teak root mini

[leonroy]

What a stand! And your scape's beautiful - it's been great to see it evolving.

Thanks, although the scape has fallen on hard times (more on that later).

Can I ask a dim question, though? I'm going to be setting up a tank very similar is size to yours soon (being delivered from TGM tomorrow - woohoo!), and I've got the Do!Aqua CO2 system. Back on page 2 you were talking about a solenoid - is that basically a timer for CO2? (Physics was never my strong point ) If it is, what should I be looking for when I buy one? Thanks for any advice you can give

Congrats on the TGM order, you'll love the quality of their stuff. You're dead on the money, a solenoid is basically a timer for CO2. I'd recommend the Aqua Medic Solenoid but I'm sure you can find one on ebay that's cheaper. You'll want it to have 1/4" fittings and you'll also need a plugin timer to turn it on and off at the right time (CO2 on 2 hours before lights on, CO2 off one hour before lights off).

 

[leonroy]

Alright so I went away for a few weeks and totally messed the scape up. No ferts were applied while I was gone, light was on for 6 hours per day and the CO2 was a dribble when I got back.

Plant growth has been pretty slow these past few months, but algae is really taking over. Any idea what kind of algae I'm seeing here (BBA and staghorn?):

Light's are on 2pm to 7pm and CO2 is on 10am to 6pm 3bps.

Ferts are half a pump of ADA Step 1, Brighty Lights and Brighty K (I know, I know, rip off stuff but I figured I'd make a success with ADA ferts before moving to EI).

Any help or advice would be (very much) appreciated

 

[Ady34]

No ferts were applied while I was gone, light was on for 6 hours per day and the CO2 was a dribble when I got back.

Plant growth has been pretty slow these past few months, but algae is really taking over. Any idea what kind of algae I'm seeing here (BBA and staghorn?):

Hi there Leonroy,
def staghorn and bba. Its so frustrating what a couple of weeks can do to your pride and joy, however algae can be beaten and the answers as i suspect you just need confirming, are in your above post.
No ferts, same light, reducing c02.
To outcompete algae plants need ferts, light c02 in the right balance, over the last few weeks while youve been away the plants have had no food (ferts and c02) so havnt been able to outcompete algae.
Get your ferts back on track, stabilise c02 to the right level again, bi daily 50% water changes (alongside liquid carbon as an algae killer if you want fast results on staghorn and bba) should get things going nicely again in a couple of weeks. Staghorn and bba are results of poor/fluctuating c02. In my experience water changes, flourish excel and an increase of ferts solved both. You can spot treat bba with liquid carbon for more effective results, just drain the water to below the level of affected decor/or remove decor and dab with a paint brush, wait a few mins then refill.
Stick with it and youll get your scape back!
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[leonroy]

Thanks for the advice and words of encouragement. Excel ordered, will report back in a fortnight!

 

[leonroy]

Thanks for the helpful advice Ady34. Reporting back (slightly!) more than than a fortnight later. I applied Excel on the hardscape and am also dosing it daily. In addition I've kept up with ferts and CO2 which all together really reduced (but didn't elimated) the algae.

It wasn't until I introduced 10 amano shrimp that the algae disappeared from the hardscape and plant leaves. After adding 6 ottos a week later the glass is now squeaky clean as well
I think that's all the live stock I'm willing to put in a 20 liter tank. Here's the before from December:

Here's how it looks now:

I'm not certain why the plant growth is so slow however (or is that normal growth). I'm dosing 1 pump of ADA Step 2, Brighty K and Brighty Lights as well as 2.5ml of Excel daily. Light is daily 5-6 hours as is CO2. Drop checker is on the lower side of lime green however since the last time I turned it up slightly I began to hit yellow by the end of the day and noticed some of the amano shrimps jumping out!

Am I perhaps neglecting some vital trace elements or merely expecting too much?

 

[taggerz28]

Any update on this one? How are you getting on with the algae? Hope your winning the fight!

 

[leonroy]

Well ladies and gents, it has been a bumpy ride over which I have come so very close to packing it all in. Initially I struggled with green spot, then BBA, slow growth and the loss of many, many little glass yellow tetra fish (which at £10 a pop was a costly loss - and alas the distributor are unlikely to be getting any more of the beautiful, little critters).

Despite all that, I'm pleased to say that I stuck with it and finally figured out that with regular water changes (once weekly seems to do), daily ferts, not too many hours of light (and not too few) and a good, constant supply of CO2 things really start heading in the right direction.

Here's the tank as it stands, it's not perfect I'll grant you and I just did a fairly heavy prune but the algae is subsiding, the HC is growing fiercely and maintaining the tank has become a little more manageable.

This planted aquaria lark is a LOT more work than I realized (no doubt due in part to my inexperience) but I have to admit, despite all the effort involved I do get a LOT of enjoyment from sitting in my study and watching the fish and shrimp swim amidst my own little green and pleasant 'scape.

(Edit: I should add that the fish died from jumping out the tank. They were very fast swimming and very jumpy and coupled with filling the tank to the rim most of the time meant I lost nearly all of them.)

 

[Ady34]

Hi there and great to see you stuck with it through the tough times. It looks great now, and a full carpet of hc shows how things have improved.
Unfortunate about the fish, they were very nice, but im pleased your finding time to enjoy it none the less.
Cheerio, and nice to see an update.
Ady.