Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 11:01 am Post subject: Re: hellfire - first step into aquascaping, a log.
1 month . the plants are doing well, dwarf hair grass still to carpet completely. slow growth in the shadows.algae under control. fishes are peaceful. lost a few bacopas, nightmare to clean the dwarf hairgrass.photo period increased to 6 hours.
Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 6:21 pm Post subject: Re: hellfire - first step into aquascaping, a log.
saw new signs of hair algae and some spot algae on the glass. I have been using ferts regularly and felt needed some more stem plants so added a few in the background. hoping they will compete with the algae and bring it under control. planning on trimming down the hair grass this weekend.also experimenting growing moss tree on two chopsticks.its easier to relocate and trim them this way.
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 6:08 pm Post subject: Re: hellfire - first step into aquascaping, a log.
algae seems to have overtaken the tank. have hair algae growing rampant on dwarf hairgrass and black beard algae on plant leaf edges, mainly on anubis. i have been doing regular water changes (once weekly 50%), regular fettilizing and co2 is on throughout the day. can somebody help with this
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 9:27 pm Post subject: Re: hellfire - first step into aquascaping, a log.
pasted from internet
you should get a couple of algae eaters they wont harm plants and stay small, here is a article that i copied so here - step 1 Change water, from one fifth to two thirds of it per day, depending on how turbid it is, and whether odour is included. Algae blooms are a symptom of too much plant fertilizer in water. If you love aquatic life, then you will learn to love your bucket. step 2 Also try feeding your fish less. You may be overfeeding them, and when excess food or fish poop sits in the tank, it decomposes into a rich algae food. Generally speaking, only feed your fish as much as they can eat in about three minutes. step 3 If your tank does not contain plants, or only contains low-light plants such as java moss, try lessening the time the tank stays lit. step 4 If your tank does not contain plants, or if it is sparsely planted, try adding a plant or two. These will 'eat' up extra nutrients and help starve algae. step 5 If the water stays green, wrap your tank in black cloth or paper and turn off the light for a few days. Fish do not need light. They naturally get darkness. Plants can survive several days without light. Many species of plankton cannot. This is only a temporary step in comparison to step one
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 10:25 am Post subject: Re: hellfire - first step into aquascaping, a log.
looks like your drop checker colour is still in blue.. so, not enough co2.
whats your fertilizer dosing schedule and what type..
Lights... Can you give exact details, I dont believe that they are 40w.. 40w are 4 foot length normally..
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 1:41 pm Post subject: Re: hellfire - first step into aquascaping, a log.
Alright, this is how i'll go about this situation;
1) Have you cleaned the filter since setup?, the organic build up can trigger algae. Also the flow is reduced substantially.
2) I see you are using a ceramic disc for diffusing CO2, I bet you are better off using an inline CO2 reactor or atomizer for your tank size. IMO increasing the bps for single ceramic disc diffuser is mere wastage of CO2. May be you can add one more disc with a splitter. You have to ensure a proper green / lime yellow indicator.
3) Cut and remove the dead and infected leaves or plants altogether. You are only saving the plants / tank this way. IME with proper maintenance and dosing regime they'll bounce back soon.
4) Stick to fertilizer dosing recommended by the manufacturer of your ferts. Your plants are growing / carpeting with existing lights, so a good sign that you have sufficient of one of the trio - Lights , CO2 & Ferts. Again worth mentioning, get the CO2 right.
5) Spot treat algae with H2O2 and physically remove as much as possible with a tooth brush. The algae will turn white / brown after u treat with H2O2. Repeat this step a couple of days whenever you see algae turning green. If you still have SAE which are not feeding on fish food, they'll do good job at keeping algae at check. IME if other things mentioned above are taken care of then this treatment wont be required for more than a week.
So basically clean the filter, ensure Green CO2 indicator, remove dying leaves, spot treat with H2O2 for a while and manually remove algae.
Hope this will help..
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 1:46 pm Post subject: Re: hellfire - first step into aquascaping, a log.
thank you for your kind reply.
as of now i am using cal aqualabs chrome (micronutrients), shine(pottasium) and green (nitrogen,pottasium and phosporous) 1 pump of each alternate days.
CO2 is running at 3 bubbles/sec throughout the day
water changes every Sunday. about 50%
plants seem healthy with no signs of deficiency and are growing at a rapid rate. have trimmed the hairgrass once and the algae problem started immediately afterwards.the only way ti remove the agae from the hair grass seems to be to trim it real low, but am afraid that might again cause an algae boom.
the lights are 40W as stated on the tubes. i keep them on for 12hrs with a 2 hr break in between.
pretty sure am not overfeeding as i feed once daily and the food is over in roughly about three minutes, never more.
any economical way to check the nutrient levels in the tank? i suspect the problem lies with fertilizing/ too much organics in the water ( added a few stem plants that lost a lot of original leaves)
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 1:50 pm Post subject: Re: hellfire - first step into aquascaping, a log.
@Da_vipin spot on. have cleaned the filter once and the flow seems good. but now i have an action plan as you have laid out.will try it out and update.
Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 2:21 pm Post subject: Re: hellfire - first step into aquascaping, a log.
Add some small plants like s.repens towards the edge of the wood.the transition from forest to grassland is too abrupt. Small plants will smoothen it out.
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. the plants are doing well, dwarf hair grass still to carpet completely. slow growth in the shadows.algae under control. fishes are peaceful. lost a few bacopas, nightmare to clean the dwarf hairgrass.photo period increased to 6 hours.
spot on. have cleaned the filter once and the flow seems good. but now i have an action plan as you have laid out.will try it out and update.
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