9month old tank

[Wingless]

Started this tank last year but the plant has been growing quite slow. Seeking advice from bro.

tank: 60x30x36
light: just updated to Twinstar light 600es, 2pm to 10pm
co2: 1.5bps (intense bazooka), 12pm to 9pm a internal pump at left back ontop of co2 outlet to circulate the co2
chiller: no, on fan 24hours (temp now is 29) top up water every 2 days
fertilizer: following seachem dosage but dose when light going to turn off in 2 hours, but i left home at 5+ in the morning and reach home at 7pm+
water change: ~30% every few weeks previously, but doing weekly every weekend now.

photo of my tank after water change


water parameters taken before lights on


I am facing a few issue:
1. Plant not growing well, MC growing quite slow/ e.tenellus grow very slow or dying off
2. BGA algae always grow at front glass panel at the substrate (going to take a black cover to cover the front soil level) and dosing more seachem nitrogen
3. From the water parameter taken, ammonia ~0.25ppm/ nitrite 0ppm but nitrate only ~0.25ppm, is it normal?
4. Staurogyne stem tall, only top got leaf, bottom is emptied

thanks bro in advanced for any advice/ feedback!

[happydanio123]

Hi there! 1.5 bps seems quite little for a carpet tank. However if it's settled in then leave it as that if not pushing it up maybe to 2bps or more would help. My tank runs on approximately 2.5-3 off a ceramic diffuser and the difference between that and say 1 bps is tremendous.
Regarding algae water changes should help. If they still persists it Could be the balance between CO2 and ferts is off.
Sorry no shifu tanks are overrun with algae as well, as long you are ok with it just leave it be and it will sort itself out.

Cheers,
Happydanio

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[Wingless]

Thanks bro.

Previous tank i tried increase co2 but the snail shell starts to rot(holes) almost within half a day.. this time i will try to increase co2 abit at a time..

i am currently learning to balance the co2 and fert as i doesnt have much knowledge about it..

Once again thanks for your advice!

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[tetrakid]

Why you don't do PH Test?

[Wingless]

Why you don't do PH Test?

Hi bro, i did a ph test.. second picture from my first post..

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[Zep]

Hi, what kind of seachem ferts are you dosing at the moment ?

[milk_vanilla]

From my experience bga is triggered due to dirty subtrate and rotten plants which cause high organic matter accumulation at substrate level or lacking of N. If it didnt turn to wild, you could manually remove by sucking it with hose or use peroxide

[Wingless]

Hi, what kind of seachem ferts are you dosing at the moment ?

Currently dosing excel/N/P/K/iron and florish accordingly to seachem recommended dosage and 40% water change on sunday..

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[Wingless]

From my experience bga is triggered due to dirty subtrate and rotten plants which cause high organic matter accumulation at substrate level or lacking of N. If it didnt turn to wild, you could manually remove by sucking it with hose or use peroxide

I tried removing those in the soil leve against the front glass panel using a chopstick as there's also "air" bubble in there.. but only managed to remove 50% as i keep uprooting my MC during the process..

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[Zep]

You might want to increase the N dosage as 0.25ppm is low. The typical value to aim for is 10-20ppm. However it is good to increase the dosage slowly and monitor for algae. You can also increase the dosage of P and K as seachem's recommended dosage is pretty lean.

Aim for 0.5-2 ppm for P and 10-20ppm for K. you can calculate the dosage from the seachem bottle formula.

Seachem Iron can be dosed daily at about 1.5ml or so if you are not already doing so.

Hope this helps for you.

[Wingless]

You might want to increase the N dosage as 0.25ppm is low. The typical value to aim for is 10-20ppm. However it is good to increase the dosage slowly and monitor for algae. You can also increase the dosage of P and K as seachem's recommended dosage is pretty lean.

Aim for 0.5-2 ppm for P and 10-20ppm for K. you can calculate the dosage from the seachem bottle formula.

Seachem Iron can be dosed daily at about 1.5ml or so if you are not already doing so.

Hope this helps for you.

As i left for work at 5am but my lights only turns on at 2pm, can i dose the fert before i go for work? Else i only reach home at 6+ to 7pm and my light going off at 10pm..

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[Zep]

Shouldn't be a problem. I do the same thing as you. Dose at 630am before lights turn on.

