Daize's Planted Photo Journal - 64L 1Wpg Low Light
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daizeUK said:
You want the algae to grow better?!
Do I? 
Three months since the last update - well it is a slow growing tank!
The cabomba and limnophila have gone, the new guys are dwarf sagittaria and lobelia cardinalis which got dumped in there as excess from my fry tank. The foreground is bit of an unplanned mess.
Everything seems to be growing okay. I'm not 100% algae free but it has vastly improved since adding macro ferts and decreasing the photoperiod. I'm currently adding Easylife Fosfo to get some phosphates and potassium in the tank. I'm aware I need more potassium and I will sort the ferts out properly soon.
Some of the plants suffered slightly while I was on holiday in August, the Anubias heterophylla developed brown tips on some of the leaves and I had to remove a big leaf today. The trident fern seems to be struggling a bit, the new leaves are very short and curly and fragile and not as verdant green as they should be. I hope it recovers, it weren't cheap!
I'm expecting to pick up a new 120L tank tomorrow so plants may get moved around as I design a new aquascape. It's going to be pretty exciting for the next few weeks!
The cabomba and limnophila have gone, the new guys are dwarf sagittaria and lobelia cardinalis which got dumped in there as excess from my fry tank. The foreground is bit of an unplanned mess.
Everything seems to be growing okay. I'm not 100% algae free but it has vastly improved since adding macro ferts and decreasing the photoperiod. I'm currently adding Easylife Fosfo to get some phosphates and potassium in the tank. I'm aware I need more potassium and I will sort the ferts out properly soon.
Some of the plants suffered slightly while I was on holiday in August, the Anubias heterophylla developed brown tips on some of the leaves and I had to remove a big leaf today. The trident fern seems to be struggling a bit, the new leaves are very short and curly and fragile and not as verdant green as they should be. I hope it recovers, it weren't cheap!
I'm expecting to pick up a new 120L tank tomorrow so plants may get moved around as I design a new aquascape. It's going to be pretty exciting for the next few weeks!
BriansAquarium
Fish Fanatic
From all the information I've read, algae grows when there is an abundance of nutrients as the plants can't absorb it all so algae grows to "eat" the rest. I'm a first time planted tank, 45 gallon, and I dose Flourish Excel Daily and have a Photo Period of 12 hours, and have no issues with algae. I do not dose ferts at all. If my plants start dying I will. My plants did melt, but are now growing back in very nicely. But like I said, that is my two cents, I have a pleco, 6 corys, and 2 EBR's. Fish poop and 50% water changes a week have been doing good. TBH your tank looks amazing, I wouldn't change what you are doing!
Thanks Brian! From what I've learned, algae is caused by a number of things including ammonia, too much light, not enough CO2, fluctuating CO2 and weak flow or poor flow distribution.
Once it has been triggered then it will start feeding off the excess nutrients but it is not caused by excess fertilizer. That's the principle of EI dosing. Give the plants as much nutrients as they need and they will grow healthy and strong and outcompete the algae.
When buying new plants I believe that they have stores of nutrients which will fuel initial growth or re-growth after melting in a new tank but once they use up those nutrient stores the growth stops. I saw this when I tried to grow vallis and stem plants, they initially put on a lot of growth but then gradually began to struggle and die away. So I blame lack of ferts for losing my stem plants.
The algae that I've got is mostly diatoms which grow in small patches on the plant leaves. I dose EasyCarbo daily but the tank will occasionally get direct sunlight when I forget to draw the curtain and the flow is quite poor since it only has an internal filter. I suspect that poor flow is my prime culprit and it's not going to improve any time soon since the external filter I bought is now repurposed for my new 120L tank instead!
Once it has been triggered then it will start feeding off the excess nutrients but it is not caused by excess fertilizer. That's the principle of EI dosing. Give the plants as much nutrients as they need and they will grow healthy and strong and outcompete the algae.
When buying new plants I believe that they have stores of nutrients which will fuel initial growth or re-growth after melting in a new tank but once they use up those nutrient stores the growth stops. I saw this when I tried to grow vallis and stem plants, they initially put on a lot of growth but then gradually began to struggle and die away. So I blame lack of ferts for losing my stem plants.
The algae that I've got is mostly diatoms which grow in small patches on the plant leaves. I dose EasyCarbo daily but the tank will occasionally get direct sunlight when I forget to draw the curtain and the flow is quite poor since it only has an internal filter. I suspect that poor flow is my prime culprit and it's not going to improve any time soon since the external filter I bought is now repurposed for my new 120L tank instead!
