yup, if your looking to go planted your definately going to have to hike your WPG to around 2.4. While doing this you are going to want to introduce co2 into the tank.. a diy unit will be fine but after a while you'll look at pressurized for sure.
While you hike your wpg your going to want to definately add alot of fast growing stem plants as cheesy recommended... then your going to have to dose your trace elements (can find in seachem flourish) and then your NPK which seachem has a liquid fert or you can do the EI method which is alot better.
You want fast growing plants to take all the nutrients out of the water so the algae does not have a chance to use it...
If your having serious algae.. try the 4 day blackout method.. might be tough for the plants but... it's an alternative to algae. Your whole problem is your balance is incorrect, you gotta upgrade some stuff if you truly want a planted tank. Do your homework on EI and lighting
have fun with it,
Why? If this is a cardinal rule then I should be a failure at growing plants then, as most of my tanks don't meet any of your requirements, but I'm not. I
really don't think you need 2.4WPG to have a seriously planted tank with a good scape. I understand that you want to give advice Nicklfire, and it is excellent advice for your particular planting method (high-tech), but dealing in just absolutes is not the way to go in this hobby. There are many ways to skin a cat. I'm not saying your opinion isn't valid, it is, for the particular method you're advocating, but it's not the only way.
Increasing to 2.4WPG invites the use of CO2 injection and an adaquate dosing regimen, I agree on that and I'm not saying high-tech is bad at all. One method is
not better than the other, whether it's high-tech, Low-tech, mid-tech, or even old school! All of these methods, and
some of their hybrids have proven to grow plants well, which is our ultimate goal. I loved my high-tech tanks I had about a year ago, but this solution may not be feasible for all people. Aaronc probably won't need to upgrade lighting at all, if that is not his/her choice.
As it stands now, Aaronc, your algae issues are probably stemming from a nutrient-rich substrate not being used in conjunction to a large plant base, but algae forms for other reasons too. Algae is opportunistic and if there aren't enough plants in your system then algae will out compete plants for nutrients.
It seems to me that you want to keep things simple, Aaronc, so don't worry about the lighting upgrade. My recommendation is to give your tank a nice algae-wipe-down, and increase your plant bioload by quite a bit. That should calm things down. How long has this tank been setup? New tanks without adaquate plant loads often get algae. What type of algae is it? If it's diatoms (brownish, sticks to glass equipment, pretty easy to remove), then this algae goes away on its own after a while as the tank matures. A blackout really only works for BGA and weakens stem plants IMO too much to be useful. How long are your lights on? Aim for 10 hours or less. Is your tank near a light source? Windows can produce a lot of ambient lighting, causing unwanted algae growth as well.
It's good that you added Cabomba and Valis. How's your water quality? There are three species of cabomba available in the trade and they are often mixed. Two species require higher lighting and softer water, the other does well in harder water and moderate lighting. Cabomba carolina (sp) is the latter one, but I have been sold the other two under that name. Other good "weeds' for you to consider are Egeria densa, egeria najas, Hygrophila polysperma, Rotala rotundifolia. All of these will thrive with your nutrient-rich substrate and light levels. Cover the substrate, This advice is often given for high-techs, but it is good for lower light tanks as well. It has worked well for me. Right now, my systems are old enough that I can begin to sub these weeds for the plants I like.
For you, injecting CO2 is an option. Injection only benefits plants and I inject in two of my low-light tanks and get fantastic growth. A high level is not so critical and you'd probably be fine on one DIY system, or a Nutrafin Hagen system, which is pretty darn cheap.
Ferts will depend on a lot of things. Substrate, fish load, plant density. There are too many factors to consider and I don't know enough about your system to make a recommendation that I personally feel comfortable with. Eventually, as the plants consume the nutrients from your substrate, you should be fine without adding any additional ferts, if your fishload is good. If you have a wood or rock hardscape of any kind, that may also take care of your trace needs, as trace elements often leech from the hardscape. I don't dose anything in my tanks, but my systems are considerably older and consdierably overstocked. I like fishies too much.
Don't get frustrated, we've all had to deal with the ups and downs of this hobby, myself included. I had a terrible BGA outbreak 2 years ago that only went away when I adopted EI. 3.76WPG over a 15g is high-tech, just to let you know
. You find the method that works best for you and gets you growing plants best with minimal algae. For me, I've had great experiences with both high-tech, low-tech, and old school. Nicklfire is having luck with high-tech, which is probably why he endorses it so much.
The point is to be flexible.
llj
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