Need advice for my failing 10 gallon planted tanks

[1cmarie]

Hello all,

I'm seeking advice from multiple sources for this issue. I have had a "planted" tank for a number of years, now, but since I've hit a dead-end with my low-tech 10 gallon. In it are:

1x crypt
4(or 5?)x sunset hygro
1x dwarf sword(?)
several java ferns throughout
algae and "decorative" rocks
3x pristella tetra
1 oto
1 skunk cory
1 dwarf cory
(I plan to buy more cories in the very near future)

Substrate is playground sand over a layer of Schultz aquatic plant soil.

Lighting is a 15 watt Zoo Med Flora Sun Flourescent Bulb on a timer (8 daylight hours).
Temperature averages 74-76 degrees

Filter is a Tetra Whisper ex20, but I've been advised to increase the water flow in the tank, so I purchased a Marineland 150 (designed for up to 30 gallons) today. It has not yet been installed.

As you can see from the pictures, the foliage is sparse, the crypt is melting (though I know this can occur randomly), and the algae - though better than it has been in the past - is everywhere. Nearly a year ago, I began with an assortment of plants; those listed above along with some anubias, dwarf hairgrass, and moss (from what I remember). These have since died from lack of co2, a rookie mistake. The plants began flourishing after attempting a DIY co2 setup, but the blue-green algae - the bane of my planted tank - remained. I ended up pulling out the bga-covered moss and driftwood and starting all over again after a 4-day blackout. After, I maintained the mostly bga-free tank with daily half-doses of Flourish excel for a little over a month. This treatment worked, but I began to notice some "missing" fish, particularly my five white cloud minnows and two of the dwarf cories. All are now dead.

I waited a little while to add the skunk cory and oto (they've been around for about two weeks) and now I only dose excel during twice a month water changes, along with Tetra Easybalance with Nitraban to help reduce nitrates. The BGA is at a manageable level (only covering dead leaves, etc., which I remove with each cleaning), but the plants aren't flourishing and hair algae still covers the back and sides of the glass.

Currently, I have no idea what my nitrate/nitrite levels are. I found test strips to be very unreliable and I don't have a test kit. Ultimately, I would like to add more plants to make the tank look lusher, but only after I can get these issues under control. Any advice is very much appreciated.

Moreover, my pristellas don't seem to be eating their food, lately. I feed Omega-one freshwater flakes every other day, and I notice they will peck at the flakes, then spit them out. The show all the signs of healthy, active fish, otherwise. If anyone has any insight about why my fish are suddenly so picky, I would value it.

**I apologize for the poor quality of some of the pics. The white spots you see are from the Tetra treatment; I had just poured it in prior to taking the pics.

 

[Belltrain]

Your essential elements are not beind dosed properly.

 

[THE V]

Let's see,

15W over a 10 gallon tank is really pretty low light level. Your plants are stretching for the light. Your dosing with Excel is just not enough. The Nitraban & Easy balance is a waste of money and could be harming your plants. An established tank has no need for these.

You have both nitrogen and potassium deficiency showing and I imagine you are short on the micro-nutrients as well.

BGA is a symptom of an imbalanced tank.

Honestly keeping plants healthy and growing in the aquarium or in a pot on the windowsill takes some study.

Here's a couple of good places to start.

http://www.barrreport.com

http://www.plantedtank.net/

 

[1cmarie]

Le
Honestly keeping plants healthy and growing in the aquarium or in a pot on the windowsill takes some study.

My windowsill plants are doing wonderfully, actually. They gave me the encouragement to venture into the planted tank world. Thanks a lot for the sources. I think I may start dosing again with regular Flourish as well as Flourish excel. I will also begin looking for stronger lighting. In your opinion, is the larger filter a necessity?

 

[THE V]

I read your thread at Plantedtank as well. Seriously as long as the water moves around the tank a bit you shouldn't worry about it for the plants. The filter is for the livestock not the plants. I run the tetra filter you have has a GPH of 110. This means the water moves through the filter 11X per hour. On my 125 gallon I've only got 6X per hour and my plants are growing just fine. I run the same model on my two 10 gallon QT/Plant growout tanks.

