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Help please, Algae and lack of growth

C

Chrispowell

Member
Joined
18 Apr 2014
Messages
387
Hi all,

Firstly, Hi im new here. Secondly please go easy on me - everyday is a school day.

I am getting green spot algae on the glass and most leaves and my plants are growing very slowly.

I would like some advice and possible answers as to where Im currently going wrong.. I have a tropical Discus tank. 4ftx2tfx2ft.
I have sand substrate
Pressurised co2 ( approx 2 bps)
4 t5 39" lights ( currently only running two) running for 8 hours a day
A dark green drop checker
EI ferts that I dose according to the bottle, 10ml per 50L on alternate days.
I currently change 85% of water weekly (want to up this to 85% every other day but not sure how to dose the ferts)
Tank temp is 29degrees

I will get pictures at lights on in an hour or so. If anyone can help point me in a better direction I would be very keen to listen.

Thanks

Chris
 
I think you'd have to either go down to one bulb and accept slow growth or increase co2 to stop algae and get faster growth.
 
please give us a pic so we can see how it looks.
29 degrees is high, you keep discus?
Do a big waterchange every other day, do 10 ml after each change\
Dark green checker would not be good, but it has to do with the KH of the fluid in there, do you have a pH probe or pen? That would work better
 
Hi,

Thanks for the replys. I have a PH and KH test kit, and a tds meter. Yes its a Discus tank so is kept at 28degrees.

Will get some pictures now :)[DOUBLEPOST=1397839082][/DOUBLEPOST]http://i62.tinypic.com/fwsnd1.jpg

Its hard for me to get a decent picture but this is what most leaves go like...

http://i59.tinypic.com/20qnlhj.jpg

These plants have been in the tank for at least 2 months...

http://i58.tinypic.com/2ccroko.jpg

I have to scrub the glass once a week and get this green and a faint brown algae off of it...

http://i61.tinypic.com/sm5ydu.jpg

Thanks for any help
 
Last edited:
I think is too much fish for this tank size. Maybe they are producing too much ammonia and causing algae. However, green spot algae is more related to low phosphate levels. Make sure you're adding enough CO2 and keep doing large amounts of water changes. Oh, I agree with Idcgroomer, you could decrease your lighting even more to help to control the algae.
 
Thanks everyone, I have some liquid co2, should I add this too to get the drop checker into the lime greens???

I dont think the fish waste is a problem, the tank is really over filtered and never shows a trace of ammonia, should I change my EI routine to up the phosphate levels and If so how??

Many Thanks

Chris
 
Hi chris

Id increase your co2 as 2bps on a tank that size seems relatively low.

How long before lights on does your co2 come on.
Also instead of one such huge water change why not split it to twice a week 50 percent changes. 85 in one day seems a lot.
Regarding upping your pottassium phosphate just add an extra half spoon to your mix and see if that prevents more appearing. It wont rid the tank of what's already their. That requires manual removal.

There's a good article on tropicas site about discus and co2 tanks. They do water changes one a fortnight too I think.

http://www.tropica.com/en/tropica-abc/the-right-fish/discus-aquaria.aspx
 
Thanks again everyone. I do grow Discus on in my main tank so like to change as much water as possible everyday to help stop them stunting.

Here are the two bulbs I currently have running...

IMG_0010.jpg


I currently have co2 on around an hour and a half before lights on. Turning off one hour before lights go out. Is this good enough or shall I go for sooner?

Keep the suggestions coming Im learning loads!!

Thanks
 
Chrispowell said:
I currently have co2 on around an hour and a half before lights on. Turning off one hour before lights go out. Is this good enough or shall I go for sooner?
Keep the suggestions coming Im learning loads!!
Click to expand...
Here I keep CO2 running 6 hours before the light on and I turning it off 2 hours before the lights off.
 
Thanks I will adjust my timings.

I have found another issue today. I think it is caused by a leak in the system but not 100% maybe someone can clear it up for me...

I set my co2 bottle (brand new last week) to 50psi. Then once I open the needle valve the pressure on the bottle gauge slowly drops to around 20psi????

Im using a brass bubble counter and have checked with soapy water for leaks there and all looks good. Could this drop in pressure stop my inline diffuser working, and If so does this sound like a leak somewhere???

Thanks again
 
I set mine at 50psi and it stays at 50 psi even if i open the needle valve fully with no tubing connected. aquatic regs are so hit 'n' miss quality wise it would be hard to tell. It shouldnt do that even with a leak. Cheaper regs do drop a little when you open the valve but it shouldnt drop 30psi. My cheapy aquatic reg drops only drops about 5 psi with needle valve fully open and no tubing connected. You might have a leak but i would say the regs faulty too. How long have you had it? It hasn't been dropped or knocked has it?
 
I have had it about a year now, I dont recall dropping or knocking it but I cannot say 100%. I cant really afford to replace it at £90 is there a cheaper way to do it?

Thanks
 
Are you opening the cylinder fully? If you are then i'd suspect the cylinder hasn't been fully filled or the contents gauge is faulty. it does look like the contents gauge has been damaged because on your video the scale doesn't look central to the case but the service gauge does.
As long as the gauge isn't leaking the reg will probably function fine except you will not know that its about to run out which could be a big problem for you if it runs out and you don't notice
 
Silly I know but I wasnt sure if the 'open' 'close' on the cylinder has a stop or I would wind it open to a point where the thing shot off through the wall?!

So to claify.. Its 100% safe to open the cylinder until it wont twist any more? and same with the pressure?

Sorry for the silly questions!!

Really appreciate the help!
 
I had a similar problem. When you open the cylinder valve and the pressure on the gauge goes to 50, you're expecting to get 50 when you open the needle valve but it drops to 20. 50 is the available pressure but 20 is the operating pressure you're getting, from experience this is due to the pressure tap on the regulator (not bottle tap) not being open enough. Adjust the regulator tap while the needle valve is open and the operating pressure in the gauge will either climb or fall depending on which way you dial it. Be very carefull if you unscrew the tap too much it will come off in you're hand, its spring loaded against the diaphragm inside (if its anything like my co2art dual gauge single stage).
 
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