Need Help: 75g No CO2, Don't want to go back to plastic plants.

[Commodore 64]

So my first foray into planted tanks, with my 55g has not ended well. The only thing that grows is algae, an amazon sword, java moss and a banana plant...Crypts have done nothing. Java fern is green, but is not growing. S.subulata is not growing, hornwort was melting, dwarf hairgrass disappeared, moneywort doesn't die, but grows slow and collects algae.

I'm migrating to a 75g and I don't want plastic plants. Please help, the algae has pretty much overrun the 55g. Oddly enough, when I moved the hornwort to my shrimp tank (30w over 25g) it is doing fine. No ferts in that tank.

What I have to work with:

1. 75lbs of Seachem Fluorite for substrate (got it for $.68 per lb)

2. Shoplight fixture, ODNO modified. I have a 4x ODNO T8 (some say that is equivalent to 125 watts based on lumen production and intensity) and a 2x ODNO T8. To be quite honest, I have no clue what level of lighting I'm dealing with. Conservatively, I would say ~125 watts.

3. AC110, FLuval 305....so I will have fairly turbulent water as the AC110 puts out quite a bit of flow, even when cranked down.

4. Ferts. I have the entire Seachem line, and Rex Grigg has just shipped me his dry fert package. I think this is where I went wrong with the 55g. I think maybe I shouldn't have added ferts with my lack of CO2 and lowish light levels. At any rate, I have a ton of ferts.


Let's assume, for now, that CO2 is not an option. I need to start somewhere though, so should I just do an all moss tank?

[KarlTh]

Once you break above 2wpg, you do risk algae issues without CO2. Shoot for between 1.5 and 2 wpg. I'm currently suffering for removing my rather grubby cover glasses and letting my 55 have the full 140 watts and I'm scraping far too much BGA out every other day. I think it's only the fact that the Ceratopteris and Tiger Lotuses are shading it that I'm getting away with it. Need to persuade SWMBO that she wants a demijohn beside the tank glugging away...

...idea - if said demijohn was also making wine......

[Riiz]

You could try using Excel for awhile as a Carbon source, but if not, stick to 1.5wpg and get all low light plants.

[NickD]

I have a 65g, Flourite substrate, 1.4 wpg, no CO2, no ferts. I would say I have a jungle in my tank. Here are the plants I have; they may work for you also.


Corkscrew vals
Java ferns
Java moss
Anubias
Dwarf sag
Ludwigia repens
Amazon sword
Anacharis
Crypt wendtii (fairly new)

Most of those are low light plants and many low light plants do grow slowly as you've noticed with your tank.

How long do you keep your lights on? Should try around 8 - 10 hours a day.

This is also my first planted tank and it's only been set up for about 7 months.

[Commodore 64]

I do lights for 12 hours per day. Perhaps I should reduce that.

Also I have been using Excel, 5ml per day.

[petluvr]

The hornwort is doing better in the shrimp tank because it prefers cooler waters. What's the temp in ur tank maybe that's why your plants aren't growing?

[Commodore 64]

The hornwort is doing better in the shrimp tank because it prefers cooler waters. What's the temp in ur tank maybe that's why your plants aren't growing?

Both temps are 78-80*F. It's hard to keep it lower than that during the summer because we don't have A/C. I would prefer 76, and that's what I keep my thermostats at.

[Riiz]

I do lights for 12 hours per day. Perhaps I should reduce that.

Also I have been using Excel, 5ml per day.

I would knock off atleast 3hrs, will help with algae, since slow growers are more susceptible.

[J double R]

for the melty plants... stop using the excel.

[jmhart]

Yeah, knock your lights down to ~9 hours a day. Don't dose ferts....*maybe* traces once a week or every other week. Stick to low light plants.

Good luck

[Commodore 64]

Starting from scratch, over at aquatic plant central, they suggest establishing moss for 2-3 months as described here: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/54943-how-start-new-aquarium.html#post417436

Should I go ahead and do this, before considering to plant my new 75g?

[jmontee]

If you have the patience for it then it seems like it would work well. I would never be able to wait 2 months with just moss growing in a tank. I think it all depends on how much time you want to dedicate to the tank and the type of tank set up you want. I think that a low light set up with anubias, java ferns, moss maybe a couple of small swords and driftwood could be beautiful and would not need all of the set up time for the moss method. Just do a lot of research on what and how much you want to do and go for it, IMO. At first there will probably be some diatoms maybe something from the driftwood and so on but it should get better.

What kind of algae problems are you having? If it's BGA then we are talking about a different problem than BBA or thread algae.

[Gbbudd]

Tom Barr Tom Barr
Tom Barr Tom Barr DO A SEARCH FOR HIS POSTS, READ , MASTER , SUCCEED

[Star_Rider]

if you are sticking with low light then you don't need to follow the instructions in the link.

those appear to slowly acclimate a high light tank(which makes sense)

I have several tanks with less than 1 wpg or just over 1 wpg..they have java moss, crypts, anubias, java fern etc.. they are doing with well with 12 hrs lights. micro ferts once in awhile.

i also have a tank with over 1 wpg plus it gets some natural sunlight.. no ferts and co2 when I think about it(I forget to redo the yeast mix);)

it is growing much more.and duruing the summer needs lots of pruning.

[Commodore 64]

What kind of algae problems are you having? If it's BGA then we are talking about a different problem than BBA or thread algae.

If I had to guess, I'd say BBA. I get what looks like a powdery green and dark brown coating. Otos eat it, Shrimp eat it too. Also looks like carbon mold (black powder) on the leaves of my slow growing plants. I can get pics tonight.

[Commodore 64]

OK. Here's an update.

I put 30w of light over my 75g. It's just enough to see the fish and hopefully not enough to cause rampant algae growth. I've got a chunk of java moss on a piece of driftwood in there. Hopefully it will stay alive, even if it doesn't grow much.

I have 30w over my 20g shrimp tank, so I figured it would make sense to try to grow some plants in there, especially since the tank is small enough that DIY CO2 could be viable. So I changed out the substrate from 1 inch deep of play sand/estes marine sand to ~2.5 inches of red fluorite. What a mess. The shrimp pulled through OK though.

I planted the tank up with what was in my old 55g which included:



A couple stalks of Moneywort
Banana Plant
A sword of some sort
Hornwort
Java Moss
Java ferns
S. Subulata

I also set up a DIY CO2 system with a 3L bottle, 1/2 tsp. of yeast, 2c. sugar and 1tsp. of baking soda. My water has very low kH...the kH is less than 1 degree in both of my tanks. I dripped some baking soda water into it to get a couple of degrees (as measured with my test kit) of kH for some buffering capacity, but I still chickened out and removed the CO2 tube from the tank overnight. I've got ~ 200 shrimp in there (need to donate some to LFS) so I didn't want to wake up to dead shrimp and a pH of 5.5.

What's the best way to semi-permanently raise my kH? Get some crushed coral and run it in my filter (AC70)?

When I went to bed last night, my CO2 level was 7ppm (red sea test kit) which is up from ~2ppm. At this point I am just running the CO2 bubbles directly into the pre-filter sponge of the AC70.

Any comments or suggestions?

[Mindcrime121]

I have a suggestion.... Send me some of your shrimp! LOL!! :evil_lol: