Multiple Problems With Plants, Help Identify, Aponogeton Melting

[SO19Firearms]

A very small point to finish this chapter - When we're talking ammonia and test kits not seeing it, it means tiny tiny tiny amounts, the amounts you'll get when a few cells of a plant leaf will generate as they die back - the amounts you'll get from the cells slewed off a plant as it grows even..... You wouldn;t even care about it unless you knew it caused algae. So don't be worrying about nitrates or filters.
The same goes when I talk about a plant dying - It might not look like it, we're talking tiny again.
The same guys that say they're anubias is great but has algae growing on the leaves becuase it's slow growing....might want to think what a slow dying leaf would look like too given too much light for example.

When you believe ferts don't cause algae and start to think of all the (tiny) ways ammonia could occur, the bigger picture looks alot clearer.....

IMO

 

[Ps3Steveo]

I just had an epiphany reading that Nigel, just messing with ya mate, sounded very professional tho, like something you read in a book.

 

[snazy]

Well, all I can say is that the green spot algae is the most horrible algae I've ever encountered. Wish I could read sometimes what's written on the bottles of nutritients....instead of scratching my head. And maybe I should have just started with micro ferts in the beginning, rather than the full CO2, micro, macro route but I'd have to go on now at least until that anubias doubles up in size so I can trim the spotty ugly leaves.

Is there any material I can use to block some of the light where the affected anubias is positioned?

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Could always add some floating plants as they move round the tank they'll pass over it and dapple the lighting.

 

[snazy]

Could always add some floating plants as they move round the tank they'll pass over it and dapple the lighting.

I did, but almost all died, got blown too much. I've reduced the surface movement as much as I could with this filter and today I put the sprayers on the trickle filter as without them the water was sinking the floaters too. I've got plenty growing in another tank so when there's a big bunch to spare I'll add more.

 

[snazy]

Just a small update. Got the floating plants going somehow by fiddling with the filters and they are slowly but surely increasing. The green spot algae is not spreading or if it does, it is so slow I can't see it. Unfortunately the affected ones are still the same. Wish I could put nerite snails but the clowns will have a right much on them I suppose. The other anubias leaves that went yellow and had green veins, look a bit better, darkening a bit. I started putting only 2x39 tubes on for 6 hours and sometimes the 3rd 39 tube for the last two hours but will probably increase it back. I trebled the dose of nitrAtes, can't remember now the proportions in relation to phosphate and potassium but will post it another time.

My Aponogeton ulvaceus hasn't shown the melting tips problem anymore, grew quite a few new leaves and today I noticed it's growing a flower stalk. Does anyone know whether it needs a dormant period and when and how?
I hope my crinum calamistratum doesn't suffer from the lower light but for the moment it looks fine.

 

[snazy]

The picture is from a couple of days ago. I hate the spraybars from the trickle filter but without them the floating plants weren't travelling on the surface well. I'll replace it one day with another external.

And a video from a half a week ago:

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO661UUgUoU

 

[snazy]

Well, the green spot algae is spreading, but is limited to the same anubias plant that's on the driftwood tree itself in the center. I have no idea how to stop that. The floating plants have finally spread a lot and are now giving it a shade, but that's just recently so I'll see how it goes.
Regardless that it's covered in green spot algae, it is actually flowering at the moment, along with the big anubias to the right of the tank and the aponogeton has 2 long flower stalks too.

 

[snazy]

There's no help against that green spot algae!!!

Basically it has settled itself on the front big anubias and is spreading there, but there's none in the rest of the tank, plants or glass. I am thinking, if it was still an ammonia problem, or CO2 issue, then why is the green spot algae limited to one plant only? I really think the light is just not equal around the tank because the tubes are shorter than the lenght of the tank and that particular area where the green spot algae is gets visibly more light which now seems to be permanently blocked by the floating plants so hopefully something will change.

A few days ago I moved again the powerhead and filter intake as Ps3steveo suggested before. It's ok, problem is I can't put the powerhead too low as it's too strong and it can't go in the middle because there's no space and it will blow the plants away but it seems ok where it is now. I'll be getting rid of the trickle filter and will replace with another external as soon as I can in the next couple of months so that leaves some space to the right for the other external.
A picture from today with the floating plants blocking the light now so I'll see if it grows on the two new leaves that are still unaffected.
I had to tie up the flowering stalks of the aponogeton around the powerhead cable as they were getting tangled around a lot, very long ones.

 

[snazy]

Basically, no rid of this Green Spot Algae on the anubias yet, same story as above.Increasing the phosphate constantly has done nothing. I guess I need to chop it off when I am brave enough. There'll be no plant left of it bar the old bottom leaves

I had to scoop all floating plants. I binned the salvinia as it still kept being sucked by the filter or powerhead or sneaking into small places behind the filter tubes/powerheads. So now left with the amazon frogbit only. Strange enough, but about 2 hours after I turn the lights off and all the floaters bunch into one side of the tank. Once I turn them on the next day, they start travelling around all the surface. I think they sleep too

Anyway, I found some website with info from a major aquatic meeting and here is what Takashi Amano answered on question in regards to Green Spot Algae causes:

