First non-CO2 tank: my experience

[GillesF]

Hi

I set up my father's non-CO2 tank (500l) about 3 months ago. It has a lot of crypts, java ferns and vallisneria in it, so easy plants. Some things that I have noticed though:

1) The water at my parent's home has a VERY high GH (+25/30). I've noticed that the sand soil is covered with what looks like "calcium flakes". What causes this? Is it the calcium in the water that breaks down and forms a clump?

2) I have two species of java ferns in the tank: the "normal" one and the "narrow". The normal version does much better than the narrow. The latter has a lot of browning and black spots (CO2). Is this becaue the "narrow" is a more sensitive species?

3) I have some algae: thread algae and beard algae on the leaves that are near the surface, brown algae on the glass near the bottom/halfway up. I know the first two are CO2 related because they have a higher compensation point at the surface (due to PAR increase). I could add some floating plants to counter this, but wouldn't this increase the brown dust algae which is sometimes correlated to low light?

Cheers
Gilles

 

[Gerryd]

#1 sounds like biogenic calcification...

 

[jerrybforl]

The brown spots on the normal JF is where the plantlets come from.

Brown algae may be diatoms. Just keep the filters clean, and get a cleaning crew...otos, shirmp, etc. It usually comes from new setups. Large WCs also help a lot. I would suggest 2-3 times a week 50>. Use purigen or a micron if you can. This will help catch the diatoms.

Hope this helps...

 

[GillesF]

I thought large WC's are a no-go for non-CO2 tanks?

And shouldn't the diatoms have disappeared already if they were caused by the new setup? The tank is over 3 months now ...

 

[aquabillpers]

Hi, Gilles,

Welcome to the NPT (Natural Planted Tank) world. We are in the minority here, but even so we are respected and liked. I think Tom has leanings in this direction, too - he is protective of us as he is to all relatively rare species.

I don't think that a lack of CO2 is causing your algae problem; a nutrient inbalance probably is. Crypts and Java ferns are slow growing; vals can be, Adding more fast growing plants like hygrofilas and hornwort should sop up the extra nutrients on which the green algae are feasting. American flag fish do a great job on removing hair algae.

How much light and what lind of light do you have?

Good luck!

Bill