Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 (edited) I have some sort of algae but of what sort? It looks like staghorn, am I right or completely wrong? @Mmiller2001, thoughts, anybody. Water results as of last night. And btw I am cycling this tank. 20g long started cycling last month. Ph is 7.5. Ammonia 0. (Doesn’t matter tho right.) Nitrite was 3 ppm but is gone now at 0. nitrates between 10 and 20 ppm. Add fertilizer every week. Root tabs every month. Should I add more btw? Been a bit since root tabs. Temp 76. But what do I really do with this algae? TIA 🙂 I have a A about my Vallisernaria. It is not doing great, but has produced 4 new runners in past week. Thanks guys, nitrates above. Edited July 11 by Whitecloud09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube_Goldfish Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 One first step you can take is to remove the browned and/or algae infested leaves. They won't recover and will only fuel more algae. Otherwise, the tank is still cycling, and new set ups go through different algae stages as they find their equilibrium. Keep up the cycling (looks like you're almost done!) and keep growing plants and waiting, manually removing algae where you can. Also, it looks like you've got plenty of space for more plants, but I know that's sometimes a budget and/or time thing. But more plant biomass will help all the plants to outcompete algae. Beyond that, I'll leave to the more experienced here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 10:22 AM, Rube_Goldfish said: One first step you can take is to remove the browned and/or algae infested leaves. They won't recover and will only fuel more algae. Otherwise, the tank is still cycling, and new set ups go through different algae stages as they find their equilibrium. Keep up the cycling (looks like you're almost done!) and keep growing plants and waiting, manually removing algae where you can. Also, it looks like you've got plenty of space for more plants, but I know that's sometimes a budget and/or time thing. But more plant biomass will help all the plants to outcompete algae. Beyond that, I'll leave to the more experienced here. Wow, very helpful! Thanks a ton @Rube_Goldfish. Yes I am kinda budgeting with this tank, I have 2 others that I am spending money on and plus, I was gone on vacation and didn’t want to order plants last week and them come when I was gone. But I am back, and definitely will buy some very soon. Yes my tank is doing great besides that. And I am seeing nitrates now, so getting closer so good news there. Will remove the decaying plant pieces ASAP. Thanks again for the help 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 Looks like a fuzz algae. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 10:42 AM, Mmiller2001 said: Looks like a fuzz algae. Ok, so just get rid of the dead leafs and eventually it will be fine? @Mmiller2001, idk what to do with fuzzy algae, never had it in my other tanks, thanks for responding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 It’s all the mulm in the tank causing ammonia. Clean all that out and do a few back to back large water changes. Fertilize after the water changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 11:48 AM, Mmiller2001 said: It’s all the mulm in the tank causing ammonia. Clean all that out and do a few back to back large water changes. Fertilize after the water changes. Got it thank you. You sure nothing will happen after big water changes? I am being extremely cautious about this cycle, don’t want to ruin it @Mmiller2001. Thanks btw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 9:50 AM, Whitecloud09 said: Got it thank you. You sure nothing will happen after big water changes? I am being extremely cautious about this cycle, don’t want to ruin it @Mmiller2001. Thanks btw Water changes don’t slow down cycling. If you are adding ammonia, keep doing so after each change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricksonAquatics Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 (edited) @Rube_Goldfish has a great point here. I read a 2 hr Aquarist article recently about this and it made total sense. One of the best things you can do for plants are trim off the dead and algae covered leaves. This prevents the plant from sending nutrients to leaves that cannot exactly use them. That way, all the goods are sent to the new leaves; meaning more growth! I recently did a big overhaul in my 10g and trimmed off allllll the dead/dying/algae covered leaves and it looks much better. I’ve already seen more growth in my crypts, dwarf chain sword and Val! Sorry, I don’t have an answer on if that is staghorn or not. But I would just manually remove it and much as you can and keep on cycling 🙂 Edited July 11 by EricksonAquatics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 (edited) On 7/11/2024 at 12:37 PM, EricksonAquatics said: @Rube_Goldfish has a great point here. I read a 2 hr Aquarist article recently about this and it made total sense. One of the best things you can do for plants are trim off the dead and algae covered leaves. This prevents the plant from sending nutrients to leaves that cannot exactly use them. That way, all the goods are sent to the new leaves; meaning more growth! I recently did a big overhaul in my 10g and trimmed off allllll the dead/dying/algae covered leaves and it looks much better. I’ve already seen more growth in my crypts, dwarf chain sword and Val! Sorry, I don’t have an answer on if that is staghorn or not. But I would just manually remove it and much as you can and keep on cycling 🙂 Thanks so much for the helpful info @EricksonAquatics! Yes about to do that with my 10g, just take out my plants clean them a lot and get all that yucky algae off there! On 7/11/2024 at 11:52 AM, Mmiller2001 said: Water changes don’t slow down cycling. If you are adding ammonia, keep doing so after each change. Thanks. I will do one tomorrow. But I trimmed all dead/decaying matter. From my Val. I haven’t added ammonia in 2 weeks, should I then after a wc? @Mmiller2001. Thanks! Edited July 11 by Whitecloud09 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 10:43 AM, Whitecloud09 said: Thanks so much for the helpful info @EricksonAquatics! Yes about to do that with my 10g, just take out my plants clean them a lot and get all that yucky algae off there! Thanks. I will do one tomorrow. But I trimmed all dead/decaying matter. From my Val. I haven’t in 2 weeks, should I then after a wc? @Mmiller2001. Thanks! After