I have noticed small black dots appearing on some of my plants, particularly the Trident fern. I went looking for nutrient deficiency symptoms and found this:
/aquarium-fertilizer.com/aquatic-plant-deficiency
So that might explain the black dots. Potassium is the only fert that I am not dosing, although I know there is some in the potassium phosphate which I lazily hoped might be enough. Perhaps it's time for me to stop being lazy
from http
/aquarium-fertilizer.com/aquatic-plant-deficiencySo that might explain the black dots. Potassium is the only fert that I am not dosing, although I know there is some in the potassium phosphate which I lazily hoped might be enough. Perhaps it's time for me to stop being lazy
Daize, great stuff on all the plants.
As I am a newby keeper, I'm already considering my next tank ;P, and I want that to be planted predominantly. What would you suggest to someone new to planted tanks? Where did you get your ideas/knowledge? Things like nutrient dosing that you and other members go into large detail about? I know nothing,
I'm going to start with an Anubias Nana on coconut shell in my starter tank.
As I am a newby keeper, I'm already considering my next tank ;P, and I want that to be planted predominantly. What would you suggest to someone new to planted tanks? Where did you get your ideas/knowledge? Things like nutrient dosing that you and other members go into large detail about? I know nothing,
I'm going to start with an Anubias Nana on coconut shell in my starter tank.
Anubias is a good choice, I've found it to be a tough little plant and a steady grower, although it is slow-growing so it can be prone to algae on the leaves. Just wipe the leaves gently whenever you do tank maintenance.
If I was starting a new planted tank from scratch (which I will be very soon ) then I would plant heavily from the start. I think a lot of plants can be easier to manage than too few. I would keep the lighting low, no more than 1 to 1.5 WPG and start with a photoperiod of 6 hours. This can be increased gradually later when the plants are settled and algae is under control. Too much light will just make more algae. Then I would do 2-3 50% water changes per week for the first few weeks, gradually decreasing down to a regular 50% water change once a week.
All plants will appreciate some trace ferts, I use Flourish Comprehensive for this but there are other brands. If you keep your lighting low and don't add carbon then this is all you need. Fish waste will provide the other fertilizers. If you choose to add CO2 (or Excel/EasyCarbo) then you must start adding macro ferts (NPK).
I'm still learning but I've picked up a lot of knowledge from this site and others like it. I've gotta rush out and pick the kids up right now but I'll send you some links later and I'll be happy to talk more if you have questions
If I was starting a new planted tank from scratch (which I will be very soon
) then I would plant heavily from the start. I think a lot of plants can be easier to manage than too few. I would keep the lighting low, no more than 1 to 1.5 WPG and start with a photoperiod of 6 hours. This can be increased gradually later when the plants are settled and algae is under control. Too much light will just make more algae. Then I would do 2-3 50% water changes per week for the first few weeks, gradually decreasing down to a regular 50% water change once a week.All plants will appreciate some trace ferts, I use Flourish Comprehensive for this but there are other brands. If you keep your lighting low and don't add carbon then this is all you need. Fish waste will provide the other fertilizers. If you choose to add CO2 (or Excel/EasyCarbo) then you must start adding macro ferts (NPK).
I'm still learning but I've picked up a lot of knowledge from this site and others like it. I've gotta rush out and pick the kids up right now but I'll send you some links later and I'll be happy to talk more if you have questions
I'm running into problems with this tank now.
The moss, all once lush and green is now struggling and growing stringy if at all. The anubias heterophylla is developing large brown patches on the older leaves. The trident fern is suffering and growth is stunted.
I assume that I reached some critical biomass in the tank and the amount of carbon available suddenly isn't sufficient anymore, causing the most vulnerable plants to fail. I've doubled my dose of EasyCarbo and I hope this will have a positive effect. It stupidly never occurred to me that there might be a hard limit to how much plant mass you can support without CO2 injection, well it seems I've reached it!
The moss, all once lush and green is now struggling and growing stringy if at all. The anubias heterophylla is developing large brown patches on the older leaves. The trident fern is suffering and growth is stunted.
I assume that I reached some critical biomass in the tank and the amount of carbon available suddenly isn't sufficient anymore, causing the most vulnerable plants to fail. I've doubled my dose of EasyCarbo and I hope this will have a positive effect. It stupidly never occurred to me that there might be a hard limit to how much plant mass you can support without CO2 injection, well it seems I've reached it!
That size tank can work well with yeast.
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