Aquascaper 600

[mbsqw1d]

Wonder if your milfoil preferred more temperate heat?

Hopefully it is due to under dosing of ferts. You're giving them top whack of light and co2 so guess they need equal full measure of ferts too.

Fingers are crossed.

 

[Ken Sauer]

View attachment 110748

This is my first foray into properly planted tanks, in the past I've kept to many diggers, herbivores and just descructive fish to succeed. But now with a smaller tank and wanting to focus on something new here we are! I've been posting a few WIP posts about this tank so I wanted to consolidate them all into once place as it develops over time.

I'm facing a couple of challenges so far with the Co2, its not dipping down over night, I think this is because the plants are not using enough of it through the light period so hopefully this will get resolved. I will not be adding fish to the tank until this is stable and I feel more confident in using Co2 injection.

Planting has gone quite well, I got a set of cheap aquascaping tools from Amazon which have really helped. There are a couple of plants I just cant get to plant fully but hoping over time they will take root and burrow down into the substrate. I have seen some pearling though so thats quite cool!

Next step is waiting on a delivery of some Bucephalandra, Mini Bolbitis and one more type of crypt for the back right corner.

Nice

 

[Wills]

So had a bit of time with the tank today. Within a few days it just been getting innundated with this algae so had a big clear out of plants that were suffering or dead. I've teken out all the Myriophyllum Mattogrossense which is a shame as it was doing amazingly for so long. I've moved all the Ranunculus to the left of the tank as it seems to do well there and moved the Hygrophila Araguia over to the right, the right side is worst with algae but most of the Araguia over there seems to be doing best.

Of the plants I added in the other day all of the Rotala Bonsai has melted and gone, the H'ra is looking promising so I have moved it all to one side - hoping that will fill in nicely. The Marsilea Hirsuta has gotten quite bad algae but still looks healthy for now and I can see new shoots.

I decided to head to a shop near me today to get some more plants. Its called Ings Lane Garden Centre - been here for a long time and I've seen it go up and down but seems to be really good right now and was really impressed by the person I spoke to about plants. Came away with some Hygrophila Siamensis 53b, Limnophila Sesslilflora, Nymphoides sp.Taiwain and a 4th stem plant I cant remember the name of - fine red leafed stem plant (pic below)! Hoping this combined with improved ferts and less light is the answer to my woes.

Going to do an other water change later tonight but here are some WIP pics for now.

 

[AilyNC]

Gorgeous

 

[Wills]

Gorgeous

thanks fingers crossed I can get rid of this algae!

 

[AilyNC]

Is algae bad? I keep meaning to Google that

 

[mbsqw1d]

Is algae bad? I keep meaning to Google that

The majority of algae isn't bad (some types of Cyanobacteria can be dangerous) and algae exists in all tanks. It competes with plants for the same resources (co2, light, food) and most of us prefer to keep plants rather than algae. Of course algae also tends to coat the plant's leaves, ultimately starving the plant of light.
Algae is quicker at adapting to changes, or can thrive in conditions where plants don't. So it ends up being a balancing act to ensure resources aren't fluctuating and are in correct proportions.

 

[AilyNC]

Cool thanks. I hadn't noticed any when I had my Plecos but now it's everywhere

 

[mbsqw1d]

What

Cool thanks. I hadn't noticed any when I had my Plecos but now it's everywhere

What sort of algae are you finding?

 

[AilyNC]

I've no idea. It's brown in edges of tank and on the glass, the decoration, and then a lighter sprinkling like dust on some plant leaves.

 

[ecarso10]

This looks fantastic! Too skilled for me. We’re considering adding an easy starter plant on some wood or rock to our tank

 

[AilyNC]

This looks fantastic! Too skilled for me. We’re considering adding an easy starter plant on some wood or rock to our tank

I picked Anubis for a piece of wood, it's not a very fast grower but has 2 new leaves and looks nice. I got Amazon Sword too and that's going well. Some easy care plants really change the look of the tank. This is my tank before joining the forum & now.

 

[mbsqw1d]

I've no idea. It's brown in edges of tank and on the glass, the decoration, and then a lighter sprinkling like dust on some plant leaves.

Brown algae is often found on a new tank setup, because the brown algae is actually diatoms. Diatoms are an organism that have a cell wall made from silica (glass!). Therefore it is said that a new tank's substrate has silica that the diatoms make the most of. This doesn't come down to excess/deficiency in resources food/co2/light like with most algae.
The 'dusty' looking stuff looks like the beginning of some hair algae that has collected some dust (food, substrate) particles.
For now I'd just wipe the brown algae off during a water change and just keep and eye on the potential hair algae. Make sure you don't overfeed and remove any excess food.

 

[AilyNC]

Thank you so much for this. I'll keep an eye abd wipe off what I see. Cheers

 

[Wills]

So just between work and family I've not been able to do a water change since Sunday, thats right 3 days for this monstrosity to grow. I've included a close up of it so you can see what I am dealing with. The way it goes in the current is actually quite beautiful... If anyone thinks its a different type of algae please let me know.

On Sunday I did a bit gutting of the tank, took out all the Mirophillum and added in some new plants I got a total of 8 pots in a combination of

- Hygrophila Siamensis 53b
- Limnophila Sesslilflora
- Nymphoides sp.Taiwain
- Didiplis Diandra

I've seen good growth on most plants and the Limnophila and Nymphoides are pearling like mad tonight. I dont think the Hygrophila Siamensis has fully kicked in yet as I have seen this in action before.

I have so far never been able to get rid of all visible traces as the carpeting plants start to uproot if I try to remove it too much so I have been hoping to get it to reduce down. I was thinking of maybe burying the carpet in a thin layer of soil, with the intention of it smothering the algae but the plants growing through the soil? Is this a really stupid idea or is it worth a try?

The Ranunculus recovers really well after I remove the algae so think it will survive well, I have a couple of H.Araguia plants that again when uncovered are doing well, I cant keep on top of my Hydrocotyle but it keeps coming back from the root as I trim it so fingers crossed. The Rotala Hra I added has been innundated so thats going to have to come out. I am going to try and get some more fast growing plants to replace this at the weekend.

I didnt initially cut my light as suggested - I was hoping that with water changes and fast growing plants it would be enough but I have adjusted all my timers now so lets see how it goes because lots of water changes alone has not done much so far...

It might just be that this isnt going to work out but not giving up yet - at the very least I think a rescape is likely once this is under control. I just want to get to the point where I can have fish haha!