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current setup and recommendations

ok Clive...will rather not touch anything then and continue cleaning as necessary...I still also maintained same lighting intensity and program as per your previous advise...as at the moment plants still look healthy and growing well and fish accustomed too to this level of CO2.

On the ferns ok as well...will leave them to grow a bit more and then cut them from the leave to replant.

One final thing I asked is if cleaning the leaves with the fingers from diatoms is ok and if my cleaning regime of the filter media is ok as well...appreciate your input.

Best wishes.
 
Hi Emann,
Yes, manual cleaning of the leaves with the fingers is a really good idea. Have a look at this post https://ukaps.org/forum/threads/algae-problems-help-please.6331/page-2#post-72428
CO2 and Oxygen have a difficult time moving through water, so from the moment plants are submerged, they are at a severe disadvantage breathing. Whne algal spores, detritus and other debris covers the leaf surface the plants experience even more difficulty breathing, so during the water change, take the water level down as low as the fish will tolerate and allow the plant to dry out a little. With your fingers, wipe the slimy coating off of the surfaces of the leaves as much as you can without damaging them. Weak leaves will break off, of course, but this is OK. All leaves severely affected by algae should be removed as they actually encourage more algae.

As far as the filter, it really depends on how much debris collects in the media. The more CO2 you provide, the more waste the plants will produce and you will be able to see how dirty the media gets. So typically, once a month filter cleaning is a good start, but if you check the filter and it is very brown and with lots of brown dirt you may increase the cleaning frequency to perhaps every 3 weeks. If there is not a lot of dirt then maybe extend the time to 5 weeks. It's very difficult to say exactly for each person or for each tank. The rate of dirt buildup within the filter should be used as a guide.

Cheers,
 
Hi clive..just back from a 3 day short vacation...aquarium looking great and diatoms seem in control...just thinking to keep every setting as is for now.

all the best for 2018 and tks for everything these past few weeks.
 
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