d_scherrer
Seedling
I have been struggling now for a little more than a month now with a newly planted aquarium and I am hoping that you might have some insight as to the issues I am having. I know its a bit of a long post, but its a short read, promise...!
(I tried to add as much info as I could.)
Tank Stats:
I have a 76 gallon (us) (287 liter) bowfront aquarium. I have a Fluval 405 canister filter (360 gal/1360 liter per hr) with a spray bar and I am also running a Hydor (Korilia) 750 circ pump. I am running 1 tray of peat, 2 trays of bio, 1 tray of fine filter media with phosphate and ammonia reducing media pads as well as standard polishing pads. I am using gas CO2 injection and I am using the EI method for fert dosing. I am dosing Mono Potassium Phosphate, Potassium Nitrate, and CSM +B.
Nitrates and ammonia are in check.
I'm not sure on the phosphate level, but using the EI dosing it shouldn't be of concern (right?).
Water changes of 50% once a week.
More during the blackout period, once a day infact.
I have REAL hard water. The KH is currently 17 with a GH of around 15. I have another test also on order as I am not sure of the quality of the test.
My foreground plants are struggling along, but the stem plants in the mid and background seem to be OK. I am also battling algae, both the green and gray/brown brush kinds. The pH in this tank is right around 6.7 or so.
I am wondering if I should be looking into an RO system for the water. I can't seem to keep the algae at bay and I turned up the CO2 after some advice which resulted in many of my fish dying (bad mistake), so I've backed the CO2 back down and I am now just trying to get the CO2 adjusted to show lime green on my drop checker and 7.0 ph. Slow going so far but the mass extintinction seems to have stopped.
And what about dosing other nutrients in addition to what I already have going into the tank? Is there something else I should be doing for this tank as I cannot seem to achieve the lush growth I was hoping for, plant growth anyway, I don't seem to have any issues with getting the algae to grow….
I should also add that I have already done a 3 day blackout (a couple weeks ago) which seemed to work and things seemed to be coming back, then all progress stopped, and that is when the CO2 levels were changed, and all hell broke loose, sort-of-speak.
I'll try now to summarize a timeline.
Week one - planted, started dosing (incorrectly) no additional circulation pump, just a spray bar, CO2 with 1 diffuser, and 4 lights (1 actinic, one 10k, two 6500)
Week two - figured out that my dosing was wrong so I fixed that, still not good growth, but algae starting/continuing to form, having a hard time getting the correct CO2 levels based on a faulty ph meter.
week three - added a second diffuser after a 3 day black out period, realized the ph meter was bad, recalibrated, and realized that my ph was still high 7.67 or so, increased co2, added hydor pump (thought being that there was not enough flow), changed how water was being directed in tank as apparently to much surface agitation was my issue (according to some advice I recieved.) readjusted spray bar and circ pump. Also cut way back on lighting now just using one actinic and one 6500 (after some advice).
Week 4 and week 5 (present) - mass extinction of fish (OMG!!!), reduced Co2 levels, which has stopped my fish from dying, but the algae continues to be an issue, but I think I am real doubly in trouble because all my ottos, koli loaches, and shrimp seem to be dead - haven't seen them in a few days after the mass deaths (sad face). Running out of solutions. Just before the real trouble began (around week 4) I did have to prune the plants, so I was seeing some growth through all this.
Thank you so much for any help.....
(I tried to add as much info as I could.)
Tank Stats:
I have a 76 gallon (us) (287 liter) bowfront aquarium. I have a Fluval 405 canister filter (360 gal/1360 liter per hr) with a spray bar and I am also running a Hydor (Korilia) 750 circ pump. I am running 1 tray of peat, 2 trays of bio, 1 tray of fine filter media with phosphate and ammonia reducing media pads as well as standard polishing pads. I am using gas CO2 injection and I am using the EI method for fert dosing. I am dosing Mono Potassium Phosphate, Potassium Nitrate, and CSM +B.
Nitrates and ammonia are in check.
I'm not sure on the phosphate level, but using the EI dosing it shouldn't be of concern (right?).
Water changes of 50% once a week.
More during the blackout period, once a day infact.
I have REAL hard water. The KH is currently 17 with a GH of around 15. I have another test also on order as I am not sure of the quality of the test.
My foreground plants are struggling along, but the stem plants in the mid and background seem to be OK. I am also battling algae, both the green and gray/brown brush kinds. The pH in this tank is right around 6.7 or so.
I am wondering if I should be looking into an RO system for the water. I can't seem to keep the algae at bay and I turned up the CO2 after some advice which resulted in many of my fish dying (bad mistake), so I've backed the CO2 back down and I am now just trying to get the CO2 adjusted to show lime green on my drop checker and 7.0 ph. Slow going so far but the mass extintinction seems to have stopped.
And what about dosing other nutrients in addition to what I already have going into the tank? Is there something else I should be doing for this tank as I cannot seem to achieve the lush growth I was hoping for, plant growth anyway, I don't seem to have any issues with getting the algae to grow….
I should also add that I have already done a 3 day blackout (a couple weeks ago) which seemed to work and things seemed to be coming back, then all progress stopped, and that is when the CO2 levels were changed, and all hell broke loose, sort-of-speak.
I'll try now to summarize a timeline.
Week one - planted, started dosing (incorrectly) no additional circulation pump, just a spray bar, CO2 with 1 diffuser, and 4 lights (1 actinic, one 10k, two 6500)
Week two - figured out that my dosing was wrong so I fixed that, still not good growth, but algae starting/continuing to form, having a hard time getting the correct CO2 levels based on a faulty ph meter.
week three - added a second diffuser after a 3 day black out period, realized the ph meter was bad, recalibrated, and realized that my ph was still high 7.67 or so, increased co2, added hydor pump (thought being that there was not enough flow), changed how water was being directed in tank as apparently to much surface agitation was my issue (according to some advice I recieved.) readjusted spray bar and circ pump. Also cut way back on lighting now just using one actinic and one 6500 (after some advice).
Week 4 and week 5 (present) - mass extinction of fish (OMG!!!), reduced Co2 levels, which has stopped my fish from dying, but the algae continues to be an issue, but I think I am real doubly in trouble because all my ottos, koli loaches, and shrimp seem to be dead - haven't seen them in a few days after the mass deaths (sad face). Running out of solutions. Just before the real trouble began (around week 4) I did have to prune the plants, so I was seeing some growth through all this.
Thank you so much for any help.....