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Identification and Problem

mzm

mzm

Member
Joined
4 Feb 2010
Messages
160
Location
Malta
Hi, can anyone tell me what plant this is and also what is wrong with it.

It has started to develop black spots on the leaves. The tank is currently also going through a BBA or BGA problem. Whilst there definitely is algae on the leaves, the black holes do not appear to be algae.

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I use the EI fertilizing method and have upped my CO2 in an attempt to battle the BBA/BGA.

Michael
 
Michael

You have a lot of light there 148 watts @ T5 - could you please advise on the lighting periodicity and are you adding any liquid carbon + injection of Co2.

Regards
Paul
 
looks to me like staurogyne but i could be very wrong.

lighting seems faitly high, are you dosing ferts etc

i would snip of any 'infected leaves' leaving only those that look fine, that way you are eliminating some of the alage thats on your plant, allowing it to concetrate its efforts on those leaves that are not 'infected'. otherwise its fighting a losing battle trying to save the already covered leaves, thus using all its energy.
 
Hi Paul, lights are on for 5 hours from 18.00 hrs to 23.00 hrs. Dosing is EI.

Regards,
Michael
 
mzm said:
Hi Paul, lights are on for 5 hours from 18.00 hrs to 23.00 hrs. Dosing is EI.

Regards,
Michael
Click to expand...

Michael

Do you have all the lights on at one time or are they split eg. two tubes on for 5 hrs and the other two on for 2 hrs which are still within your 5 hrs lighting period.

Regards
paul.
 
Hi Paul I had thought of doing that however since the tank is a corner tank, the back light are much shorter than the front ones and hence I decided against it since the wattage of both sets is different.

Michael
 
Michael

are you adding any other liquid like Easy Carbo or Excel and are you adding Co2 gas, as for your lighting i would knock the amount of lighting down by half - 1 x big tube and 1 x smaller tube - same time span. Remove all leafs covered in algae add some liquid carbon and Co2 gas.

Regards
paul.
 
Hi Paul, this weekend I took all the wood out, soaked it in a bleach/water mix for 10 minutes and scrubbed the algae off with a brush. I then rinsed the wood under water and afterwards left it in a bucket of water with Seachem Prime. I also took off as many algae infected leaves as possible. I am adding co2 but not yet using Excel since if overdosed this is harmful to my Valisneria.

Will try to also reduce light.

Michael
 
Hi The plant is defo Staurogyne, i had a similar problem to this. If you notice in your pics the older leaves are suffering.

Mine linked to insufficient nutrient and CO2 flow i also dosed PO4 to help combat the problem.

How long is your CO2 on for? and how is it delivered to the tank?
I also agree with the other guys even though you only run your lights for 5 hours per day the light level is high, if your CO2, flow and nutrients arent up to scratch it can lead to all sorts of problems.


Check this thread it may help:
http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=8867

Good luck! :thumbup:
 
Thanks for your input andyh. The co2 is now coming on 3 hours prior to lights on and goes off one hour prior to lights out. CO@ is being injected via Aquatic Nature Tornado reactor.

Michael
 
cant get rid of this algae although I have now been adding Seachem Excel for a week and upped my co2.

I am thinking of taking the tank apart and starting from scratch....
 
Yes, but what would that accomplish? You haven't changed, and the algal bloom is a result of your technique. So you'll start over and within weeks have exactly the same problem. Starting over, hoping that things will be different the second time around is self delusional. You need to learn how to solve this problem. Then, and only then would you have changed.

I noticed on your signature that you use a CO2 controller. Is the controller in control? Have you set a target pH, and is the controller attempting to maintain this pH? If so, this is a MAJOR contributing factor to the BBA. You may want to rethink how you apply the CO2. Elimination of BBA requires a steady flow of CO2. A steady pH on the other hand, does exactly the opposite, because it modulates the CO2 injection rate in response to the pH changes sensed by the probe. Modulation of CO2 injection is the same as unstable CO2. You would have to select a pH low enough that the injection rate would be steady, but it also looks like you have mega-dollar fish so I wouldn't even think about doing that. All you really need to do is to disable the controller and to turn the gas on a few hours before lights on and then shut the gas off a few hours before lights off. In this way the injection rate is steady and the risk of annihilation minimized.

If the controller is not in control then you need to look at how the gas is performing throughout the day. The BBA/GSA is a fundamental and undeniable indication of instability. So either the solenoid is operating intermittently, or the line is being pinched intermittently or some factor is causing either an unsteady or an intermittent flow. Resume your investigation in this direction and you will solve the BBA very quickly.

Cheers,
 
I do not think it is Staurogyne it is rather looking like some sort of hygrophilia
 
Hi, I also have a feeling that this is some sort of Hygrophila, it does tend to grow upwards rather than sideways....

anyway I am now going to reduce phosphate input to half the dose that i used to and see whether this will slow the bba down. i have checked the phosphate and it indicated 10mg. I have now used a phosphate absorbant and managed to get the phosphates down to between 0.5 and 2 and intend to try and keep it there and see how it goes.

In the meantime i have also eliminated my co2 controller and now co2 is being pumped in constantly between 15.00 and 22.00 hrs.

Regards,
Michael
 
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