Fluval Plant 3.0 & 125 Gallon

[Defatwabbit]

Hey guys, I’m 100% new here and I need some help. Little breakdown of my aquarium:

125 gallon/2-Fluval 3.0 36”/Black Diamond BS substrate/20lb co2 tank with all co2 art pro items/ fluval fx6/ 650gph circ pump to help spread co2 across tank 

6-Red belly piranha, a couple nerite snails

Okay so I’m having a huge issue with trying to figure out what perctages I should be running my fluval lights at. Right now I’m battling a lot of diatoms in my tank, I read online that higher light can make it better? I do have a drop checker and it is green. What should my lights be set at for my tank? And any suggestions on how to solve my diatom issue???? 

Plants I have: giant bungle val, tiger lotus, stem plants (not sure what, came in a lot of “Suprise” lol), Amazon swords, lots of crypts, pink flamingo, Crinum, broadleaf chain sword, Java moss, dwarf sag  

So mostly low-med light plants. Any help or advice and help is very much appreciated! 

 

[nabokovfan87]

Welcome to the forums!

There is a thread with a lot of tips and setups for the 3.0. I don't know if anyone have anything specific for a 90-125G, but that would be a place to check. You should see it on the top row of the general page (where it lists all the forum categories).

On 11/27/2022 at 4:55 PM, Defatwabbit said:

So mostly low-med light plants. Any help or advice and help is very much appreciated! 

Start with things lower just to gauge how the light is doing for you.

I'd probably start with:

Pure white: 65%

Cold white: 35%

Warm white: 45%

Red: 40%

Blue 5%

Once you see things doing ok. You can either expand the intensity slowly (5% at a time) every few weeks or go ahead and increase your window from the one you have now up to ~8-10 hours.

On 11/27/2022 at 4:55 PM, Defatwabbit said:

Right now I’m battling a lot of diatoms in my tank, I read online that higher light can make it better?

What color diatoms?

[Defatwabbit]

Hiya! Thank you for the reply! The diatoms are that red color. Or brownish red, keeps covering all the leaves and junk on my plants, but mainly the wood gets it pretty bad. I can rub it off with fingers very easily and gently.

I have resulted to using a fx6 spray bar pointed upwards to the surface for agitation and circulation in the tank to move the plants some also.
 

I’ll change my lights for sure if you think that could help! 🙂 

I originally had them all at 75% besides blue 0% and red being 5% for the past few weeks, Then last night I cranked them up to what it shows in the picture because I read online that you need more intense light since I’m injecting co2 now, so was a little confused and jacked it up. Lol 

In case co2 settings are needed; I’m using a co2 art bazooka difusser with 45psi of pressure and not sure how many drops per second, I just know my drop checker is on the other side of the tank shows green. Took me 4 days to get it dialed in haha 

 

I do have a seachem tidal 110 on the way and I have those fluval clearmax bags here I planned to throw (2?) into to see if that would help the issue also. 

[nabokovfan87]

As long as it's brown diatoms (not a scarlet red color) then you would just brush them off surfaces and filter them out.  Keep up with the filter cleaning for now while you have this excess gunk floating around.  If it's red in color, that could be a bacterial algae.

I would research that specifically, under BGA - "Blue Green Algae" and see what you can find that might match what you're seeing.

[Defatwabbit]

On 11/28/2022 at 1:04 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Welcome to the forums!

There is a thread with a lot of tips and setups for the 3.0. I don't know if anyone have anything specific for a 90-125G, but that would be a place to check. You should see it on the top row of the general page (where it lists all the forum categories).

Start with things lower just to gauge how the light is doing for you.

I'd probably start with:

Pure white: 65%

Cold white: 35%

Warm white: 45%

Red: 40%

Blue 5%

Once you see things doing ok. You can either expand the intensity slowly (5% at a time) every few weeks or go ahead and increase your window from the one you have now up to ~8-10 hours.

What color diatoms?

So I did look it up. I do for sure just have typical brown algae (diatoms) in my tank. It wipes right off leaves etc by hand. Also, does this look better for how the lights are set now? 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/28/2022 at 12:09 PM, Defatwabbit said:

Also, does this look better for how the lights are set now? 

Looks good. Run it for a month and see how things stabilize for you!

On 11/28/2022 at 12:09 PM, Defatwabbit said:

I did look it up. I do for sure just have typical brown algae (diatoms) in my tank. It wipes right off leaves etc by hand.

Awesome. That's great news. That one is usually the one I ignore along with green algae on the glass. It's very normal and perfectly fine. Worst case it means just siphon and clean slightly better.  Toothbrushes are awesome for that during the filter clean out. Apart from that it's the type of thing that otos and other fish LOVE to eat.

[Defatwabbit]

So it won’t hurt that I’ll be turning down my light right? Like will plants be alright etc? I was just told that you have to have max light with co2 that’s why I had it so high

On 11/28/2022 at 2:00 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

As long as it's brown diatoms (not a scarlet red color) then you would just brush them off surfaces and filter them out.  Keep up with the filter cleaning for now while you have this excess gunk floating around.  If it's red in color, that could be a bacterial algae.

I would research that specifically, under BGA - "Blue Green Algae" and see what you can find that might match what you're seeing.

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/28/2022 at 12:33 PM, Defatwabbit said:

So it won’t hurt that I’ll be turning down my light right? Like will plants be alright etc? I was just told that you have to have max light with co2 that’s why I had it so high

You definitely might not need max light with CO2. The tank has to acclimate to the light as well as to CO2. Turning both knobs to 11 and dumping in a ton or nutrients means you'll get some very nasty algae.  There is a ton of great aquascapers and plant geniuses on the forum, so hopefully some of them can chime in with their methods on new equipment!

