Pepere

I would ensure light photo period is limited to 8-9 hours total. On some lights that change color and intensity over time this is nigh unto impossible…. That is why on my Finnex planted plus I use a customized color spectrum setting and control the dimming and time period by a nicrew inline timer. I would eliminate the blue “moonlight” settings except for relatively shorter periods you are using it to enjoy the tank when main lighting period is over. But by the same token light settings are not the holy grail of algae control… reading, re reading, studying and implementing information on the 2 hr Aquarist website was a breakthrough on Algae control for me. https://www.2hraquarist.com/pages/algae-free the tank and substrate cleaning, filter servicing, plant trimming, flow, waterchanges, maintaining stable nutrients and hardness, etc are all important too… Plants alter their physiology to optimize for existing conditions. This causes growth to slow as energy is diverted to optimize. In a Co2 injected tank this takes about 10 days. On a non injected tank it can take longer, up to 6 weeks…. If you alter conditions again before plants optimize, you start the clock again… once plants are optimized to stable and good conditions, they tend to grow well and defend themselves well against algae and suck up nutrients. New growth tends to be optimized, old growth covered by Algae is probably not going to recover. It is probable being sacrificed by the plant.. trimming and removing those leaves removes algae that will not seed more algae…stops leaching waste organics that algae likes to feed on, allows better circulation of nutrients and flushing of waste organics, allows better light access to other plants etc,… Youtube presenters make it sound as easy as reduce your lighting and or nutrients. Ie two levers to control algae. Reality is that there is a whole lot more that can help…

Is it only algae growth on the glass? Or is there algae on the plants as well?

Cycling a tank without introducing cycled media generally took me about 6-8 weeks to get it to the point where it could metabolize a 2 ppm challenge dose of ammonia to 0 ammonia, o nitrites in 24 hours. It takes time for the bacteria colony to grow and mature. It would metabolize a 2 ppm challenge to 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite reliably, but not in 24 hours. Putting fish in now isnt going to speed up the process of that bacteria colony establishing itself and maturing. It is still going to take several weeks. It will make checking ammonia and nitrite levels and doing frequent water changes much more important. Bear in mind also that if you decide to treat the tank with quarantine meds, where the biofilter is so young, the beneficial bacteria could very well get wiled out by the meds. I have had that happen to me.

Bear in mind, when I say this generator can keep a fridge cold, that is if you have a typical freezer on top unit under 20 or so cubic feet that was made within the last 10years or so. One of these will consume roughly 1.5 kwhr per day and about360 watts when the motor is running. The generator has sufficient starting wattage to start one of these. If you have a large double door sliding drawer model, you might need a bigger generator…

I would agree on needing more flow if keeping high flow loving fish, though that can also be cheaply dealt with using an extra wavemaker or such. my enjoyment is more geared to the plant side of the tank and the 207 has plenty of flow for a 29 gallon to ensure good nutrient and CO2 dispersal as well as waste organics… If Fluval included the spray bar, you would still be paying for it through a higher purchase price…. As it is I paid for ceramic media, a pickup and a nozzle I am not using… Fluval sells rubber connectors that fit over the ribbed hoses. I use this to attach to the glass lily pipe and use stainless steel hose clamps to further secure it instead of a simple friction fit.

Well, certainly not my experience flow wise. With a spraybar and inline diffuser I am keeping all the bubbles nicely dispersed and in suspension. You can see the bubbles rising to the top and taken by the flow to the front of the glass and down and looking through the side of the tank you can see a circular gyre of bubbles…. And all the foliage in the tank is gently swaying… That is with a 207 on a 29 gallon tank and a 107 on a 20 high. I dont perceive any need for greater flow… i dont use the included pick up though. I use a glass lily pipe pickup with a surface skimmer instead. And yes, I doit with fluval ribbed hoses…

But have hesitated due to the price… I just bought a Sportsman inverter based generator perfectly sized for up to several fish tanks, keeping fridge cold, recharging electronics etc… It is only 800 watts running load and 1,000 watts start up load, so it isn’t going to run your whole house.. but it weighs around 30 pounds, is much quieter than non inverter based units and is on sale now from a reputable big box store for shipping for $169.99. Normally $299.00. It was enough for me to pull the trigger to add another generator for my business

On my 20 gallon high, I think the 107 is plenty. As fas as leaking goes, my suspicion is that failure to clean and relube the O Ring would be the greatest chance of failure, followed by a failure of the Aquastop valve. To that end, I would have replacements of both on hand, and replace them according to the maintenance schedule in the manual. o ring is recommended to be replaced every 6 months. If someone doesn't replace it for over a year and it starts to leak.. whose fault is that?

I think a 107 is fine under 29 gallons. I clean the filter on the first Saturday of every month, and when I do I clean and relube the o rings. And I have spare Orings and impeller on hand as well as a spare aquastop valve. I intend to replace the O ring every 6 months as the manual recommends. I have not had any leaks. I keep the foam for prefiltering and use quickclear polishing pads. You could use filter floss instead of the quick clear. I use nylon scrubbies in the other media trays instead of ceramic media..

A 107 would be fine then. Switching from the Tidal to the Fluval meant only having to service it once a month as opposed to every few days with the Tidal…

I had a Seachem Tidal 35 which I regard as a ridiculous waste of money… while it might have flow, it had precious little filtration as the vast majority of the flow bypassed the filter media through big holes in the basket… I replaced it with a Fluval 207 with a spray bar below the waters surface in my 29 gallon tank. It gives great circular flow and keeps injected CO2 in suspension and has dramatically increased biomedia capacity. I also have a 107 on my 20 high.. On a 40 gallon I would likely be looking at least at a 207 myself.

If continuing with fishless, I would monitor nitrites and water change as needed to keep it under 2 ppm. I would add another dose of ammonia when nitrites fall to under 0.5 ppm without a water change doing it. raising tank temp, adding extra aeration and adding some carbonates if kh is low can help the bacteria colony grow.

Water is going to take the path of least resistance. If it flows down the third uplift tube easiest, your flow through the substrate will be reduced. a few inches of coarse gravel is not much in the way of restriction. Fine sand would provide more… I would not be inclined to try to get my ugf plate system to provide surface skimming in addition,

The bacteria that metabolize ammonia to nitrite establishes itself quicker in my experience. The nitrite to nitrate bacteria seemed to take a whole lot longer. patience works… I would just be waiting right now…

First question, sounds like Algae of some sort. Second question? Yeah thats the 65,000 question…. How to get rid of it…. The most reliable way to get rid of it is to take all of the water out of the tank…. but fish dont do well with that… Lots of ideas and advice all over the internet on controlling algae… The most effective advice I have found is that found on the 2 hr aquarist web site… https://www.2hraquarist.com/blogs/algae-control