Chris' 40 Uk Gallon Journal

[chr15_8]

It`s looking good with some nice, quality plants, but I would fill it out with fast growing stems right now if I were you, rather than let EI fill it out for you.

Algae is easier to prevent than to remove and you are currently way underplanted IME.

Dave.

i had some fast growing stems (about 20+) but apperntly they where for cold water amd they started to die on me so they wnet

any suggestions? as most in there are fast growers?


thanks

 

[Dave Spencer]

I can recommend Rotala rotundifolia and Hydrocotyle leucocephala, but you will need a lot more than 20+ stems. Look to cover 75% of the substrate with them for now, and worry about the kind of scape you want at a later date.

With your light levels and small biomass algae will become a major problem. I would even consider cutting down on the light until you get your fast growers in there. Planting too lightly at the beginning is a common problem and makes getting rid of algae hard work.

Try Greenline for some fast growing stems for now, and plant with Tropica when you are buying plants for your final scape.

Dave.

 

[chr15_8]

I can recommend Rotala rotundifolia and Hydrocotyle leucocephala, but you will need a lot more than 20+ stems. Look to cover 75% of the substrate with them for now, and worry about the kind of scape you want at a later date.

With your light levels and small biomass algae will become a major problem. I would even consider cutting down on the light until you get your fast growers in there. Planting too lightly at the beginning is a common problem and makes getting rid of algae hard work.

Try Greenline for some fast growing stems for now, and plant with Tropica when you are buying plants for your final scape.

Dave.

thanks
ive got a bunch of rotala rotundifolia so ill get more of that and have a look on hydrocotyle ..... thanks again


and the bloody yoyo loach has torn up at least half of my hc and a few bits of the other plants

 

[chr15_8]

i got another 5 pots of plants

got another 3 of rotala rotundifolia
and 2 hyprophila polysperma

will probably get more abit later but ive droped it down to 2wpg for now

chris

 

[chr15_8]

after planting the other 5 pots i turned my lights upto 3wpg and this afternoon i have seen a bit of thread algea on my background about 2 inches long

i have also noticed a small brown patch about 1cm round on the front glass. what type of algera is this?

what the best why to get rid of it (except wipe/pull of as im sure it will come back if i do that)

the plants pearl nicely after about 30 mins off the full light on

co2 is stable on the drop check (jbl kh4-8 section)

about 70% of ground is planted (only pace that isnt is where im waiting for the hc to carpet and a little bit between the background plants and the foreground plants)
basicly i cant fit many more plants in there


lighting
1wpg on from 12 to 4
+ 2wpg on from 12.15 to 3.45

2 hour gap
1wpg on from 4.00 till 10.00
+2 wpg on from 4.15 till 9.45

so maximum light is when the 2wgp comes on with the 1wpg if you understand what im saying

co2 come on 15 mins before the lights come on

i am dosing ei


other than that i thinks theres been growth in the hc mainly but abit of growth in the others aswell

any suggestions in terms of algea?

thanks
chris

 

[Dave Spencer]

I get thread algae in my tank which is 3.4WPG EI, so maybe threads are our inheritance. I get it if CO2 is low, or where there is minimal water movement. Keeping water movement throughout a heavily planted tank is pretty tricky. I have decided to get rid of my Ludwigia arcuata, which is in front of my filter outlet and replace it with Rotala sp. "Nanjenshan", which should be a bit less restrictive of the water flow.

The brown algae is diatoms, which I am getting in my brand new 60l. It can be associated with new set ups, but a small group of Otos will clear it up for you.

Getting back to the thread algae issue, your CO2 levels may be a bit low and becoming exhausted during the photoperiod. Maybe this is way you have a lighting siesta, to allow the CO2 to build back up again. You should be running with sufficient CO2 to see you through the photoperiod without a siesta. High light tanks have a huge nutrient uptake, accompanied by some turbo growth, which you need to allow for. A lapse in dosing of anyone one of the vital elements for your plants will immediately show in a growth of hair algae, so you need to be meticulous with your dosing. This is certainly the case in my tank.

