yay! a FW forum (now for my issues with my tank)

[Dakota]

so I've had my fw planted tank up for 7 weeks now.. I have 7 plants, and I just added 6 neons a few days ago.... here are my issues:

1) bubbles keep forming on the front glass from my CO2..... with this go away?

2) algae appears to be growing on my plants (or at least ONE of them).

3) one of my plants disintegrated, and 1/2 of another one appears to be starting to

4) I think I may be in over my head at this point . . .


On a good note:

1) fish are happy and eating

2) I see new growth on plants

[unix858]

melting plants occur when the plant is trying to get settled in. Do you have any algae eaters like shrimps and ottos? i have co2 build up in the front of the tank too becuase my output is blowing some of them to the front.

[Dakota]

I do NOT have algae eaters at this point... was going to get some ottos (probably should get a few now) and would love to get some shrimp (not sure what kind, though)... Thanks for the quick response...

Also, i know I have a TON of light over my tank, so this MAY be contributing to algae while the system stabilizing (250 watts over a 50 TALL )

[Haeun]

If you can, it'll be better to have less light over your tank when it's trying to establish itself, and the plant mass increases, and then increase the light as it stabilizes.

It'll help with the algae issue. Same with dosing.

Oh, and btw, Excel = algae killer.

[Dakota]

Oh, and btw, Excel = algae killer.

What is excel? it won't hurt plants?

I can use my 110w of PCs for now.. but I only have 50/50 bulbs... have to fix that....

Thanks guys for all the help so far

[Delphin22]

Always a battle it seems.
My 2 cents:
Only been doing this for 6 month but read lots of stuff.
Ive been using Tetra algae cotrol liquid lately. keeps water much clearer, free from floating spreading hair alga stuff. Doesnt kill algae just stops spread I think.
Plants fight algae by competing for resources light, food, O2....
I use Java moss on some decorations high up by light to stop hair algae from encrusting my pirate ship. seems to work, healthy moss is nicer than hair algae. LOL algae never seems to grow where the moss is. light = algae it seems.
I have to clip leaves of my leafy plant eventually if they get covered in hair algae, usually leaves high up into middle of tank right by the light.
You can scrub leaves, hard to do but sometimes only way to get rid of hair is to physically remove it from plants and decor and then try to control it.
RCS, red cherry shrimp supposed to eat algae and not harm plant. from AW
ghost shrimp are upposed to be good too. maybe only ones that actually will eat hair algae. and you can mix most freshwater shrimp unlike the killer CBS LOL.
I had 5 RCS for months but I think there all gone now . (Dwarf Gourami pig LOL)
They did do some plant cleaning. They are cool.
might try ghost shrimp next. (larger rhink)
mollys eat hair algae too, I dont have any
my spotted corys eat all the time but doesnt seem to help much
buldog octo I had cleaned the pebble rocks great one at a time from AW
good choice and they stay small I believe unlike other 2 foot octo/pleco/catfish specimens. LOL
read up on the fish some supposed algae eaters LFS dont do squat.

Some more info:

Mustafa is local:
http://www.petshrimp.com/redcherryshrimp.html

Good source good info:
http://www.theshrimpfarm.com/index.shtml

Good catfish stuff
http://www.planetcatfish.com/core/

AW had/has what they called the Bulldog otto, Otocinclus I believe not plecostomus they say its not the bulldog Pleco.
this was the one I liked. Not pretty but effective. Of course golden nuggets are kool looking, never tried one.

One of my RCS

[Haeun]

When I said Excel, I was referring to Seachem Excel. It is an alternate form of carbon (instead of from CO2) that people in the planted tank hobby discovered to be also very effective at killing algae in large doses. Just dose 2-5x the amount the instructions tell you is appropriate for your tank. It is most effective to turn off all water movement (filter, powerhead, etc) and spot treat the algae. Your LFS will probably sell a bottle for ~ $8-10, but you can get a larger jug online. Also people who do not want to put pressured (or even DIY) CO2 on small nanos will use Excel instead.

Look up either the EI method or the PPS method (I prefer EI).
The theory has been that algae forms because as the algae and plants compete for nutrients, one or more nutrients will tend to be used up faster than the others. That means when one nutrient runs out, the plants cannot take up any more and cannot "grow" anymore. On the other hand, algae will utilize all the remaining nutrients and prosper. If you just make sure that no nutrients run out, the plants will not stop competing with the algae and will keep the algae in check.



Also, only good "algae eater" fish are the true siamese algae eater (not to be mixed up with the flying fox). And don't mix up CRS with RCS. CRS = crystal red shrimps, RCS = red cherry shrimp. CRS = white and red stripes, RCS = red. CRS = expensive, RCS = cheap. :P

RCS are relatively cheap (except at LFS) from local hobbyists; they tend to sell at $1/piece, but you will ocassionally see cheaper (~$.75/piece, cheaper for bulk). They will not survive with big fish (angelfish, gouramis, rams, bettas will kill them; they will be $1/piece fish food) but if you still want to try an algae eating shrimp with them, I recommend the amano shrimp (sometimes called the japonica shrimp). They get larger than their red relatives (~2-3.5") so will more likely survive, and they actually do a better job at eating your algae. They're notorious as great algae eaters.

Otos would be another good choice, but not quite as good as the amanos and siamese algae eaters, IMO.

And haha. The treasure chest. :P



That was a long post about planted tanks in a nutshell. :P LMK if you have any more questions.