Bit Of Help With Small Planted Tank

[littlest]

Well my first foray into planted tanks isn't going well. tank stats:

7.5 Gallon
11W white/red flouro bulb
3 java fern
1 anubias
java moss
Seacham Flourish once a week
Flourish Excel daily
Lights on 4.5 hours, off 5 hours, on 4.5 hours (done this way so the lights are on when I am in)


First I suffered hair algae, but my amano shrmip dealt with that quite quickly

I now have BGA on my java moss (it originated on floating plants which I removed) and I think some BBA on my java fern.

I tried a 3-day blackout for the BGA but it returned within the week. My java fern are looking generally sad and my anubias is turning yellow.

I am thinking of treating with an anti-bacterial med as I have had a recent mystery fish death and I thought it might help with the BGA.

It's clear that the balance in the tank is out though and the algae is thriving while my plants are dying. Should I change the lighting to a more conventional lighting regime? What else can I do to redress the balance so my plants can thrive and the algae does not?

 

[Majjie]

I'm no expert - but I do have low tech planted tanks.

I tried a split lighting scheme - but I thought the plants didn't grow nearly as well, so I went back to a single 10 hour stretch. The lights come on at 12 noon ... so that they're on for most of the evening and I can watch.

I'm about to try EasyCarbo (similar to Excel) ... but only because I now have a tank with better lighting and the plants are growing better. Before that I used to fertilise whenever I thought about it ... once a week at most ... and grow just the same type of plants as you and they did fine (they are after all slow growing plants that don't require high light levels).

Someone with more technical knowledge might come along and suggest something else - but I'd say try one 9 - 10 hour stretch for the lighting and skip the Excel altogether - and see what happens.

 

[SuperColey1]

11W over 7G is very low light indeed. WPG rule is useless for Nano tanks. High light on a Nano would be in the region of 8WPG. Yours is super low light for a Nano @1.5WPG.

That aside why are you dosing excel every day and flourish once a week.

The yellow leaves indicate there is a nutrient defficienct probably Potassium, Iron or Magnesium (or maybe the light is holding the plants back). Because of this defficiency your plants are dying and the algae is then using the carbon source (excel) and remaining nutrient.

You need more light over this tank to bring it to a normal low light (Im no expert on Nanos) but somehwer near to 3/4WPG should be OK.

You need to put the flourish in as per bottles instructions and only put the excel in once you have upped the light.

I have to assume that this tank is also getting some natural daylight for the algae to grow when the plants are dying under the WPG you have.

Sam or Dave or LLJ or someone with more experience in Nanos would be better to advise on these problems so be patient.

andy

 

[littlest]

The instructions on Flourish say once or twice a week, the instructions of Excel say once every 1-2 days. I probably dose Excel a little less than daily due to forgetfulness though. So should I up the Flourish? How often? cut out Excel altogether?

I know the light is very low but it's not a standard fitting and the only bulbs I've seen that fit are 11W. EDIT: just found some that are 18W. Would that make much difference? The light is a "compact" one, that has a fitting only one one end. Maybe I should do more research. The tank gets very little (possibly none) natural daylight. I actually keep one side of my curtains shut to stop it getting daylight. If the tank lights are off you can't see inside the tank barely at all.

 

[SuperColey1]

puzzling then

If your adding ferts by the book and excel by the book then I guess the only thing left is light but then if light is the limiting factor then algae should be having as much of a problem as the plants!!

Best to wait for a Nano expert here I think

They do some smaller Power Compacts now (24W) which is about 12 inches long. George Farmer used one on his Nano and it seemed to work. Quite hard to get good reflectors for Power compacts in UK though.

 

[littlest]

My light unit is fitted in the hood and it can only take 8inch bulbs. I'll try and get one of the 18W ones, at least that's some improvement.

 

[SuperColey1]

Wait for the Nano experts before spending any money. They may lead you on a clearer path than I can.

Andy

 

[lljdma06]

Wait for the Nano experts before spending any money. They may lead you on a clearer path than I can.

Andy

For my 8g nano, I use roughly 24W, giving me 3 WPG, and consider this low/low-moderate lighting levels. 18W over 7.5G will give you about 2.4WPG, which is lower, but not so low that you can't grow anubias. At least I don't think so. I think your siesta is way too long, and I'd not have it at all. You are much better off, opting for 10 hours straight, than what your regimen was before. I also don't think blackouts are the most effective. IMO, they cause more stress to the plants than they are worth. Obviously, you have enough light, because something is growing in your tank. It may not be what you want growing, however.

How are your anubias and java fern planted? They are rhizome plants that really shouldn't be buried in the substrate unless you only bury the roots. The rhizome must stay above water, or it'll rot and the plant will yellow and die.

