Can It Be Done? (long post)
- Thread starter GreenStuff
- Start date
Re: Can It Be Done? (long post)
More plants.....
Okay, I picked up some some ludwigia repens. I also got some Hydrocotyle verticillata which is probably not a great choice for my hard water, but we'll see how it works.
I added 5ml of Flouris too.
More plants.....
Okay, I picked up some some ludwigia repens. I also got some Hydrocotyle verticillata which is probably not a great choice for my hard water, but we'll see how it works.
I added 5ml of Flouris too.
Re: Can It Be Done? (long post)
I can see very slight amounts of green dust on the glass now and a few of the leaves from old plants have very slight bba, or it might be staghorn, hard to tell.
I added 1/4 tsp of KNO3 and 7 drops of Fleet and will remove some leaves.
I can see very slight amounts of green dust on the glass now and a few of the leaves from old plants have very slight bba, or it might be staghorn, hard to tell.
I added 1/4 tsp of KNO3 and 7 drops of Fleet and will remove some leaves.
Re: Can It Be Done? (long post)
I'm a little worried about the CO2. I have two Hagen ladders going full out (about 2.5 bubbles per second), and the fish are still fine. (Not that I WANT them to be stressed, but I'm waiting for a sign of when my CO2 is high enough)
Would a little Flourish Excel help in this situation?
I'm waiting for some riccia so I can create a stone.
I'm a little worried about the CO2. I have two Hagen ladders going full out (about 2.5 bubbles per second), and the fish are still fine. (Not that I WANT them to be stressed, but I'm waiting for a sign of when my CO2 is high enough)
Would a little Flourish Excel help in this situation?
I'm waiting for some riccia so I can create a stone.
Re: Can It Be Done? (long post)
GreenStuff, Boy, do I ever feel for you. I did the algae battle for only a few months, I can't imagine having it pester me for years. I guess I'm lucky, I stumbled upon Tom's advice and being totally ignorant
, gave it a try. Here's a website I put together that chronicles my first planted tank.
http://aquaria.info/members/ervis/
Looking at the pictures, I can see where Feb 9 was the turning point. The algae was there, just waiting for a chink in the armor for it to capitalize upon. The algae had been growing more and more up until that point. After Feb 9 though, I trimmed some of the more infested plants, vacuumed the dwarf hair grass of it's algal accumulation and made sure the C02 was going at 26ppm. Just a week later the algae was in submission, none of it has come back on the plants, and the stuff on the slate cave is being slowly eaten by the ottos.
The key factor in my so far success has been the addition of more plants, leaving them rooted so they can get a foot hold, and pouring on the C02. I dose a little bit of KNO3 and quite a bit of K, in the form of KCI. I have measurable PO4 at all times that comes from fish food. When the plants eat all of that, then I'll dose with momo potasium phosphate.
Keep at it buddy, techknowledgy and human perseverance will prevail!!
good luck,
steve
GreenStuff, Boy, do I ever feel for you. I did the algae battle for only a few months, I can't imagine having it pester me for years. I guess I'm lucky, I stumbled upon Tom's advice and being totally ignorant
, gave it a try. Here's a website I put together that chronicles my first planted tank.http://aquaria.info/members/ervis/
Looking at the pictures, I can see where Feb 9 was the turning point. The algae was there, just waiting for a chink in the armor for it to capitalize upon. The algae had been growing more and more up until that point. After Feb 9 though, I trimmed some of the more infested plants, vacuumed the dwarf hair grass of it's algal accumulation and made sure the C02 was going at 26ppm. Just a week later the algae was in submission, none of it has come back on the plants, and the stuff on the slate cave is being slowly eaten by the ottos.
The key factor in my so far success has been the addition of more plants, leaving them rooted so they can get a foot hold, and pouring on the C02. I dose a little bit of KNO3 and quite a bit of K, in the form of KCI. I have measurable PO4 at all times that comes from fish food. When the plants eat all of that, then I'll dose with momo potasium phosphate.
