i cannot grow plants

[StephenJewelRio]

Update for the 25/05
nitrite 0
amonia 0
nitrate 10 higher than normal
ph 6.4 lower than normal which 6.6

new Plants added on the 22/05as per earlier post
dI’d a 20% water change before putting new plants in
stoped the liquid carbon, added 2 of the Flourish root tabs and dosed 1/2 the fertilizer

should I be worried about PH, I will check again this afternoon as I normally check late afternoon

should I be worried about nitrates increasing, although starting to notice a reduction in Algae.

i am not noticing any growth in plants yet, is that impatiance

Updated photos from the last few days
22nd May

23rd May

24th May

 

[LostBear]

Gorgeous tank set up.

Fingers crossed your plants flourish now you are making some changes.

 

[seangee]

Update for the 25/05
nitrite 0
amonia 0
nitrate 10 higher than normal
ph 6.4 lower than normal which 6.6

new Plants added on the 22/05as per earlier post
dI’d a 20% water change before putting new plants in
stoped the liquid carbon, added 2 of the Flourish root tabs and dosed 1/2 the fertilizer

pH varies over the day so nothing to worry about. Nitrate increasing is a sign that you aren't changing enough water. In this tank I dose exactly as described earlier with nothing else. I do, however change 75% of the water every single week. Pic is about a week old.

 

[Byron]

@seangee answered the pH question, I will just explain the "why" so you know.

During the daylight period (when the tank light is on) plants photosynthesize (if the light is of sufficient intensity for the plant species). This uses the CO2 dissolved in the tank water as their source of carbon (some plants use bicarbonates as well, that doesn't matter here). This dissolved CO2 occurs from the continual respiration of fish, plants and some bacteria species and this is ongoing 24/7. The primary source of CO2 is the breakdown of the organics in the substrate by various bacteria, and this can be quite substantial. The plants may use all of the available CO2 during the daylight period, as they will photosynthesize to the max if everything is available especially the light intensity. As soon as something becomes scarce, they slow. This is termed Liebig's Law of Minimum, that plant growth is dependant not upon the excess but upon the one factor that is minimal.

During darkness, when the tank light is out, photosynthesis slows because of the "minimum" mentioned...light now becomes the limiting factor to photosynthesis. During the dark period, CO2 rebuilds. When the tank light comes on for the next "day," photosynthesis begins again and uses the now prevalent CO2.

To the pH. As CO2 increases, it creates carbonic acid, and this lowers the pH as the water becomes more acidic. The highest level of CO2 will be at the end of the "dark" period just before the tank lighting comes on. So testing pH close to that point in the day will give you the lowest pH reading. Testing pH later in the day, closer to the end of the tank light "daylight" period, will give you the highest pH reading because by then most of the CO2 has been utilized so the water is less acidic. This is why it is important to always test pH at roughly the same time of day, if you want to get an idea of where it is generally. I always test in the early morning (just after tank lights have been on for say 30 or so minutes or a bit longer) so I can see what the pH is doing day to day without the influence of the day/night CO2 cycle. In my tanks, which have been running for months and years, the pH at the same time of day is always nearly identical, maybe a variation of one or two decimal places some weeks. That is indicative of stability, and what you want to see.

The diurnal pH fluctuation is normal and natural. It occurs in habitat waters. Usuallky it will be somewhere between two and four decimal places, say from 6.2 at daybreak up to 6.5 or maybe 6.6 by the end of the "day" period, then during darkness it lowers back down. This is no problem for fish; as I said it is natural.

 

[Martyn87]

Hi Stephen love the set up. Plants will look great as they start to bed in. Don't forget most plants are grown out of the water so they take time to acclimitise to your tank and a submerged environment. The leaf shape may entirely change by the time its fully acclimated.

Your nitrate was previously between 0-10 ppm I presume its getting upto 20ppm now, monitor this as you may have to cut back on the flourish marginally. As long as your weekly WC takes you back down to 10ppm that's fine, just keep an eye on it.

Just remember as the plants start to bed in and flourish you will need to increase your ferts dosing, but your plants will tell you when. You'll notice your nitrate is getting lower at the end of each week, that's when you dose a bit more.

Keep dosing, keep water changing and you'll be fine.

