One week in.. first aquarium

[Maeve]

Hello! I am 8 days in to my first aquarium, as well as my first planted tank. So far everything seems to be going well. NH4 is slowly going down, NO2 has spiked but not started down yet. And I do have (a lot) of NO3. Obviously that's skewed from my fertilizer. 2 questions: 

I have dwarf baby tears that is either melting hard or (probably) not going to make it. I am not injecting CO2. I didn't realize until after purchase it was really kind of necessary. But if that's my only goof up in my planning so far I'm pretty happy. It also appears to be covered in brown algae or hair algae. But I don't have algae anywhere else (yet.)

Right now I'm fertilizing 1-2 times per week. I fertilized on Friday when I planted. (They went into the water Thursday on arrival)  And I fertilized 4 days later on the 9th with a 40% water change. 

My nitrates are pretty (really) high so I was going to change water tonight and fertilize after. This afternoons numbers are:

pH 7.4

NH4 0.5 NO2 5.0 NO3 160 (no fish yet)

I have one java moss that I think might just be melting? But isn't looking super great while the other is looking pretty good. 

Additionally my filter is blinking for a change and it's only been 8days since filling. I assume it's wanting change due to all the first, tannins etc from filling and planting. Will I lose too much of my BB changing it this soon? What if anything can I do to help/save the dwarf baby tears or help with the algae. 

Thanks for any advice. 

 

 

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by Maeve
Correcting picture orientation

[CJs Aquatics]

Hello and welcome, the tank looks great.

If I were to offer any advice it’s to give it time. Everything your describing gives you information. I would take the info your tank is giving you, make small, adjustments as they are called for, and honestly enjoy it. Overcorrection has caused me problems in the past, sometimes it’s called for, however most of the time in my opinion it’s just all about balance. I could dive into much greater detail but honestly the purpose of this response was just to welcome you, tell you it’s exciting to watch others hobbies grow, and to urge you to genuinely enjoy it, it’s an inspiring journey. You are on the right track, give it time, keep on top of your maintenance, dial in your numbers, watch your parameters, and enjoy…

[CJs Aquatics]

Edit:

- Java moss is very forgiving, best thing to do for it or rather what I’ve had most success with is placing it, fert or root tab it, and make sure it has adequate light. Sometimes it’s in transition when recently added, if u notice your losing it drastically try growing it out of water for  while then reintroduce it when it bounces back, it will have to transition again but it allows you to dial in what your missing and buys you time, it’s my favorite set it and forget it plant.

- I wouldn’t even pay attention to the blinking light at all, i used to disconnect them altogether on my cheaper hob filters. Optimize it with whatever media you like then when you do water changes just rinse it in aquarium water and put it back. If your using floss you can discard it when it gets real gunked up and replace. Your BB is all over the tank, as long as you service the filter properly it shouldn’t be a problem at all

- algae: no quick fix. It’s telling you your tank is starting to balance itself, I battle it with water changes and manual removal depending on the type. You can go the chemical route or try dialing in the lighting/ ferts but I would just let it go for a bit to determine it’s cause. Is it doing better then your plants? If that’s the case adjust the way they receive nutrients, help them outcompete the algae and water change often 

- root tabs/ light/ time will tell as far as the baby tears in my opinion 

hope this helps 

[Maeve]

@CJs Aquatics thanks for the well-thought reply. I'm currently doing 6 hours of light a day. And planning to increase by 30m weekly. The only place I have algae so far is on the dwarf baby tears so I feel like I'm doing pretty good.But I know that can change over the next two weeks or so. I've mostly been concerned about how often to fertilize with my lighting at only 6hours for now and no CO2.  I would like to add some Scarlet temple, cryptocoryne wendtii red, and pogostemen stalata octopus to help the plants continue to outcompete. 

[CJs Aquatics]

This is a good strategy, if it were me I would as I’m assuming you already are establish a baseline of amount/ duration of ferts and try it for a few weeks. Physically or subliminally document the changes in your tank whilst performing your regular maintenance. If your plants start growing like crazy you know your levels are good with regards to fert, if the algae starts growing like crazy I would make an adjustment. For me everything is on basically a 30 day rule. I test things for 30 days to see how they effect the system as a whole. Everything from ferts, to meds, tabs, anything I put in my tank which can alter conditions. I use trial, error, and process of elimination on one issue at a time or conversely success at a time and it’s based on what I deem as the highest priority. I’ve had great success with this method personally and learned a lot in the process