Simon's Planted Tank Journal

[Dubby]

Simon,

I would recommend adding amano shrimp to help do a cleanup act. Amano suggests adding as many as 20 from the start.

 

[simonbrown403]

Simon,

I would recommend adding amano shrimp to help do a cleanup act. Amano suggests adding as many as 20 from the start.

Seriously 20 shrimp in a juwel record 96 well more like 80ltr now after displacement.

Where could i get them from i have never seen them in any of the shops round here, and how much are they ususlly

 

[Bloo]

Where could i get them from i have never seen them in any of the shops round here, and how much are they ususlly

This shrimp thread in the buy/sell section will give you a good idea !

 

[simonbrown403]

Where could i get them from i have never seen them in any of the shops round here, and how much are they ususlly

This shrimp thread in the buy/sell section will give you a good idea !

Thanking you

 

[George Farmer]

Just to echo zig really.

Newly set up planted tanks will go through a somewhat inevitable algae bloom at some point. Have faith in your CO2 and dosing regime and the plants should soon take over any algae, assuming you have enough growth and bio-mass.

Algae eaters do help, especially in the early days. Otos are great for the soft, brown algae, shrimp and SAEs for most other types. Livebearers are also popular for thread/hair algae and are quite effective when they become hungry enough but obviously they prefer harder, alkaline water.

However, in the long-term it is the plants that will (should) control the algae and any algae eaters will become hungry. My shrimp and SAEs now rely on the staple diet of my Cardinals.

I look forward to seeing the progress.

 

[Dubby]

Where could i get them from i have never seen them in any of the shops round here, and how much are they ususlly

This shrimp thread in the buy/sell section will give you a good idea !

I am glad Bloozoo got here before me, otherwise simon would have been left banging his head for 2 days

I get them from various places around my place, mainly Maidenhead Aquatics who are pricey but keep them fairly regularly.

 

[simonbrown403]

I've given up with the forced reactor i made, i just cant seam to maintain a stable co2 supply with it, i get the co2 levels right and stable for a few days then the day after there completely different.

Instead i,ve gone back to the original spiral type diffuser i got with the system, lets see if this helps.

 

[simonbrown403]

Looking good so far since i changed over from the forced reactor to the jbl diffuser, i,ve managed to keep a stable co2 level. so i might be tempted for some fish soon.

I've also added a couple of reflectors to give the light a boost.



I been religiously sticking to my EI dosing schedule, but still the dreaded algae.... what am i doing wrong, is it because of the fluctuation co2 levels, or am i missing something else? or am i being impatient.

The brown diatom aigua i thing its called gas disappeared, but now i'm left with a fine green hair type stuff and green spot algae.



Here's a updated pic, i,ve been fiddling a little, the pigmi sword grass and the vallis are taking over the joint, they wont go to waste thought, i,m taking some of the runnners out a putting them in my new low light setup and in the wifes tanganyika tank, wast not wont not

 

[zig]

Not sure whats going on Simon, how much are you dosing right now in the tank each week, and is the algae only on the sword type plants or is it on the other plants as well, and where are you getting the green spot algae.

 

[simonbrown403]

Not sure whats going on Simon, how much are you dosing right now in the tank each week, and is the algae only on the sword type plants or is it on the other plants as well, and where are you getting the green spot algae.

The green spot is on the amazon sword plants, the fine green hair type stuff is everywhere, from floor to ceiling.

I,m dosing 5ppm no3 and 0.5ppm every other day and a trace mix inbetween that, which keeps myno3 at 10ppm and po4 between 1 and 1.5ppm.
So thats 20ml no3 and 2ml of po4, a week total.

I,ve been wondering if it has something to do with the new substrate and the heater cable, as a friend of mine was telling me about a problem he had, with the heater cable pumping the nutrients from the substrate into the water.

I,ve been testing 4 times a week before i dose no3 and po4, so i have't noticed a rise in these.
But at the beginning my po4 was quite high and didnt drop for 4 day.
Could it be and excess of iron from the substrate.

Water stats at moment are constant (as bellow) since i changed from the forced reactor to the JBL diffuser

PH.....6.8
KH.....7.5'
GH.....11'
NO3...10ppm
PO4...1.5ppm
CO2...35.7

I have some ottos in which i bought today

 

[zig]

How much trace are you dosing Simon? and when is the next water change due?

 

[simonbrown403]

5ml three times a week, the water change is due next wednesday.

 

[zig]

Ok Simon everything seems to be ok here from the stats you post but obviously something is not right, when you dose too much trace this can sometimes cause problems but 5ml 3x per week is not overdoing it by any means, but if i was to change any one parameter i would change this for now, i would cut right back dosing trace for now dont dose any more until the water change and after that i would dose only a tiny amount if any at all, the reason im suggesting this is because we dont know whats in the substrate it could be adding to the problem but i dont know for sure, but excess trace can cause problems that i do know and it could be coming from the substrate. So for now i would cut back dosing trace, do this for about a week and see if it makes any difference.

Green spot algae is usually caused by lack of phosphate but you will also usually see it on the glass of the aquarium, i would dose a little bit more phosphate eack week and see if this improves, the existing green spot will not disappear from the extra dosing it will only prevent fresh algae from appearing, i usually judge by looking at my glass if my phosphate levels are low and would up it accordingly, but im surprised you are seeing it TBH at the levels you have, if i dose 1 ppm po4 3x per week i never see green spot algae, but everyones tank is different, just up the levels a little bit and wait and see if it improves.

I would continue to dose phosphate and nitrate and cut back on the trace for now, maybe there is something in the substrate dont forget its a brand new product and hasnt been road tested by hobbyists as such.

Up date the thread in a week or so and let us know how its going but i would water changes as normal and keep the co2 steady and obviously keep removing the algae as much as you can.

 

[simonbrown403]

Ok Simon everything seems to be ok here from the stats you post but obviously something is not right, when you dose too much trace this can sometimes cause problems but 5ml 3x per week is not overdoing it by any means, but if i was to change any one parameter i would change this for now, i would cut right back dosing trace for now dont dose any more until the water change and after that i would dose only a tiny amount if any at all, the reason im suggesting this is because we dont know whats in the substrate it could be adding to the problem but i dont know for sure, but excess trace can cause problems that i do know and it could be coming from the substrate. So for now i would cut back dosing trace, do this for about a week and see if it makes any difference.

Green spot algae is usually caused by lack of phosphate but you will also usually see it on the glass of the aquarium, i would dose a little bit more phosphate eack week and see if this improves, the existing green spot will not disappear from the extra dosing it will only prevent fresh algae from appearing, i usually judge by looking at my glass if my phosphate levels are low and would up it accordingly, but im surprised you are seeing it TBH at the levels you have, if i dose 1 ppm po4 3x per week i never see green spot algae, but everyones tank is different, just up the levels a little bit and wait and see if it improves.

I would continue to dose phosphate and nitrate and cut back on the trace for now, maybe there is something in the substrate dont forget its a brand new product and hasnt been road tested by hobbyists as such.

Up date the thread in a week or so and let us know how its going but i would water changes as normal and keep the co2 steady and obviously keep removing the algae as much as you can.

Thanks for the advice, il give it a go and report back in a week

 

[zig]

Hiya Simon

Im not suggesting we cut back on trace dosing for good just for a week and see what happens, im sure you know this but i just thought id clarify (makes me feel better) just see if the growth of the hair algae slows down at all.