Help: First Time Planted Tank Probs

[twin54]

Hi all,

First and foremost want to thank many of the reg posteres in this section for there great information! Many of you are the reason I finally decided to have a go at a "turquoise thumb"! Thus far I must say I love the idea that my entire tank will be alive for the first time ever. However atm I'm going through a rough patch with the newly planted tank and would love some help!

To start things off changed my substrate to sand form a previous gravel substrate. This was for 2 reasons 1) the look is just unbeatable imo and 2) My YO-YO loaches were hurting themselves trying to dig in the gravel and I hated seeing them in pain or worst seing one of them missing a barb! The first day or 2 I had bad cloudy water but after that it settled and for aprox 2 weeks was a crystal clear home even when the loaches made some of the sand go flying while digging!

The aquascape was rather band and the loaches seemed to try and hide under the rock 100% of the time with th elack of plants in the tank but rather than get fake ones I opted to have a go at live. With some reasearch and talking for a good hour with an amazing hobbyist / owner of a LFS I setteled on 3 plants.

After getting home and following there instructions I planted all the plants and naturally after stiring up the sand the water was a tad cloudy. However this cleared up in abotu 2 hours and it was beutifull! Since then however I have not been able to keep the water clear! Its a terrible white cloudy color. I have been doing 25% water changes and been keepign an eye on the filter to ensure there is no plant material trapped inside.

Here are my wter stats that I know

PH 7.0
Nitrite : 0ppm
Amonia : 0ppm
Nitrates: 0-5 ppm

As well I keep the temperature at 28 degrees celcius.

I really dont know why it's so cloudy or how to fix it Any help / solutions would be much apreciated!

Thank you in advance for any and all help provided!

**Here is a link to the tank setup now and a list of the plants with ictures of them in tank : <a href="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=294062" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=294062</a>

 

[twin54]

So I just did another 15% water change...I pulled out the filter and everythign was fine nothign cloged or lodged in it....However when I poored out the water from my bucket it was clearly a turquoise color. I'm guessing I have rotting or dieing plants that are decomposing and tinting the water a grenish and thus making it look cloudy??

The fish and plants all seem fine however so I'm really baffled

 

[three-fingers]

If it's not just silt from the sand, it could be a minor bacterial bloom from stirring up the substrate and/or some parts of the plants dying off, nothing really to worry about though. Just carry on and if it bothers you, do 50-75% water changes .

Are you adding any fertiliser for your plants? Two out of three of your plants (the sword in the middle and crypt on the right) are relatively heavy root feeders, and if you aren't dosing the water coulomb with a decent fertiliser (something that provides nitrogen, phosphorous and phosphate+ the trace elements), you should at the very least get some root tabs in there underneath them, as being a new substrate it will be relativly clean right now and not provide them with any nutrients.

Your other plant on the left, the hygro, could benefit from this but by no means needs it.

Another few tips, the crypt you have there is actually many plants, and should be divided up and planted a couple of inches apart for best affect. They are also notorious for 'crypt melt' when added to a different tank, so with each plant cut back any leaves that look anything less than perfect before planting - and cut off any that start to go bad later if they do.

Also, it's usually better to start off with lots of plants including a few fast growers when starting off with plants, this better avoids algae .

The hygro (Hygrophila polysperma) is a fast growing one, but you could probably go with another couple of similarly easy fast growers for best effect. Egeria densa (known as elodea) would be a good option, as would something like hornwort or cabomba. Lot's of options .

Btw, if the cloudiness persists, try adding carbon to the filter for 24 hours, but don't keep it there as it's a bit of a waste of space once used for a short period and is not needed anyway .

Hope it clears up .

 

[Super Dude]

is it pea soup green? if it is, it's probably the worst kind of algae.


i used a blackout and particle clumper.

 

[twin54]

Thank you so much three fingers! I was scared to pull the crypt appart...I tried to pull one leaf out and the root snapped ther so intert twined. They were in a small pot when I bought them However if it will really help then I will pull each one appart however so far the crypt is the one plant that seems to be doing the best "stretching" up to the light and staying super green.