What is your livestock level? Perhaps you really don't need to dose anything at all. In my low-light nanos, when stocked appropriately, the plants consume the nutrients produced by fish waste and nothing else other than some rootabs for my root feeding plants when I remember. Your lighting level may not be sufficient for the plants to consume all the nutrients being pumped in.

How's your filtration? I also tend to overfilter these little tanks as certain types of algae are caused by a lack of circulation. Those tiny filters really aren't all that great. Most of the time, I'll need two to circulate the water adaquately.

How densely planted is your tank?

There are a lot of questions to consider. I personally think that you should be able to grow the plants that you currently keep with your current lighting levels.

I hope this helps a little.

llj

 

[littlest]

Hi, thanks for the thorough reply.

I think you may have misunderstood my lighting. It's currently 11W but I found a bulb online that will fit that is 18W. I take it you think it's a good idea to buy that. Can I just put a higher watt bulb in the same lighting unit?

I'll try and answer your questions in order:

My java fern and anubias are tied to bogwood so the rhizome isn't buried at all.

My livestock level is only 3 amano shrimp at the moment, so presumably not enough to provide nutrients. Maybe I should half dose with the Flourish if you think I have excess nutrients?
I am planning to restock with fish but it won't be until the New Year now and I'll probably have to stock slow so my cycle doesn't crash.

My filtration is an Elite Stingray 10 which is 200L per hour link It does cause a suprisingly strong flow though.
I was planning to add an airstone today to an area near the front where flow is low.

How do measure how densely planted a tank is?I have some pics if that helps:

Tank

BGA

BBA?

My sad anubias

 

[ulster exile]

I suspect the OP has the same tank as me, a Aquastart 320, judging by his description of the tank. If so, the hood can't come off and the light is fitted into it.

I haven't been able to figure out how to upgrade the lighting either and my anubias aren't doing great either. I suspect that the deficiencies in the OP's tank and my own are down to poor lighting

I'd be interested in seeing the 18W bulb since any improvement would be better than none!

EDIT: holy cow - great minds posting at the same time!

 

[littlest]

yep, you're right, same tank

The 18W bulb is a ASL Compact T5 Fluorescent Tube. It says it's 8 inches, which seems the same size. I've not tried it yet though.

Like I asked in my last post, I don't know whether it's OK to just put a higher rated bulb into the same lighting unit though.

Here's a link to the bulb I found if you are interested link

 

[Kevstir]

Is that an aqua one ufo 350 by any chance??

I have one of those, the light you have is an 11w pl light with a g23 fitting, its the same style of light used in the arc pod, i replaced my original one with the arc pod 11w..

As the guys say this amount of light is just not up to scratch, i added another light giving me 22w and the plants are doing better, but, they still grow is super slow, i recon the lack of co2 is the limiting factor though, the moss ball is growing good though lol

to get another tube on there isn't easy, i bought 2 desk lamps from ikea that used the same bulb, what i did was remove the ballast from the hood and modified the desk lamps to fit the fitting and reflectors in the hood.

Looks a wee bit of a mess at the moment but going to be cleaning it out tomorrow, this is with the original bulb and an ard pod bulb.

Kev

 

[SuperColey1]

Like I asked in my last post, I don't know whether it's OK to just put a higher rated bulb into the same lighting unit though.

You can put a 100W fluorescent lamp (bulb) in there but if the ballast unit is only 11W it will only put 11W into the lamp.

Therefore you need to find out how much power the ballast is intended to withstand.

If it is indeed 11W then you will not gain any benefit from putting an 18W lamp in as it will still only be getting 11W through it.

You may find that the lamp you have is 11W and the ballast is 8/9W as manufacturers often underpower their lights.

My fluval tank originally had 2 x 18W lamps in it but the ballast was 2 x 15W.

You may have less than 11W at the mo. Its the input power of the ballast you want to know and not the output capacity of the lamp. If you can get into the electrics panel then it will be on the ballast label.

Andy

 

[littlest]

It's an Aqua One 320 but the light fitting looks the same.

So, are you using the two ballasts from the Ikea lamps?
Are they external?

I'm OK at wiring ballasts and lights for household use (used to do it as part of my job) but I would be worried about messing around with wiring for use in an aquarium because everything has to be watertight and the ballasts from the Ikea lights wouldn't be designed for that.

If I can just stick the 18W bulb into the current fitting I would much rather do that but I don't know if the ballast is OK for an 18W.

 

[Kevstir]

the original ballast is 10w m8.

Yes I'm using the ballast from the Ikea lamps, they are built into the plug so they are no where near the tank