From 48 To 180 In 3.0 Seconds Flat

[KkAaNnEe]

FF is right, I wouldn't jump to using l carbon anyway, although Stu (on here) has been using EasyCarbo with Vallis for a while

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yep the vallis waves around quite a lot actually. They are on for 7 hours at the moment but it hasn't been at 7 for very long was 6 until about...2 weeks ago maybe? But I confess I saw the growth before I increased the light.

 

[FishFanatic04]

hmm...well you may have been lacking co2 before the light increase and now it would be a little worse. The answer always seems to lead to co2 in these situations.

You could try a liquid form of it and see. Stu does great with his like KkAaNnEe said.

 

[Salam]

Are you baaaaack?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Okie dokie I'll order some liquid co2 today. Do I need to remove the affected leaves or will it maybe die off after I add the co2? Anyone want to reccommend a particular brand?

I did a water change last night and messed about with the bacopa as a few were floating around. I trimmed most of the long stems off so now they are really short and looking kind of lame! The bacopa, in general, doesn't seem to be thriving in my tank - some of them still aren't really rooting properly, oh well I'll keep at it! I must be doing something right because the vallis and crypts are doing really well OH! A couple of the bacopa plants have sent out little side shoots do I just wait until they get to a good size then pinch and replant?

I can't wait to get the wisteria out of my tank and I'm planning on buying a decent amount of plants weekend after next, dunno what though! I'll maybe post an update picture later tonight so we can have a family meeting about it

 

[sid_zie]

Hey AA,

Sorry to hear about your algae troubles. I really like your tank - as it matures it will look brilliant.

As for the liquid carbon, I've been using flourish Excel. I have no idea if it's the best brand, but it's doing ok for me.

I've never been able to grow Vallis, so not sure about taking off the dying leaves. But in general I think it's recommended to trim off dying leaves from plants.

Looking forward to more pics.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Thanks sid
The leaves are healthy, just covered in staghorn algae

should I also get a c02 level tester thingy?

Is this going to kill my vallis?

I'm scared!

 

[FishFanatic04]

Silly! Be patient with the bacopa, if you just cut the long bare stems off, it should encourage growth and rooting. The side shoots just have to be long enough to plant, but I like to wait until they are 4-6 inches.

I've heard good things about three different liquid carbons, Flourish excel, Easy Carbo, and one other which I can't for the life of me, get off the tip of my tongue {fingers?} Someone will know it.

You don't need to test for co2 unless you go with pressurized or DIY co2.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

WHAT IS THIS ABOMINATION!?!?

Everything evil in the world has invaded my tank.

 

[Man of fish]

You tell me!

 

[FishFanatic04]

What was that?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

pest. snail.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Yeah those suckers will survive an apocalypse, along with cockroaches.

 

[sid_zie]

(from my understanding) The liquid carbon is in a form that is toxic to algae - they dont have the ability to break down the liquid carbon molecule. While the plants can break it down and use it for growth. So it kind of works as a double-whammy.

I dont have a drop checker for CO2 in my tank, because the dose is kind of set and it will only stay in the water for 24 hours - so with daily dosing it cannot build up to harmful levels.

Over time, even if the carbon doesn't get rid of the algae it should stop new algae from growing and new plants will come through.

If the leaves are not dying then I guess you could leave them... Dying leaves should be removed because as the decompose they can cause ammonia (or something alse not good).

I think that's how it works, someone else can probably help better than me - and correct me if I'm wrong.

And good luck with the pest snails, it sure sounds like you have lots going on in your tank right now

 

[ian]

pretty good explanation Sidzie, other that liquid carbons are actually a very dangerous chemical. It's used in hospitals for sterilising equipment. The chemical name is glutaraldehyde, it kills algae as it is toxic to it. It acts also as a building block a little like actual C02 (not as good though, even Seachem and Easylife will agree). It is good stuff though, i have used it with vallis with good effect, as long as it's not overdosed.

Just remember that you are going to have to increase you N and P when you start dosing this though as the demands on the plants will be higher.