The biggest issue that you have is low light and fertilizer. For a 10 gallon tank I'd look for around 30W of fluorescent lighting in a fixture.

I'd ditch the flourish lineup in favor of some dry ferts that you can order online. It's a lot cheaper and easier to use.

 

[1cmarie]

Thanks, THE V, your advice was brief, uncomplicated, to the point, and very, very much appreciated. :dance2:

 

[Gbbudd]

Scrape off all the BGA you can preferably from the use of a single edged razor, being careful not to cut your seals to the tank or your self. remove as much as you can.
? Do you take water right from the tap to your tank? Age you water for at least 24 hours and the temp should be similar to the water in the tank. if you age the water more then 24 hours add some sort of circulation wether by air stone or a water pump. aging removes chlorine. do 2 50% water changes skipping a day or two to try to remove as much Floating BGA as you can.
Some say darkening the tank for a week i mean 0 light will help to put a hurt on BGA. then introduce the new plants and light
? when you do water changes do you clean your filter and do you clean the filter under the tap water? your much better off using the water from the tank to be discarded to rinse your filters. filters are about trapping particles and for bacteria/micro organisms to feed from them and convert them into less harmful substances. If your filter only has one filter adding a second filter in the sump area though it may not appear to being doing much it will give bacteria a place to grow where it won't be harmed by cleaning. Do a 50% water change every week.
BGA as well as all algae i know of fight for the same nutrients that plants do. and un till the plants absorb these nutrients faster then algae does the algae will continue to flourish. if there is one plant that is doing well in your tank i'd suggest getting three or four more of the same. or ask your local pet store what they have that grows fast. i see you do have some fast growing long stem plants get a dozen strands or more and double your light.
when a particular leaf gets covered in BGA cut it off.
And to be honest with you i would STOP all fertilizers i don't see any plants in your tank that won't do fine with light and a bio load from the fish.
once you get the BGA under control with patience it's not some thing you will fix in a month More like two or three. Then you might want to start at half dose. if at all.

while i respect Tom Barr and others who do love ferts and many plants do demand them at first you should master the basics. A lot of people may disagree with what i say but it has worked well for me for years. This is what can be done with NO ferts and no co2. http://www.aquariacentral.com/forum...planted-tank-thats-possibly-an-industry-first.

 

[1cmarie]

Gbbudd, thank you for all of your input. I have implemented a lot of the pointers you mentioned. I have also upgraded my 6500K bulb to an Aqueon full spectrum daylight with an 8000K output. My sunset hygro haven't looked this alive in a long time, and it's only been two days since I changed the bulb! Only problem is, now the green spot algae is much more apparent. I think I'm on the right track, though. I hope to post pics of the changes, soon.

Scrape off all the BGA you can preferably from the use of a single edged razor, being careful not to cut your seals to the tank or your self. remove as much as you can.

The BGA is actually dying. I also did a massive cleaning, yesterday.

? Do you take water right from the tap to your tank? Age you water for at least 24 hours and the temp should be similar to the water in the tank. if you age the water more then 24 hours add some sort of circulation wether by air stone or a water pump. aging removes chlorine.

Yes, this is how I do it.

? when you do water changes do you clean your filter and do you clean the filter under the tap water? your much better off using the water from the tank to be discarded to rinse your filters. filters are about trapping particles and for bacteria/micro organisms to feed from them and convert them into less harmful substances.

I do this, as well

BGA as well as all algae i know of fight for the same nutrients that plants do. and un till the plants absorb these nutrients faster then algae does the algae will continue to flourish. if there is one plant that is doing well in your tank i'd suggest getting three or four more of the same. or ask your local pet store what they have that grows fast. i see you do have some fast growing long stem plants get a dozen strands or more and double your light.

I see from your beautiful tank that you have instituted the "overplanting" technique, and I think I may try this.

And to be honest with you i would STOP all fertilizers i don't see any plants in your tank that won't do fine with light and a bio load from the fish.

