Low Tech Route

[baron von bubba]

Baron wrote:

water straight from the tap can contain a fair bit of co2, and these fluctuating levels can cause algae problems.
if you feel you have to do them, then letting the water sit for 24 hours in a container will help this issue as the co2 will degass.

Obviously it would encourage BBA, would it likely encourage Diatoms (Brown algae) some too?

I doubt it. Diatoms are more influenced by lack of ferts or an ammonia spike.

Interesting! Any feeling for which of a lack of N or P or K macros might encourage them the most if Trace was still being administered? A while back I ran out of ferts in three small bottles of individual Flourish N, P and K, which had been going in to my son's tank in very small planned doses on certain days of the week, but I continued with "plain" Flourish (I'm at work, but I believe plain Flourish has a small amt of macros in addition to traces, as opposed to a different Flourish that has Trace only)... anyway, dosing the "plain Flourish" slightly more often (I was curious to treat it as a small experiement) and what I observed was an increase in what had been small buildups of diatoms (established tank running over a year and a half, low-light, Excel, maybe 30% of substrate planted, 50% weekly H2O chngs, Flourite, not-great circ from 5x turnover)

WD (apologies DRUM for the hijak! hope you don't mind)

Is the tank heavily stocked?
How much often do you feed the fish? If any food is left after a couple of mins then its too much!

You dont do something silly like clean filters out in tap water do you?
Or not clean filters at all?

As for nutrient limitations. Are the plants showing any signs? If so what? Forget a nitrate limitation because the plants would use the ammonia first anyhow. And as you have diatoms then thats not happenin!

Poor flow "could" be a factor? If the plants are in "dead" spots then they could be nutrient limited! You say 5times is that taking into consideration the filter will lose a third to one half rated flow when media is added?

 

[waterdrop]

No, tank is way understocked and all those things, feeding and filter cleaning are things that I "teach" over in the beginner section, so I try to practice them myself as much as possible. I guess my next two moves were going to be cleaning the hoses to the cannister and getting a Koralia, both of which would be to improve circulation. Because I'd noticed what I thought to be a bit of -increase- in diatoms about the time my 3 little bottles of macros ran out I was just curious whether perhaps not getting as much K or P in there might be helping to encourage them.

 

[waterdrop]

Actually, what *are* the symptoms of too little K?
& of too little P?

I know I could look these up but you guys probably know them blind.

 

[baron von bubba]

Actually, what *are* the symptoms of too little K?
& of too little P?

I know I could look these up but you guys probably know them blind.

I think its hard to be definitive about this. But,
K. would be pinholes in leaves and withering edges.
P. Stunted growth and leaves dying off quickly.
Both of these would show in old growth.

There symptoms can also point to low flow and/or inadequate co2 levels.

 

[waterdrop]

Thanks! Very interesting! I -am- actually seeing some of those things just since I stopped the macros. Of course, doing only Excel, its always hard to know to what extent that in itself looks like low CO2 and of course I get fluctuating CO2 due to the weekly water changes.

 

[Drum4JC]

OK, I went ahead and ordered some Wendtiis, Java Fern, and Corkscrew Vals from aquaruimplants.com along with a bottle of their fertilizer pellets.

It occurred to me that I need to find out if I have the right wattage for these guys? It's a 15 watt bulb and the tank is 25 gallons. These should all be relatively "low" light plants and the bulb really lights up the tank well. Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Drum4JC]

I found some great info at americanaquariumproducts.com. I can't tell what the "K" is for my bulb but I'll either pick up one in the 5500-6700 range or rig up two regular cfl bulbs Unser the hood with the same K. My only question is whether the K at that range is considered low light? Many bulbs are 10000K so I'm thinking yes. Bulbs below 5500 aren't conducive to photosynthesis according to that website.

 

[baron von bubba]

I found some great info at americanaquariumproducts.com. I can't tell what the "K" is for my bulb but I'll either pick up one in the 5500-6700 range or rig up two regular cfl bulbs Unser the hood with the same K. My only question is whether the K at that range is considered low light? Many bulbs are 10000K so I'm thinking yes. Bulbs below 5500 aren't conducive to photosynthesis according to that website.

The "K" means pretty much nothing to the plants.
It's not what defines low/high light either.
You'll read many different things on this. But my understanding of it is, it's down to personal preference of what YOU think looks good, the plants wont mind either way.

 

[liana_y2kuk]

Elodea Densa. Not sure where you live because it's been banned in some places (problems relating to growth in the wild when released into rivers etc).
In the tank though its a great low tech plant. Also gives off a chemical that prevents blue algae growth. Can have it planted or floating. Grows like mad.

It depends what fish you have for this plant. I does better in coldwater