Tom,,,, Help. Not sure what to do.

Re: Tom,,,, Help. Not sure what to do.

Well,

Looks very much like poor CO2.
I'd do this:

Add
1/2 teaspoon KNO3 3-4x a week
1/8th of the KH2PO4 3-4x a week

Traces: 10mls 3x a week, TMG etc

MgSO4, 1/2 teaspoon or so after the water change.
Then maybe once more mid week.

I'd work on CO2.
There's no simple way to mess with it other than add it and watch the plant's, you likely know what good vigorous growth should look like.

It'll take the plants a little to get back to growing well, but keep an eye on them and the fish.

You can do more frequent water changes, say 2x a week to whip a tank back into shape.

You can also dose more(mega dosing) of about any fert the day prior to a large water change.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Tom,,,, Help. Not sure what to do.

JR,

About 1 bubble per second is a typical rate through a 1/8" tubing(ID) for a tank this size with this amount of light.

Increase surface movement also to help provide some more wiggle room for your fish health... unless it's fairly fast and tubulant now.

You can add more CO2 to account for the lost and this is the other end of respond times, the degassing when the lights go off and good O2 at night. The good part in early part of the day with current: good mixing through out the tank.

So while it waste CO2 to some degree, it also helps mix it and degas an excess fast.

There is always a trade off, but this is one is worth while I believe and my own practical experinece also seems to show this over the long term.

The real question are: are the trades off worth while in terms of your goal and method you want to use.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Tom,,,, Help. Not sure what to do.

Well, higher than ambient levels of O2 are not really that good or bad.

I'm not sure he does the aeration at night because of the reasons I suggest, he thinks it's the plants that use up all the O2, that is not even remotely close. It's the bacteria and perhaps the fish if you have a high fish load.

I'm not suggestion night time aeration also.

I'm suggesting more current and flow all the time, not just at night.
that improves the CO2 response time, aeration only degasses and is a poor choice for mixing CO2 during the day.

regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Tom,,,, Help. Not sure what to do.

I do not think this makes much difference.
It's also hard to avoid unless you are real good about maintaining the same surface level in the tank(you add top off water 2-3x a week etc), or have a Wet/dry surface skimmer/sump system.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Tom,,,, Help. Not sure what to do.

Yes, you are right to some degree.
Not an easy thing to quanatify though.

Still, I like some surface turbulance and current.
Well mixed tanks run better IMO.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Tom,,,, Help. Not sure what to do.

This hobby will humble you well.

Never forget that.

We do anyhow, but still, try not too
Do not be so hard headed to admit overlooking some rather simple issues, often when the tank goes funny, it's that. On rare ocassions, it is something special. But those ARE RARE so look elsewhere first.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Tom,,,, Help. Not sure what to do.

Tell me what your plants are doing.
And mention what species of algae you are talking about.

Does not sound like CO2 in your case.
SAE's will help as will Amano shrimps.
They go well with the fish you have.



Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Tom,,,, Help. Not sure what to do.

Ignore last post...

Add at least 10-15mls of TMG 3x a week.

Plants look very pale and if you are adding that much NO3 etc, then that's not causing that(not anything to do with NPK).
Add some more plants => cheap stem plants
Stick with the dosing routine I suggested
Add some Amano shrimps also.

Are you keeping up on things or neglecting the tank in between?
The CO2 still looks poor. Adding more CO2 will not cause algae.

Try one of those DIY internal reactors for now, I think you'll find they are easy to adjust and stabilize the tank's CO2.

Are the fine needle stem plants pearling the last 1/2 of the day?
CO2 is very critical at high KH's I've found.
Low Kh's as well but not quite as critical.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Tom,,,, Help. Not sure what to do.

Sounds about right then as far CO2(you have some decent surface movement?), add more PO4 and TMG and see how things look here. Keep simple tabs on the GH and I think the tank should fill in and do pretty good from here.

Just stick with it and keep on top of it for 2-3 weeks.

Regards,
Tom Barr