I am not expecting the Amano Shrimp to clear the BBA but at least they could go through the moss and clear it from any detritus matter....its ridiculous....I think now they are having a conversation under a branch...I wonder what they are talking about?
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Natural Aquarium attempt - 16/06/2015 (pics)
- Thread starter Jaap
- Start date
Andy Thurston
Member
- Joined
- 16 Apr 2013
- Messages
- 2,804
Perhaps their full from eating all the other algae etc.
flygja
Member
I had unsolveable BBA for a long long time. 8 months maybe more. CO2 and circulation may not have been stable and I tried all sorts of ways to fix that. I'd spot dose excel and kill whatever BBA I could find but they'd still come back after 2 weeks or so. In the end I managed to control it by adding 10 1-1.5 inch long SAEs. Same lights, CO2, ferts, flow. No more BBA!
I think that BBA has stopped growing everywhere. However, the plants arent growing either and so I am thinking of getting a TMC 1500 Natural Light to replace the Grobeam 600. At least I will have more light to experiment with.
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
Day 155!
It has been a long time since I have posted an update on the tank. This is because I haven't changed much but things aren't going grate....I have very little growth and because of that I believe the leaves are getting old and covered with some BBA.
On the 25th of December I have installed a TMC 1500 ND tile. It is suspended above the tank 40cm from the substrate and at 50% intensity so as not to be much stronger than the TMC 600 I previously had. I will gradually increase the intensity of the light along the way in order not to shock the plants.
Here are a few pics of the tank:
It has been a long time since I have posted an update on the tank. This is because I haven't changed much but things aren't going grate....I have very little growth and because of that I believe the leaves are getting old and covered with some BBA.
On the 25th of December I have installed a TMC 1500 ND tile. It is suspended above the tank 40cm from the substrate and at 50% intensity so as not to be much stronger than the TMC 600 I previously had. I will gradually increase the intensity of the light along the way in order not to shock the plants.
Here are a few pics of the tank:
Bhu
Member
- Joined
- 16 Aug 2014
- Messages
- 563
Hi thanks for the update. I'm also getting a lot of BBA and hair algae now too 
I have done the opposite as I get good plant growth so I have reduced my lighting period to just 4 hours at 80% and 4 hours fading in and out.
Hope the new tile sorts your issues out keep us informed.
Best wishes for this festive season
Bhu
I have done the opposite as I get good plant growth so I have reduced my lighting period to just 4 hours at 80% and 4 hours fading in and out.Hope the new tile sorts your issues out keep us informed.
Best wishes for this festive season
Bhu
Hi
What water are you using for water changes.....and what type of wood is that?
hoggie
What water are you using for water changes.....and what type of wood is that?
hoggie
Regular tap water...hard water...wood is from petshop...driftwood I guess...doesnt leak tannins!
You could try using 50% RO water for a few months!
Get some floating plants....this will help!
I would remove the wood and clean it give it a good scrub with diluted bleach then wash it thoroughly with dechlorinator.
hoggie
Get some floating plants....this will help!
I would remove the wood and clean it give it a good scrub with diluted bleach then wash it thoroughly with dechlorinator.
hoggie
parotet
Member
I am also using very hard tap water (GH from 21 to 26, and KH around 12) and I can manage to have good growth without relevant algae problem (obviously not completely algae fee tank, if this exists...). Not really sure if a softer water would make my life easier concerning CO2 management (especially consuming much less co2) and some some nutrients uptake... but I really doubt this is your problem. My low tech nano (also using this water) is even more algae free...
I suffered from brown diatoms in my nano tank some months ago and I tried everything written and explained in this and other forums... But I finally I understood that a complete reboot was needed. I cannot explain why: too much algae spores on the substrate? Bad condition of the plants remaining? My guess is that too many things were wrong and that without experience it was going to be difficult to reboot a tank without a major change. This is why I got rid of all the plants that were not perfect, I took out all the equipment and hardscape and cleaned it very well. Then I vacuumed the substrate (something I don't do anymore), went to the LFS and grabbed some bunches of plants. I also added all the easy plants I had from the other tank and friends... And began from scratch. I'm subscribed to your thread and honestly I cannot imagine what is going wrong. It looks that you have work on your flow, co2 profile, light...
Jordi
Edit: I haven't found what's your KH. What is your dropchecker saying. Another thing I have notice in my hard water tanks is that I need a yellow DC at lights on (fish and shrimp are perfect), if my DC is just lime green I have BBA (I'm pumping 2 bps of co2 during 3 hours before lights on! Otherwise I don't get the levels I need to avoid BBA)
I suffered from brown diatoms in my nano tank some months ago and I tried everything written and explained in this and other forums... But I finally I understood that a complete reboot was needed. I cannot explain why: too much algae spores on the substrate? Bad condition of the plants remaining? My guess is that too many things were wrong and that without experience it was going to be difficult to reboot a tank without a major change. This is why I got rid of all the plants that were not perfect, I took out all the equipment and hardscape and cleaned it very well. Then I vacuumed the substrate (something I don't do anymore), went to the LFS and grabbed some bunches of plants. I also added all the easy plants I had from the other tank and friends... And began from scratch. I'm subscribed to your thread and honestly I cannot imagine what is going wrong. It looks that you have work on your flow, co2 profile, light...
Jordi
Edit: I haven't found what's your KH. What is your dropchecker saying. Another thing I have notice in my hard water tanks is that I need a yellow DC at lights on (fish and shrimp are perfect), if my DC is just lime green I have BBA (I'm pumping 2 bps of co2 during 3 hours before lights on! Otherwise I don't get the levels I need to avoid BBA)
Last edited:
My kh is around 9. My dc is yellow before lights on
i think that bba attacks the old leaves of my plants and only stayrogyne repens because its such a slow growing plant in my tank...most of the plants in my tank are growing slowly and so mostly are old leaves that deteriorate. Thats why ai am hopping that an increase in my light levels will kickstart thw growing so as new healthy leaves show up and I will be able to cut the old ones. I will get there...light and ro is the only things left i have tried everything else!
parotet
Member
Before messing with RO (expensive, not very sustainable in areas with lack of water and a mess for the water changes) I would definitely try a complete reboot (as mentioned, I would get rid of the JBL Manado and use a complete new substrate system, a ok would make sure you fill your tank with the easiest and cheaper stem plants you can find)
Jordi
Jordi
alex.mooring
Member
- Joined
- 30 Dec 2014
- Messages
- 34
As above manado has no nutrients in it at all for your plants and could be the missing link. How you get things sorted
Shouldn't the EI fertilazation regime be covering me on nutrients though?
Day 158!
Today I have increased my light intensity by 5% to 55%. I have also cut back on some plants, cleaned the glass from algae, added some hydrogen peroxide on the leaves of the stayrogyne repens and made a 70% water change. Lets see where that takes us!
Day 158!
Today I have increased my light intensity by 5% to 55%. I have also cut back on some plants, cleaned the glass from algae, added some hydrogen peroxide on the leaves of the stayrogyne repens and made a 70% water change. Lets see where that takes us!
