Algea Issues And Tank Overhaul

[Dj-damo]

With regards to the substrate, do i have to replenish this every year or less or more? do i have to use fertilizers with it as well, or can i use gravel and ferts?

im slowly gathering a list of items i will need to purchase £500+ at the moment lol!!!

Would it be an idea to reduce my stocking levels a bit.

I know you said at the beginning of the thread that the JBL bio nitrate would not be good, is there anything else i can use. this would Purley be for if im away for 3 weeks or so. as it should help slow the build up of nitrates.

Maybe i shouldn't of got such a large tank lol!!!

Also last question.... how much subsrate will i need to get??? 450litre tank....

Thanks again

Damien

 

[RadaR]

Don't need to replenish substrate. Lots of these top brand substrates have a good CEC (cation exchange capacity) because there are clay based. Therefore, nutrients are actually pulled from the water column into the substrate.
Plants are just as good at absorbing nutrients through their leaves, as they are through their roots.
You still have to dose ferts because you are running a high tech tank (CO2), where nutrients will be in high demand.
I don't know what your stocking is. High tech tanks usually have less stocking.
Is this 3 weeks before you get the tank set up with CO2 and plants etc? If the 3 weeks is occuring when you do have the tank set up with everything then you wont want to be limiting nitrate. You'll want to be ensuring there is enough so that your plants dont suffer. Poor plant health leads to ammonia and algae.
I think you'll be looking at 40litres of substrate.

It's probably worth mentioning that nitrate itself is not dangerous. There was a study done which had the fish in 400ppm of nitrate with no ill effects. Trout and Salmoln are very sensetive to nitrate but I don't expect you'll be keeping them .It's the process of making nitrate that is toxic. Ammonia ---> nitrite ---> nitrate, decrease in oxygen etc.

 

[Dj-damo]

Hello again!!

My 2 powerheads have arrived . Where would be the best place to position them?

Thanks

Damien

 

[RadaR]

There are a lot of places. How about both of them on the back glass. One on the left hand side, one on the right. Both facing foward. About 2/3rds of the way up the tank. This should propell water forwards towards the front glass and when it hits, it should curve downwards toward the gravel before heading to the back of the tank again. You never wanted powerheads or filters opposing one another as it defeats the purpose.

 

[Dj-damo]

ok sounds good

the power heads have swivel heads on them as as they are both double impellers i could direct 1 to the side and one to the top or 1 to the bottom and one to the top, lol and i would repeat this on the other side. is this a good idea

there pretty funky, a tad big but as long as they do the job i dont mind.

this was the one i purchased

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140451114892#ht_4857wt_989

 

[RadaR]

Try lots of different combinations and choose what you observe to be the best.

 

[Dj-damo]

ok thanks.

i put them in, didnt realize how much debris was in the tank it just started swirling around and getting sucked onto the power head casings, and that was after i had gravel vacuumed it. ive ended up taking everything out at the mo so i can clean it all. so that will be fun!!!

im finding the algea is very stubborn, but the heater casings are looking cleaner, so i think the fish have been feasting on that.

going to go get some shrimps today, mixture of red, green and amano. im not going to plant the tank now, maybe just a few fast growing ones think theres a lfs that does 15 plants for £20 ive kept ma others in a bucket of water for now so will see what i can save.

the co2 and substrate is going to have to wait for the mo, as i need to save up the money, dont really wanna put it on the CC otherwise partner will go loopy!!

will adding 20 shrimp increase the bioload too much?

i feed the fish 3 frozen cubes every other day? is this still too much? or maybe even too little,

 

[RadaR]

will adding 20 shrimp increase the bioload too much?

i feed the fish 3 frozen cubes every other day? is this still too much? or maybe even too little,

20 shrimp wont have much of an impact of the bioload in a 450litre tank.

Personally, yes I think that is too much. Frozen food is really quite messy and can foul the water quickly. Do they get flake and granules as part of their diet too?

 

[Dj-damo]

yes they have flake and pellets too.

I do rinse the cubes under water to defrost them first (thats what my LFS told me to do)

what plant fertiliser / nutrient supplement do i go for? theres so many, ive seen flourish excel and alot of reviews on it.


the shrimp are going to be shared between 2 tanks.

Thnaks

 

[RadaR]

If you are not going to do CO2 for a while then best thing is to try limit the amount of light getting to the plants in order to avoid carbon deficiencies. I would therefore get lots of floating plants.
As far as nutrients go, you should be ok just using a micro nutrient (trace element) product like Easylife Profito. The fish should provide the rest. This wouldnt work if you allowed the plants lots of light and dosed Excel. This would increase the growth rate and therefore increase the nutrient demand. You would then need to dose something with nitrogen and phosphorus in. If you dosed Excel then you'd still have to do large water changes per week (not to mention it would be expensive on a 450litre tank!).