I've had it...

[yvez9]

I've had it this time

I've planted my 20 gallon tank in april. Got a nice 65watt 6,700k powercompact light for it, co2 system, fertilizers.

The plants did amazingly well the first 2 months. i got a huge algea bloom which went away after i perfected the setup. the fish seemed happy and kept swimming around.

then, I see algea striking again. My fish aren't able to cope with it. My cories stopped laying eggs (though that's probably cause of the extremely warm weather we've had) and the plant stems start to break by themseleves. dead leaves broke one of my aquaclear filter. it could barely pull water through. I had to replace 2 filters in 2 months cause of dead plants, and I did clean them out every 2 days!!

I tried to follow advice i found here and on other forums. Tried to balance everything out to perfection....

Then it got bad and worse. Finally, today, i took out all my plants, which were dying anyhow. Took out the co2, took out the powercompact light strip, put back the canopy with a 15watt fluorescent tube, put plastic plants and am enjoying this tank fo the first time in months!

You see, seeing plants and glass covered in algea was not fun. seeing dead leaves covering up the filter intake 30 minutes after cleaning them out was not fun. seeing dead plants floating around was not fun. seeing brown leaves and torn leaves was not fun.

Now, I can sit and enjoy my tank

Sorry, had to rant...

 

[wuvmybetta]

Meh, I hear ya. I have been plantless for a long time now. I just don't have a wet green thumb, I guess . Which is odd because I love tropical houseplants and gardening. But oh well, I'll never go back now. All rock tanks look good,too

 

[Angry_Platy]

I completely understand. I came SOOOO close to doing the same thing the other day. Then I figured since I allready have the equipment I would try the E.I. method of dosing...after some convincing from some plant freaks around here (mainly jimboo and zig)....

That said, if it hasn't improved my tank come November I will be doing the same as you...I will be putting everything I can into it between now and then and I really hope it does work. If it doesn't, its not the end of the world though....

Its probably a bit late to suggest this now but when I had a similar crisis a few months ago I took out all of the plants that fragmented all the time and kept sturdier plants....like swords, val etc. I rarely get junk floating around, mostly just after water changes.

Do you have a pic of yur "new" tank??

 

[yvez9]

Meh, I hear ya. I have been plantless for a long time now. I just don't have a wet green thumb, I guess . Which is odd because I love tropical houseplants and gardening. But oh well, I'll never go back now. All rock tanks look good,too

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Rocks loog awesome, wood, plastic plants... only downside is the price of plastic plants... they're so exepnsive!

 

[yvez9]

I'll try to take pics tomorrow as the water is cloudy from stirring up the gravel (very fine gravel, like sand) and also, i'm at work now

I'll see tomorrow if the water gets better

 

[Angry_Platy]

only downside is the price of plastic plants... they're so exepnsive!

Yah they are. but they last a lot longer and don't clog up yur filter....and you won't need to add ferts, or CO2.....

 

[yvez9]

guess so angry platy!
I just feel better all around having a better looking tank

just sucks i spent hundreds of dollars on a system because i wanted a nice planted tank like i see on this forum!

damn you TFF!!!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi yvez9

Please don't feel bad about your tank; you're surely not the only one with plant problems. About all I can seem to grow in my tanks are algae, Amazon Sword Plants and java moss. Of the three, the algae seems to do best. )

Your corys probably just stopped spawning to take a rest. Our summer is winter in their natural habitat. As long as they are healthy and well fed, they will probably start again soon.

I do have a suggestion that might help you out with your clogged filter intake. You might want to add a pre-filter to it. This is a sponge filter that comes with adaptors that should fit any size intake tube. Not only do they keep plant debris from clogging the intakes up, they will keep snails and small fish out, and provide additional surface areas for beneficial bacteria to grow on. Just rinse them out in used aquarium water when they need it and you will have no need to disturb the rest of your filtration system.

Edit: Here's a link with a picture of them:

http/www.aquariumguys.com/lupr.html

 

[yvez9]

thanks inchworm!

I've tried the sponge method before but it would become filled with dead plants soon enough and dramatically reduce waterflow to the filter...

I'm kind of going to basics now...

 

[Kanake]

Howdy,
I tryed the plant thing at first and did really well. Then poof All plastic now and I'm happy and my filter is happy. Your right you should be able to enjoy you fish bowl no matter how big or small.

 

[LoachLover]

Meh, I hear ya. I have been plantless for a long time now. I just don't have a wet green thumb, I guess . Which is odd because I love tropical houseplants and gardening. But oh well, I'll never go back now. All rock tanks look good,too

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I had a lot of problems with plants until recently, now for some reason things are going really good

 

[mattbeau]

oddly enough my plants seem to be doing pretty good,

The anacharis has stopped breaking at the stems and has new growths all the time, my amazon sword seems to be doing good with new growths.

This is of course after I got the Snail population, somewhat, under control.

I have both live and fake plants. I like the look of some of the fake plants, but the live platns have a nice touch

 

[Synirr]

I feel your pain. I used to kill every plant I came into contact with... then I learned that I had too little lighting. DUH
Right now my planted tank is doing fantastic. The plants are growing slower than they could if I had CO2, but it's fast enough for me! The tank is a 29 gallon with sand substrate and about 1.5 watts per gallon. I use substrate and liquid fertilizers, but that's about as high tech as I get when it comes to plants... maybe giving the plants just the minimum they need to survive, grow, and look good is what has saved me from having algae bloom

 

[houndour]

I too feel your pain, have suffered from every algae under the sun, but I love it. I think I'd get bored if I didn't have plants to tend to and move around to get it perfect only to redesign the tank again!

 

[jolaf]

That is a good post. I have a green thumb out of the tank but not in one. I can enjoy plastic plants and the fish well.they jsut don't care

I've had it this time

I've planted my 20 gallon tank in april. Got a nice 65watt 6,700k powercompact light for it, co2 system, fertilizers.

The plants did amazingly well the first 2 months. i got a huge algea bloom which went away after i perfected the setup. the fish seemed happy and kept swimming around.

then, I see algea striking again. My fish aren't able to cope with it. My cories stopped laying eggs (though that's probably cause of the extremely warm weather we've had) and the plant stems start to break by themseleves. dead leaves broke one of my aquaclear filter. it could barely pull water through. I had to replace 2 filters in 2 months cause of dead plants, and I did clean them out every 2 days!!

I tried to follow advice i found here and on other forums. Tried to balance everything out to perfection....

Then it got bad and worse. Finally, today, i took out all my plants, which were dying anyhow. Took out the co2, took out the powercompact light strip, put back the canopy with a 15watt fluorescent tube, put plastic plants and am enjoying this tank fo the first time in months!

You see, seeing plants and glass covered in algea was not fun. seeing dead leaves covering up the filter intake 30 minutes after cleaning them out was not fun. seeing dead plants floating around was not fun. seeing brown leaves and torn leaves was not fun.

Now, I can sit and enjoy my tank

Sorry, had to rant...

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