I didn't get any tablets but I have umm liquid "flourish" that from what I can read needs to be dosed eash week and again uppon water changes. However if there deep root feeders I can see how having the noutrients in the water and not at thre roots can help but wont be as effective if they soak up from the roots

I was also thinking of going with java moss to cover the rocks...I'm sure the yoyo's would love anythign that provides more shade but I just dont want to go overboard on plants as I dont have the funds for a CO2 setup and DYI experiments and myself normally end up in the trash becuase they dont work

Anyhow thank you so much for the tips I will keep up clearing the dead leaves (mostly from the hygro) and I will give it a week of peace and see if it settels. So long as its not dangerous for my fish I dont care if it doesnt look good so long as it's whats needed

 

[twin54]

Ok well its been a week and here we go some new pics to show you all what has been happening!

First off...just cant kill the ###### cloud...at first thoguth maybe it was the sand but each time I do a water change its the same thing...water has an aqua tint to it and previously for 2 weeks with the sand in the tank ran crystal clear...only after the plants were added did this start.

I think they hygro may be rotting and as it does its turning the water greenish but I'm a newbie to plants so I got no clue really whats going on!

Pictures are worth 1000 words and in my case even more!! PLZ HELP

Looking from right side to left...you cant see through

Tried to take a picture with the flash and this is whats refelcted!

However as you can see here its not a huge algae prob and the water isnt pea soup green! As well the crypts are doing way better now that they have been replanted sepperatly!

The sword is starting to stretch and some new very green leaves are unfolding

Got some java moss started as well....the yoyos love the shade but are intent on kicking up sad on the moss 24/7...I keep cleaning it of but 5 mins later more sand kicked up!

Finally I think these may be the culprit of my cloud problems....not sure what to do it's liek each time I remove a leaf and get my hand out I see another dead leaf arggg

Once again any and all help will be much apreciated!!

 

[lljdma06]

My guess is that you had an ammonia spike when you disturbed the substrate when adding the plants. Not enough to harm the fish, but enough to cause an algae bloom. This goes away when the ammonia does. Which means you have to perform water changes. If you're dosing, continue to dose normally, just do water changes to reduce ammonia. It wasn't your plants, it's not any ferts, It was you messing around with your substrate to plant the plants.

It will go away. I promise.

llj

 

[twin54]

My guess is that you had an ammonia spike when you disturbed the substrate when adding the plants. Not enough to harm the fish, but enough to cause an algae bloom. This goes away when the ammonia does. Which means you have to perform water changes. If you're dosing, continue to dose normally, just do water changes to reduce ammonia. It wasn't your plants, it's not any ferts, It was you messing around with your substrate to plant the plants.

It will go away. I promise.

llj

Hmmm ok I never saw a spike in amonia on the api test ...I was taking reedings everyday after to be sure the fish were safe I'm crazy like that....figure I not only spend good $$ on them but there lives are in my hands least I can do is be sure there safe

anyhow if its just a bloom then I will keep up the water changes and wait till it all clears up!! ATM I have been doing up to 50% water changes as recomended by 3 fingers....water seems pretty clear after that bu about an hour laer back to cloudy hell....not sure I want to take out more water than that though

 

[lljdma06]

Hmmm ok I never saw a spike in amonia on the api test ...I was taking reedings everyday after to be sure the fish were safe I'm crazy like that....figure I not only spend good $$ on them but there lives are in my hands least I can do is be sure there safe

anyhow if its just a bloom then I will keep up the water changes and wait till it all clears up!! ATM I have been doing up to 50% water changes as recomended by 3 fingers....water seems pretty clear after that bu about an hour laer back to cloudy hell....not sure I want to take out more water than that though

Your tests only register ammonia levels at the point where fish feel their toxicity, usually .25ppm, which causes a certain about of fish stress. The ammonia needed to cause an algae spike will not register in a test kit, as it is less.

 

[twin54]

Hmmm ok I never saw a spike in amonia on the api test ...I was taking reedings everyday after to be sure the fish were safe I'm crazy like that....figure I not only spend good $$ on them but there lives are in my hands least I can do is be sure there safe

anyhow if its just a bloom then I will keep up the water changes and wait till it all clears up!! ATM I have been doing up to 50% water changes as recomended by 3 fingers....water seems pretty clear after that bu about an hour laer back to cloudy hell....not sure I want to take out more water than that though

Your tests only register ammonia levels at the point where fish feel their toxicity, usually .25ppm, which causes a certain about of fish stress. The ammonia needed to cause an algae spike will not register in a test kit, as it is less.

Aaaa good to know!! Thanks =D