3.4WPG and EI grows some fantastically healthy and colourful plants, but I make sure my plants have everything to excess. This way, I don`t have to give algae any worthwhile consideration.

In summary, I think you may be running a little low on CO2. Hope this is of some help.

Dave.

 

[chr15_8]

I get thread algae in my tank which is 3.4WPG EI, so maybe threads are our inheritance. I get it if CO2 is low, or where there is minimal water movement. Keeping water movement throughout a heavily planted tank is pretty tricky. I have decided to get rid of my Ludwigia arcuata, which is in front of my filter outlet and replace it with Rotala sp. "Nanjenshan", which should be a bit less restrictive of the water flow.

The brown algae is diatoms, which I am getting in my brand new 60l. It can be associated with new set ups, but a small group of Otos will clear it up for you.

Getting back to the thread algae issue, your CO2 levels may be a bit low and becoming exhausted during the photoperiod. Maybe this is way you have a lighting siesta, to allow the CO2 to build back up again. You should be running with sufficient CO2 to see you through the photoperiod without a siesta. High light tanks have a huge nutrient uptake, accompanied by some turbo growth, which you need to allow for. A lapse in dosing of anyone one of the vital elements for your plants will immediately show in a growth of hair algae, so you need to be meticulous with your dosing. This is certainly the case in my tank.

3.4WPG and EI grows some fantastically healthy and colourful plants, but I make sure my plants have everything to excess. This way, I don`t have to give algae any worthwhile consideration.

In summary, I think you may be running a little low on CO2. Hope this is of some help.

Dave.

thanks for that v. helpfull

my co2 stops at the break/siesta and comes on 15 minutes before lights.
would you suggest to continue to run my co2 thoughout the siesta?

will move a couple of ottos over then to help with the diatoms.

waterflow as you said is a hard one with co2 which is why i havent connected the eheim ecco up yet and just left the 2224 professional and at the moment my tank isnt heavly planted (not that tall but alot on the ground)

thanks again
chris

 

[mlawson]

Anymore pics?

 

[chr15_8]

Anymore pics?

there will be when i get some good ones/am able to take good ones

 

[Dave Spencer]

my co2 stops at the break/siesta and comes on 15 minutes before lights.
would you suggest to continue to run my co2 thoughout the siesta?

I was wondering on the purpose of the siesta. Algae responds to light quicker than plants, so having two lights on periods will give algae two head starts a day, or that is how I see it anyway. A siesta just seems unnatural for plants.

will move a couple of ottos over then to help with the diatoms.

That`s handy, having a little workforce on standby.

at the moment my tank isnt heavly planted (not that tall but alot on the ground)

I would resolve this as soon as possible if I were you. You should end up with a great looking tank.

Dave.

 

[chr15_8]

ive read it in a few articles including georges pinned article so thought id go with it

how long do you have your light on for/recommend? 8 hours straight

yep i bought a couple of ottos for this tank while at wildwoods so put them in the other tank with the neons untill ready/needed

thanks again

 

[chr15_8]

Today i cutt a few of the plants down as they were getting tall

ive had a fair amount of algea on the front glass (any ides as to what type?) see pic below)

i changed the photoperiod (so i now have no siesta(spelling)

last weekend i added 11 neon tetra's and mid week added another 5 otto's how ever these all died and my original otto's are sill alive (think it was to do with how long they,ve in the country for)

added another 9 neon tetra's today (still got another 20/25 to add)

tank when i planted it (2 weeks ago friday) (i added another few pots of plants after this pic was taken but you can tell the difference)

tank before cutting/maintainace with algea on the front

after

left side

right side

so glad i decided to go EI

thanks for looking
chris

edit: sorry about the picture quality and the floating plants as its the hc that the yoyo loach digs up however its starting to take shape

 

[wei0204]

Nice to see... hope to see some update later.

 

[Themuleous]

Its coming alone nicely matey keep it up.

Sam

 

[lljdma06]

Looking good. Pesky yoyo loach!