@Mmiller2001nand @gjcarewbeing two that I can recall off the top of my head but I know there is more!

On 11/28/2022 at 12:33 PM, Defatwabbit said:

So it won’t hurt that I’ll be turning down my light right? Like will plants be alright etc?

Definitely won't hurt. Pushing back the light reduces algae for the short term and the plants can catch up. If you see deficiencies on the plants, then we'd look at turning the lights up. Slow growth is growth.

Edited November 28, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Mmiller2001]

I don't think 2 of those is enough light in general. You're probably fine. If you see algae, just lower intensity some and watch.

[Defatwabbit]

On 11/28/2022 at 3:20 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I don't think 2 of those is enough light in general. You're probably fine. If you see algae, just lower intensity some and watch.

You don’t think what is enough light? And you’re saying I’m fine with how I had it set? Or how nabo recommended me to change it? 

[Mmiller2001]

On 11/28/2022 at 2:24 PM, Defatwabbit said:

You don’t think what is enough light?

2 36inch 3.0's.

I would leave them at 100% until you see a problem.

[Defatwabbit]

On 11/28/2022 at 3:27 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

2 36inch 3.0's.

I would leave them at 100% until you see a problem.

All of them besides blue? 

[MattyM]

On 11/28/2022 at 4:23 PM, Defatwabbit said:

All of them besides blue? 

I just got this light for a 20g, and have been leaving the blues around 3% b/c I'm having some minor staghorn algae issues. Too early to report success or not but that amount of blue is what @Bentley Pascoe recommended in his Staghorn algae-fix vid. Been loving this light tho. 

[Mmiller2001]

On 11/28/2022 at 3:23 PM, Defatwabbit said:

All of them besides blue? 

I would have blues up. I have blue in my light that I keep higher.

[Defatwabbit]

On 11/28/2022 at 5:12 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I would have blues up. I have blue in my light that I keep higher.

Okay, even if I see a lot of diatoms, just keep it all the way up? I was just told diatoms love light so confused is all. Haha 🙂 thank you for input

[Mmiller2001]

On 11/28/2022 at 5:20 PM, Defatwabbit said:

Okay, even if I see a lot of diatoms, just keep it all the way up? I was just told diatoms love light so confused is all. Haha 🙂 thank you for input

New tank or well established?

[Defatwabbit]

On 11/28/2022 at 6:25 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

New tank or well established?

The filter was running for months, but then I gutted the tank, all new sand, plants and everything else is 100% new as of like a month or so ago. So basically the filter was established the rest wasn’t 

To show how much of a diatom issue I’m having: 

[Mmiller2001]

On 11/28/2022 at 5:27 PM, Defatwabbit said:

The filter was running for months, but then I gutted the tank, all new sand, plants and everything else is 100% new as of like a month or so ago. So basically the filter was established the rest wasn’t 

Yeah, a reset starts the algae cycle to come. Going through it right now myself. Perfectly normal. Keep an eye on CO2, keep up dosing and water changes. Try to get your plant load as high as possible. Plant load being high is the best defense against algae.

Edited November 29, 2022 by Mmiller2001

[gjcarew]

Diatoms are usually a new tank thing. I'd just keep wiping them off. 

You are probably good with 100% light given the size of your tank. A little algae is not necessarily a bad thing, it's part of really any aquatic ecosystem. 

[Defatwabbit]

On 11/28/2022 at 6:30 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Yeah, a reset starts the algae cycle to come. Going through it right now myself. Perfectly normal. Keep an eye on CO2, keep up dosing and water changes. Try to get your plant load as high as possible. Plant load being high is the defense against algae.

I’ve been keeping my drop checker at green for the co2. So why do people say that diatoms grow more crazy with higher light? Is there like a reason they think that? 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/28/2022 at 4:32 PM, Defatwabbit said:

I’ve been keeping my drop checker at green for the co2. So why do people say that diatoms grow more crazy with higher light? Is there like a reason they think that? 

They grow when there's an imbalance.  Higher plant load fights the diatoms.  Depending on what is out of wack (usually nitrates for brown diatoms, for me) then you'd just clean it and do what you have to do.  Dropping the light is just a way to let the plants get hold if you don't have enough, that's the logic.  So depending what your testing is showing you, that's the two methods I use to fight the brown diatoms.  (intense cleaning vs. lean dosing/time)

[Mmiller2001]

On 11/28/2022 at 5:32 PM, Defatwabbit said:

I’ve been keeping my drop checker at green for the co2. So why do people say that diatoms grow more crazy with higher light? Is there like a reason they think that? 

Not sure really. Diatoms just seem to take advantage of the early period of a new/reset tank. 

[Defatwabbit]

On 11/28/2022 at 6:52 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Not sure really. Diatoms just seem to take advantage of the early period of a new/reset tank. 

Well this is what I cranked the lights up to, gonna see what that does… hopefully it helps… look good? 

[Mmiller2001]

If you like the those settings, stick with them and remember the ratios. If you need to drop intensity, lower them all in ratio.

[Seattle_Aquarist]

On 11/28/2022 at 5:07 PM, Defatwabbit said:

Well this is what I cranked the lights up to, gonna see what that does… hopefully it helps… look good? 

Looks better to me; but the photoperiod is long....watch for algae issues.  -Roy