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ADA 60F iwagumi

well update since done filter clean and full tank clean ( can imagine would be very difficult with shrimp etc in tank) I need to purchase a brush to clean the lilly pipes as even in bleach solution and rinsing still small amount in the end of gunk anyway here are some pics
before cleaning lilly pipes think the algae is contributing to the brown look of the tank
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after
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tank before
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and after
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various pics of the algae what doesn't seem to be retreating
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still dosing EI daily and been dosing 5ml of flourish excel daily and the co2 on from 10am-4pm light on 12pm-5pm also moved lights a little higher today anyone have any more help on the subject

Thanks dean
 
If your bubble counter was cracked the CO2 levels wouldn't have been very good, also looks like the lilly pipe is breaking the surface with the flow, that will release the CO2 quicker, you have very very low plant mass and one of the most slower growing plants, that doesn't help, what you need is some floating plants to get rid of some nutrients that are feeding the algae and you need to keep that CO2 stable. ;)
 
do you think the problem is nutrients i mean too much feeding the algae ? should i inject less you think, and i am going to buy a new bubble counter this week and is there any plants you would recommend ?

Thanks dean
 
Make sure your drop checker is lime green or even yellow (if you have no fish in there). The problem is 99% of the time CO2 related due to the amount of light. How much light you got in there? You have to remember shallow tanks need less light than normal depth tanks as the light penetrates much quicker.
 
LondonDragon said:
Make sure your drop checker is lime green or even yellow (if you have no fish in there). The problem is 99% of the time CO2 related due to the amount of light. How much light you got in there? You have to remember shallow tanks need less light than normal depth tanks as the light penetrates much quicker.
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well the drop checker is yellow after been on 3 hours or so lime green to yellow so not too bad, and the light is a large light that's why its so high its a hagen glow and has 2x24w bulbs a hagen power glo and a life glo but I suppose I could remove one of the bulbs if you think it would make sense but what one ?

Thanks again Dean
 
so would you drop one of the lights and which one the power or the glo ? and what height above the tank would you place it should I keep it 75cm above the tank , will one 24w bulb be fine for this size tank

Thanks dean
 
Never used shallow tanks so hard for me to tell on how high you should be raising it, I would say 50cm with a single tube for a week and see how the tank behaves, don't reduce CO2 though.
 
LondonDragon said:
Never used shallow tanks so hard for me to tell on how high you should be raising it, I would say 50cm with a single tube for a week and see how the tank behaves, don't reduce CO2 though.
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I will keep co2 the same and remove one of the bulbs, what one would be best to remove the hagen power glo bulb or the hagen life bulb and would you defiantly recommend removing one, I suppose I cannot raise lights anymore as basically at the celling so the only other option and plenty co2 so all I can do I suppose

thanks dean
 
Don't think it really matters which bulb, go with the one that you prefer to the eye in terms of colour. hair grass is not really an high tech plant do it doesn't really need that much light.
 
LondonDragon said:
Don't think it really matters which bulb, go with the one that you prefer to the eye in terms of colour. hair grass is not really an high tech plant do it doesn't really need that much light.
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ok I will drop one off today and then keep you posted and hopefully start to see the algae disappear

will keep dosing etc
Thanks dean
 
Hi all,
LondonDragon said:
what you need is some floating plants to get rid of some nutrients that are feeding the algae.
Click to expand...
I agree with Paulo. Also in a shallow tank, with a large surface area to volume ratio, it will be difficult to keep added CO2 in solution (because there is a large surface area where gas exchange will occur).

I'm not a CO2 user, but shallow tanks will have levels of CO2 and O2 that are close to equilibrium with atmospheric levels naturally, so you may not need to add CO2, particularly for true aquatics.

cheers Darrel
 
dropped a light off today and dropped lights slightly closer to the tank and carried out another water change, dosing as normal so hopefully starts growing some strands are very long going to be hard to control once takes off I think will keep you posted, also bought a spare FE today

Thanks dean
 
as I said I have removed one of the lights and I think a lot of algae has gone now but still some behind rocks etc
here are some recent pics

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from the above pic you can still see some algae still water change every other day and dosing 5ml or flourish and continuing EI dosing, but not happy with it, also the grass gets very high and will take a lot of trimming but don't mind about doing that, want to fill in the blanks and the ground with something else another carpet plant maybe any recommendations ? something that's quite easy to maintain and doesn't grow high at all, want to add shrimp soon aswel getting bored of waiting to fill in lol

Thanks dean
 
I agree when I purchased I was told it was the mini hair grass but its longer than 5cm I might rip it out and order 10 pots or so of that will it not float to surface as there will be no established roots ? And how many pots u think ?

Anyone else think this is best idea ?

Thanks dean
 
Hi Dean,
pleased youre getting over the worst of the algae, there seems to be some promising healthy green growth there now.
The grass you have looks very much like eleocharis ecicularis, which can reach 30cm in height ive found. It seems to be the easiest to grow however and needs weekly trimming to keep it in any shape. The new mini version is much slower....although George Farmer has a carpet in 10 weeks :mad:...maybe its more down to the grower that the grass! Eleocharis parvula is a good choice as it is relitively undemanding and wont need such continual pruning as the ecicularis in your shallow tank.
One thing you could consider is mixing the varieties up a bit. Keep what you have and use it for accents at the rear to add height where needed around the stones. Maybe then add some e. parvula midground and try the e. sp. mini in the foreground/centre area. This way you can see what works best for you and may help in creating the look you want without huge amounts of trimming.
I would also get some shrimp in there, they always help in sifting through the grass which can be a detrius trap.
Stick with it mate, itll be a field of green soon :thumbup:
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
I like what ady and lain said and I think that is best idea move all grass currently in the tank to rear then buy the short hair grass that londondragon linked me to
http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/tropica-eleocharis-sp-mini-12grow-p-6279.html
how many pots would you advise getting and also what are best shrimp to get and you think be best to go to local aquarium shop ? not sure were any are apart from garden center ones that sell fish lol

Thanks for opinions very helpful
Dean
 
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