Plant and Algae Help

[shw104]

I have a new 30 gallon freshwater, community aquarium. I've had it up and
running 3-4 weeks with live plants. I have had no problems with the
fish but am having trouble keeping my plants alive and looking
healthy. I'm using Florish Plant Supplement and have a 36", 30W light
on my tank. I keep the light on 15-18 hours per day.

Right now the bulb is a standard aquarium bulb and I'm going to
replace it with a plant "Nutri grow light" shorly.

I've already lost one plant and 3 of my other plants are starting to
turn brown/yellow. What else is recommended to keep plants healthy.
I really want live plants in my tank. What plants are the most hardy
and where is the best place to get them?

I'm also starting to get some algae in my tank. What is the best way
to control it without harming my tank? I know it is an ongoing battle
but I'm sure there are ways to control it.

Thank you for all your help.
Scott
[email protected]

 

[pmoyniha]

Im still a bit new to the panted tank buisness but this is what I have understood on here thus far. I am going to assume that your tank is cycled and that your water chemistry is good etc. If not well, Thats a question for someone smarter than I as I am not experienced enough to mess with water chemistry too much.

I would first suggest that you read up on the specific species of plants that you bought to see what their requirements are. Some are much harder to care for than others. I used this website when I first bought plants:

Plant Info then navigate to the bit about aquarium plants.

Light is the first thing from what I understand that needs to be looked at. You should have about 2 Watts per gallon of water give or take. This may mean finding a way to alter your lid and such to get more light under there.

CO2 might be a limiting factor in your plant's growth as well. A few people have posted some do it yourself reactors, which I use too, but I imagine the commercial models work pretty well.

Deficiencies in minerals and nutrients cause plants to have problems. This can be a lack of Iron, Magnesium etc. A good liquid fertilizer (without phosphates) is recomended. Some people use root tips (or caps, I cant remember), with great success but I have yet to try them. I have heard some people that dont't like the liquid fertilizers too, but I haven't had a problem with it.

As far as the algae goes, it seems in general people say the chemicals are really bad. Other than cleaning it off manually, or getting something that eats it the only way is to out-compete it for nutrients. That is why you don't want your fertilizer to have phosphates. If the plants can out-compete the algae for phosphates (your fish food will provide this) and other nutirents the algae will not be able to grow and spread very much. I think this is another reason why it is important not to over feed your fish. The excess fish food will break down into great algae fertilizer. Since I started with more light, CO2 and fertilizer I have had a marked reduction in my algae, much to the chagrin of my hillside loaches.

Hope this helps,
Pat