Plant Advice...

[stoneagedinosaur]

Morning all

Tank is now cycled after 4 weeks nitrite and ammonia approx 0.1 - 0 respectively - nitrates are high due to rubbish water quality from taps. Planning to do a few water changes wit pure water from LFS.

Question is - plants got a nasty dose of nitrite - (but that should go with water changes) Many leaves are quite damaged - should I trim or chuck and replace?

 

[Truck]

nitrite won't damage plants, they can utilize nitrite, but they wont readily uptake it in most situations.

could you please post your:
Lighting, Tank size, CO2? or fertilizers?

 

[Bobtastic]

I believe that you are supposed to remove damaged leaves to help prompt the growth of new ones. How you prune them depends on the species of plant.

 

[thefubar]

always worth a prune and try again (sometimes worth trimming the roots back down to 3-4cms too).

Unless you're looking for an instant effect of course... but where's the fun in that!

(i've given up trying to control my nitrate level, best thing i did was lock the test kit away

)

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

nitrite won't damage plants, they can utilize nitrite, but they wont readily uptake it in most situations.

could you please post your:
Lighting, Tank size, CO2? or fertilizers?

It's 165 L 84x58x44cm with 2 x 25W and one 20W = 70 Watts in total

No idea on CO[sup][/sup]2[sup][/sup] levels and haven't added fertilizers yet - wanted tank to cycle first and not feed the algae. Have trimmed out lots of dead plant matter already. Trick is to get plants growing well but not the algae...

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

always worth a prune and try again (sometimes worth trimming the roots back down to 3-4cms too).

Unless you're looking for an instant effect of course... but where's the fun in that!

(i've given up trying to control my nitrate level, best thing i did was lock the test kit away

)

My tap water runs at 50 - 75 mg/L nitrate which is giving me an algae headache. Trying to avoid the chemical option as much as I can...

Tank looks good - loving the funky moss ball! I need to plant up the front of my tank. Trying to get it a bit minimal on the plant front as I always remember my grandad's tank looking like an underwater jungle and you had to be jaques cousteau to find any fish!

 

[thefubar]

always worth a prune and try again (sometimes worth trimming the roots back down to 3-4cms too).

Unless you're looking for an instant effect of course... but where's the fun in that!

(i've given up trying to control my nitrate level, best thing i did was lock the test kit away

)

My tap water runs at 50 - 75 mg/L nitrate which is giving me an algae headache. Trying to avoid the chemical option as much as I can...

Tank looks good - loving the funky moss ball! I need to plant up the front of my tank. Trying to get it a bit minimal on the plant front as I always remember my grandad's tank looking like an underwater jungle and you had to be jaques cousteau to find any fish!

You're going to have to lessen your focus on the nitrate issue as a cause of algae (its more an issue of oxygen, circulation, lighting or over-feeding)

Do you actually have algae in the tank? If so, what kind?

removing the dead leaves will remove the excess organics which is good, it'll also help to have a clean-up crew of shrimps, Otos, some varieties of snails. Make sure anything is compatible with your intended fish stocks.

CO2 question was whether you are adding either by liquid or injection.

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

You're going to have to lessen your focus on the nitrate issue as a cause of algae (its more an issue of oxygen, circulation, lighting or over-feeding)

Do you actually have algae in the tank? If so, what kind?

Green strands on the glass, brown strands on the leaves of the broad leafed plant in the middle (See piccy to see the plant I mean)

removing the dead leaves will remove the excess organics which is good, it'll also help to have a clean-up crew of shrimps, Otos, some varieties of snails. Make sure anything is compatible with your intended fish stocks.

CO2 question was whether you are adding either by liquid or injection.

Not actually putting CO[sup][/sup]2[sup][/sup] in as I thought that came as a by product of the fish's respiration!

 

[thefubar]

Green strands on the glass, brown strands on the leaves of the broad leafed plant in the middle (See piccy to see the plant I mean)

The Anubias are particularly susceptible to Algae, a few options to help would be: more CO2 (but it needs to be constant, not a one off), less lighting or placed in an area of high flow.

Not actually putting CO[sup][/sup]2[sup][/sup] in as I thought that came as a by product of the fish's respiration!

It's probably not going to be enough to satisfy those lovely plants you've got. have a look at liquid carbon in the form of EasyCarbo or Flourish. Or there are loads of CO2 injection threads about. I dose EasyCarbo, but its a short-term solution until i can afford to setup the injection.

Is it in direct sunlight during the day?

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

I keep the tank way out of the sunlight - only one spot in my living room! I'll have to have a look at the CO2 malarky

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

Any suggestions for hardy, effective clean up shrimp?

 

[thefubar]

I use an army of 60+ Cherries, but you could look into Armano Shrimp too. Some fish/shrimp combos don't go so check them out first.

Than have a look in the Classifieds because they'll sting you at the LFS for shrimp.

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

Tell me about it! £20 for cherry shrimp!!!!!!!!!! Got a couple of 'cleaner' shrimp (which I haven't seen for a few hours ) and some 'sucker' fish (picture to follow) - I really must pay more attention. Have also reduced the lighting to 6 hours and knocked a tube off for a bit. Most of the brown algae has gone and tank's looking all the better for it.

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

Tell me about it! £20 for cherry shrimp!!!!!!!!!! Got a couple of 'cleaner' shrimp (which I haven't seen for a few hours ) and some 'sucker' fish (picture to follow) - I really must pay more attention. Have also reduced the lighting to 6 hours and knocked a tube off for a bit. Most of the brown algae has gone and tank's looking all the better for it.

Anyone know who this fella is? It's just a baby but he's cleaning my tank a treat!

 

[thefubar]

Start a new thread in the catfish forum and he'll get an identity very quickly.