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2 months in and things going backwards?

alanchown

Member
Joined
20 Dec 2008
Messages
129
My 200L tank has been set up for 2 months. Plants were growing very well, most from tissue culture.
Plants include dwarf hairgrass, Rotala wallachi, pogestemon erectus.
Once they took off they were growing like triffids, pruning more than once a week.
After about 6 weeks diatoms started, and since then everything seems to have come to a grinding halt. Plants looking a bit ragged, growth slowed down to nothing.

Substrate is Tropical soil, ferts are EI using aquarium plant food solutions made from dry chemicals. Pressurised CO2.

Any ideas why things have come to a halt?

Alan
 
With increased plant mass perhaps you are suffering a co2/fertiliser shortfall. Although you were seeing great results maybe you now need to inject more co2 and add more plant food to feed the larger mass.
Inherently extra plant mass also reduces distribution so this could also be a factor.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
I would think the diatoms are a result of an imbalance and would not be the cause of poor growth, but the result of it. They are normally associated with new set ups where there is often an imbalance of light, co2 and fertilisers with plant mass/growth.
Have you changed your lighting in any way, photoperiod or intensity? Is your co2 the same, diffuser clean etc? If all is well there then I would look at distribution and concentration of co2 and fertilisers due to the increased plant mass. Perhaps your soil was holding additional nutrients early on when the plants were small and now as they have grown they have depleted that resource.
 
have you got a full tank pic?

Lighting regime?

Co2 timings? What colour is your drop checker (pic) ?

Maintenance regime?

Questions, questions! :)
 
Not the best of pics, but you can see the Rotala on the right is looking covered with diatoms.

CO2 is moderate, so darker rather than light green, the bubbles were driving me nuts,I've also had a couple of CO2 wipeouts in the past so being careful.
Filter is a Fluval FX4, so circulation is good.
My main light is a Fluval Plant 3.0 which is on full power for about 7 hours but with an additional 1 hr ramp up and down. I also use 2 old chihiros lights front and back for a couple of hours at their lowest setting just to light up the fish as they seem in in silhouette almost.
50% water change every week using London tapwater. Filter cleaned monthly.

Alan
 

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I would reduce the lighting mate so it's 7 hours in total including the ramp up and down and try fine tuning the co2 again. I tend to find algae have a bit of a delayed response so getting a bit now was an issue a short while ago. Looks like you may have created the perfect storm in so far as plant mass increased increasing demand as well as cutting down the flow a little at the same time that you turned the co2 down. Unfortunately those bubbles floating around are a necessary evil as annoying as they are. Turning the lighting down a touch will help bring things back in balance.
 
I have now reduced the ramp up times. I think I'll up the Co2- I have changed the background to a frosted background so the bubbles are less obvious. It is frustrating as 2 weeks ago it was going so well! I don't think co2 distribution is an issue as the FX4 pretty much blasts the bubbles around- in fact a couple of days ago (way after the diatom issue) I dialled it back a bit - I think the fish are more active now I have done that- its still strong flow, but not as fierce as it was.

Alan
 
Reducing lighting intensity alongside a co2 reduction is always advisable, so if your co2 has reduced you will need to lower lighting intensity otherwise your plants will still be trying to grow at the same rate without the food to do it. This leads to poor plant health and resultant algae :thumbup:
 
I found the fish are more active when co2 is lower, from what I understand co2 is an anaesthetic to fish. The 30ppm we aim for or lime green drop checker is to me right on the borderline of what fish can cope with depending on the species. If you want to run lower co2 injection inevitably you need to reduce the lighting to go with it. Some people only run the lighting for 6 hours but I suppose it depends on your viewing times as well. I run lower lighting and lower co2 these days and try and hit a balance for fish and plants. I can get away with a green but not bordering on yellow DC but I don't push too hard on the lighting.

I'm not a fan of bubbles either, what do you use? the atomisers are very effective but the mist distracting IMO, normal glass diffusers don't give as fine a mist and the bubbles are more up and out but the downside is you use more co2 to yield the same results. Maybe look into reactors but with most you pay the price of flow. What I tended to do when using in-line atomisers was set the tank up so most of the injection was done while I was out out work, by the time I got home, had a shower and ate my tea the injection period was nearly over and I could enjoy some unhindered viewing time.
 
I'm using a diffuser I bought from aquarium gardens, it's plastic and much smaller than glass ones I have used. The output of bubbles seems very good and more even than glass ones I have bought. The best thing is I haven't broken it yet!
 
Maybe do a short ramp up, your lights on full then a long ramp down. Getting the co2 right is far more important at the beginning of the lighting period than at the end. Towards the back end of the lighting period the plants have had their fill of co2, I think I've heard the first 4 hours of full lighting is the important bit, if you reduce the lighting intensity down after this you may be able to leave the lighting on a bit longer without the bubbles to get some extended viewing time.

I haven't got a tank at home at the minute but when I did I had co2 on about 2.30/3 o’clock with the lights coming on about 5ish @ 25% ramping up to 100% 5.30 I got in around 6/6.30 by the time I was showered and fed the co2 would knock off around 8.30 and the lights ramp down until 11.30 off at around about my bed time. I only had to look at the pesky bubbles for a couple of hours but I was generally just mooching about or watching TV then anyway.
 
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