Is This Enough Light?

[jonny-5]

Hi all,i currently have a 15 gallon tank which has a few plants in,but they only grow very slowly and i wanted to speed them up a little. Now was just wondering if the lighting unit was enough it has a 15w tube and the standard Juwel box filter and a constant 25oC temp.Paras are fine.It only has common plants in there like Microsorum pteropus and Fanwort,its only used as a grow out tank for my fry but it looks so bare even though it has quite a few cuttings off the main plants.The lights are on around 8-10 hours a day and 25% water changes weekly


Also i have a 40 Gallon tank which is planted a bit heavier it has a 40w dayglo tube in but i keep getting Brush/Hair Algae everywhere and the plants in there also dont grow to fast,it has Fanwort,Java,Spiralis which some of the leaves/stems are tuning yellow,temp again is maintained at 25oC paras are all fine and lights are on 8-10 hours a day with 25% water changes weekly.
Any advice greatly appreciated,thanks

 

[atmmachine816]

Reason the plants don't grow fast is probably becuase they are not weed type plants and you only have 1wpg thus not giving you much light. I know one way to get rid of hair algae is to remove it all with your hands though there might be another way that somebody will say.

Austin

 

[Themuleous]

Yeh, both tanks do have rather low lighting. If you could increase that a bit to around 1.5WPG you might have better luck, but as ATM says some plants just dont grow very fast.

As for the BBA it can be a sign of low NO3 levels in the tank. As for getting rid of it, in the short term dosing seachem excel at 3x the stated rate is known to kill it, but you'll probably find it just comes back unless you address the root cause. What are the complete stats of the 40G?

Sam

 

[jonny-5]

NitrIte 0.2ppm,NitrAte 0.5 ppm,P.H 6.9 are the stats for 40 gallon,ive just bought some Green X Phosphate eliminator,so will see if this helps for the time being,ive also added some Nutrafin Plant Gro,that i had lying around to see if this does anything,think i will get a new light tube with a higher wattage too.Thing is though think my lighting unit only supports 40w max....gonna be expensive i know it

 

[Themuleous]

How old is the 40G? you shouldnt have any nitrite in a mature tank.

I dont quite understand how you can have 0.5 NO3? Most test kits go from 0 to 5ppm?

Sam

 

[jonny-5]

the tank has been up and running for over a year and the reason i said 0.5 No3 is because its not 0ppm and its not 5ppm its more lower reading judging by the color than higher reading if you know what i mean? the 0ppm reading is Clear.........the 5ppm reading is pinkish in color...my reading is inbetween the 2 not quite pink but not quite clear....phew that was hard and i did mean to put 0ppm NitIte not 0.2 or whatever it was

 

[Themuleous]

Oh right IC! Well the low NO3 could well be the cause of your BBA.

Sam

 

[Squid]

Oh right IC! Well the low NO3 could well be the cause of your BBA.

Sam

This is sounding all a bit familiar to me.. my NO3 is low too and i have a bit of algae.. well strands of the stuff hanging off the wood.. Looks natural, but a but naff eh!

Whats the solution to this.. i could stop water changes.. heheheh.. but i don't think your going to tell me thats the solution

My tank is a Juwel Rio 180 with an eheim external filter, and not heavily stocked.. only a couple of cory's, 5 pentazona barbs, 5 Cardinal Tetras and a BN Plec (bought to help my two ottos with the algae.. he's an ugly brute).. plant wise I just have a blanket of valis at the back of the tank, and a fair clump of java fern on the log. I have just started adding Flora24 daily (today). I was going to add more plants, but without more NO3 will i just be in more trouble..... aahhh. help..

Do i need to add NO3? sounds odd..

How do you check phosphate levels? can these be an issue?

SORRY FOR THREAD JACKING A BIT - but i think it may help the both of us..

Cheers

Squid

 

[Themuleous]

The easiest way it increase NO3 is to either add more fish, but that can be very hit and miss and you've got no control over how much extra NO3 you're adding. The other option is to by NO3 in its KNO3 form and add it that way. You might find that you dont need to add it regularly, especially in lower light tanks where the NO3 uptake is less. Perhaps just after water changes. Aim for somewhere between 10-30ppm.

You can test for PO4 using a test kit.

Hope that helps

Sam

 

[jonny-5]

just to update my post,i used my Green x pads to eliminate the Hair/Feather Algae and at mo seems to be working as the hair is all falling off my plants and being sucked into my filter.....ive started to use my Nutrafin Plant Gro adding 2 capfuls per 10 Gallon,also added another strip of lighting in my 40 Gall and all the plants of now turned green instead of a yellow color so i think it must be doing some good and the tank is 25% lighter aswell.In my 15 Gallon ive bought a new light strip,it did have a standard Day Glo tube in,now it has a Triton so i will see how i go

 

[George Farmer]

The easiest way it increase NO3 is to either add more fish...

Also the easiest way to add more NH3/NH4!! Algae.........