy plants tend to develop algae more as they age, but it might also be the sign of algae taking advantage of light/nutrient imbalance which is what Colin was getting at. Data will hopefully allow us to sort this out.

GFAJ · Jul 21, 2020

Hey guys. Thanks for answering
My GH is 226 and ph 7.4 so that shouldn't be the issue. My valisneria is probably jungle val though I can not remember for sure so that might be the issue
My light had no info to come with it. It is acrappy chinese light which I now found is 4W so that must be the issue. I reckon near 6000K
I just found the light is 4W after extensive research. Do yo think that is the problem because 4W should not be nearly bright enough for this tank

mbsqw1d · Jul 21, 2020

Difficult to say with LED lights as the rule of how ever many watts per gallon doesnt apply the same.
How long have you had the vallis planted and what substrate do you have?

Byron · Jul 21, 2020

A photo really would help, as I for one do not know if what you are describing is at all normal or not. The light may be too bright, but we can deal with that somewhat with duration--which asks, how long is the light on each day? Are you doing water changes regularly and how much--these can really thwart problem algae.

GFAJ · Jul 22, 2020

The val has been planted there for about 4-5 months now. I have active tropica concentrated substrate capped with sand. The light is on for 8 hours a day and I am doing weekly 50% water changes with filter maintenance and algae scrubbing. I'll post here with photos in a bit

seangee · Jul 22, 2020

GFAJ said:
My light had no info to come with it. It is acrappy chinese light which I now found is 4W so that must be the issue. I reckon near 6000K
I just found the light is 4W after extensive research. Do yo think that is the problem because 4W should not be nearly bright enough for this tank

Be careful about jumping to that conclusion. I have 4 tanks with LED lights and at least 2 of these fall into the cheap category. In every single case I have reduced the light intensity because it is too bright. Algae on the older leaves of the slower growing plants suggest that may be the case here.

GFAJ · Jul 22, 2020

seangee said:
Be careful about jumping to that conclusion. I have 4 tanks with LED lights and at least 2 of these fall into the cheap category. In every single case I have reduced the light intensity because it is too bright. Algae on the older leaves of the slower growing plants suggest that may be the case here.

Hmm that's something to think about, Maybe angling it in a different way will help reduce the light intenisty. I will give that a test

seangee · Jul 22, 2020

Floating plants are also an option to diffuse it. In the tank in my signature the anubias on the right hand side are in a very dark part of the tank and thriving, with no algae.

GFAJ · Jul 22, 2020

Here come the pics.Any feedback on how to improve how it looks is more than welcome.note: thelean leave on the anubias is the new one
note the

Byron · Jul 22, 2020

First suggestion, floating plants. Plants like Water Sprite, Tropical Frogbit, Water Lettuce, or a stem plant like Pennywort. Second question, are you using any plant additive now?

GFAJ · Jul 22, 2020

No plant additives. I have tried frogbit but ended up just being a very expensive snail salad for my apple snail

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