Keep at it buddy, techknowledgy and human perseverance will prevail!!
good luck,
steve
Re: Can It Be Done? (long post)
That's a nice looking tank, Steve. I'm staying with the IE method, keeping my fingers crossed and exercising great patients with mine right now. (Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap..... )
Thanks for sharing your journal. I really helps me to see the progress.
I added 5ml of Flourish this evening.
That's a nice looking tank, Steve. I'm staying with the IE method, keeping my fingers crossed and exercising great patients with mine right now. (Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.....
)Thanks for sharing your journal. I really helps me to see the progress.
I added 5ml of Flourish this evening.
Re: Can It Be Done? (long post)
I was supposed to add KNO3 and PO4 this morning but I decided to wait until this evening. Before I added it, I did the unthinkable. ......I tested the NO3. It seems to me to be awfully high. Crappy test kit is showing around 40.
Should I be concerned?
Let me guess, Tom. More CO2?
Two of my fish are not doing well and I think it's because of the Nitrates. One of them has redish gills and scales and sits in one spot kind of panting. (Now he's a pretty old fish; a phantom tetra about 4 years old and he probably can't take all these changes that I've made lately) The other fish is a dwarf Cichlid Ram with what appears to be hole in the head. (He's about 3 years old) The ottos, cories, and mollies seem to be fine.
So..... before I adjust anything, whether it be CO2 or NO3, are there any opinions out there?
The other question I have is this....
According to Tom, with 4 watts per gallon of lighting, I should be dosing 1/4 tsp KNO3 and about 8 drops of Fleet 3 times a week. (5ml of Flourish on alternate days). That's given that my CO2 is kept at around 30ppm. If the glass top that's between the lights and the water is covered in calcium stains, would I still dose that much? I guess what I mean is; would I still dose that amount, only less often, if I had less lighting?
Do others have glass tops between their lights and the water. I hate to remove it because the cat insists on sleeping up there, and I'm scared she might knock the lights into the water jumping up there without it.
I was supposed to add KNO3 and PO4 this morning but I decided to wait until this evening. Before I added it, I did the unthinkable. ......I tested the NO3. It seems to me to be awfully high. Crappy test kit is showing around 40.
Should I be concerned?
Let me guess, Tom. More CO2?
Two of my fish are not doing well and I think it's because of the Nitrates. One of them has redish gills and scales and sits in one spot kind of panting. (Now he's a pretty old fish; a phantom tetra about 4 years old and he probably can't take all these changes that I've made lately) The other fish is a dwarf Cichlid Ram with what appears to be hole in the head. (He's about 3 years old) The ottos, cories, and mollies seem to be fine.
So..... before I adjust anything, whether it be CO2 or NO3, are there any opinions out there?
The other question I have is this....
According to Tom, with 4 watts per gallon of lighting, I should be dosing 1/4 tsp KNO3 and about 8 drops of Fleet 3 times a week. (5ml of Flourish on alternate days). That's given that my CO2 is kept at around 30ppm. If the glass top that's between the lights and the water is covered in calcium stains, would I still dose that much? I guess what I mean is; would I still dose that amount, only less often, if I had less lighting?
Do others have glass tops between their lights and the water. I hate to remove it because the cat insists on sleeping up there, and I'm scared she might knock the lights into the water jumping up there without it.
Re: Can It Be Done? (long post)
I came to this stage too. Twice actually. The first time, I blindly added KNO3 and KH2SO4. Algae really took off the next day. The next time, after I added even more plants and had everything re-cleaned, I measured both N and P and found them to be in abundance. So, I ordered up some KCI and added pure Potassium. Then I began to see some plant growth and reduction of algae. Now, I add all three again to maintain a ration of NPK at 8:1:16 in ppm.
