plant problem.... please help picks included!!

[aquatic-Bizkut]

ok well i am glad to see this site back up and running, i dont know if you remember me before the site went off for a bit, i was the new kid that had the 20 gallon tank.... well now i have three tanks :p:

a 25 gallon semi-aggressive

a 20 gallon with a few community fish in it

and a 10 gallon heavily planted getting ready for dwarf puffers

here is my dilema its about my 10 gallon tank i have purchased two 20 watt florescent bulbs (6500K) from wallmart and hooked those up so i have 4 WPG

my lighting i thought i had plenty and it would be great (for my planted puffer ten gallon)

but i have 4 WPG and that means i need CO2 before my plants become completely engulfed in algea, which has already started....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Selmer/Picture811762621.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Selmer/Picture811762619.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Selmer/Picture811762618.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Selmer/Picture811762616.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Selmer/Picture811762615.jpg

here is my idea

i dont want CO2 right now, and i dont want to return the bulbs to walmart to get smaller ones.....

so first off i have a idea, i could switch light hoods with my tanks...

so i could put the light strip from my 10 gallon (40 watts of lights) onto my 20 gallon and put my 20 gallon strip (15 watts-not meant for live plants) onto my 10 gallon, and switch tanks make my 20 gallon a puffer tank and i would only have 2 WPG and i have heard that will do to grow the plants i have.....and my 10 gallon will be my community (withought plants

what do you think, it might look odd, becuase the light fixtures wont really fit the hoods..... but will 2 WPG be enough to grow my plants, (including microsword grass) ?????????!!!!!!!!!!

[Kasakato]

Don't worry about anything! Small tank (under 20g) need more light to get a higher WPG rating. So with 40w and a 10g tank, you have about 2WPG. At 2WPG C02 would still help, but isn't really needed. Microsword needs a Mid-High WPG rating. So something like 3WPG. You can try, but it many grow very slowly, or not grow at all.

[aquatic-Bizkut]

oh......wheeeeeeeeeew!!! are you sure though???? like 100% positive!!???? becuase i dont want more algea then i have, what should i do about the algea i have (the picks above^^^^)

thank you for your help, so i guess i will just keep it how it is....

the microsword is actually growing, and not extremely fast as my other plants are, but it is going kind of at its own pace, but that is probably becuase i have weights on all of the plants but potted and the thick grass in the back....the weights will hopefully be removed as soon as i add 10 more lbs to keep them rooted down, becuase every time i try they float right on up


also what is a good way to keep my drift wood down, becuase that also floats, and its heavy so its hard to just bury it, becase in a few days it just comes undone and floats above the gravel......


and are you sure!!??? lol

[Kasakato]

Its about 2WPG. Could be a bit higher or lower. But its still ok. That algae is called diatoms. Its common in a new tank. How new is it?

Driftwood can be weighted to help it stay down. Just get some slate, wash it, and with a stainless steel screw screw the slate to the bottom of it.

[aquatic-Bizkut]

zahhhh yes you are a geniouse....

i have some slate that i will buy today it is brown i hope it wont crack????

oh well anyway here is a little update

well i have talked to a bunch of different people and posted this on different threads, the most answers i have recieved points to this

since the tank is a 10 gallon it requires more light for the plants (doesnt make sense to me either :blink: ) so it is actually about at 2 WPG right now....

and my grass does fine, but plants are kind of suffering.... here are some updated picks i added more gravel, put in substrate tablets.... and replanted the plants withought weights.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Selmer/Picture811762644.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Selmer/Picture811762643.jpg

^^ that is a little bulb i bought at walmart.....look at him grow!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Selmer/Picture811762648.jpg

look how cloudy the water is... is it ok if i put in a chemical liquid to make it clear... i have water purifier, but im not sure if it will damage the plants...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Selmer/Picture811762647.jpg

look how much algea my plant has aquired..... should i just chuck it??

[aquatic-Bizkut]

oh and my tank is fairly new, im just still setting it up to put my puffers in it... i have biospira in the refridgerator waiting for the setup to be complete, which i think it is....

it is about 2 weeks old and yeah it is brown algea, look at that last picture it is like....uhhh killing the plant..
thnx for your help!

[Kasakato]

That plant looks like its dead. What kind of plant is it? I cant think of something off the top of my head. I would just wait another month or two and see what happens. Some of my plants looked like that and "melted". But in a few months they made a full recovery.

If you pre drill the slate with a very small bit, and slowly get bigger and bigger, until you get the the screw size it should be ok. I did it and the wood stays down.

The cloudy water could be a few things. The most likely is bacteria, being this is a new tank. Do you have a test kit? Can you get the results? And do not use the chemicals to make the water clear. It will most likely do more harm than good.

