Cosmas.OS Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 Hello Everyone first time poster here. so 2 weeks back i had the bright idea to make a dirted tank for the purpose of experience, but with horrible impulse control i now have both a crinum and an aponogeton madagascar in it, the last week i started seeing black beard algae on the crinum, should i be worried? i am thinking of adding a cleaner fish but i feel as though the cycle might not be ready yet. i added some shrimplets that's doing well growing up in the tank. i was thinking of adding maybe a single florida flagfish or maybe a single SAE but if they eat all the shrimplets i will probably feel bad. thoughts? Tank Spec: 40 Gallon Temp 29 Degree celcius (84 degree Fahrenheit) PH, 7.7 TDS 210 Nitrate & Nitirie (not checked yet, will do after i buy another testing tube, the last one broke after i dropped it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 There are many folks here running organic soil tanks who can help. Can you please share some photos, and more details of your lighting, and filtration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmas.OS Posted September 14, 2020 Author Share Posted September 14, 2020 My lights are 48 watt diy leds which are on for 6 hours a day in the afternoon and sunlight for 1 hour in the morning, filtration is a single powerheas with cannister filled with coarse sponge filter. Attached are the setup pics and also blurry pics of what i think are bba tufts growing on the crinum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChefConfit Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 I recently had this problem in my dirted tank also on a crinum. I wound up trimming the worst of the leaves then spot treating the rest with Peroxide in one of those tiny syringes for baby medicine. The BBA turned pinkish a day or two later and then disappeared. I think the shrimp ate it. I also began dosing with excel to try and inhibit growth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 For the most part for green water I think patience is the key--but if it bugs you to insanity levels UV sterilizers are fast and cheap. BBA I have been manually removing (look at me, I am a flag fish!) but my one big lesson from setting up many new tanks over the past few months is that each one goes through a settling in stage and over reacting to that stage is just going to cause more problems than it really solves. If you successfully kill the green water, something else will take its place, possibly something more annoying, like thread algae... Right now, you just need more plants growing. While you are waiting for the roots of your substrate plants to get started I would add as many floating plants as possible. If something needs to take up nutrients, make it something you choose. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmas.OS Posted September 14, 2020 Author Share Posted September 14, 2020 Thats the advice i was looking for, since i am new i never actually took care of bba without the help of SAEs it's my first dirted tabk and i am quite beffidled on how to handle things, it is a new tank and most of the plants havent rooted properly so i was thinking of letting it run its course, qill the bba wither away eventually if i took care of the excess nutrients? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 7 hours ago, Cosmas.OS said: qill the bba wither away eventually if i took care of the excess nutrients? I don't know if it will actually LEAVE without being removed, the stuff is tough. But it should definitely stop growing, and then you can remove it bit by bit if necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 Also, BTW, I have aponogeton madagascar in a dirted tank with a sand cap and it LOVES it. So you should eventually have a happy happy plant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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