you will need to keep your bacteria in filter alive

So keep the filter going in this tank then?

I can take it out and put it in another tank to keep everything working.

I run my co2 an hour before the lights come on and turns off an hour before they go off dude.

Saweeeet

i assume plant only tanks don't need filtration? or flow?

stopmeifi'mwrong

flow stops algae I thought. unsure about the rest, hence the question

If you have big dead spots where there is no flow then you will get algae.. most likely.

just keep the filter in there

just keep the filter in there

Yeh I have, it was still running the powerhead part to the internal so I figured leaving the end catridges wouldnt make any diffrence.

gotta love how when you ask a question on fnzas you get everything but the answer.

i assume plant only tanks don't need filtration? or flow?

stopmeifi'mwrong

Plant only tanks need just as much, if not more flow than a fish only aquarium. However, the filter need not be capacious due to no fish waste. Powerheads only will suffice so long as you run a mechanical filter to clean up debris. Flow of fresh water around the plant's leaves are what feeds it nutrients, without flow of freshwater they will suffer and give in to algae, resulting in an unhappy planted aquarium!

FNZAS! Where you get ALL the answers

flow is really important in a planted tank!

its really helpful for hair algae and as mentioned help remove dead spots.

the idea behind starting the co2 before the lights on is that its at 30ppm (or what ever you want it at) when the lights come on.

start with an hour and from there. i have mine come on 2 hours before lights on.

if you're going plants only go nuts on the co2,i know aguy who has a liquid death concentration of co2 in his plants only tank, 0 algae.

I run my co2 an hour before the lights come on and turns off an hour before they go off dude.

What's the point in adding CO2 with the lights off ?- plants only utilise CO2 in the prescence of light plus what do you think your fish have been producing all night while they breathe?

What's the point in adding CO2 with the lights off ?- plants only utilise CO2 in the prescence of light plus what do you think your fish have been producing all night while they breathe?

To build co2 levels up near optimum ppm so once the lights turn on plants start utilizing it.

To build co2 levels up near optimum ppm so once the lights turn on plants start utilizing it.

:gpo2:

As far as I know, plants start to use CO2 as soon as the lights come on whereas CO2 takes a while to fill the water. By the time the lights come on, the CO2 has a one hour head start and giving the tank one hour for the plants to use the last of any remaining CO2 ensures the fish are kept happy and healthy :thup:

I just noticed your location, feel free to PM me if you wanna take a look at my tanks or visa versa, I'll be just down the road no doubt

i know aguy who has a liquid death concentration of co2 in his plants only tank, 0 algae.

Continue....... I would like to know about this concentration, possibly get some for myself

Continue....... I would like to know about this concentration, possibly get some for myself

haha he just absolutily crank his co2 till the fish cant survive. his plants flourish to the max though.

hes drop checker has gone past yellow and is just clear

:gpo2:

As far as I know, plants start to use CO2 as soon as the lights come on whereas CO2 takes a while to fill the water. By the time the lights come on, the CO2 has a one hour head start and giving the tank one hour for the plants to use the last of any remaining CO2 ensures the fish are kept happy and healthy :thup:

I just noticed your location, feel free to PM me if you wanna take a look at my tanks or visa versa, I'll be just down the road no doubt

Now you have me trying to recall all the other science I studied years ago, I.e. the gas laws.maybe I should stop that before it does my head in! :smln: :cofn:

This algae is doing my head in now. Should I A) do a black out? B) pull it apart and start again or C) be paitent?

C02 ran out the other day so I dont have that going in until maybe next week and I decided to stop all liquid ferts as I think there is enough nutirents in the water from the sub leeching out.

Is the tank still in direct sunlight?

Nope

Just be patient dude, saying that it's probably not going to help with the fluctuating co2 levels, I would be trying to get it going again asap.

What sort of algae is it? If I were you, I'd thoroughly clean all the sides, remove as much as you can from the plants and decor as possible then do a 50-75% water change. Reduce lighting hours down to 4-6hrs at most.

Just be patient dude, saying that it's probably not going to help with the fluctuating co2 levels, I would be trying to get it going again asap.

Will be doing that in a couple weeks, Gunna buy a diffuser and drop checker this week fingers crossed and then sort out the bottle the week after

What sort of algae is it? If I were you, I'd thoroughly clean all the sides, remove as much as you can from the plants and decor as possible then do a 50-75% water change. Reduce lighting hours down to 4-6hrs at most.

Its BBA I think, and a bit of that green stuff you can see on the filter in one of the pics.

How do you propose removing it from the plants? snip snip??

problem with doing a big w/c is that I havnt yet done one that doesnt throw substract everywere, reclogging filtration what I suspect as throwing nutrents everywhere. last time I tryed a syphon and good golly gosh was my bucket filled with muck junk from the sub

Spot treating BBA with Excel is the bees knees apparently, never tried it myself though. Green stringy algae can be wrapped around a chopstick quite easily. Just be patient when refilling, slow hose onto a dish if needed.

:gpo2: :iag:

Tank is to small to use a hose, will try the plate next W/C/ thanks

With excel just being a co2 suppliment, will pumping a heap of c02 into the tank do the same thing?

Not really, excel has some magic ingredient which seems to kill certain types of algae. BBA usually happens because of fluctuating co2 levels caused by many things including water changes as usually tap water has quite a high level of dissolved co2 present in it. Some people including Tom Barr recommend not doing a water change that often even as low as once a month if you have problems with algae.