[aquatic-Bizkut]

ok yeah it has looked like this before, every time i stir it around and play around it will stay cloudy for a few days....

i have a master liquid test kit, and i have a dip strip test kit

i have to run to work so i will test it when i get back home

but before i go, i am picking up another dwarf puffer, and am planing on putting the bio spira in when i get back and placing the puffers both in the ten gallon

is it ready??

[Kasakato]

As soon as you have a full fish stock, which should really be when you add ANY fish, use the Bio Spira.

[reiverix]

The plant in the 3rd photo in your first post looks like an acorus. It's not aquatic and should be removed. Some of the larger chain stores are famous for selling this type of plant.

[aquatic-Bizkut]

The plant in the 3rd photo in your first post looks like an acorus. It's not aquatic and should be removed. Some of the larger chain stores are famous for selling this type of plant.


really i didnt have any idea, the grass looking thing?? well maybe i will just take it back or plant it out in a garden....hmmm

odd well i am adding the new puffers right now after i put in the bio spira

then tomorow morning i will check out my plants and clean up a bit

[reiverix]

I think acorus is a marsh plant. So you're getting puffers. They are so cool, you won't regret it. Anyway, I hope the bio spira works for you.

[plantbrain]

3 things:

You may add Excel by SeaChem, this will greatly help, very easy to use.
You need a more plant specific gravel/sand.
You need more plants in the tank, java ferns etc, some floaters.

You'll need some ferts as well.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Pufferpeep]

and a 10 gallon heavily planted getting ready for dwarf puffers

Just so you know i currently have three dwarf puffers in my ten gallon. They are such cute fellows, with a lot of personality! Just watch out they all are some different, my little boy puff is a little devil:Angel:, and the little girls are so innocent.: I assume you know how many Dps you are getting but IMO three is plenty. I had four, but one died because he was beat up to many times. There just wasnt enough room!

goodluck!

pufferpeep :thm:

[daveedka]

Temporary fix that will pay dividends, find some Red ramshorns and/ or pond snails. they will eat the algea, create mulm, and help cycle your tank. ammonia and Nitrites do not effect them. the downside is the puffers will kill them off when they arrive. I also agree with Tom that you need more plants. I tried the partially planted scenario, and it's more headache than it's worth. The micro sword will grow in fairly well in time, but that is only if you can check the algae (snails will do it) and get it going good. I have Microsword growing extremely well in two tanks with marginally less light than you have, The one thing I have abserved is that microsword likes nitrates 15-20 PPM. Until I raised my standard dosing levels, I could not get it to grow very well.
Excell does help as well.

As far as the gravel, I run red flint in my show tank, and whatever I have left from yearss gone by in my utility tanks. I only have one tank with plant specific substrate. Things were slow getting started because I did not have any mulm or enrichment of any type, but once the tanks were estabilished they are doing fine. Did you put anything in your substrate to help the plants (Like crushed Peat).
Dave

[thesydmonster]

I am glad this site is up and running again, people are full of good advice! I have a 10 gallon tank with 2 6500K bulbs from my LFS. First I had regular gravel, which the plants grew in just fine, then switched to sand. All my plants are doing very well (java ferns, anacharis, anubias nana, dwarf saggitaria, 2 crypts, floating water sprite, and some bushy grassy things I don't know the name of). I add liquid ferts after each water change. I just started adding Flourish Excel. I did not add my plants until after the tank was cycled, though. Just thought I would let you know about my experience. Good luck with your puffers :)

[aquatic-Bizkut]

well it has been a bit i will post picks soon as i can get some time off of work, working a town nowadays, speaking of that i bought a plant book, some good info and great tips, and i also bought two otos and they seem to do great, they have already cleared up tons of algea, my puffers when first met they loved eachother, they just courted and never had territorial problems, now its about the same, havnt really payed a ton of attention, but im sure they will hopefully breed soon.... i will be getting another female some time soon.... i checke the levels and they all seem to do ok.... looks like the bio spira worked.. except i accidently put in a whole cube of blood worms in their tank, (wayyyyy tooo much) so ooops.... oh well

i guess i will get more plants....i have some corkscrew ordred for me..... and would like some anibus to attach to my little log in there...... or something, any recomendations????

[Bobafish]

I have only tried the manual removal of algae. That works ok and if you keep up with it the algae could go away after a while

[sumoschro]

If you want a leaved plant attached to it, Anubias is the way to go, as it does not require a substrate for its roots.

But if you're like me, then you would tie some Riccia Fluitans on there... Assuming you keep the strong lighting, as it needs moderate to strong light to flourish.

Java or Xmas moss are good candidates as well, all look good on a nice piece of driftwood.