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Detritus or Diatoms.

geaves

Member
Joined
29 Jan 2012
Messages
159
Location
Braintree, Essex
I can't work out what this is....

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Aquarium Plants 2012-05-16 003 by geaves, on Flickr

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Aquarium Plants 2012-05-16 001 by geaves, on Flickr

I have stopped all dosing and started a regime of 10ltr water change daily, 40cm cube, approx 50ltrs, hob filter, Eco Aqua Led on for 8 hours (2x4) per day.
I seem to be struggling to get a balance since adding livestock, prior to that during the first 8 weeks the plants were fine but recently I have noticed the deterioration.
I have a second tank/project which is awaiting some more kit so I currently don't have anywhere to move the fish, 2 Black widow tetras, 4 silver loaches and 10 copper harlequins.
Is there anything I can do to turn this around? Whatever this is it will come off if I rub an individual leaf between my thumb and index finger, but it will not come by simply 'wafting' the plants during a water change.

Thanks.
 
I get the odd bit of something very similar myself. I have 6 amanos in my tank and they take care of it pretty completely. I have 6 sakuras as well but I don't think they help out so much. The amanos never stop. Great cleanup crew!

I wouldn't like to suggest what the underlying cause is but probably CO2 related if you inject? Just guessing here though.
 
pariahrob said:
I get the odd bit of something very similar myself. I have 6 amanos in my tank and they take care of it pretty completely. I have 6 sakuras as well but I don't think they help out so much. The amanos never stop. Great cleanup crew!

I wouldn't like to suggest what the underlying cause is but probably CO2 related if you inject? Just guessing here though.

No C02 injection.....have been trying for a couple of weeks to get some Amanos locally but I've probably got a better chance finding hens teeth. Would online be a better option for these?
The base is aqua soil topped with unipacs samoa sand.
 
You should have a maidenhead aquatics not too far from you. They almost all seem to stock amanos. If your nearest store doesn't then I bet they can get them.

I've not ordered any online/mail order before but I know plenty of people that have. As long as they are packed well then they should be ok. Just make sure they are sent next day recorded. If any are dead on arrival then take a photo, before you open the bag, as proof.

Hope that helps.
 
this is algae mate, it seems there isnt a common name, apistofish started a thead about 'dirty plants'. Amanos wont eat it but I have found ramshorns deal with it well but dont stop adding ferts mate, it will only weaken the plants and the algae will get worse.
 
geaves said:
I seem to be struggling to get a balance since adding livestock, prior to that during the first 8 weeks the plants were fine but recently I have noticed the deterioration.
Sounds familiar. Like you I had a livestock free tank for a couple of months. Diatoms only appeared when I added the fish. I didn't get any on the plants though, just glass and spraybar. I suspect it's just the increased ammonia that it causing the "bloom". It will take a while for your filter to catch up. Don't buy shrimp to fix a temporary problem.

One thing I have noticed is that new tanks can hit a wall after a few months because the plant mass increases and they use more nutrients. So one week the tank is fine, then all of a sudden they suffer nutrient deficiency. I dose daily with TPN+ and you have to keep an eye on things and increase ferts accordingly. I had plant mass increase x4 or so but only increased ferts x2 then had all sorts of problems. The increased plant mass also affected CO2 distribution.
 
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