Very exicited...my plants seem to be growing

[houndour]

I'm really excited about my plants. Most of them seem to be growing and producing new bud type things. My lily type plant (not sure what it is) has grown about 5 inches since saturday so that the lily is now laying on the surface!

I've got a bit of hair algae...but I'm keeping it under control. Is algae really a bad thing? I had it before but I didn't mind too much. Is it just trial and error to get the plants to outgrow the algae?

The other thing is, on the tubing of the CO2 thing and on the suckers of my heater holder there is like a white film. It feels slimey. Is this a fungus? or algae? Any ideas?

I've also got some bugs (think daphnia and planaria) but I've posted about this is the beginners forum.

Sam
edit - i edited the wrong post!

 

[George Farmer]

Firstly prune the lily leaf that has surfaced. This will keep the growth rate up and compact. Lilies are great, mine is over a year old now and still growing strong - they have growth spurts every so often.

Algae - Do you have plenty of algae eaters? Siamese Algae Eaters, Amano Shrimp and Otos are good. What lighting schedule do you have? If the algae gets worse then try 4 hours on 4 off 4 on. This siesta is hated by algae but not plants. High phosphate levels are also common in UK tap water (mine is over 5mg/l). Hair Algae only needs 0.15 mg/l! You are right when you say good growth should combat algae - leave any plants that have reached the surface (except lily) for a while. Their growth will be really strong and the shading will help against algae. Don't use any fertilisers until you see nutrient deficiencies.

Your white stuff on the CO2 diffuser is common - I had it until I changed my brand of yeast. I assumes it's a by-product of the fermentation. It is harmless.

I wouldn't worry about live food!

 

[houndour]

Thanks for the advice, that's great.

I've got a lot to learn about pruning. Do I cut the lily right near the bottom?

I don't have any algae eaters. I dont have any fish yet. My tank is only 19 uk gallons so I was going to have 6 corys and 6 cardinals. Maybe 10 cardinals. But I don't have room for more do I?

I saw in the latest issue of PFK that there are dwarf otos that grow 1.5-2 inches, but it says they're to be kept in groups.

Your white stuff on the CO2 diffuser is common - I had it until I changed my brand of yeast. I assumes it's a by-product of the fermentation. It is harmless.

Oh right that makes sense. It did appear after I put the diffuser in. I'm using the yeast that came with the system at the moment. It came with 3 packs.

edit: my lighting schedule is 10 hours. Is this too much? It comes on at 12 noon and turns of at 10pm.

 

[jimbooo]

i'd have a lights out period in the middle mine is 12 hours with 3 hour blackout between 1 and 4. algae hate this light interruption and since changing to this the hair algae has cleared up loads.

 

[Griz]

In response to your stocking questions, otos are a great fish for the planted tank and you could certainly keep a small group of around 4. They are difficult fish to keep though, wait til your tank has matured before getting any. I think you could easily keep 10 cardinals in the setup you suggest, perhaps even a couple more.

 

[George Farmer]

Try 5 hours on 2 off 5 on lighting. If your algae persists then try 4 on 4 off 4 on.

You could safely stock 20 to 30 Cardinals when your filter has matured. They produce very little waste due to their small size and your plants will perform water purification too if they are growing well. A group of 4 to 6 Otos would be good and some Amano shrimp. Otos generally stick to brown/soft algae, Amano shrimps will eat most other types. Siamese Algae Eaters are too big for your set-up unfortunately.

Cut the lily as close to the bulb/rhizome as possible.

When pruning stem plants people generally just snip off the top. This works short term and may result in the plant becoming more "bushy". However if there are too many prunings carried out this way then weak shoots will be produced. The widely recognized way to prune stem plants is to remove the whole stem from the substrate, trim from the botton part and re-plant. This is time consuming - especially if you lots of fast growing stem plants (one reason I've changed my layout in my 34g) but the plant will remain stronger in the long term.

When pruning rosette type plants i.e. Amazon Swords then remove the leaves from as close as possible to the rhizome. This allows new growth.

 

[houndour]

Thanks for the advice gf225.

Guess what I'll be doing tonight!!! I've really caught the fish bug again and I want to set my old hex tank (i think its about 5 gallons) for a betta...just need to convince the boyfriend!! And find somewhere to put it!

You guys are such a bad influence on me

 

[jimbooo]

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks for the advice gf225.

Guess what I'll be doing tonight!!! I've really caught the fish bug again and I want to set my old hex tank (i think its about 5 gallons) for a betta...just need to convince the boyfriend!! And find somewhere to put it!

You guys are such a bad influence on me

Good luck. If my wife shared half my enthusiasm then our living room would probably be a tropical pond (planted of course)!!