opinion about starting a new tank

[Bravofleet4]

Hi,

I'm a noobie with a 10 gallon low-tech tank. I recently wanted to expand my fish keeping with plants since a couple of months ago. I started off easy with mostly java fern (1), anubias nana (3), and java moss (1 cup) with a low light set up and daily dosed with CO2 (excel) and weekly fertilizer. Fish are 4 neon tetras, a dwarf otto, and a female betta.

However, I've been finding it remarkably hard to achieve ideal conditions in my tank. I find myself constantly fighting outbreaks of some kind. For example, lately I've been trying to contain a green cyanobacteria outbreak that started off small but started taking over my tank. In addition to that, I have diatoms (maybe brown cyanobacteria since it doesn't come easily) growing over the walls of my tank. I think my bio load is not too heavy yet for some reason despite water changes and frequent cleaning ammonia and nitrate levels are definitely nowhere close to 0. I've tried many things such as upgrading my 18 W fluorescent tube to 2 16 W CFL's thinking higher lighting might do the trick. At the same time, my plants aren't growing very well and are showing some sort of mineral deficiency. Lastly, now all of a sudden I have hair algae!!!

Lately I've been wondering if I should start new and just get a larger fish tank (30-40 gallon). I imagine that the water parameters would be more stable day to day and should be easier. However, do you guys think that is the right choice or should I try to fix what's wrong with my 10 gallon before I decide to sink a lot more money into this hobby?

[KuchDaddy]

How long have you had the tank? Perhaps it is not cycled yet.

With a tank that size, and low-light plants, I wouldn't think you would need ferts at all, and you don't need much light. The outbreaks you are having could be because of too much light and too much ferts. The algae like that stuff as much as your plants do.
Also, if you stop fertilizing you may see your nitrates drop because your plants will use up the Nitrates.

Good luck!

[SchizotypalVamp]

You don't need ferts/C02 in your tank. Switch back to the 18W, also. The anubias is not happy in a high light env. Diatoms are just a product of it being a new tank. You will, of course, have to remove the other algae as much as you can manually.

Also, did you cycle the tank?

[Mgamer20o0]

i dont agree with that about the anubias.

how long do you keep the lights on? do you have a pic of the tank? the plants you have are slow growing plants. might want to look for a faster growing plant to help out do the algae. you prob also dont need any ferts for that tank.

[SchizotypalVamp]

Really? I've never heard of an anubias able to tolerate high light. Mine's top leaves aren't even liking the 2.5 watts per gallon, actually...

[KuchDaddy]

Really? I've never heard of an anubias able to tolerate high light. Mine's top leaves aren't even liking the 2.5 watts per gallon, actually...

I have grown what seemed to be happy anubias in < 1 wpg. Maybe i was just lucky...

[SchizotypalVamp]

Mine grew under an incandescent bulb. It was putting out new leaves every week.

[Bravofleet4]

Sorry I can't post any pictures. I don't have a camera on hand. I keep it on 10 hours per day. Yes, the tank was already cycled. I was having problems already with just the 18 W which is why I upgraded to the 2 CFL. Now that I have, I think my options in terms of plants has expanded. What would guys recommend?

P.S. Are you sure I don't need ferts? Looking at the leaves of my plants, they're not all healthy. One of my anubias has leaves that have brown edges along them (thinking excess phosphates) and another has yellow spots. Thinking soon of trying to substitute excel with yeast method. The water around here which I get straight from tap is more basic than I'm used to at home.

I also still haven't gotten back to my first question which is whether I should try a 30 gallon.

Thanks for all the replies!!!

[SchizotypalVamp]

You don't need to. My first planted was a 10.
Browning anubias means excess light, also. All the plants you listed grow in low light. Try a no-fert, low light tank and see how it goes after manually removing the algae.

[KuchDaddy]

To answer your question about whether you should go to a 30 gallon, yes you could, and it might be easier to maintain in some ways than the 10 gallon since the water chemistry will be more stable, but I don't think that it will necessarily solve the problems you are having.

[Bravofleet4]

Well it's not that moving to a 30 gallon will solve my problems but it would leave me with more options. I just wonder if you guys think its foolish for me try when I dont have my 10 under control yet.

[KuchDaddy]

I don't think it is foolish, you should do it.
You could keep the 10g as a quarantine tank.