First off, here are ALL the stats for my two fish tanks:
29 gallon 2WPG
neon/glowlight/cardinal tetras, black widow tetras, amano shrimp, cory cats, kulhi loaches.
Flourite substrate w/ small gravel and a few root tabs.
Weekly liquid ferts "flourish excel" and small dosages during the week
weekly 30-40% water changes
plants include Amazon swords, ozelot sword, java fern, java moss, jungle val, wideleaf sag, water sprite/wisteria
Hagen CO2 system w/bubble ladder, mixture changed when water is changed
Timer set for 4 on 2 off cycle
all water stats are fine
5 gallon roughly 3WPG
1 betta, 2 ottos
sand substrate with root tabs
weekly liquid ferts, in VERY small dosages
weekly 30-40% water changes
plants include contortion val, anubias nana, micro chain sword, a couple others that couldn't grow in the 29 gallon
all water stats are fine
Okay, now to get to the problem. The majority of plants in my 29 gallon refuse to grow at a normal rate if they aren't slowly dying back. The Jungle Val and water wisteria are the worst off. The Jungle Val (all 15 or so plants) have died down to very small leaves, about 3 inches max. The water sprite has horrible hair algae, I did a 3 day blackout and cut the CO2, 2 days later and there is hair algae all over the place. I tried fixing these problems with amano shrimp, CO2 injection and a set photo period but it has not helped a single bit. The plants are growing like when the tank had 1.5 WPG wth no CO2.
What really gets me is the 5 gallon tank with no set photo period and no CO2 injection works great, 10 times better than the 29 gallon. I have even moved dying plants over to the 5 gallon and they have started growing perfectly again... Also, just because I was curious I took a large hunk of water sprite from the 29 gallon which had hair algae all over the place and within a week it was all gone. And the hair algae wasn't fixed by the Ottos in the tank, they weren't even in the picture at the time.
So I ask all you planted tank gurus, what am I doing so wrong here? From what i'm seeing, the 5 gallon low tech tank is doing tons better and it's driving me crazy...
29 gallon 2WPG
neon/glowlight/cardinal tetras, black widow tetras, amano shrimp, cory cats, kulhi loaches.
Flourite substrate w/ small gravel and a few root tabs.
Weekly liquid ferts "flourish excel" and small dosages during the week
weekly 30-40% water changes
plants include Amazon swords, ozelot sword, java fern, java moss, jungle val, wideleaf sag, water sprite/wisteria
Hagen CO2 system w/bubble ladder, mixture changed when water is changed
Timer set for 4 on 2 off cycle
all water stats are fine
5 gallon roughly 3WPG
1 betta, 2 ottos
sand substrate with root tabs
weekly liquid ferts, in VERY small dosages
weekly 30-40% water changes
plants include contortion val, anubias nana, micro chain sword, a couple others that couldn't grow in the 29 gallon
all water stats are fine
Okay, now to get to the problem. The majority of plants in my 29 gallon refuse to grow at a normal rate if they aren't slowly dying back. The Jungle Val and water wisteria are the worst off. The Jungle Val (all 15 or so plants) have died down to very small leaves, about 3 inches max. The water sprite has horrible hair algae, I did a 3 day blackout and cut the CO2, 2 days later and there is hair algae all over the place. I tried fixing these problems with amano shrimp, CO2 injection and a set photo period but it has not helped a single bit. The plants are growing like when the tank had 1.5 WPG wth no CO2.
What really gets me is the 5 gallon tank with no set photo period and no CO2 injection works great, 10 times better than the 29 gallon. I have even moved dying plants over to the 5 gallon and they have started growing perfectly again... Also, just because I was curious I took a large hunk of water sprite from the 29 gallon which had hair algae all over the place and within a week it was all gone. And the hair algae wasn't fixed by the Ottos in the tank, they weren't even in the picture at the time.
So I ask all you planted tank gurus, what am I doing so wrong here? From what i'm seeing, the 5 gallon low tech tank is doing tons better and it's driving me crazy...
