Hair In The Tank?

[SLC Flyfishing]

I was steered toward a 12 gallon nanocube aquarium (deluxe model) as an ideal plant growing setup. I had basically no knowlege about live aquatic plants before this.

Now the plants I have are all seeming to be growing well, I've had some shoots growing and rooting themselves into the substrate from all except the java fern.

The problem is that I have all this brown stuff growing from the plants today. Looks like cobwebs. Is this normal, if not what can I do to get rid of it? I want to add fish soon but don't want to put them in if they will be harmed by the cobwebs. So what do I do?

Thanks in advance!

SLC

 

[craynerd]

Check out all the algae related stickys at the top of the page. Sounds like you have cobweb algea and maybe another sort if some is brown!

What lighting are you using and are you giving CO2? What are your water stats.

Chris

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

I'm using 2 24 watt-50/50 dual spectrum bulbs. (standard on the jbj 12 gallon nano deluxe) I have not been injecting CO2 because I'm limited on funds. I have read around today a bit and may feel up to doing a DIY CO2 ststem. Some is brown, and a little bit is green. Also there's some very green growth on the glass next to one of the plants.

I'm without my test kit at the moment so I don't know the parameters, only thing I know for sure is that the water here is very hard.

SLC

 

[qwikimpss]

With that lighting you are going to run into serious algae problems without a steady CO2 system (be it DIY or pressurized) and dosing regimen.

As already suggested read the pinned algae article and I recomend the lighting and EI articles also. (you will probably have to re-read the EI one several times as it can be a bit confusing)

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

Dosing Regimin?

I'm a total newbie to live plants

SLC

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

I got a new question!

If I add CO2 (I am making a DIY kit as we speak) and pull off the algae that is growing, will the plants get the upperhand?

Or do I need to take them out and start over?


SLC

 

[modernhamlet]

I got a new question!

If I add CO2 (I am making a DIY kit as we speak) and pull off the algae that is growing, will the plants get the upperhand?

Or do I need to take them out and start over?


SLC

Adding CO2 and removing as much algae as possible is a good start. Replacing the 50/50 bulbs with something more suitable for a planted tank would probably help just as much.

After that it's a matter of getting the nutrients in balance.

 

[danski]

have a look at this.as stated look for a better bulb for plants or maybe a better light system.
http/www.plantedtank.net/articles/Algae-Common-Types/3/
your plants may recover if you remove as much algae as possible. mine usually recover from an algae bloom..