Hi guys. Just set up my tank on Saturday night after the workshop. Tank has been cycling for 2 days now. Yesterday i saw my plants bubbling and nothing more happened. However today when i woke up i went to take a look and saw algae on some of my plants. The type that looks like hair but black in colour, its BBA am i correct? Removed it by snipping off the affected areas. Also spotted some brownish algae on my glass tank. Also my plants have stopped bubbling. What could i be doing wrong? Here is the info of my tank. Help will be greatly appreciated.
Beginners Info Sheet
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Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 36x18x18
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) :144 watts
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : PL
No. of Hours your light is on: 8 hours
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : 5 bps
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : Liquid
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): Diffusor
Substrate Used : Aquatic compost
How Thick is your base fert : 3 inches in front sloping up to 6 inches at back
How thick is your gravel : 2 inches
Liquid Fertilizers Used : N.A
Frequency of fertilization : N.A
Tank Temperature : 28 degrees - 30 degrees
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : Canister Filter Dolphin C-1000
Filter media used : Filter wool, bio-balls, bio-rings
How long has your tank been set up : 2 days
Chemical Properties (Fill what you can)
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Carbonate Hardness (kh): 4
Total Hardness (gH): N.A
PH : 6
NH4 (ppm): don't really know how to read the thing, but the chart says 1mg/l
NO2 (ppm): N.A
NO3 (ppm): 20-40 ppm
PO4 (ppm): Not too sure also, but the chart says my colour code is phosphate free
Fe (ppm): N.A
The plants that I'm using are : H.difformis, Cabomba(red, green), Dwarf sags, Tenellus, 4 colour lotus, Riccia, Xmas moss, Vallisneria
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
With high lighting and CO2 injection, the nutrient level in the tank could have dropped very quickly and so bubbling stopped. Your CO2 level is too high, pH=6 and kH=4 ==> 120ppm CO2. Try to lower bubbling rate and/or cut off at night.
How about adding some algae eaters like Oto and SAE to combat the BBA and Brown Algae? But lower the CO2 level first.
koah fong
Juggler's tanks
Thanks Juggler, will turn down the level of Co2 now
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
You should not have zero PO4. Juggler's suggestion stands, high CO2 and high light mean high nutrient consumption. Ensure your plants have enough of the other nutrients if you want to maintain that level of light and CO2.
Lower your CO2 as suggested by Juggler, and in my opinion, you should lower your light too. Without lowering your light, this may cause CO2 to be limiting along with one or two other nutrients that may be limiting by now.
Geoffrey my tank is still in cycling process... should i add in some liquid fert?
Because the postings i read before kind of gave me the impression that during the cycling process no fert should be added and plant densely so that the algae will not have a chance of outcompeting the plants resulting in an algae free tank. Please correct me if i'm wrong still a newbie [] Thanks.
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
That will probably explain your low PO4, no fishes yet. I don't know about the others but I add all nutrients minus KNO3 on day one right after I planted my tank.
I also added, immediately, Otos and shrimps on day one too. Other fishes come later.
Will be adding a couple of SAEs and otos later tonight... wad brand of liquid fert are you using by the way?
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
Think you could try raising your KH to 5 too. It will increase you PH slightly normally, likewise, I felt your CO2 is too high too.----------------
On 3/24/2003 6:13:32 PM
Will be adding a couple of SAEs and otos later tonight... wad brand of liquid fert are you using by the way?
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I think TMG is a good one to start with...
This TMG has all the trace elements and such in it? Oh yah... please forgive me for asking a stupid question... those feeder shrimp in the LFS for luohan, what kind of shrimp are they?
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
destructive shrimps............----------------
On 3/24/2003 6:26:40 PM
This TMG has all the trace elements and such in it? Oh yah... please forgive me for asking a stupid question... those feeder shrimp in the LFS for luohan, what kind of shrimp are they?
----------------
ghost shrimp
Can be put into planted tank? will they clear algae too?
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
ghost shrimp r not known for eating algae
Then their sole existence is to provide for bigger fish as a food source? [
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
Lighthammer,
Please be patient. Initial Algae Bloom is possible. Back in 1998, when I first started this hobby, I was taught to reduce lighting for the initial 2 weeks and try to change 50% of water every other day. Back then, really had no algae.... Anyhow, try not rush things like adding medication in order to fight the algae.... Remember what Vinz said: What harms algae harm plants too..Simple reason algae are plants too....Try to contain the problem using natural means....
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Hi Edwin
I didn't add any medication in... just added 3 otos to combat the algae. No SAE available at my place LFS. Reduced the co2 level and lighting as well. Now waiting to see what happens... and those dwarf sags that you gave me... well they were hit by the BBA first.. hehehe. Will nurse them back to health. Thanks.
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
Lighthammer...
here are my suggestions and comments
1) whats the resolution of your PH kit? if its like most ph kits, it has a 0.5ph resolution... which means you could have made a 0.2-0.3ph error which makes a big difference in terms of CO2 levels... at a KH of 4, ph=6 => 120ppm, ph6.1 => 95ppm, ph 6.2=>75ppm... you can see a 0.1 difference makes a big difference.
2) I assume your tank initially had no fish correct? If so, then the nitrate levels you are measureing are probably almost all from your aquatic compost. This probably explain your algae... your plants have not stabilized and are not consuming the nutrients in the water... the algae is more than happy to take over... cut down your lighting hours.
3) don't do anything to stir up your substrate during this phase... you don't want more stuff leaching into the water column.
4) Generally speaking a 3ft tank wouldn't need 5bps... try going with 2-3bps.
5) If needed add even more fast growers into your tank... it may not look very good, but it will help keep algae at bay
6) Cycling of your tank doesn't begin until you first introduced fishes... so roughly 1 month from the date you first put fish in, your initial cycle will be done.
7) some shrimp will help... chuck a few yamato in to help clear algae.
Allen
Allen i don't know my resolution of my test kit.. will check it out.Thanks a lot. [
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
Btw does anyone noe where i can get SAE, Yamato and Malayan shrimp at the same time at affordable prices?
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
think petmart have malayan and SAE, yamatoes dun think they have. FYI, malayan they selling in pcs of 100 only
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