Tank Just Not Doing Well

[DGalt]

So it's been 4ish months since I planted the tank. So far, my results have been less than desirable.

The water is murky, I'm getting algae, and the overall plant growth is lackluster at best.

I just don't know what to do at this point. I'm really not in the market for any types of upgrades (at least not for the next couple months), but nothing I seem to do makes a difference.

I'm pretty sure I'm developing BBA, which is why I've been double dosing excel for almost 2 weeks now...no effects so far. My rotala is growing, but it's rather dingy looking (not really sure how else to describe it). I lost a whole bunch of the crypt leaves recently (they keep seeming to die...turn into this mushy substance)...it'll fill back in I'm sure but right now it's not so nice looking.

The anubias is gathering algae, like I said, and the clover is, well, just gathering debris, algae, and not doing much else (few leaves every now and then, but not much else). I pulled out the amazon sword because it was just ugly and dieing

I've been tempted on a few occasions to just pull everything out and leave it alone until I can upgrade the equipment, but I've yet to be that drastic.

Tank setup:
15 gallon AGA
40watt CFL (about 2-2.5WPG)
Aquaclear 50
50W Stealth heater
Dosing Excel daily, flourish and KCl 2x a week
Weekly water changes of about 30% or so


Not sure if anyone has any suggestions, but i just needed to vent a little. :headshake2:

[rsanz]

Perhaps you might consider a DIY or a store-bought Bio-Co2 system. Store-bought shouldn't cost you more than $30 or $35 dollars (online...got mine for $26 plus shipping). Not sure about DIY, but I'd be surprised if it costed more.

At any rate, my plants were also pretty dingy...until I added Co2. Growth explosion, to say the least. I still battle some small hair algae problems, but nothing really major. I think you have enough WPG to warrant a Co2 system, and with a 15g tank, this seems to be right up your alley.

It's worth a shot! Planted tanks are not easy/are not always cheap if you want them to look great.

[MrGoodbytes]

I agree. With 2.67 W/Gal you're definitely in CO2 territory. DIY will cost a lot less than $30 to set up, and a 2kg bag of sugar should last you a while on a 15 gal. You'll likely notice a considerable improvement.

[Draal5]

Lets start with the BBA if you can get a dosing syringe dose the excel right on the BBA, If you cant get a syringe dose the excel as close to the BBA as possible this will kill it much faster.

You don't say how long your photo period is so leave the lights on for just 8hrs for now till we get your algae under control.

PWC I would change to 20% 2 x a week form once @ 30%

ferts seem fine adding co2 could help but not necessary.

anubias is the hardest to keep algae free because it grows so slow.
What I do is I have a 10g RCS tank I remove the driftwood with the anubias attached and drop it in with the RCS and in less than 24hrs its as clean as a babys butt. Its like droping a pieces of chicken in a piranna tank they way they attack the algae.

I can't help you with the crypts as mine do a simmalar thing they grow then melt then grow again PIA

[qwik48]

try a SMALL powerhead (to get water moving in the lower levels)...

keep the tank topped off at ALL times to keep down on lost co2. ( you have a HOB filter... displaces water, which releases gases at the surface through osmosis, losing what little CO you have for you plants.)

I'd say 1 30% water change a week, stop with the excel, make a basic yeast reactor feeding into the powerhead I told you to add... or let it bubble into a peice of plastic bottle so it disspearses into the water. try 1 flourish tab in the sub ..... maybe break it into 1-3 peices and disspearse between roots... but only do this AFTER you have changed some of that super modified water out...



dude above me basically covered it so w/e...

[DGalt]

I have a syringe that I have been directly dosing on BBA spots, but it's getting to the point that's its on almost every leaf of the dwarf clover. Like I said, I haven't seen much of an improvement

photo period is 11hrs, so I'll reduce that to 8 like you said.

i think i'm going to try to DIY CO2 thing, although I wanted to avoid this. Hopefully I'll be able to put something together this weekend

[SubluxT7]

Im just curious if you have the correct type of CFL over your tank? The 6500K bulbs? Just thought ide throw that out there.

[DGalt]

Yea they're the daylight 6500

[J double R]

quit doubledosing the excel and you'll likely see your crypts stop melting. i would quit using excel, period, and upgrade your carbon supplement to a DIY co2 system.

[Squawkbert]

I think the number one problem is circulation. I would think that scooting the filter and hardscape around a little so that you maximize water circulation may help, as would adding a couple of Otocinclus cats. They can take algae off the clover leaves w/o tearing them up.

Although your lighting does work out to >2WPG, it's still just 40W/15g - not quite large enough so that the 2wpg rule of thumb applies (in my opinion). In other words, I think adding DIY CO2 will just invite a Cladophora (BBA) outbreak of epic proportions. It thrives on varying CO2 concentrations.

In short, I suggest keeping up w/ the Excel (15-20mL/day, targeting the bigger patches, maybe w/ the filter off for a few minutes while doing/after the additions), rearranging stuff or adding a little Maxijet to increase flow, adding a couple of Otos for the GSA/GDA on your clover.

[tennesseemom]

what substrate are you using?

[DGalt]

Schultz aquatic soil, which I know isn't anything special. But I've been putting root tabs in the substrate.

[tennesseemom]

I don't know what that is, but I recently had a beautiful planted tank with eco-complete, then changed to sand, and all my plants slowly died, I just put gravel back in and they are starting to pick up again.

[Gbbudd]

Anyone who wants to be truely sucessful with a planted tank in my opion must have the following

CONSTANT CO2 NO FLUCTUATIONS
GOOD SUBSTRATE
ADIQUATE LIGHT " not neccesarily high light"
GOOD CIRCULATION
BOTTOM FEEDERS " A CAT of any kind
Shrimp
RELGIOUS WATER CHANGES
LOTS OF PLANTS UNTILL YOU GET YOUR TANK UNDER CONTROL
FEED SLOWLY AND DON'T O.D
FERTS START OFF SLOWLY changes don't happen over night
PATIENCE

[inkyjenn]

have you tried anything that grows quickly to absorb extra nutrients that may be in the water? something like wisteria or hornwort? yes, you will have to trim them back with that much light, but it might be worth a shot. i have bba too, but since i planted my wisteria (it was floating) and added a few long strands of hornwort, the stuff has stopped spreading.

[DGalt]

well the rotala is under the "fast grower" category is it not? I haven't seen this behavior so far, but I just figured that was due to tank conditions

To Gbbud I agree, and I've been trying. I'm looking into DIY CO2 since that may be my biggest issue right now. i can't do anything about the substrate and tbh I really can't see myself paying $100+ for rocks, even if they are special rocks. I'd rather supplement it with root tabs or whatever.

As for the other stuff, I dunno. I actually have 2 otos in there as well (never updated the sig). I wanted to get some shrimp but I was told the betta would harass them and the tank is overstocked already so...

When I set up the CO2 maybe I'll get some more plants. I still need a centerpiece, so maybe a wisteria or something would be ok there.

It's just that the lighting in the tank isn't that high and all of the plants I have are all considered to be in the undermanding category, which is partially why I'm so frustrated right now.