Lisa_Perry75 said:
Fair enough Andy, but if you read the stocking levels its
30L tank - 1 male betta
30L tank - 1 male betta and some pygmy cories (not sure how many)
Considering this I would consider stocking levels to be low and therefore not much ferts being supplied as waste. Also the OP mentions that the plants don't grow and that she has a tight budget.
Based on that I thought:
Some (agreed not masses, just minimal dosing) TPN+ would rule out any deficiencies for the plants. Gluteraldehyde (in excel) helps plant growth and we know it can kill some algae, thought that would also help the situation. I did think some more plants to boost biomass would be good but depends on the budget. We have only seen a picture of one tank, so no idea planting density there.
You know more about low tech balance than me, what do you think would best help the OP?
As I said. Probably the filter. The tank MAY ned some extra ferts BUT we shouldn't be suggesting that the OP 'speeds things up' by adding Excel. That will only makes things worse.
Circulation is not as big an issue with low tech. I sort of knew it and George pushed me to go down to just the filter. however it still needs to be 'enough' and possibly needs cleaning more often than the hi tec if going the full on no water change route.
However I am not suggesting no water changes.
That little filter doesn't look much cop to me. I have a 200lph external (One of those £20 Boyus) on my 10ltr!!!
My larger tank just has the Eheim now but still nearly 6x turnover.
If the OP adds liquid fertiliser then I can foresee yet another person giving up on getting algae free.
Spot dose maybe but thats it.
Now think about the stocking. Yes 1 Betta. Dose that apply? The Op is doing water changes. The OP is replenishing nutrient with tap water content. There are your ferts. Stocking with that amount of plants would only be relevant on a no water change setup. So stocking does not apply in this case.
Basically I spoke from seeing the pic, reading the OP post and then applying my understanding to the particular tank in question. Yes most of the people are giving sound advice for most situations, but then this tank is not heavily planted, high light etc.
And yes to the OP above pea gravel can be succesful but most people with standard gravel also tend to be those that are ramming a vac into it and disturbing the substrate continuously. There are exceptions of course so not everyone
AC