What Tom advises works, we just have to employ his advice at the right time with specific knowledge of our tank parameters. His advice works great if your tank has been fully planted for at least two weeks. And I mean FULLY. Every inch of the bottom has a plant that is healty and growing. Also, we need to know how our feeding regime is affecting the N and P. If we feed alot and have an abundance of N and P, then adding K will use up that surplus. Then we can start dosing all 3 to maintain the 8:1:16 ratio.
steve
GreenStuff said:
I came to this stage too. Twice actually. The first time, I blindly added KNO3 and KH2SO4. Algae really took off the next day. The next time, after I added even more plants and had everything re-cleaned, I measured both N and P and found them to be in abundance. So, I ordered up some KCI and added pure Potassium. Then I began to see some plant growth and reduction of algae. Now, I add all three again to maintain a ration of NPK at 8:1:16 in ppm.
What Tom advises works, we just have to employ his advice at the right time with specific knowledge of our tank parameters. His advice works great if your tank has been fully planted for at least two weeks. And I mean FULLY. Every inch of the bottom has a plant that is healty and growing. Also, we need to know how our feeding regime is affecting the N and P. If we feed alot and have an abundance of N and P, then adding K will use up that surplus. Then we can start dosing all 3 to maintain the 8:1:16 ratio.
steve
Re: Can It Be Done? (long post)
40 ppm of nitrates will not hurt your fish. I have had 80 before. And the fish were still fine.
As far as the tank being fully planted, my tank is only about 30% planted, and I use EI. It works great...no algae. I guess everyone experiences are different...
40 ppm of nitrates will not hurt your fish. I have had 80 before. And the fish were still fine.
As far as the tank being fully planted, my tank is only about 30% planted, and I use EI. It works great...no algae. I guess everyone experiences are different...
Re: Can It Be Done? (long post)
What I was trying to stress (not to well I guess) is the plants have to be in abundace and established. And there's no need to add KNO3 if you already have 20-40 ppm. I took Tom's advice and dosed a little too early, when I didn't have enough plants and they hadn't been planted very long.
I chronicled my trial and errors on a web page, and you can see from the pictures that my tank was sparsley planted at first, and dosing only caused more algae problems. Now my tank is 50% percent planted and growing profusely. I could probably rip out half the plants and be okay because they are established.
For me, throwing in a bunch of ferts in January was not the answer as I still had plenty of nutrients in the water from fish food. By early Feb the algae was gaining a foothold. Only when I noticed a decline in the nutrients did I add any because that meant the plants were using the excess and needed more. Now that there are plenty of plants growing well I'm using EI and it works great.
steve
steve
fosteder said:
What I was trying to stress (not to well I guess) is the plants have to be in abundace and established. And there's no need to add KNO3 if you already have 20-40 ppm. I took Tom's advice and dosed a little too early, when I didn't have enough plants and they hadn't been planted very long.
I chronicled my trial and errors on a web page, and you can see from the pictures that my tank was sparsley planted at first, and dosing only caused more algae problems. Now my tank is 50% percent planted and growing profusely. I could probably rip out half the plants and be okay because they are established.
For me, throwing in a bunch of ferts in January was not the answer as I still had plenty of nutrients in the water from fish food. By early Feb the algae was gaining a foothold. Only when I noticed a decline in the nutrients did I add any because that meant the plants were using the excess and needed more. Now that there are plenty of plants growing well I'm using EI and it works great.
steve
steve
Re: Can It Be Done? (long post)
I'm now into week two and things are doing fairly well. I did lose the ram though.
The tank is fairly heavily planted and things are growing. Mostly the rotala, which has reached the top of the tank twice now. The ludwigia is growing too. There's a little bit of green dust and staghorn, but I'm just keeping at it and we'll see how it fairs out in a week or two.
I've never had less algae before, so there's a definate benefit to plants so far using EI. Can't say that for the fish though. It's so hard to know if they're being stressed. The others seem fine, but they can't tell me if they have sore gills.
I'm now into week two and things are doing fairly well. I did lose the ram though.
The tank is fairly heavily planted and things are growing. Mostly the rotala, which has reached the top of the tank twice now. The ludwigia is growing too. There's a little bit of green dust and staghorn, but I'm just keeping at it and we'll see how it fairs out in a week or two.
I've never had less algae before, so there's a definate benefit to plants so far using EI. Can't say that for the fish though. It's so hard to know if they're being stressed. The others seem fine, but they can't tell me if they have sore gills.