hi all
What is the main criteria to minimize algae for non CO2 tanks? Does the below still apply
1. Plant heavily
2. Minimal fertilization
3. Frequent WC
4. Feed little
Has a non CO2 tank pretty plagued by all types of algae... 1 ft tank with 11W lighting...
Has cryptos and some stem plants... but everytime there is algae, my wife gets rid of the plant without replacing it.. thus lesser and lesser plants...
Imho, point number 3 may not be applied. Read the sticky in Beginner's Corner regarding Non-CO2 tank. I've had a non-CO2 tank... no water changes and no algae. Regular feeding of fish (alternate days only) and weekly minimal fertilisation. Only water top-ups, no water changes.
I'm as ardent fan of 'low-tech' planted tanks and have relatively good success at the hobby. To share my experience, i perform no water change with only top-ups due to evaporation caused by the cooling fan. Fertilisation is done weekly with Seachem Flourish and Trace.
Maybe you would like to share more details of your setup, eg lighting etc.
You can add the lighting factor - 2 wpg or 0.5 wpl is enough. no need for more.
Cherabin
thanks for offering to help...
i tried my best to list the below, it's my wife's tank in her office.. aircon on during office hours...
Tank Dimensions (LxWxH, specify units): 12 inches(L) by 8 inches (W) by 10 inches
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 18 W
Number and type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) :PL
Age of light bulbs :1
No. of hours your lights are on :6
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) :Non
Type of CO2 (DIY/Cylinder) :
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor) :
Liquid fertilisers Used (Product name. E.g. Seachem Flourish) :Non
Fertilization regime (Frequency and amount per dose) :Non
Other fertilisers (Product name. E.g. Root Monster) :1 root monster for red lotus
Other additives (Product name. E.g. Seachem Prime) :Excel alternate days 0.5ml
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister, Product name/model if possible) :Internal filter (small)
When was the filter last washed :8 April 06
Filter media used :usual sponge
When was the media last changed :
What was changed :
Age of setup (i.e. since initial setup or last major re-do ) : 4 months
Water change frequency :weekly
Amount changed :20%
Water surface movement (None/gentle/turbulent) : gentle
Circulation (None/gentle/turbulent) :gentle
Tank Temperature :
Chemical Properties (Fill what you can)
-------------------------------------
KH (dKH): Not tested
GH (dGH):
pH :
NH4 (ppm):
NO2 (ppm):
NO3 (ppm):
PO4 (ppm):
Fe (ppm):
Bioload (Number and type of fish and plants)
------------------------------------------
Flora: cryptos, red lotus, java moss
Fauna: 1 blue tetra (rather big), 2 guppies, 4 rams, 1 oto, 1 pleco, 2 chocolate gouramis, 1 cory (rather big), 1 albino tetra
From my experience, i would suggest you increase the photoperiod to 10 hrs daily. I have also come to learn that my crypts do alot better when root monster are inserted to the area where they are planted, so you might want to try that. Instead of doing water change, try just top-ups whenever needed. The non-co2 method requires a rich substrate that supposedly slowly releases fertilisation into the water column and also heavy feeding such that your fauna would substatiate the fertiliser. Hope this would help.
For non-CO2 tank, you...Originally Posted by wasabi8888
1. Plant heavily [ok]
2. No fertilisation unless absolutely neccessary
3. No WC, once every 2 months is sufficient
4. Feed as normal or more.
10hrs - 12 hrs light period is ok as mentioned.
BC
Think most of the issue is mentioned. I suspect not enough plant mass. Also is your tank hit by sunlight?
nope.. tank in office.. no sun at all.....
i suspected that it's because of slow plant growth which increases the growth of algae....
the other thing is that i am surprised that some of you said heavier than normal feeding.. while squee mentioned alternative day feeding....
which makes more sense?
same comments as bclee ... check my signature below for my latest 5ft project ... will be updating with pics soon
... always look at the bright side of life
I do alternate day feeding because I'm fertilising weekly. The others do daily feeding because they never dose fertilisers at all.
You shouldn't stuff your fish in order to dose nutrients. It should never work in that way. Non-CO2 tanks are basically more a balancing act.
Regards
Peter Gwee
Personally, I would prefer just to feed the fishes, rather than juggling with all the chemicals. It is not "stuffing" the fishes. I feed liberally, excesss food falls to the substrate or gets sucked up by the filter. There the food get processed by bacteria to release nutrients back to the plants.
It works!
BC
BC, that's workable if your fishes don't go picking up food on the substrate. Mine does and fights with yamatos for it! Forever hungry..
cheers,
kolite
It is fine for fishes or yamatos to pick the food from the substrate. At the end, the food will get "processed" into plant nutrients by either route.
Non-CO2 tank is surprisingly that simply... no messing with ferts, test kits or CO2.
Key to successful non-CO2 tank:
1. Good substrate to house bacteria to process food/wastes/decaying plant matter (organic matters) into plant food (CO2+nutrients). (It is not so much about fertilisers in the base fert. It worked for me even without base fert.)
2. Good plant mass. Pack your tank with plants.
3. Keep some fishes/shrimps and feed them.
4. Sufficient lights for the plants
5. Good temperature (not too high... 28°C or lower will do)
BC
I agree fully with bclee. I also feed liberally as long as its not excessive like food everywhere.
I've good plant mass, using Seachem Onyx sand, and keep moderate amount of fauna inside. Lights are strong and the plants are growing fine. DO note the plants do grow MUCH MUCH slower in non-CO2 setups.
... always look at the bright side of life
I third Bclee and Joe. Food is generally the only fertilizer needed in a low tech/non CO2 setup. In a soft water place like Spore perhaps some source of Hardwater nutrients Ca/Mg.
Frequent water changes are not necessary - I change 30-40% once in 3 months.
An excellent book on this approach is Diana Walstad's "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium"
furry plant grower
Wasabi, your missus is dosing Excel? Excel is a carbon source and therefore it might throw plants adaptation to conditions all out of whack if not done consistently. If doing Excel, better to dose daily, and then dose EI style at one-third Plantbrain's regular dosage.
Warm regards,
Lawrence Lee
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
do you dose your Excel weekly?
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