Journal Entry
I have added in the new ballast - now I have the full three tubes (2 x 25w + 1 Blue 10w). Would you consider this low or mid lighting? 165 litres = 36 Gallons(ish) = 1.4 watts per g if you don't take into account the blue tube (1.7 if you do).
I have also had a little re arrange of the wood as shown below (forgive the bad daytime photo). I was considering adding more wood but now i'm not so sure - Comments welcome please.
My original plan was to replace all the plants with new ones but thinking about it things aren't looking too bad. I definitely need more plants in mid and backgrounds and hopefully, now I am adding ferts and co2, the existing plants should start to flourish.
I do have a couple of questions though:
I am dosing enough co2 to make my drop checker show green (I think it needs a tad more because it doesn't go lime green) and also a full dose of ferts each day. Now If i don't have enough plants this could cause algae to bloom right? So my question is do I need to cut down on my ferts until I add more plants or do I cut down the co2 or indeed both?
Many leaves on the crypts(thanks minnnt for the id) and anubias have algae on the edges. Should I just remove these leaves? I have read that ottos are great at eating algae off of plants without harming the plant. Maybe that could be the answer.
Thanks in advance for your help
I have added in the new ballast - now I have the full three tubes (2 x 25w + 1 Blue 10w). Would you consider this low or mid lighting? 165 litres = 36 Gallons(ish) = 1.4 watts per g if you don't take into account the blue tube (1.7 if you do).
I have also had a little re arrange of the wood as shown below (forgive the bad daytime photo). I was considering adding more wood but now i'm not so sure - Comments welcome please.
My original plan was to replace all the plants with new ones but thinking about it things aren't looking too bad. I definitely need more plants in mid and backgrounds and hopefully, now I am adding ferts and co2, the existing plants should start to flourish.
I do have a couple of questions though:
I am dosing enough co2 to make my drop checker show green (I think it needs a tad more because it doesn't go lime green) and also a full dose of ferts each day. Now If i don't have enough plants this could cause algae to bloom right? So my question is do I need to cut down on my ferts until I add more plants or do I cut down the co2 or indeed both?
Many leaves on the crypts(thanks minnnt for the id) and anubias have algae on the edges. Should I just remove these leaves? I have read that ottos are great at eating algae off of plants without harming the plant. Maybe that could be the answer.
Thanks in advance for your help
Colors are really popping now. 
