eatyourpeas
Fish Herder
I have a 12" Nicrew light in my nano cube and really like it! My plants grow quite nicely and are low to moderate light requirement. The tank is 11.25" deep.
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Re-starting 15 gallon, 1st time with sand
- Thread starter AdoraBelle Dearheart
- Start date
As far as am aware, brown spots or algae on plants is usually down to a couple of reasons, high nitrates or not enough light time or insufficient light type.
Lighting times vary between areas but generally speaking for UK areas, 7.5 to 8.5 hours seems to be the general happy medium for lights for our aquarium live plants, this is mixed with natural daylight as well so do bear that in mind for setting light times.
By insufficient light, what I mean by this is there may not be enough colour spectrum from your light tube/s or led unit.
Plants tend to need at least 6,500k, imho ideally 6,700k from your lights.
The red spectrum in your light is very useful for plant growth, in particular for root plant growth and developments.
Because red light is easily absorbed by the water column, especially in shallower tanks, and the other two colours, blue and white/green, normally given in half decent lights units is good for deeper tanks, this is good for stem and leaves growth, the green/white light is really more for our vision of seeing more green on plants as these colours are more reflective and not so easily absorbed in the water column.
Anyway, that is pretty much the most common cause for brown algae as far as I know, light timing and/or colour spectrum given out by the tubes/led unit.
Other common causes could be silica which could be from substrate, in particular fine sand, this causes, more often than not, diatoms.
Even high nitrate can be a factor in giving brown algae, am unsure as to exactly why but think it’s down to the imbalance of insufficient types of nutrients that’s needed alongside nitrate.
Too much nitrate, over 40ppm, is never really a good thing in tanks anyway, either for the plants or for the livestock so this is one reason why I say to do weekly of at least 50% water changes to help bring down nitrates to a minimum.
Lighting times vary between areas but generally speaking for UK areas, 7.5 to 8.5 hours seems to be the general happy medium for lights for our aquarium live plants, this is mixed with natural daylight as well so do bear that in mind for setting light times.
By insufficient light, what I mean by this is there may not be enough colour spectrum from your light tube/s or led unit.
Plants tend to need at least 6,500k, imho ideally 6,700k from your lights.
The red spectrum in your light is very useful for plant growth, in particular for root plant growth and developments.
Because red light is easily absorbed by the water column, especially in shallower tanks, and the other two colours, blue and white/green, normally given in half decent lights units is good for deeper tanks, this is good for stem and leaves growth, the green/white light is really more for our vision of seeing more green on plants as these colours are more reflective and not so easily absorbed in the water column.
Anyway, that is pretty much the most common cause for brown algae as far as I know, light timing and/or colour spectrum given out by the tubes/led unit.
Other common causes could be silica which could be from substrate, in particular fine sand, this causes, more often than not, diatoms.
Even high nitrate can be a factor in giving brown algae, am unsure as to exactly why but think it’s down to the imbalance of insufficient types of nutrients that’s needed alongside nitrate.
Too much nitrate, over 40ppm, is never really a good thing in tanks anyway, either for the plants or for the livestock so this is one reason why I say to do weekly of at least 50% water changes to help bring down nitrates to a minimum.
Love the too! I say eggs. The sand will probably turn black if you leave it that thick. Mine did and I had to remove some.
Did you get any baby oto’s?Love the too! I say eggs. The sand will probably turn black if you leave it that thick. Mine did and I had to remove some.
OP
OP
Ah, thank you kindly! My nitrites kept going really high for those 17 days, so maybe that's it? I do a minimum of 50% weekly water changes, but usually more like 60-75% water. Just did a 60% change today. Maybe the high nitrites caused ir? I couldn't really tell the nitrate levels since nitrites are read in the nitrate solution too, but when it's fully cycled and weekly maintenance, with all the plants, nitrates rarely go over ten, so I might cut the lights by another hour. The shrimp are often picking at it, but haven't cleaned it totally.
OP
OP
Oh no worries, it's gravel in that tankLove the too! I say eggs. The sand will probably turn black if you leave it that thick. Mine did and I had to remove some.
Would like to switch it to sand at some point, but won't be anytime soon.Sadly no, no baby otos
But would have been incredible if there had been! I'm down to five otos now, so next plan is to bump the school number back up to eight or nine... I have a personal theory that they will be more likely to spawn with a larger group. Like cories do, you know? Plus some pygmy cories and maybe some ember tetra as dither fish - there's some suggestion that otos are often found near or among cories in the wild, hoping to be mistaken for cories with their sharp barbs and avoid predation, so they might even feel safer with some cories in there.Then some cool water changes, and fingers crossed!
Good luck. I’d love some Cory eggs. Please keep us postedOh no worries, it's gravel in that tank
Sadly no, no baby otos
Then some cool water changes, and fingers crossed!
OP
OP
Have been getting some scary algae in the oto tank though
Look at this!
I did neglect this tank a bit while struggling with daily changes in the other tank. Not neglect in the sense that I didn't do anything with it - I still did the weekly changes, and parameters remained stable at 0/0/5, but plants are struggling in there since I switched the good light to the guppy/shrimp tank, the light on this tank is LED, but it's rubbish compared to the other, even though the other is cheap. Will get a nicrew light for this tank eventually, and put some faster growing stuff in there like the sessiliflora. Not much of a bioload in this tank either with only the five otos.
But I neglected it in the sense I didn't work on getting rid of this algae!
OP
OP
Oh trust me, if I ever get otocinclus eggs, or capture evidence of them spawning again, I'll be shouting it from the rooftops! You'll be able to hear me clear over the pond and all over the USGood luck. I’d love some Cory eggs. Please keep us posted
Have been getting some scary algae in the oto tank though
Look at this!
