Cbarbe Posted May 9, 2023 Share Posted May 9, 2023 My plants have seen better days. Any advice? I do tank clean-up every Saturday. I dose easy green once a week and dose easy iron once a week a few days later. Also use root tabs. My parameters are Nitrates at 10 Ph 6.4 Kh 0 Gh 75 Nitrite and ammonia at 0. I have 3 anubias plants that seem okay and a pearl weed I just got and a pogo. The pogo and the pearl weed are pictured above. I have the Fluval spectrum light set at 25% for 8 hrs a day. I do have some algae issues not too bad. I have 6 Corydoras and 1 Danio that was a rescue. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted May 9, 2023 Share Posted May 9, 2023 It’s not looking too bad, you’re totally on the right track. The Pogo is sprouting some nice new growth. You could try cutting off that part and replanting it. I’d give the Pearl weed some time it also looks like some new, healthy growth is starting. The Anubias look prime so nice job with those! I do see the beginning of some staghorn algae. You might want to cut back the light to 6 hours to help with that. I’d also recommend more plants. Get a bunch of fast growing stem plants and a Java fern or two. It’s amazing how much easier it can be to control algae with a dense plant mass. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 9, 2023 Share Posted May 9, 2023 (edited) If you are using tap water, then I'm jealous. I wish I had your tap water. Look at the tops on those plants. They are looking good. I would wait until you get some extra length and then top and replant. Without CO2, you are playing the long game so be patient. What I would do is double the plant load and just a bit more. Keep up the maintenance and once plant mass picks up, raise the dosing by 1/3 of your current dose. On 5/9/2023 at 8:39 AM, Mmiller2001 said: Edited May 9, 2023 by Mmiller2001 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cbarbe Posted May 9, 2023 Author Share Posted May 9, 2023 Yes, I use tap water. My Ph is low but I tried crushed coral and nothing changed but my GH. I've thought about getting some more plants or some moss balls. I do use easy carbon so I'm not sure how that would interact with the moss balls. Since I read in Aquarium co-op they are a form of algae. My pearl weed in the picture I just added is when I first got it. It was so green. Now it has some browning but also some growth. It's my first tank so I'm at a bit of a learning curve. I wish I could add a snail to help with the little algae I do have but my Ph is low. I'd rather work with the water parameters I have than try and do extra steps to my tank maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfish Posted May 9, 2023 Share Posted May 9, 2023 Your plants don't look bad. It's a slow grind with plants so keep with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 9, 2023 Share Posted May 9, 2023 Don't make any changes. Plants will adapt, look ugly, then start growing again. This is where first timers go wrong, they don't understand this concept. Stay the course. Good idea to ditch the crush Coral it is not necessary unless you're keeping a specific type of fish. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohad Posted May 10, 2023 Share Posted May 10, 2023 (edited) When did you start the tank ? Looking good. People need to remember that in about a month time diatom algae will start. It is a phase no matter what tank you have it will happen . You could make the lights a little stronger surprisingly at that stage . Then you may get green dust algae instead that is also a stage but most algea eaters loves it . And it will pass as the plants gets bigger and stronger . Your parameters are great. At 6.4 nerite snails and Amano shrimp should be perfectly happy by the way. I have 6.4 in my tank with the fastest Amanos ever living the life and my horned nerite snails are active and happy they are a staple in planted tanks that are often with that ph Edited May 10, 2023 by Ohad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cbarbe Posted May 10, 2023 Author Share Posted May 10, 2023 Really!? I was told Nerite snails need a 7.5 ph. For them to be happy. If 6.4 works for them I'd love to add one to my crew. I started the tank in December. So it's only 5 months old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohad Posted May 10, 2023 Share Posted May 10, 2023 (edited) On 5/10/2023 at 6:52 AM, Cbarbe said: Really!? I was told Nerite snails need a 7.5 ph. For them to be happy. If 6.4 works for them I'd love to add one to my crew. I started the tank in December. So it's only 5 months old. At 5 month you tank should be fully balanced so you will need to feed them if there is not enough algea in the tank . Your GH levels are good and I assume you calcium in there. So that's what more important Edited May 10, 2023 by Ohad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cbarbe Posted May 10, 2023 Author Share Posted May 10, 2023 Yes. I use a wonder shell in my tank. I use the XS in my 10-gallon. It brought my GH up from 0. I'll have to do some more research on them. Any tips you can share would be great. What do I feed them? And how do I make sure they are getting enough to eat? My corydoras are chunks I feel like they might eat anything. 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now