I have a 36g tank with aquariumplants.com own soil, Nova Extreme 2x24 light.
About a year ago I planted this tank with small Wisteria, Pennywort, Nana & Java Moss. The tank took off growing large & lush Wisteria, the Pennywort grew like a weed with huge lilly pads, the Nana grew and was sprouting 2-3 new leaves a month & the moss had to be removed because it was taking over. I did weekly water changes of 25%, little to no gravel vacuuming. Eventually an oily residue on the top of the water surface became very heavy and not long after the tank picked up a gross odor. Skimming the oily residue, vacuuming the gravel weekly for several months made no improvement whatsoever. Not long after, plant growth slowed, lower leaves would die and shrivel up on the Wisteria, new growth was still coming at the top of the plant looking very healthy, but after 2-3 weeks it would develop a reddish/brown algae, I figured maybe all those water changes over a long period of time did it, so I slowed water changes, let nitrates build to 10ppm and went on a two week water change strike and nothing got better.
Several times in the past few months I've trimmed the plants to only leave behind the good clean parts on the Wisteria, it grows at a good pace but eventually gets covered in the reddish/brown algae, lower leaves die, the Nana is still growing strong, but the older leaves aren't as healthy looking as the new. The crypt is stunted while new leaves still come, but they all crinkle and turn brown on the edges.
Nitrates were 10ppm the last time I gave the tank a good cleaning. I've spent the last month slowly changing the filter media that was really really gross. No mini cycles or anything, Nitrates were 10ppm before my last good water change and vacuuming.
I'm at my wits end with this tank. I have a 10g Q tank that is housing guppies with identical plants with normal gravel that is absolutely thriving and the Wisteria looks incredibly, the Java moss is home to countless guppy fry , but it's being lit up by a 40 watt desk light. There is only algae growth on one Wisteria plant that is directly under the light, there is absolutely no oil residue.
I'm ready to break the 36g down and clean everything and start new if I can't figure out what is happening. I've given fish away, brought some overly large sharks that grew much larger than the tank could handle a couple months ago. The bio-load is extremely small, for the past 2 months the tank has only housed a Bristle nose pleco and ONE Rasbora.
I forgot to mention that the habits of the Wisteria in both tanks are very different. The Wistera in the 36 gal, opens and closes. In the morning when I turn the lights on, the Wistera has pulled itself almost closed, after a few hours of the lights being on it fully opens and relaxes, but after about 6 hours of light it closes back up again. However the Wisteria in the 10g Q tank, is fully open and relaxed 24 hours a day.
About a year ago I planted this tank with small Wisteria, Pennywort, Nana & Java Moss. The tank took off growing large & lush Wisteria, the Pennywort grew like a weed with huge lilly pads, the Nana grew and was sprouting 2-3 new leaves a month & the moss had to be removed because it was taking over. I did weekly water changes of 25%, little to no gravel vacuuming. Eventually an oily residue on the top of the water surface became very heavy and not long after the tank picked up a gross odor. Skimming the oily residue, vacuuming the gravel weekly for several months made no improvement whatsoever. Not long after, plant growth slowed, lower leaves would die and shrivel up on the Wisteria, new growth was still coming at the top of the plant looking very healthy, but after 2-3 weeks it would develop a reddish/brown algae, I figured maybe all those water changes over a long period of time did it, so I slowed water changes, let nitrates build to 10ppm and went on a two week water change strike and nothing got better.
Several times in the past few months I've trimmed the plants to only leave behind the good clean parts on the Wisteria, it grows at a good pace but eventually gets covered in the reddish/brown algae, lower leaves die, the Nana is still growing strong, but the older leaves aren't as healthy looking as the new. The crypt is stunted while new leaves still come, but they all crinkle and turn brown on the edges.
Nitrates were 10ppm the last time I gave the tank a good cleaning. I've spent the last month slowly changing the filter media that was really really gross. No mini cycles or anything, Nitrates were 10ppm before my last good water change and vacuuming.
I'm at my wits end with this tank. I have a 10g Q tank that is housing guppies with identical plants with normal gravel that is absolutely thriving and the Wisteria looks incredibly, the Java moss is home to countless guppy fry , but it's being lit up by a 40 watt desk light. There is only algae growth on one Wisteria plant that is directly under the light, there is absolutely no oil residue.
I'm ready to break the 36g down and clean everything and start new if I can't figure out what is happening. I've given fish away, brought some overly large sharks that grew much larger than the tank could handle a couple months ago. The bio-load is extremely small, for the past 2 months the tank has only housed a Bristle nose pleco and ONE Rasbora.
I forgot to mention that the habits of the Wisteria in both tanks are very different. The Wistera in the 36 gal, opens and closes. In the morning when I turn the lights on, the Wistera has pulled itself almost closed, after a few hours of the lights being on it fully opens and relaxes, but after about 6 hours of light it closes back up again. However the Wisteria in the 10g Q tank, is fully open and relaxed 24 hours a day.