View attachment 118952
I did neglect this tank a bit while struggling with daily changes in the other tank. Not neglect in the sense that I didn't do anything with it - I still did the weekly changes, and parameters remained stable at 0/0/5, but plants are struggling in there since I switched the good light to the guppy/shrimp tank, the light on this tank is LED, but it's rubbish compared to the other, even though the other is cheap. Will get a nicrew light for this tank eventually, and put some faster growing stuff in there like the sessiliflora. Not much of a bioload in this tank either with only the five otos.
But I neglected it in the sense I didn't work on getting rid of this algae!
I do not know what nicrew lights are, will have to do a google search on those to see what they are exactly and if any good for plants etc
Cheap led lights are not worth it, really are not, I had cheap Chinese made led lights years ago and it was basically a knock off and I got abundant algae growth, mainly stag and hair algae! Grr.
Needless to say I did not keep those lights
Personally I am a fan of the aquael leddy light units or the retrofit tubes, they have good colour spectrum and 6,500k sunny or 8,000k plants though this is at the higher end, I’ve used the 6,500k for nano tanks and have had good plant growth with those alongside ferts.
LEDDY TUBE - Aquael
www.aquael-aquarium.co.uk
LEDDY SMART 2 - Aquael
www.aquael-aquarium.co.uk
Leddy Tube RETROFIT - Aquael
www.aquael-aquarium.co.uk
Again the exact same specs of 6,500 or 8,000k options and of tube length and wattage
That’s just my personal preferences when it comes to lights as it’s a tried and tested for me and my tanks and have had no issues with those, so I’ll be sticking with those for the time being
OP
OP
Tank as of 7th October, after 60% water change and trimming l.sessiliflora and frogbit roots again, nine days after the last time I had to trim the roots... just wanted to give the fish some more swimming space
OP
OP
I think I only understood every third word of thatI do not know what nicrew lights are, will have to do a google search on those to see what they are exactly and if any good for plants etc
Cheap led lights are not worth it, really are not, I had cheap Chinese made led lights years ago and it was basically a knock off and I got abundant algae growth, mainly stag and hair algae! Grr.
Needless to say I did not keep those lights
Personally I am a fan of the aquael leddy light units or the retrofit tubes, they have good colour spectrum and 6,500k sunny or 8,000k plants though this is at the higher end, I’ve used the 6,500k for nano tanks and have had good plant growth with those alongside ferts.
LEDDY TUBE - Aquael
And if you have T5 or T8 light units, use those retrofit leddy tubes, it’s basically exactly the same as the fluorescent tube but it’s LEDs instead and that simply takes the same fittings, might need fitting adapter which comes supplied anyway, nothing easier.LEDDY SMART 2 - Aquael
Leddy Tube RETROFIT - Aquael
Again the exact same specs of 6,500 or 8,000k options and of tube length and wattage
That’s just my personal preferences when it comes to lights as it’s a tried and tested for me and my tanks and have had no issues with those, so I’ll be sticking with those for the time being
My cheap GOOBAT light seems pretty good! That's the one on this tank. The other one I'm not sure of the brand, but it doesn't look as good to my eyes, and the plants don't do as well with it either, considering all other things are the same.. source water (well, the other tank is softer, but only half as soft) same light period, same ferts used etc. But there's quite a difference in plant growth and algae.
I think I only understood every third word of that
My cheap GOOBAT light seems pretty good! That's the one on this tank. The other one I'm not sure of the brand, but it doesn't look as good to my eyes, and the plants don't do as well with it either, considering all other things are the same.. source water (well, the other tank is softer, but only half as soft) same light period, same ferts used etc. But there's quite a difference in plant growth and algae.
Sorry if my previous post was confusing, basically plants need between 6,500 to 8,000 kelvin which is a light intensity and colour measurement unit.
Imho the ideal is 6,700 kelvin for most low to medium tank set ups for plants.
Plants need colours for growth, red for root growth and red light is more easily absorbed into the water so this is good for all plants actually.
Other light colours such as blue, white and green are good for stems and leaf developments.
That’s it very basically.
So do also note that lights for marine or sw tanks tend to be blue and white but more powerful from at least 10,000k as this is needed for reef and coral growth, so is not much good for low or med tank freshwater aquarium plants as light is too intense and algae problems will surely occur.
Normally sw lights are much more expensive, so not worth it for the normal aquarium with low / med demanding plants.
OP
OP
Ah, thank you! I get pretty lost when it comes to lighting talk
I've heard good things about Nicrew lights. Not too expensive, but have seen them recommended a few different places. The youtuber Fish for Thought recommends and uses them, and has beautiful planted tanks. Not sure about kelvin ratings or whether they have red light though.
I'd get another Goobat for my other tank if I could. They're out of stock at the moment, but maybe they'll be back in stock by the time I'm ready to replace it anyway.
Have had a quick look at nicrew led light units, seems fairly good value for the low tech planted tank.
Does not have a kelvin rating but has a par ratings and the cheaper nicrew LEDs are on the weaker side of things but fine for low tech plants in nano tanks.
What I do like about them is the adjustable lengths you can use these on various sizes tanks, and on the more expensive models is the adjustable controller timer for light adjustments during the day and evenings, but some reviews state these leds as being quite bright.
But for the money, seems fairly good value as long as you don’t expect miracle plant growths
Does not have a kelvin rating but has a par ratings and the cheaper nicrew LEDs are on the weaker side of things but fine for low tech plants in nano tanks.
What I do like about them is the adjustable lengths you can use these on various sizes tanks, and on the more expensive models is the adjustable controller timer for light adjustments during the day and evenings, but some reviews state these leds as being quite bright.
But for the money, seems fairly good value as long as you don’t expect miracle plant growths
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