hevalump Posted April 6, 2004 Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 My plants do not seem to be doing well, some have brown smudges on the edges of the leaves, or poor colouration, or just dont look that great. I have a plant food, but am hesitating to put it in as it might not be a deficiency and adding more of something might just make it worse. Otherwise, the plants are growing well, any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 6, 2004 Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 Is there enough light? Sorry I don't know how many watts per litre you are supposed to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hevalump Posted April 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 i have one of those ar620 which have two lights.... i usually leave at least one of them on for 6 hours and it has soft natural light most of the rest of the day... maybe it isnt enough, so i will increase my artifical light and see what happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted April 6, 2004 Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 Keep the light on for 12 hours about and then adjust from there. The more light the better. Just light ambient light in a well lit room isn't really going to be enough for most plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted April 7, 2004 Report Share Posted April 7, 2004 Sounds like you have a deficiency in something. Most probably Potassium or Magnesium or both. Check the fertiliser you’ve got. If it is not rich in both then don’t use it. You may have to buy some from your local chemical supplier or hydroponics store. Maybe you haven’t got enough light. Give tank dimensions, type and watts of the lights. What is the tank temp? Try reading this article, it may help: http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilize ... onlin.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 i would 100% say it's not enough light. tanks work on 8-12hrs light a day , if the tank is in a light room then 8-9hrs if in a darker room 12hrs . try putting it on for 10 hrs and working from that if you find you still have brown growing then up the light, you dont want to be over growen with green. how old are the tubes? they will only last 6mt-1yr and the tubes that come in the ar620 tanks arent that good. adding a bit of plant food will not hurt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Keep in mind that more light will not fix the problem if there are other factors as well. When it comes to plants all factors have to be right. Any one will cause a problem. More light will likely reduce the brown algae but will not help the plants if the fertiliser balance is out. All you will then get is algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 I just learnt that lesson the hard way, huge algae explosion , they hadn't seen algae like it at the Hollywood Fish Farm. I have started dosing with algaefix, Flourish and Flourish Excel and it is has stopped growing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 what kind algae did you have? you dont need to use all 3 of them on will work once you find out what the problem is. alot of people have problems at the moment with algae we think its in the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 I'm not sure what type of algae I have, I think it is green beard algae. the reason I am using all three is because I needed to start fertilising anyway and the algaefix is to inhibit the algae growth as it seems to feed of what the plants feed off. I started injecting co2 last week and it started pearling and growing faster . The tank is only about 5 weeks old so I think part of my problem is due to cycling, there is still a slight film of protein on the top and it was still showing a small amount of ammonia last week.I have removed most of it manually and it seems to have stopped growing but hasn't started dieing yet, I just added a second dose of algaefix last night so I will wait and see what happens. Here is a before and after pic three weeks apart, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 ok matt, that is bad firstly did you get any of your rocks or wood from a river? did you get your plants from another tank? use chop sticks to get the algae out of the tank just rap the algae like it was spaghetti. how long have you had the lights on for and what plant food have you been useing ? putting some mollies in your tank might help eat the algae as they are good algae eatter , if you dont like them just take them out once the jobs done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted May 5, 2004 Report Share Posted May 5, 2004 I got some of the wood from a river. Lights are on for 12 hours a day, total 120 watts. Tank is 100x50x50cm, 250litres. I kept forgetting to bring my flourish home from work so the tank wasn't fertilised for the first three weeks, now I am using both flourish and flourish excel. I removed the algae on Tuesday using a nylon brush, and at this stage it has stopped growing but is not dieing off yet. All my plants are growing well especially the Ambulia which has gone red at the top. I have two baby Siamese algae eaters and 4 Otocinclus in there. I have a Bristlenose at work which I was thinking of taking home to help out, but I'm too scared as she has a fondness for Twisted Val . I will take a new photo in the weekend as the tank is looking much better now When is the next North Shore meeting? Cheers, Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 have you use the wood in another tank before? that could be the cause of your algae prob's. try cutting your lighting down to 8hrs. north shore club meets first tuesday of the month at 7.30pm , so we just had our meeting the other day. we have a good auction this month we had some really nice plants that sold very very cheep, and some nice drift wood, heaters , plant food and fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Algae doesn't come from anywhere specific. It doesn't appear in your tank because it has been introduced. Algae is caused by an imbalance only. Find the cause of the imbalance and the algae will go away all by itself. It will most likely be too high phospahte and/or nitrate levels. Even if these levels are correct, too little macro nutrients and too ittle or too much trace elements will cause algae. The macro nutrients, trace elements and light have to be in the correct proportions to have the plants out-compete the algae. Read the Sears-Conlin report mentioned earlier. It has many valuable insights. Finding the balance that suits your tank is the key. Understanding exactly what causes algae and how to control it will set you on the correct path to an algae free tank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Or you can use the brute force method and throw a heap of young bristlenoses in the tank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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