Is this algae or defeciency?

[fstrgar]

Hello. Been running this aquarium for 4 months now, about a month and a half ago I installed pressurized co2 system. For first three months I was running T8 lights, at the same time as I installed CO2 I put on 2x24W T5 HO bulbs. As I noticed growth of BBA, I reduced lightning to 1x24W T5 HO, So I've been running on that 1 bulb for about three weeks now. Since that I've noticed reduction of BBA, but instead of that leaves on my plants are becoming brown on the edges, and this brown thing is starting to cover whole leaves (most noticable on staurogynes). What a replacement that is

So, my question is, is this some type of algae (I'm not sure if it is diatomea, since there is none on the sand), or is this some kind of defeciency that I'm not able to recognize, or does this have to do anything with the fact, that when I do water changes I put in tap water, which has 14 kh (I add Easy Life Fluid Filter Medium and Bacterial Start). Is this 14 kh presenting some troubles for the plants? Or might there be anything else in my tap water, triggering this?

If there is any similiar thread as this one, please just send me the link, I already "abused" the search on this forum, but I'm still not totally convinced what the solution for my problem is


Aquarium specifications:
54 L = 14,2 gallon
Filter: Eheim Ecco Pro 200L
Lightning: 2x24W Hagen Glo (overtank), reduced to 1x24W Life Glo, bulb probably about a year old
Light duration: 9 hours
Ferts: Adding KNO3 + KH2PO4 (EI method) + Profito (3ml every other day - Another Nutrient Calculator says I should put 10 ml every other day, which is quite an amount, bottle says 10ml for 100 litres a week)
CO2 - Fire Extinguisher, Glass Ceramic Diffuser
Weekly water change: 50%

KH: 14
PH: between 6,5-7
(according to tables, I do have a lot of CO2 in the water)

PS:
Don't mind the old leaves on Staurogyne, they are beeing removed, they are on from the time I used 2 bulbs. What bothers me is this brown stuff on new leaves...
Thanks in advance

 

[G H Nelson]

Hi
Looks like brown diatoms....reduce your lighting to 7 hours.
Do light gravel/substrate cleaning before water change.Do smaller water changes with minimal disturbance.
hoggie

 

[fstrgar]

I said it wrong, I'm having 8 hours of lightning period as of now, so probably should I reduce to 6?

I'm just wondering about smaller water change, what about nutrient build up - becouse of EI?

 

[G H Nelson]

6 hours is good.
Just do two 25% water changes.
hoggie

 

[fstrgar]

Lowered time to 6 hrs, I'll continue on dosing EI and then I hope to see some improvement.

 

[ceg4048]

This is due to poor CO2. You cannot use the tables to tell you how much CO2 is in the water.

Cheers,

 

[fstrgar]

Uff, so UP the CO2 dose...I'll have to postpone that step for about 2 weeks, since I'm going for vacations by the end of the week, I do not want to gas fish when I'm not home. And when I'm back, I'll try that, I hope it gets better. I just wonder, in what time should I see improvement after I increase the co2 dose? Will this brown stuff disappear or will I have to remove leaves manually?

Thanks for the help, I'll report back.

 

[ceg4048]

No one can say how much time. There are simply too many variables. Light, flow/distribution, injection rate all play a role. First and foremost is to reduce the amount of lighting. Then, continually wipe the leaves and get them as clean as possible. The diatoms that cover the leaf acts as a barrier to the penetration of nutrients and ESPECIALLY CO2.

Cheers,

 

[fstrgar]

Did obey the things you told me, redesigned my aquarium totally, changed bulbs, substrate, repositioned filter intake/outake, modified duration of light, this is the result after two months of this new setup:

Will do a topic in journal section. Thanks for all the advices and suggestions!