algae and plant prob

[lyh]

Hi all I am a newbie here would like to ask a few questions. Below I tried to fill in as detail as possible.

Tank Dimensions (4 feet(L) x 18 inches(W) x 18 inches(H) specify units):

Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 4 x 36W (144W)
Number and type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : PL
Age of light bulbs :Abt 1 Yr
No. of Hours your light is on :10 Hrs

CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : 2 bps
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : Tank
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor) : Reactor

Liquid fertilisers Used (Product name. E.g. Seachem Flourish) : Don't know. it's some taiwan brand recommended by the shop next to ah pek
Fertilization regime (Frequency and amount per dose) : Once every 2 weeks

Type of substrate :
Thickness of gravel : 2.5 inches
Thickness is base fert : 1 inch
Type/brand of base fert (Product name. E.g. JBL Aquabasis) : Cannot remember shld be jbl???
Age of base fert:1 Yr +

Other fertilisers (Product name. E.g. Root Monster) : Not been adding since 4-5 mths ago

Other additives (Product name. E.g. Seachem Prime) :

Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister, Product name/model if possible) :Eheim
Filter media used :sponge only

Age of tank: 1 yr +

Water change frequency : once in 2 weeks

Water surface movement (None/gentle/turbulent) : gentle
Circulation (None/gentle/turbulent) : gentle

Tank Temperature : 28 c

Chemical Properties (Fill what you can)
-------------------------------------
KH (dKH): Do not have any of the info
GH (dGH):
pH :
NH4 (ppm):
NO2 (ppm):
NO3 (ppm):
PO4 (ppm):
Fe (ppm):

Bioload (Number and type of fish and plants)
Fauna: Abt 30 cardinal tetras,10 rummy nose,2 mountain shrimps,3 otos,2 SAE,3 cories,10 cherry shrimps,6 bee shrimps and 7 green shrimps (all seem to be missing) Plants: 5 Lotus,1 Echinodorus x barthii (if didn't identify wrongly), some Cryptocoryne wendtii brown and green.


Describe your problem: 1. I bought some narrow leave java fern with plantlets attached to it about 2 weeks ago and recently i saw hair algae growing on the roots of these plantlets. What could be the reason? Ihave never gotten hair algae from this tank.
2. My lotus are beginning to melt away starting with holes in the bigger leaves. Could this be due to lack of potassium?
3. My dad added some iron liquid fertilisers before. Could this be the case for case no. 1? but he used a syringe to inject it near to the Lotus only.

Hope someone can help me with this issue. going to change some water before the hair algae starts to spread. by the way i have already manually removed some of these algae already now the plantlets are still healthy.
regarding the test kits will try to get asap when i have $$$. Does anyone have any recommendations on which test kit is more impt and should get first?

thanks

yonghua

[vinz]

If you have been following this routine for 1 yr without problems, then I wouldn't majorly change anything.

Ummm, not to discredit you, but I have to check just in case... you are sure it's hair algae and not Java fern plantlet roots, right?

Did the hair algae only appear after your dad injected Fe into the substrate? Is he still doing that? Since you removed the hair algae, has it grown back?

As for your lotus, insert some root fertiliser tabs/sticks/balls near them. Give them a week to respond. Ask your dad to stop injecting Fe for now.

As for test kits... you seem to be running a low light tank, so I don't think you really need test kits, especially if $$$ is an issue. The tank is mature enough not to have ammonia/nitrite problems unless you screw up the filter or raise the bio-load massively. CO2 is not that crucial in a low light tank, so you can rule out KH and pH test kits. GH... your regular water change should do the job, so you don't have to worry much there either.

[lyh]

i went to check the planlets again there is growth on their roots again. just changed about 20% water and told my dad to stop adding Fe. Will manually remove the hair algae again to observe and see anymore growth. Will be going to get stick ferts. thanks