Trim these no or let them go for a bit

[hypnogogia]

And the Biomasters can produce very clear and healthy water without filter floss, too

I get crystal clear water from 2 trays of K1 micro, 2 trays of 20ppi foam and 2 trays of 30ppm foam. No filter floss at all.

 

[John q]

I’m wondering if I should just keep letting it do it’s thing for another week or two or go ahead and trim it now

Re the plants that are transitioning, which I think was the original question 🤔 leave them another week if possible then cut and re plant.

 

[Scmelik]

Re the plants that are transitioning, which I think was the original question 🤔 leave them another week if possible then cut and re plant.

Thank you John. Yes that was the original question. I appreciate sticking to the task at hand thank you.

 

[Bradders]

Re the plants that are transitioning, which I think was the original question 🤔 leave them another week if possible then cut and re plant.

Thank you John. Yes that was the original question. I appreciate sticking to the task at hand thank you.

Fair enough.

 

[Mike Singh]

Thank you John. Yes that was the original question. I appreciate sticking to the task at hand thank you.

@Scmelik I’m sorry if I overstepped, I was just trying to get to the root cause of your tank’s issues. The additional information you provided has give us a wider context of the issues you are having with the tank. It appears that there as a few strategies that you can implement to prevent recurrence in your upcoming new tank.

Again I’m sorry for over stepping 🙏🏿

 

[PARAGUAY]

I think Mike asked about the aquarium because sometimes it's helpful to know the answer by knowing the information,in answering the OP discussed algae melting plants CO2, so l assumed he was happy to broaden the issue. Maybe @John q coming in earlier would have avoided this.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Yes that was the original question. I appreciate sticking to the task at hand thank you.

To answer your question, "yes leave them". Personally I would let them grow for a lot longer before I pruned them*.

My original plan for this tank was to be a South American themed tank with only plants and fauna from South America so from my research I could come up with any moss or crypts from those regions (I’m sure there are I just didn’t find them)

There are some mosses, but plants like Cryptocoryne & Bucephalandra spp. are exclusively from the Old World. Echinodorus (and the plants split from it) are all New World. A lot of floating plants are biotope appropriate Azolla caroliniana, Phyllanthus fluitans, Limnobium (Hydrocharis) laevigatum & Pistia stratiotes for example.

You can set the Flowgrow plant database to region <"Flowgrow">

*I'll add this bit in, you aren't obliged to listen to us, but here goes anyway.

Age of the set - up. Setup up as a planted tank Sept 23 (so still a very young tank)

Originally there was many more stems in the back but because of the GSA I ended up having to remove them all.

I know nobody wants a tank full of algae, but you just need to limit your intervention for a while and <"let the tank stabilise"> and grow in, and (hopefully) <"over time things will improve">.

I’d suggest you massively increase your plants in the tank.

Floating plants will suck up excess nutrients. Water lettuce and Frogbit are hungry plants.

Like the others have said "more plants". The main advantage of floating plants is that <"they aren't CO2 limited">.

Next water change, this Friday, I will be removing the media in the top try and adding filter floss

Can I ask why? I'm not a <"filter floss fan"> personally. Like the others, I like both <"Sponge and Eheim "coco-pops">.

I regularly check my ph and kh and use the chart to know where my C02 is at, I rarely drop below 28ppm of C02

I don’t run a drop checker

<"I don't use CO2">, but I would <"definitely have a drop checker"> if I did, as @hypnogogia and @simon_the_plant_nerd suggest. I think you run the real risk of asphyxiating your fish.

cheers Darrel

 

[simon_the_plant_nerd]

the real risk of asphyxiating your fish.

This is a big concern. I have unfortunately seen first hand how a CO2 swing can kill shrimp and I now am much more careful and have safeguards in place.

limit your intervention for a while and <"let the tank stabilise">

I’m guilty of always tweaking and changing things. When I leave the tank alone, things tend to much more smoothly and problems sometimes fix themselves.

I’m still learning that patience is key.

 

[Scmelik]

I’m guilty of always tweaking and changing things. When I leave the tank alone, things tend to much more smoothly and problems sometimes fix themselves.

I’m still learning that patience is key.

I am very guilty of that. When I first started having problems as most people do I went straight to my ferts and reduced my dosing. What I failed to do was give it time to adjust. After 3-4 days I adjusted again, and again only gave it 3-4 days and over and over again. What I didn’t do was get to the root of the problem, the biggest being my light were way to bright for the ferts I was dosing, and I was doing a very very bad job and cleaning up detritus during my water changes.

Once I cleaned up as much detritus as I could every water change and lowered the intensity of my lights my GSA had cleared up drastically in the last 3 weeks. Since I am pushing as much C02 as my fish can handle the only other adjustments that are left to make is my ferts and my lighting. Before I was under fertilizing given my C02 and my lighting. Now I will be making small adjustments but forcing myself to have the patience to wait a few weeks to see any change before making any other adjustments.

Of course it will all change when I rescape again here in a a couple of months and remove the potting soil and go with aquasoil and a LOT more plants.

It’s all a balancing act and I was way out of balance.

 

[Tim Harrison]

I planted these Rotala Narrow Leaf Sp Red stems on April 4 and it’s been growing really really well. It’s started converting to submersed growth nicely. It’s starting to send out some side shoot off the main stem on a couple of stems, and those shoots are getting to be an inch and in a couple of instances 2 inches tall.

With it still be very young in my tank and still converting over to a fully submersed growth and adjusting to my water parameters, lighting, and fertilizer schedule; I’m wondering if I should just keep letting it do it’s thing for another week or two or go ahead and trim it now and get some more stems in the tank?

Leave them until you rescape. Then cut them on half and hide the ugly ones behind those that still have tips and new growth.