Balancing My Planted Tank!

W

WaywardSon

Carry on ...
Jul 16, 2008
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I have been experimenting with adding Iron - I was told earlier that too much may cause additional algae - yes?

Also, I have added potassium to make the red plants redder - it seems to be working very good. Am I on the right track here?

Does the algae ever go away - plants "starve" it out? I have 6 or 7 fish in the cleanup crew but still scrap algae at least once a week.

Tank up about 2 months - 45 gallon heavily planted, heavily stocked; 3.7 wpg; CO2 w/ ladder - 45 bubbles per minute; ph - 6.8, kh - 5, ammonia - 0; 25% water changes twice a week; 3/4 cap flourish daily, 3 squirts potassium daily, 3/4 cap iron two out of every three days

Input, suggestions, and ideas greatly appreciated!!

:wall:
 
Great to hear that the plants are turning red for you.

What kind of algae are you fighting??

I experimented with flourish iron recently and seriously didnt really see that of a dramatic change in plant color. I was using it daily as suggested by flourish weekly dosing plan.. This is where i realized instead of wasting money ill just dose once a week. if it does something good, if not oh well. Also i did go over the recommended dosage a few times and there were no ill effects, no fish problems or algae issues.

The whole color of the plants doesnt always depend on how high you dose potassium/iron/nitrogen/phosphorus.. it also depends on your lighting and co2. Some plants actually will color up more under higher lighting and lower nutrient level than say MAX of everything. This is where the balance comes in.. Work with the IE dosing and see how your plants do.. then start playing with the values of each nutrient and see the effect it has on the plants. Once you reached your desired effect stick with it.

I see you are dosing diy co2.. I suggest you get a drop checker to really see the value of your co2. The ladder (thinking you are using the hagen setup) is mostly for tanks 10-20g. Anything above that you will need a larger setup.
Your ph is 6.8 with co2 usually theres a drop in it. Whats your ph out of the tap??

Also the final point.. If you are dosing one nutrient like potassium then you might as well dose nitrogen and phosphorus. which make up the most necessary nutrients for plants. (NPK)
What is your nitrate reading??
 
The red is definitely cool - gives a very good contrast to the tank (and it only took a few doses of the potassium to make it happen).

The algae is common green algae (primarily on the glass) with a few dark green spots (that fun kind that's a little tougher to remove). All of this even with 5 OTOs and an SAE. Kind of surprised they don't keep up with the "simple" green algae on the glass. They did, however, (likely the SAE) make quick work of some hair algae that developed on the plants. I also have a couple of black mollies - they seem to help out a bit.

If you went over the dosing with your Iron - your tank is likely much more established than mine, which may have prevented additional algae.

Mine has only been up around 7 or 8 weeks. It is a very "heavily" planted (deliberate to try and help control the algae) and stocked tank. It is a complete conversion from an UGF and plastic plants to dual canister filters loaded with sweet-looking plants and a little driftwood. Good substrate with Laterite and very steady water changes.

As far as lighting goes - I have a Coralife 130 watt compact and a 36 watt 50/50, which gives me about 3.7 wpg. The lights are also only a few weeks old. 12 hours per day.

My Co2 is out of a tank and being introduced through a ladder (one of the most amazing planted 55's I have ever seen in person using the identical Co2 setup). I do run only about 45 bpm, with a 12 - 15 ppm Co2 reading. Co2 turns off at night with the lights.

pH out of the tap - 6.2, 6.4

nitrate - 4, 5

I may follow your suggestions and also start adding nitrogen and phosphorus.

Any other input would be welcomed - thanks!
 
From experience when ever I does iron (except in small amounts) I get algae (happened 3-4 times). I have lots of red plants--Red Nesaea, Echinodorus Kleiner "red", and red rubin.

BK is right, there must be a balance. Algae will go away if the right balance is achieved. You cannot just add "K", Phosphate, Nitrate, ect. and "hope this works".
 
OK. What is your Phosphate and Nitrate levels?? Do you know if you have enough CO2 in tank??
 
Maybe try doubling your CO2, to get around 30ppm, though might be hard with DIY. Or even go the chemical route and enhance your DIY with Seachem's Excel.
 
reaching that balance takes time since you will need to experiment with each nutrient and compare results of low/normal/high dosage. First try and dose as suggested and see what the ppm values are for nitrate, phosphate, potassium, iron (though the last 3 test kits arnt exactly "accurate") See how fast plants use what up and how their appearance is. From there you will know what you need to add more/less of to have a stable ppm of that nutrient.

But as already suggested, it wouldve been better if you raised your co2 to 30ppm. Try adding another co2 bottle. Since from here what could be the cause of your algae is definitely light and low co2.

Another issue is the 50/50 bulb. It is completely useless for plants so if you really want to count the wpg you are running under 2.8wpg (usable watts) the rest of the 36w from the 50/50 bulb is what could be causing the algae as well.

Green spot algae isnt really a big deal and is pretty common in all planted tanks. Otos are known (and are in my case) to really devour this algae. Another fish thats good for this is a bn pleco.. but try and handle the cause of it first before getting any more fish.
So
1- switch the 50/50 bulb with one thats 6700-10000K rating
2- reduce the photoperiod to 10hrs
3- up the co2 level by adding another bottle of the mix
4- only now experiment with fertilizer
 
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