 

[Martyn87]

Stephen also remember your plants are slow growers, they won't explode overnight. Just relax forget about it, do your maintenance and enjoy!

 

[StephenJewelRio]

Thanks again for the feedback, will Keep a log for the next few days and see how things alter. Will post again at the weekend.

 

[StephenJewelRio]

just over a week of monitoring ... You can see the result below in the table. parameters remain stable. 22nd May is day 0 when the maintenance routine changed. Given that the tank seems to be stable and constant, i am going to maintain the same routine.

I shall keep the same dosing of 1/2 of Ferts (Flourish) after each water change for another week, given that the nitrates have not moved from 10, algae on plants has slowed and i have been 24 hours of no algae on glass - (hoping the algae is getting beat -

	day 0	water change	root tab	fertiliser	PH	Nitrate
22-May	0	20%	2	yes	6.4	10
23-May	1	No	0	0	6.4	10
24-May	2	No	0	0	6.4	10
25-May	3	No	0	0	6.4	10
26-May	4	No	0	0	6.4	5-10
27-May	5	No	0	0	6.4	10
28-May	6	No	0	0	6.4	10
29-May	7	No	0	0	6.4	10
30-May	0	30-35%	0	yes	6.4	10	No visible additional Algae growth on plants (seemed to have slowed) glass algae growth seems to have slowed (scraped off (felt sticky on glass)
31-May	1	No	0	0	6.4	10	24 hours of water change and clean, no algae growth on glass

Pictures, before the water change yesterday.

questions:
1. thoughts on the algae on the glass ?
2. I know its better to have a stable PH, which i seem to have. the PH from the tap is 7.2 and i have wood which i know can buffer and lower PH - given i am now starting to get a stable tank, should i look at raising the PH a little to try and make it less acidic?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I'm glad your parameters are stable. You have a gorgeous tank.

The plants seem to be doing better!

 

[Essjay]

Don't do anything to change the pH. The fish and shrimps you have are fine at your pH. GH is more important to fish than pH.

Messing with pH is never a good idea unless the GH and KH are also changed but you have fish which do not need higher GH.

 

[seangee]

Looking much better. All of your fish are soft water fish. Don't touch the pH, just let it find its own level. The tank I posted earlier in the thread has a pH of around 5.3. I really don't understand why the test manufacturers find it neccessary to quote an ideal range. This varies from species to species and all of your fish are better off at 6.4 than 7.2.

 

[seangee]

questions:
1. thoughts on the algae on the glass ?

How long are your lights in for now? When setting up a new tank I usually start with a short period and increase by half an hour every day until i see algae on the glass. Then I turn it back to the previous day's setting. A bit of algae after a week is OK and easily dealt with while you are doing the water change. I try to avoid any more than that.

 

[StephenJewelRio]

Thanks everyone.@ seangee lights still on for 8 hours, not changed the duration yet.

 

[Byron]

I agree with @essjay and @seangee on the pH and such. Leave it alone, you clearly have the beginnings of a stable biological system, so accept it and work with it, not against it.

On the glass algae. Surfaces under water develop a biofilm. If it feels sticky that is the biofilm. Bacteria of various species adhere to this, microscopic critters live in it (which is why so many fish can be seen browsing or grazing surfaces, they are eating these critters like infusoria) and algae grows in it. On the front glass, you should use a sponge-type scraper or just a sponge with your hand and clean the inside of the front glass at every water change. Even if you don't see anything, the biofilm is beginning and algae will appear, so cleaning it at every water change stops it before it even starts. The side glass panels and the back glass can be done, up to you. I don't like seeing thick green algae on these but some do. This brings me to the light photoperiod.

Reducing it shold help with the glass algae. None of my tanks now get anywhere near what I am seeing in the photos, and again that is not necessarily bad, but it does suggest that excess nutrients and excess light is present, and this can increase if not brought under control at the start. My tank lights are on seven hours each day, timer controlled so it is consistent and this is important too (the consistent light period).

 

[Martyn87]

Hi Stephen looking really good, the extra plant matter is really helping to suck up the nutrients.

As every one else has noted, don't play with the ph, it is what it is and that's fine! Just keep up with your maintenance.

Is the algae green or brown?