I experimented with dosing at night just after the photo period. But I find that the results are not that good.

If you read through some threads from some of the overseas forums, the experts there suggests that there is no difference in the time of dosing as plants use the ferts and grow all the time. Not during a particular period.

[Wingless]

Shouldn't be a problem. I do the same thing as you. Dose at 630am before lights turn on.

I experimented with dosing at night just after the photo period. But I find that the results are not that good.

If you read through some threads from some of the overseas forums, the experts there suggests that there is no difference in the time of dosing as plants use the ferts and grow all the time. Not during a particular period.

Thanks for the sharing bro!

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[tetrakid]

Hi bro, i did a ph test.. second picture from my first post..

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Oops!!!!! pH looks okay! ☺

By the way, the only test I do for my tanks is pH - yes, only one test. Sad to say , I have yet to do other tests.

[Zep]

Good luck bro. If you see too much algae growing you may want to reduce the photo period. Twinstar rgb is pretty strong.

I am using the same light and I have it at 7.5hrs. I see green algae growth on my tank walls. Will be trying to reduce the photo period. At least I am not getting those pest algae. Green algae on walls are easily removed .

I am also having my co2 at 1.5-2 Bps. So we are having very similar setups.

[Wingless]

Good luck bro. If you see too much algae growing you may want to reduce the photo period. Twinstar rgb is pretty strong.

I am using the same light and I have it at 7.5hrs. I see green algae growth on my tank walls. Will be trying to reduce the photo period. At least I am not getting those pest algae. Green algae on walls are easily removed .

I am also having my co2 at 1.5-2 Bps. So we are having very similar setups.

Will continue to monitor the lighting period.

The current algae i fighting with is BGA, else is the plant not growing..

Currently i only have these plant in my tank:
1. MC (slightly less than a year), front patch
2. Hairgrass (planted 2 weeks ago), behind
3. Us Fissiden (about half a year), ontop of the rock/ tied on coconut shell
4. E.tennellus (about half a year)
5. Unknown red plant (about half a year)
5. Rotala (about half a year, left 2 stem as the rest infested with algae and dying off)
6. Staruogyne repens (about half a year)


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[golfball]

Will continue to monitor the lighting period.

The current algae i fighting with is BGA, else is the plant not growing..

Currently i only have these plant in my tank:
1. MC (slightly less than a year), front patch
2. Hairgrass (planted 2 weeks ago), behind
3. Us Fissiden (about half a year), ontop of the rock/ tied on coconut shell
4. E.tennellus (about half a year)
5. Unknown red plant (about half a year)
5. Rotala (about half a year, left 2 stem as the rest infested with algae and dying off)
6. Staruogyne repens (about half a year)


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Can check if your co2 is sufficient. Your pH before lights on is 7.6. You can measure pH towards end of photo period and see if you are in the sixes. Or u can use a drop checker. In my tank, pH drop from 7.5 to about 6 to 6.5 from the co2. You should be careful about the livestock so adjust slowly or move them out while you play with Co2. I have many cherry shrimps in my tank and they are still breeding. My Drop checker is yellow green. If your plants are in a bad state, it'll take a long time to recover if at all. Or u might plant fresh for the very poor ones. Up to you. I feel that your fertilizer can add much more. Since your nitrate so low. Your phosphorus? Can also add more if in doubt. And iron too. In my new nano tank 30cm I have high light, high fertilizers coz very hard to control. A ton of co2 about 2 Bps. High light. No livestock yet until the plants flourish and tank stable. No algae at all. Plant growth very fast. I am going to tune down by reducing light, co2 a bit before add fish.

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[golfball]

Oh one more thing. You might want to consider siphoning your substrate or your carpet. I do it every other week and have no bga. Reduce the organic waste might help with the bga.

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[Goalkeeper]

I could be wrong but once BGA sets in especially in the substrate, it's very difficult to eliminate 100%. But can be controlled by spraying peroxide regularly. To eliminate 100% will need chemicals or anti biotic but no guaranty they won't come back. So best is reduce lighting period and use peroxide to control them.

[tetrakid]

Use of peroxide risks killing all the delicate good bacteria in the bio-media and tank, all of which took months to cultivate. Always remember the long weeks of impatient waiting during the initial cycling period to cultivate a colony of bacteria. The bacteria are extremely precious things in a tank setup.