Aquascaper 600

Wills said:

View attachment 127087

Having real issues with staghorn algae again, need to get it under control. I may need to rip up the front right corner and replant it but want to try some other things first.

Only major thing I did tonight was trim my H'ra on the left and plant the stems at the back right, I got a Ludwigia type and it is growing but super slow so wanted to over plant the H'ra to help it stave off algae as some of the lower leaves have diatoms.

So options are
- Blackout - maybe a bit drastic?
- Reduce lighting - not a fan as light is currently really low and only on for 6 hours.
- New diffuser - one of the route causes of staghorn is Co2 circulation issues so considering upgrading from my stainless steel one, its quite a basic piece of kit with just a regular ceramic disc, wondering if a branded one like ADA or Twinstar would give better results?
- Adding airstone on a night - not had it in for a while for cosmetic reasons but I've added it back in, thinking if I highly oxygenate the water it will level out the Co2 levels?
- Spot dosing liquid Co2 - sort of the nuclear option but proven to work.
- More clean up crew - one thing I've not addressed so far is that I've lost quite a few shrimp. At one point I had 20 Amano in there and when I emptied the tank to do this scape I only found 6, the good news is they are now thriving and much much more active than before. I think some of the issue I had is that they came from a shop in a softwater area so I'm going to go to a much more local store in the hope that they will thrive being that they are in the same water. My blue velvet shrimp are no where to be seen either. I am also wondering if what ever my wood was doing to the water before affected this? I'm considering adding some nerite snails too if they had them.
- Changing the circulation - the filter outlet is on the front left and the worst algae is in the front right corner where the water hits the glass and circulates so creating the highest flow. I've moved the pipes around a bit so that the outlet shoots towards the back right corner which is the furthest away from the pipe so thinking the flow will be spread out more as its a greater distance than across the width.

Wills

Click to expand...

mbsqw1d said:

I have a bazooka atomiser that produces incredibly fine bubbles, I have that sat beneath a small powerheard and I can clearly see the tiny bubbles being distributed throughout the water column. Luckily my scape allows for these bits to be hidden behind a big a.sword. this said, itd be good to not have the tiny bubbles throughout the water column. Perhaps this is where in-line option comes in?
What ferts are you dosing? Sorry if ive asked before. I cant help but think your co2 and lighting is ok, but nutrient wise something is going on

Click to expand...

Wills said:

I’ve tried a few configurations with my diffuser, opposite the outlet, under a power head and under the outlet all have led to problems lol. Distribution in this scape seems to be much better than the last I always got dead pockets but the dropper stays a good colour all the way round.

The fertiliser is tropica premium the brown one without nitrate or phosphate as tap water has it and I do 4-5ml a day as it’s pump activated and I have aquarium soil as the substrate

Click to expand...

AilyNC said:

You are so unbelievably patient! Tank is looking great. How have you held out adding fish??

Click to expand...

Wills said:

Its a mix of reasons really.

I'm in real conflict about which fish to get, I’m frustrated because of my hard water logic dictates a hard water rasbora/danio like CPDs but was hoping for more from this tank... Add in the lock downs, understocked shops, shops with massive waiting lines outside and its just got to this point. I am happy with just a plantedI just wish I could get on top of the algae....

Wills

*edited as I got a bit ranty sorry*

Click to expand...

AilyNC said:

Beautiful shades in your plants

Click to expand...