Ikantspell4 Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 (edited) I really want to get a great planted tank but I can't seem to be able to feed my plans without feeding algae. I wouldn't mind the algae but it grows on the plans and suffocates them. My lights are on timers and I'm adding flourish liquid fertilizer and root tabs. I've been trying to keep NO3 around 20 to 30 ppm and I've been pretty successful. My lights are on a timer and go on and off so they're on 8 of 12 hours (two separate two hour breaks in the day) I started using some gluteraldrahyde (the ingredient in easy carbon) to stop the algae and it's slowly killing it back but I'm afraid 1) it's harming the thin leaf plants 2) as soon as I reduce the dose I'm going right back to growing more algae. What should my next steps be? Edited October 13, 2020 by Ikantspell4 Added photo of my dying algae and sad plants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candi Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 Try planting heavier. When we plant heavy, the plants can consume the nutrients and out compete the algae. You can find balance easier this way. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantspell4 Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 Thanks for the suggestion Candi. This is one of two tanks that actually have a lot of baby plants. To increase the plant load and reduce the light I have an other that's FULL of duckweed and frog weed but both tanks have the same problem. In the frogweed tank I can't keep any nitrates in it the floating plants are gobbling it up so fast but still really bad algae. What's the next parameter I can try to adjust? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantspell4 Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 Still trying to figure out what to try next. I did add some of the floating plants from my other tank to increase the plant load. I'm kinda overwhelmed with possible things to check next. I'm already watching nitrates, hardness and ph. I think the next thing is phosphorus or potassium or maybe both. What other stuff can I do. I've murdered lots of plants and feel like these are heading that way. Anyone more experienced than me have advice? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBOzzie59 Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 What is your light cycle, maybe shorten it? Are you running any blue, if so turn blue off. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantspell4 Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 Thanks I will adjust the lights back. I've got 2 of my tanks planted and the one with floating plants is doing "better" I think the shade is helpful. My lights come off and on so they're on 8 hours of the day with 2 long pauses in them. I'll try turning them down and if that's not enough I'll shorten the time. How long is a good time between making a change to determine if it's helping. I feel like in the past I've waited to long and by the time I reacted it was to late. 3 days? 1 week? Longer? Any plants wizards have a timeframe they go by? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 What kind of plants do you have? Do any of them require CO2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantspell4 Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 I was told they would do ok in a low tec tank but I'm not opposed to getting co2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantspell4 Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 (edited) Edited October 21, 2020 by Ikantspell4 Added photo of my plants tags ther Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantspell4 Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 (edited) I also have lots of frogbit and duckweed friend hobbits gave me bulbs and a bunch of unnamed stem plants Edited October 21, 2020 by Ikantspell4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica. Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 (edited) You're a step ahead in that you know your issue is balancing the tank. Your plants all look easy to grow and low tech, based on the tags you posted above. So, lack of injected co2 isn't your issue. Balancing light, ferts and plant load is. A few things come to mind- 1. Why do your lights have two breaks in the day? I have heard of planted tank people doing a "siesta" for their lights, but I'm get to see any research that backs up the idea that a break in light is good for plants. When in doubt, we can look to nature, and the sun doesn't have break in the photoperiod for plants. I would cut lights back to 6-8 hours per day and no breaks in the photoperiod. Your algae issue might be caused by the "long break" in your light. If the plants are only photosynthesizing for the first period, then your lights go off, when they eventually come back on your plants have ended their photoperiod and algae uses your second & third light period to grow. Striking this all, as Streetwise mentions below there may be benefits to it. 2. The seachem line of ferts is difficult to use. Seachem Flourish does not contain high enough levels of macros, you have to dose them separately and buy other bottles from seachem. To dose everything (nitrate, potassium, phosphate, micros, iron...) you'd have to buy 5-6 bottles from seachem. This is why many people prefer an all in one fert, like easy green from the co-op. This article from the co-op is a good explanation of seachem's line - Which Planted Tank Fertilizer Is Right for You? WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM 3. While an excess of nutrients can cause algae, so can have too few nutrients. you mentioned your frogbit tank has 0 nitrates. If your frogbit is sucking up all the nitrates, there is nothing left for your other plants to use. Algae is far more opportunistic and will thrive when only a few nutrients are present, or excess light. On 10/13/2020 at 12:43 AM, Ikantspell4 said: I've been trying to keep NO3 around 20 to 30 ppm and I've been pretty successful. What are you using to keep NO3 at 20-30ppm? If you're using seachem flourish to do it, you must be adding half the bottle in? Many planted tank problems can be solved with a high plant load and balanced fertilizing. If I were you, I'd buy a bottle of an all in one fert (could be easy green), I'd spread that frogbit you have between all your tanks, and work to mantain 10-20ppm nitrates in all your tanks from easy green as the source. Edited October 21, 2020 by Jessica. