hi Tom and others,
I am still figuring out how to get a beautiful planted tank and I want to share the things I have done and if possible get some advice.
So, a couple of months ago I had some BGA again and again. I was able to get rid of it by a combination of kanamycin and lowering a bit in PO4 (I know, it is not according to tom's philosophy.... but it worked)
Now I wanted to optimalize the CO2 concentration, so I made two outlets on the CO2 valve and connected that to two powerheads of 200 l/h. It gave a nice mist all over the the tank, but the result was a disaster: plants stopped growing and a lot of BBA appeared.
here some pics:
I think you can imagine that I didn't like this. So I changed the setup again. I setup again the good old external CO2 reactor and made two outlets to insert the CO2 at both ends of the tank. Further I installed a 600 l/h powerhead and connected the second CO2 outlet to the powerhead in order to get a nice mist. I see indeed again the tank covered in small bubbles...
Moreover, some plants are starting to grow again: the rotala, blyxa and mayaca are now doing fine. (see next post because I am limited to 4 pics).
So that's oke now. I see however that the stargrass can not branch or grow happily further. The leaves stay white and there is no growth. I do see new growth, but this arises from new sprouts that were originally below the gravel. So it will definately take some time to renew the bunch. But as you can see, the new growth is looking fine:
but why can the old stems not grow anymore???
So, overall the situation is better since I changed the CO2. But in general, it can be better. For instance, I still have quite some algae and (importantly) the downoi hasn't grown and that is not the most difficult plant. But why have I dificulties with this plant? Since I have it, it has not grown, just stayed the same size and is now slowely dying...
My thought was a Mg deficiency because the nerves are still green whereas the other parts are white.
Is it possible to give me some advice???
to do so I provide the most important information below (as well as a pic of the complete tank in the next reply)
tank: 160 liters
light: 3x 30 watt T8, for 10 hours
pH: 5.8
KH: 3 (accoring to water company and the testkit)
GH: 6-8
Ca: the water that I use for waterchanging contains 17 mg/l, on top of that I add 7 mg/l Ca per week to the tank, so the final concentration will be 17+14=31
Mg: the water that I use for waterchanging contains 3 mg/l. I do not add extra Mg. IS 3 MG/L TOO LOW????
PO4: 0.8 mg/l, I add 0.3 mg/l/day
NO3: not known due to iron interference with the testkit, but I add 3 mg/l/day
B: I add 0.05 mg/l boron per week for just in case....
flourish: 3-4 ml/day
flourish iron: 3-4 ml/day
I hope you can give some advice!
greetz,
yme
I am still figuring out how to get a beautiful planted tank and I want to share the things I have done and if possible get some advice.
So, a couple of months ago I had some BGA again and again. I was able to get rid of it by a combination of kanamycin and lowering a bit in PO4 (I know, it is not according to tom's philosophy.... but it worked)
Now I wanted to optimalize the CO2 concentration, so I made two outlets on the CO2 valve and connected that to two powerheads of 200 l/h. It gave a nice mist all over the the tank, but the result was a disaster: plants stopped growing and a lot of BBA appeared.
here some pics:
I think you can imagine that I didn't like this. So I changed the setup again. I setup again the good old external CO2 reactor and made two outlets to insert the CO2 at both ends of the tank. Further I installed a 600 l/h powerhead and connected the second CO2 outlet to the powerhead in order to get a nice mist. I see indeed again the tank covered in small bubbles...
Moreover, some plants are starting to grow again: the rotala, blyxa and mayaca are now doing fine. (see next post because I am limited to 4 pics).
So that's oke now. I see however that the stargrass can not branch or grow happily further. The leaves stay white and there is no growth. I do see new growth, but this arises from new sprouts that were originally below the gravel. So it will definately take some time to renew the bunch. But as you can see, the new growth is looking fine:
but why can the old stems not grow anymore???
So, overall the situation is better since I changed the CO2. But in general, it can be better. For instance, I still have quite some algae and (importantly) the downoi hasn't grown and that is not the most difficult plant. But why have I dificulties with this plant? Since I have it, it has not grown, just stayed the same size and is now slowely dying...
My thought was a Mg deficiency because the nerves are still green whereas the other parts are white.
Is it possible to give me some advice???
to do so I provide the most important information below (as well as a pic of the complete tank in the next reply)
tank: 160 liters
light: 3x 30 watt T8, for 10 hours
pH: 5.8
KH: 3 (accoring to water company and the testkit)
GH: 6-8
Ca: the water that I use for waterchanging contains 17 mg/l, on top of that I add 7 mg/l Ca per week to the tank, so the final concentration will be 17+14=31
Mg: the water that I use for waterchanging contains 3 mg/l. I do not add extra Mg. IS 3 MG/L TOO LOW????
PO4: 0.8 mg/l, I add 0.3 mg/l/day
NO3: not known due to iron interference with the testkit, but I add 3 mg/l/day
B: I add 0.05 mg/l boron per week for just in case....
flourish: 3-4 ml/day
flourish iron: 3-4 ml/day
I hope you can give some advice!
greetz,
yme