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please help

Mr P

Member
Joined
4 Oct 2011
Messages
166
Location
NW london
i have a 175 litre tank,i am using james c fert recipe and dosing guide lines.i have 2x 24w t5.the filter is a efx300 rated at 1100litres hourand a koraliapowerhead at 1600litres hour,the plants are doing great apart fromanything close to the substrate,i was doing ok with H.C.but it has been pulled out mostly by a couple of angel fish.i am getting a green algae covering the open areas of the substrate (eco complete )i have beenfighting this algaefor weeks, i was cutting large areas of H.C.right down to try and combat it,i have applied easy carbo to infected areas with no flow in the tank,it did not solve the problem,i am using co2 ,50 bubbles a minute,the drop checker is a light green,i put the drop checher in various spots to check the co2 is getting round the tank,the koralia is pushing the bubbles down to the substrate.i am pulling my hair out trying to solve this problem,any help would be great,many thanks
 
Sorry to hear your having problems. Is it bluesy green algae that looks like slime? It's partly down to flow but you also said Anything close to the substrate doesn't do well, which to me sounds like flow isn't getting low enough, and also your co2 seems quite low. Your not even on 1 bubble a second which seems ro be a little low. Try upping that slightly more to what ever doesn't cause harm to your fauna. How do you have your flow arranged?
You answered one of your questions in there when you said you've applied easy carbo to areas with no flow with no luck, which says you need to get your flow sorted so those areas are getting co2 and nutrients to them. Keep removing as much as possible whilst correcting your flow etc. that should help
 
i am worried about gassing my fish,how do i know when i am a resonable level?,when i mentioned the easycarbo what i meant was that i turned the filter and powerhead off when i applied the easycarbo.there is a strong flow across the bottom of the tank,the algae is like green cottonwool,does this change things?i have a spraybar across the back of the tank,the koralia is facing towards the front and is blowing the co2 down to the areas where i am having problems,thanks alastair'
 
Just increase your co2 gradually one day at a time, your looking for a nice line green colour/ yellow by the end of the period. You'll be able to tell if it's too much as your fish may come to the surface and stay there, if so reduce it a little and do a water change to reduce the amount of co2 on their. Just up it say 60 bubbles a minute to see if their ok with that then maybe try for 2 and see if that helps. I couldn't day how much your tank needs as each is different and has different amount of light etc. just take your time. I increased mine over a period of a week to a point where co2 was high enough but fish are happy and not showing signs of stress.
Have a look at this page re algae types and what's the best remedy etc it did wonders for me

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm
 
Hello mate

Shame to hear tour having problems but dont stress, your flow rate is good, and having a spray bar is a good idea.
Get a picture up of your tank and that'll help, things like having the koralia pointing down an across could mean the spray bar and power head could be battling against each other and actually making dead spots.

Up your co2 a little, yourl know if your fish aren't happy they will hang right close to the surface. Do you have a solenoid?

What other fish do you have in the tank?
 
the bubbles get around all the tank,all the plants are moving in the flow even on the bottom of the tank,i will start increasing the co2 over the following days,thanks for the link i will have a look on there, i have black widow tetras,red phantom tetras,otosand a couple of red gouramis.the spraybar is the full width of the tank and is flowing in the same direction as the koralia towards the front of tank .i turn the gas on and off manually.i will post some pics when i know how to,thanks for the intrest.
 
i have been on the planted tank site and low co2 does seem like it could be the problem,thanks again.
 
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