i have three bright white lights in my tank, to colour up my rtg as much as possible

but a side effect is brownish algae on surfaces.

i have a bristle nose and a royal pleco in there just recently and i see that they suck on the walls, rocks and wood to rid of this

but my plants have a brown layer on them

how do i get rid of this

in the gravel i have the jbl balls

and i put excel, potassium and iron as per the dosing on the instructions.

the plants are growing reasonably.

crypts - slowly butsurely

anubias, i have a green one and a green with speckles of white on it. Not growing at all. i have some ahri grass, some random grass things. they are slowly growing too

i have star grass and wysteria, they are growing slightly faster.......

a red sowrd and amzon sword, the amazons are growing faster than the reds.

i have plenty of light, fertiliser...... they should be growing faster right?

i hvae taken some clippings from nother tnak to add some more in there to take more nutrients away from the algae.

how can i get rid of the brown algae on the leaves? this obviusly blocks the light that helps them grow.

How long has the tank be set up for Henward?

ages!

the tank has been there for ages

gravel has just been added to be able to plant

so if you mean by how long has the planting started?

then it sonly about 4 weeks max

the lights are on 14 hours per day

Give it time then.

Four weeks is very new for a planted tank.

The plants will be hardly growing yet because they are sorting thier root system out, then you will see growth above substrate. the ones growwing fast are stem plants and usually have aerial roots and absorb nutrients from the water coloumn.

The brown algae will die off as the tank sorts itself out nutrient wise.

Time is all it takes..........

HTH

mmm i see

i guess im very impatient

but i shall be patient then:D

ok cool

so the brown stuff on the leaves, i just leave that alone right?

well, at least there is abundant food for the catfishes:D

Yes, leave it alone. Wait until the plants are really well established and everything has reached a nice balance before changing anything. Chances are the brown algae will disappear and be replaced by something else - I bet in four more weeks you'll be back with a question about a different kind of algae! :lol:

I think we've all been through it. Patience, grasshopper.

patience..... not my favourite virtue:D

thanks for the tip though:D will TRY to be patient

I agree with Supasi's analysis that

a) The plants that get most of their nutrients from the water column are growing fast

b) the plants that get most of their nutrients from their roots are growing more slowly

c) the growth patterns are entirely consistent with what you would expect in a tank that has only been established for a few weeks.

Plants like anubias are known to be slow growers. They will sprout new leaves when they are good & ready, and not before! They will benefit from consistent long-term care and you won't see quick results from dosing with liquid ferts.

The thing to watch with them is when other algae (such as hair algae or bush algae) get established on their leaves. With the faster growing plants you can just chop off the leaves and chuck them out, but with anubias you can't do that - so keep an eye on them and make sure it doesn't get established.

The brown algae won't be a problem for anubias because they have tough leaves and the bristlenose will be able to keep them clean without damaging the leaves.

only the slimy brown algae is present.

i can see the royal and BN 'suck marks' on the walls and wood and plants, but not enough is being eaten yet

shall i scrub gently the brown algae on the anubias?

If the brown algae really bothers you, just rub it off the leaves with your fingers. It should come off easily. Anubias is a low-light plant anyway so I'm sure the algae isn't hampering its growth.

cool

thats good

there is plenty of light, means when its roots establish itself, it should grow nicely!

awesome.

it didnt have much of roots at all, just little stubs of roots, so i guess that takes time

when the roots rearch the fertiliser in the gravel the clay ball stuff, hope it starts to grow:D

ur swords will really take off with those fert balls

are they low or high light plants?

one plant is growing fast

the other isnt as fast

can i get a list of what plants are high and low light

so i can position thm

this is wha ti have

Tiger lotus

wysteria

stargrass

amazon swords?

crypts

2 types of anubias, on with whitish green leaves the other is just green.

this thing that has kinda prickly sides, its like a grass, really weird.

thats the plants i got

i have plenty of fertballs in there.

Tiger lotus; medium to bright light. More compact growth with bright light.

wysteria; needs strong light

stargrass; likes strong light

amazon swords? different swords have different light requirements I think

crypts need medium to strong lighting

2 types of anubias, on with whitish green leaves the other is just green; Medium lighting

this thing that has kinda prickly sides, its like a grass, really weird. - sounds like it is not a true aquatic and will die eventually whatever the lighting.

found out

CYPRUS

was the grassy looking thing