I think I may try this once I begin to "overplant"

while i respect Tom Barr and others who do love ferts and many plants do demand them at first you should master the basics. A lot of people may disagree with what i say but it has worked well for me for years. This is what can be done with NO ferts and no co2. http://www.aquariacentral.com/forum...planted-tank-thats-possibly-an-industry-first.

Thank you. I must reiterate how beautiful your tank is; you definitely know your stuff.

 

[dundadundun]

i see GDA (green dust algae). not sure about BGA (blue green algae AKA cyanobacteria). BGA does not typically adhere to surfaces. BGA forms a slimy blanket that covers the tops of plants and the substrate. it can be siphoned out, but normally not scraped off.

chloramines are what is normally used by water treatment plants anymore. it's now federally mandated that any plant that serves over so many households make the switch over to chloramine. it's chlorine bound with ammonia so it doesn't off gas in the pipes on the way to your home leaving way for harmful bacteria to colonize. chloramine cannot be off gassed. it must be removed by a dechlorinator that's capable of breaking the chlorine/ammonia bond and neutralizing the harmful effects.

Gbbudd's advice is good advice for general maintenance of any freshwater tank. there's no getting around that. however, i fear it may not be exactly what's necessary in this case. i happen to have a riparium, a planted tank, a terrarium, etc. and i can definitely say that his advice normally works well enough for my riparium, but leaves my planted tank looking foul and ratty as the plants suffer substantially without the added care, ferts, carbon source, etc.. maybe if your tap water contains high amounts of ferts already and/or you were using a nutrient rich substrate such as a dirted tank or ADA Aqua Soil, it might work well for you. being we don't know your source water parameters, your using an inert substrate and your lighting seems to be inadequate, i'd side more with TheV's advice.

Gbbudd is benefiting from a substrate with a decent cec as well as good properties for root structures. also seems likely that bird seed and poop coupled with fish food and secretions are supplying an adequate amount of macro fertilizers while his emergent growth helps to filter the water from contaminants and provide shade to the lower regions to keep algae from getting out of hand. let alone the fact that we don't know the difference between his tap water and yours.

your observation about over planting being beneficial is absolutely spot on.

the idea that algae blooms come from excess nutrients is outdated and simply untrue. if you have unhealthy plants in your tank, you're bound to eventually have algae. more likely sooner than later. plants, just like animals need a well rounded diet and the building blocks of life. light, oxygen, carbon, magnesium, calcium... these are the building blocks. NPK, micros and iron... this is a well rounded diet. if you don't feed them, they cannot grow.

i think at this time, in the current condition of your tank, that once a week 50% w/c's is a little on the low side. until that tank is on the up and up, i'd do at least 2X's weekly 50% w/c's. that will give you plenty of chances for extra maintenance to bring it up to par as well. if you're going to scrape the glass, i'd make sure to do it before a w/c so that you can utilize the w/c to remove some rogue algae spores that scraping releases into the water column.

Gbbudd... your display is awe inspiring for sure and no disrespect intended, but i'm convinced through my own experiences that you've set it up in a way that makes it possible to thrive under normal maintenance without the little extras commonly necessary for a gorgeous planted tank.

 

[Gbbudd]

Hey Dun, The tank you see in the most recent photo's isn't anything but what the tank wants to be. Due to traveling and having no time the tank has evolved on it's own. And yes you are correct i do have a substrate specifically for a planted tank there is a substrate cable heater and a layer of pure laterite powder and fluorite red and black, thats a min of 4". It's been years since it was set up and originally i was running pressurized co2. But due to the tank growing so fast the co2 was discontinued. The only plants left in the tank since this time are the basics that you can find at any local pet store. The rotala macandra HC and others faded in time without the co2 they just couldn't cope. There's pelia, java fern, riccia, crypts, micro sord,dwarf sag and petite anubas are basically what the tank is now. Again the most commonly found plants at Local pet stores, and the hardiest have strived. When i had the time to spend i did send the tank on a dare to the ADA competition and placed 148 i believe it was out of thousands.i do miss having the time to prune and scape but as many these days got to do what you have to do and travel was in the cards for me. You have obviously done your home work, and would have loved to have seen your scape. It's good to see some others coming to the aid of those trying and desiring to create a better environment with their tanks other than a gold fish bowl.