2. Dark green spot algae on the Anubias, what can I do about it? During the AGA Conference, Panel Q&A, Amano suggested: "Begin by understanding the Anubia plant. It lives deep in the dark forests of Africa, where it does well in a cool temperature. It grows slowly and therefore takes up nutrients slowly". In an aquarium, many times dark spot algae colonizes on Anubias when the water is above 76 degrees F, when it is exposed to bright light, when excess nutrients are in the water and when water changes are insufficient.​

I'm guessing this aquarium has excess nutrients leaching out of a substrate containing too much soil. Using soil is a good idea, if it is mixed with calcined clay (Turface type material which captures and holds leaching soil nutrients). On the very bottom of the tank, one inch of 50/50 soil and Turface should be plenty, topped with 2 1/2" of aquarium gravel. One suggestion. Leaching substrate nutrients can provoke spot algae; bright lights and warm water assures a plague. Once the leaves get it, one cannot rid the nuisance. I'm not aware of algae eating fish, that go for it. Don't count on bleach treatment, you hear about. It gets off some algae, temporarily. Bleach can weaken plant tissue. This is not good. Remove the affected leaves, period. Then address the conditions supporting green spot.​

The only problem he mentions that I don't have I think in my case is lack of water changes. I do weekly 50% even before I ever dosed nutritients. Temperature is over 76(24.4), and is actually 26 degrees. The anubias affected is exposed to bright light I guess but it was exposed to to the same amount of light and even more without green spot algae for 10 months if I remember correctly,prior to me dosing nutritients and CO2. He says excess nutritients are one of the causes too? This is a controversial reason I understand but now I come accross info both Diana Walstad and Takashi Amano suggesting that there is indeed such a thing as excess nutritients

​

I am thinking, as a final resort, to maybe just keep dosing CO2 only and stop the rest of the ferts for a couple of weeks? What are the risks? I can monitor the nitrAtes and maybe add some of them only as they used to bottom out before I added anything to the tank.​

 

[snazy]

Time for a bit of an update. Here is a picture of the last three leaves of the affected anubias all grown without green spot algae unlike the previous leaves which were instantly affected. And that's to consider these are even closer to the light.  You can see the bottom leaves that were affected while they grew but are now beneath. I chopped the even more affected third layer further down as it was disgustingly covered in GSA. The same effect can be seen on my anubias nana that surrounds this one.
 

 
 
I don't know what exactly worked but since my last post but here is what I did since:
 
5 weeks ago:
1) I did 2x50% water changes to restart the tank(the TDS had crept high, so were the nitrAtes which was one of the reasons for the next steps)
2) Totally stopped dosing nitrAtes and phosphates
3) Dosed micro ferts and potassium only and occassional Iron , slightly above the PMDD dosage, along with the normal liquid carbon dose.
This is keeping the nitrAtes back to my preferred 5-10ppm range and the TDS is in control.
Strangely enough, it had a possitive effect on the green spot algae the least. It stopped growing, new clear and green leaves emerging, but here and there on the edges black hair algae started to settle instead. This is where I started last year in the first place but it wasn't as bad.
 I think some of it has to do a lot with my 50% water changes because about a week and a half ago, I drained the tank in order to spray the leaves with carbon/water solution, that was some time after my morning CO2 dose. This brought about 70-80% water change and istead of putting the hose to splash from above to outgas the CO2 as I normally do, I put it in the water because it was damaging my floating plants. This caused an immediate problem.  My tank turned into a gas heaven, everything was bubbling. My fish went gasping, lost colour, some went to the surface, others became restless.  It gave me a right scare but I quickly put an air stone to outgass the CO2 and that quickly fixed it.  It made me think again how much fluctuations of CO2 maybe going on when I do water changes which isn't helping although I do them with the lights off as per the advise here and leave them off for an hours or more after.  So this is what I've done for the black hair algae problem additionally since:
 
About a week ago:
1)Switched off one of the 39W bulbs and now I have only 2x39.
2)Set the lights timer to 8hrs but with a split, so it runs 4 hours on, 4 off, then 4 on again in the hope to save some CO2
About 2 days ago:
3)Double dose Easy Carbo daily
 
At the moment the flow is setup with the outlet in the left corner blowing towards the right, then there's a powerhead on the right side blowing towards the inlet on the left side at an angle towards the bottom. The trickle filter inlet and an internal filter are to the right but flow wise there's almost nothing out of them.  I think I still don't have it right. It does keep the tank clean and the plants seem to be swaying this way but there are areas with more flow and some with less. The big driftwood is the problem but I obviously can't move it.
 
I'll still do my 50% water change but I'll do them after the lights are off or at least 3-4 hours before they are on.

 

[snazy]

Oh, and I can't wait for the crinum calamistratum to grow big. It was like this when I got it(behind the plec the curlie leaves feeling half broken)
 

 
And now like this below, slow but steady growth.
 

 

[snazy]

The other thing I noticed is that in the areas where the powerhead is blowing, the most black hair algae gathers. I think the plant leaves are suffering mechanical damage and can't utilize CO2 or nutritients there but the algae is loving the extra stuff passing. Is that possible?
I actually turned the powerhead off and changed the flow in the U4 filter to the spraybar along it's lenght so it picks up the flow from the right bottom and pushes it back to the left. So far I've got excited clown loaches playing into it.  They haven't stopped since. I guess it's more gentle and they like it but I hope the plants respond the same way.