the-obstacle

+1 - either a mushy mess or the paper has dried and the plant is dying...

I suspect that's because they're relatively low tech? I've gone very high tech on this one without being properly prepared for it.

Yeah, now that I've thinned out the darkened leaves I've got a LOT more planting space than I thought I had. Still wanting to get rid of the mother roseXozelot? I feel like I need some other awesome SA based stems or a carpet of some sort that will happily spread itself around any unplanted area without looking like crap. I've got some dwarf hairgrass but once that's settled in it takes a fair bit to keep tidy. edit: I also wondered about just going and buying up large at animates and then selling it all off once the permanent plants have settled in. I could leave them in their pots. Then I run the risk of a nitrate spike when I take the temp plants out thought I guess.

Continued from the sticky above - http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=50222&start=60 I've cut my photo period to 4 hours from 8 hours. I've cut all the black leaves off everything (which pretty much halved a couple of swords and lowered the height of the ludwigia). I also got a drop checker and it seems I'm low on co2 so I've directly dosed excel onto the staghorn and trimmed the worst of the crypt leaves. I'm going to keep the ferts and excel up for now and hope the plants make the most of their shortened photo period and the algae dies off. I've also now got a couple of co2 fire extinguishers (1 is for sale, that's another story) to transform into a pressurised system. Thanks again to Jennifer and all the others that have offered help. I'll keep this thread updated with progress.

Is there wood and algae int he tank for them to snack on? How long have you had them? They take a while to settle in. I found the first thing they really attacked was a bit of courgette.

Fresh clean water (from the tap, with or without water treatment) will have no ammonia so will dilute the existing ammonia by whatever amount you are changing out.

in a 16L tank? I'd go for 50% 2 times a week until the amonia is completely gone.

an air stone should sort out that calm water.

The trick is multiple coats. It'll sort itself out. Mine has 5 coats and could do with about 2 more to get all the issues out.

So very very true. So should I halve it and halve the amount of nutrients I dose every second day or dose the same amount every 4th day? I'll go and program the lights now to come on at night only. edit: On second thought I might just give it a week to see what happens with the ferts and 8 hours of light. I don't want to go changing too much right now. I've cleaned off/trimmed all the dark leaves off everything so hopefully all the green now gets the plants growing a bit more. If the algae is still as rampant in a week I'll cut the photoperiod.

Thanks heaps. I'll see what I can rub off but some of the microsword might be lost... I can definitely trim the rest. The whole tank of plants was bleached before planting 3 weeks ago so it's all new growth. The halides are are killing me just as I expected. I've just lowered the photoperiod to 8 hours (got rid of the 3 hours of dusk/dawn with the powerglo only) hopefully that helps too.

Thanks, that's why I've got ambulia in there and a couple of other stems. It seems the twisted val is the fastest of the non-stem plants at the moment. I think it's because the microsword is covered in algae. I swear one of my green lotus plants has doubled in size today. It's got the biggest leaves I've ever seen on one and it has at least 3 new leaves today. On another note - is it ok to rub the dark green/black algae off the edges and tips of the leaves or do I run the risk of ruining the leaves and therefore ruining the plants?

Having only 50% of the footprint of the tank planted should I expect to be fighting this algae for ever? Or will the plants grow twice as fast? :thup: :slfg:

you know you want to....

Thanks heaps, it's really great to be able to get advice from the pros in this realm. So a gradual water change over a day is ok? I've got the water changer all designed but haven't made it a priority as I've been doing 20% every couple of days. I'll set it up asap now though.

He's not allowed to sell it. Nothing stopping him putting it in a friends tank for storage though

Thanks, I'll see what happens over the next couple of days with regards to the algae but otherwise I'll drop the light by a few hours. The calculator essentially says what Jen / kiwiplymouth posted about making up a solution. I haven't added the epsom salts but I'll sort that tonight.

Sweet news! would pay to check if they're harem breeders or not as if they are they only need the one male and adding more could just add aggression to the mix.

:slfg: just pulling your leg. That thing is perfect for the vip. For now ... :slfg: so, is it sand or fine rocks?

I would go cannisters because you plug them in and they're away. Especially for a 3-400L tank. With a sump you're likely to add a lot more trouble than it's worth (unless you REALLY want to make something) whereas with the cannister you buy it and turn it on then concentrate on enjoying the tank. Personally I'm adding a sump to my tank because the 2x cf1200s only circulate the tank 3x or so and I need to double that. I can either buy 2 more or make a sump. I chose sump this time but next time I know which way I'll go.

check I've done this but with 1L instead of 2 so I can add 1ml for ever 20 L of water (30mls for my 600 or so litres of actual water). Is it common for the mono potasium phosphate to not mix well? I'm getting a lot of it settling at the bottom of the container. I used cold water - maybe go warm next time? check I'm assuming by essential you mean essential? Can't get away with a smaller change? Anyway, first dose today, will update in a week. Hoping the algae is gone by then and replaced with green and red plants.

That sand looks awesome. Tanks a bit small though

and it doubles as a bike rack.

Looks like it eh? I laughed when I realised what I had created :slfg: :sml1: :facepalm:

Yeah, there are 2 spots behind the bit of wood where there is a bit of fluff on the crypts but other than that it's just lack of ferts creating dark green algae I hope. I'm getting around 3x turnover with the 2 CF1200s and I'm hoping to double that with the sump. No idea how or where I'm going to fit the sump return pipe/spraybar but I'll figure that out when I get there. I quite like the idea of a spring type output from some rocks in the front but that seems waaaay too technical and something I should have plumbed before adding the substrate.