Eldritch12
Seedling
- Joined
- 22 Jan 2012
- Messages
- 6
Greetings! I'm very new to this forum and also to the hobby, I was so inspired by how beautiful the scapes on here are that I have decided to learn all there is about it and try one myself.
I've already made a few mistakes, possibly big ones and was hoping for some input on anything that I should fix, so that I can stop panicking. I have tried my best to do as much research as possible but there's so much info out there it's often confusing, anyhow here's my setup.
26 gallon Juwel tank.
1/2 inch of Fluval stratum substrate as base layer with a further 2 inches of silica sand and gravel on top.
Hagen glo 2x24watt HO unit with 1x Sylvania Grolux and 1x Phillip HO skywhite.
Internal U2 filter and E range heater.
DIY co2 unit rigged to a small powerhead for a steady stream of micro bubbles.
plants:
Hemianthus callitrichoides "Cuba"
Christmas Moss
Pogostomons Stellata
1xJava fern.
As expected with a new cycle there's been a large bloom of brown algae and unfortunately it's killing off the HC (or the HC was dieing anyway) I did plant it in clumps rather than individual stems so that might be it. The moss isn't looking too healthy either. They've only been in a few days but I'm starting to think there isn't enough light. (I originally thought 48watts was loads, but now I'm not so sure). I'm dosing with Nutrafin plantgro whilst waiting for some Tropica + to arrive.
The Pogostomens is one I really love the look of, it arrived the other day at stem cuttings which I planted, it's still looking healthy, however I'm afraid it won't stand a chance if it requires higher light than I have, especially with the diatoms everywhere.
Any suggestions about the setup, is it too early to start planting some of these types of plants? I think I was using the logic that the plants would out compete the algae, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
All advice is most welcome, I'd hate to be killing off stuff through ignorance.
Cheers!
Dave
I've already made a few mistakes, possibly big ones and was hoping for some input on anything that I should fix, so that I can stop panicking. I have tried my best to do as much research as possible but there's so much info out there it's often confusing, anyhow here's my setup.
26 gallon Juwel tank.
1/2 inch of Fluval stratum substrate as base layer with a further 2 inches of silica sand and gravel on top.
Hagen glo 2x24watt HO unit with 1x Sylvania Grolux and 1x Phillip HO skywhite.
Internal U2 filter and E range heater.
DIY co2 unit rigged to a small powerhead for a steady stream of micro bubbles.
plants:
Hemianthus callitrichoides "Cuba"
Christmas Moss
Pogostomons Stellata
1xJava fern.
As expected with a new cycle there's been a large bloom of brown algae and unfortunately it's killing off the HC (or the HC was dieing anyway) I did plant it in clumps rather than individual stems so that might be it. The moss isn't looking too healthy either. They've only been in a few days but I'm starting to think there isn't enough light. (I originally thought 48watts was loads, but now I'm not so sure). I'm dosing with Nutrafin plantgro whilst waiting for some Tropica + to arrive.
The Pogostomens is one I really love the look of, it arrived the other day at stem cuttings which I planted, it's still looking healthy, however I'm afraid it won't stand a chance if it requires higher light than I have, especially with the diatoms everywhere.
Any suggestions about the setup, is it too early to start planting some of these types of plants? I think I was using the logic that the plants would out compete the algae, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
All advice is most welcome, I'd hate to be killing off stuff through ignorance.
Cheers!
Dave