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantspell4 Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 Thanks for helping. My nitrates come from food and I'm trying to make sure they are they are at the 1st color on the 5in one test strips if it goes over I feed less if it's at the 1st color i figure it's good. My lights come on when I wake for a few hours (which I cut to one) and during my lunch (which I cut to one) everything else is after work. The seachem stuff is pretty complicated and I do think once I use it up I'm going to try the Easy Green. I've moved the frogbit between the tanks to try to decrease the plant load on one and up it on the other. Thanks for all the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kammaroon Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Do you have any algae eaters like shrimps, snails, otocinclus or siamese algae eaters? They can help combat the algae. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 @Jessica., siestas do have a basis in nature, with moving cloud cover and changes in tree shading throughout the day. Diana Walstad writes about it in her book. Plants can ramp up photosynthesis faster than algae, so it can help in that area, but it is also something nice for the aquarist, in terms of enjoyment vs work schedule. We have a thread: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica. Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 @StreetwiseGreat to know. Thanks for sharing! I'll have to re-read walstad section on that. I've been a lurker over on Tom Barr's forum, and he seems to think the siesta period isn't beneficial. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantspell4 Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 I have pond a snails in each planted tank. One tank is all guppies and the other is all neocardina shrimp. They use to live together but I gave a bunch of shrimp away for a BN plecco. The plecco lives in a different tank. Originally that was going to be an algae eater but I'm afraid to put her in with the baby sword plants because I'm worried she will eat them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemali Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 I had the exact same problem until i realized its not just how long they get light but how strong the light is. Once i got a weaker light and dropped the time to 6-8hrs (depending on the tank plants). My spot algae and diatom problem was all but gone. Ive also got ramshell snails and a assasin to keep them in check. Hope this helps ^_^ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casual aquatics Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Maby switch up your substrate do half dirt half gravel I’m no expert still begging with plants myself but seem to be doing something right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaAmanda Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 Have you considered Ottocinclis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantspell4 Posted November 29, 2020 Author Share Posted November 29, 2020 Update I didn'tuse Ottocinclis didn't put my bristle nose in. The duckweed has been helpful and so was the liquid carbon. The algicide really seems to have helped me get over the 1st month of green. I ended up dosing at way above the the recommended dose daily. As of now I don't seem to have all the issues I did before. The algicide helped me get the tank stable and the duckweed has been helpful to but my plants are starving. I'm not adding huge amounts of glut to the tank but I am seeing my poor plants starve. Tomorrow I'll cycle the nitrogen rich water from my not planted tank and move the cleaner water to the goldfish and pleco tank. The duckweed is very prolific and I feed some of it to my goldfish but I'm feel like I'm removing more mass in duckweed than I'm adding in plant growth or fish food and think my plants are starving. I'm fertilizing about every 5 days but I don't think I'm getting the growth I want. I was also able to get some guppy grass and Christmas moss from a hobbiest and they're surviving but I'm not seeing much growth. I'm going to start feeding heavier and my extend the lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 On 10/19/2020 at 10:09 PM, Ikantspell4 said: What other stuff can I do. I've murdered lots of plants and feel like these are heading that way. Anyone more experienced than me have advice? May they rest in pieces. I've been killing plants for 2+ years, and I still haven't figured it out. A few months back @Candiactually suggested that I come here. ...and buy faster growing plants. In my case, I can't keep the nitrates down, and, plants are starving. but the BBA and filamentous algae are thriving. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantspell4 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Update after struggling for a long time and failing at growing anything but algae and duckweed I finally found the perfect thing to make my dream jungle tank. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 On 10/12/2021 at 1:25 AM, Ikantspell4 said: Update after struggling for a long time and failing at growing anything but algae and duckweed I finally found the perfect thing to make my dream jungle tank. CONGRATULATIONS 🎉🎊🎈. PLEASE Do share how you accomplished this beautiful tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantspell4 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 The secret to this tank is I bought it like that. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 (edited) On 10/21/2020 at 4:16 PM, Jessica. said: I've been a lurker over on Tom Barr's forum, and he seems to think the siesta period isn't beneficial. You might cause a mob with pitchforks, careful 😆. You forgot to mention that it's actually algae that photosynthesize quicker than plants! But we will keep this between ourselves 😜 Edited October 12, 2021 by Mmiller2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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