doing all the maintenance, follow that up with a water change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 (edited) On 7/11/2024 at 12:45 PM, Mmiller2001 said: After doing all the maintenance, follow that up with a water change. Ok. So here is my plan. Wc and add ammonia after. But during it when the siphon is cleaning, make sure there is no fuzzy algae at all in my tank, so final Q if you can answer 😅 sorry for all them questions, but how much should I remove? By gallon. Pls. Thanks @Mmiller2001. Edited July 11 by Whitecloud09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 10:49 AM, Whitecloud09 said: Ok. So here is my plan. Wc and add ammonia after. But during it when the siphon is cleaning, make sure there is no fuzzy algae at all in my tank, so final Q if you can answer 😅 sorry for all them questions, but how much should I remove? By gallon. Pls. Thanks @Mmiller2001. Get everything cleaned up and do a 70% water change. Then add enough Ammonia to return the tank back to before the water change. Dose 1/4th the normal fertilizer amount. A cycling tank should be kept a bit more lean on nutrients 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 (edited) On 7/11/2024 at 2:19 PM, Mmiller2001 said: Get everything cleaned up and do a 70% water change. Then add enough Ammonia to return the tank back to before the water change. Dose 1/4th the normal fertilizer amount. A cycling tank should be kept a bit more lean on nutrients Ok. Thanks @Mmiller2001. I will do ASAP, only problem, getting the water not to hot, these summers where I live are the ruffest, the coldest the water get s 79 degrees, for my cold water WCMM 10g tank, I gotta put the water in front of a fan all night long. I will try. Thank you. Ps: I do 2 pumps, so thinking 1 or a little less than one pump? I think that sounds good. Edited July 11 by Whitecloud09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube_Goldfish Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 2:33 PM, Whitecloud09 said: only problem, getting the water not to hot, these summers where I live are the ruffest, the coldest the water get s 79 degrees, Just to be sure, there are no animals in the tank yet, right? If that's the case, I wouldn't worry about it and would just put the 79°F water in there. In theory, warmer water will speed up bacterial growth anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 3:18 PM, Rube_Goldfish said: Just to be sure, there are no animals in the tank yet, right? If that's the case, I wouldn't worry about it and would just put the 79°F water in there. In theory, warmer water will speed up bacterial growth anyway. No pets. No fish at all. Yeah I was thinking of just leaving the water like that. Warmer would be better, thinking of all the fish I a, planning on, and all are tropical fish. So yes I would like to get the water up around 77-78. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 12:33 PM, Whitecloud09 said: Ok. Thanks @Mmiller2001. I will do ASAP, only problem, getting the water not to hot, these summers where I live are the ruffest, the coldest the water get s 79 degrees, for my cold water WCMM 10g tank, I gotta put the water in front of a fan all night long. I will try. Thank you. Ps: I do 2 pumps, so thinking 1 or a little less than one pump? I think that sounds good. I'm in the same situation here in New Mexico, hot as all can be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 4:42 PM, Mmiller2001 said: I'm in the same situation here in New Mexico, hot as all can be! I know. Well, I am about to do a wc, so 70% is about 14 gallons? Is that not a lot of gallons, just to help with algae? Thx @Mmiller2001. The Southeast is so bad. It's not as bad as Florida, but man Georgia is rough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 2:50 PM, Whitecloud09 said: I know. Well, I am about to do a wc, so 70% is about 14 gallons? Is that not a lot of gallons, just to help with algae? Thx @Mmiller2001. The Southeast is so bad. It's not as bad as Florida, but man Georgia is rough. You should do near 100% water change over a minimum of 48 hours. Despite what the clueless say, water changes make everything better. Then changed 100% water over 36 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 4:55 PM, Mmiller2001 said: You should do near 100% water change over a minimum of 48 hours. Despite what the clueless say, water changes make everything better. Then changed 100% water over 36 hours. Oh man, i get it now! A huge difference. Ok. 15 or so gallons i will do. Thank you for all the help, i appreciate it @Mmiller2001 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 3:00 PM, Whitecloud09 said: Oh man, i get it now! A huge difference. Ok. 15 or so gallons i will do. Thank you for all the help, i appreciate it @Mmiller2001 The single most important thing to remember after huge water changes is to return the tank to the parameters it was before the water change. I always double dose Micros and macros after just a 50% water change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 5:02 PM, Mmiller2001 said: The single most important thing to remember after huge water changes is to return the tank to the parameters it was before the water change. I always double dose Micros and macros after just a 50% water change. Ok, all i have is EG, and root tabs, so how should i dose them? Sorry still a newbie when it omes to live plants! @Mmiller2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 On 7/11/2024 at 3:05 PM, Whitecloud09 said: Ok, all i have is EG, and root tabs, so how should i dose them? Sorry still a newbie when it omes to live plants! @Mmiller2001 No root tabs, how many gallons is the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 I don't want to sidetrack this thread, but I thought mulm was healthy for plants @Mmiller2001 I'm curious why you recommended to gravel vac it up? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 (edited) On 7/11/2024 at 5:15 PM, Mmiller2001 said: No root tabs, how many gallons is the tank? 20g. I just did the change, before and after pictures! And in between 😉. So what should I do for the macro and micro nutrients in this tank. 20g long to be exact. 30 inches, long. before above. And below is during change, I took out much more water than of the photo below. But that is a mid wc pic. After! And all the jugs. Actually not even all of them! Edited July 11 by Whitecloud09 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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