Help! Problems w/algae and poor growth

M

mercsoulja

AC Members
Dec 5, 2005
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Ok, just before I hastily tore down my planted tank, I figured I would take some pics of my tank and get some help.

The tank is a 20g high, Eco-complete substrate, AC30 (i think) filter, co2 system (not pressurized), 28w in T5's from Coralife fixture and i dose twice a week with Kent Freshwater Plant, and Kent Pro Plant. Right now i have 3 rasboras, 3 cory cats, and one malaysian trumpet snail, my oto died not too long ago.

My water parameters are as follows:
PH - 7.2
GH - 5
KH - 5
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 10

This is my tank before about 6 months ago:
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And these are some of the problems i'm having now with algae and poor growth [curled leaves and wavy leaves on the green wendtii (sp?)]
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Any help would be great, I'd hate to just give up on the tank, since i've been enjoying doing it all along. :confused:
 
I'm not a pro, by any stretch of the imagination... and I'm not familiar with the ferts you're using... like anything with algae though, there's an imbalance somewhere. I've gone through this particular kind of algae everywhere as well... have you considered / researched Excel? That's the only thing different that I'm using from what you describe in your setup. Have you considered maybe you're overdosing?

Apart from that... trim as much of the algae covered leaves away as you can.
 
would an oto help me out a bit? it seems as though when he died the algae has been becoming out of control

I don't believe i'm overdosing, also my nutrafin CO2 i don't think is performing as well becuase it isn't level with the tank (way down on bottom)

any other suggestions?
 
I'm thinking you don't have enough light. I know they're T5's, but 28 watts over a 20 is only 1.4 watts per gallon, and if the tank is high then you might be losing light down at the bottom of the tank.

How long are the lights on? 10-12 hours per day is good, any more and plant growth isn't enhanced, but algae is.

You shouldn't really need to fertilize a low-light tank. Could be contributing to the algae problem.
 
Well, there was a post made that calculated the actual wattage of different types of lighting, and after being calculated, the T5s were around high 2's(wpg). The lights were on for about 12 hours before, and I decreased it to 8. Maybe I should put it back up?

Three things I have changed that I've noticed when my tnak has had a bad turn around: my oto dying, lowering my CO2 canister and then decreasing the light. Should i try reversing these things and dosing less? Some said i need to dose more :huh:
 
Otos only eat certain kinds of algae. Very few algae eaters will touch the hair algae like what you have. Your oto may have died from not having the right kind of algae in the tank to eat. Shrimp are another possibility, but again... not so much on the hair algae.

Re: dosing. You're dosing twice a week? one, two or three teaspoons? ;-) Play around with the dosing a little bit if you can. It's almost sure to be a balance on ferts and light ... experimentation ... one of the joys of this hobby!
 
mercsoulja said:
Well, there was a post made that calculated the actual wattage of different types of lighting, and after being calculated, the T5s were around high 2's(wpg). The lights were on for about 12 hours before, and I decreased it to 8. Maybe I should put it back up?
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At the very least, I would increase the lighting to the recommended levels (but not longer than 12 hours) to see if more light would help growth. Personally, I would add more light, but that's just me--I opt for the simple route--watts are watts :).

Algae is usually the result of 2 things: too much light or too many nutrients in the water. Even if your lighting equaled 2 wpg (which I doubt), 8 hours a day is certainly not excessive lighting and shouldn't be leading to algae. And since your plants aren't growing despite C02 and ferts, I figure it to be a light problem, not a lack of nutrients.
 
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8 hours a day is certainly not excessive lighting and shouldn't be leading to algae. And since your plants aren't growing despite C02 and ferts, I figure it to be a light problem, not a lack of nutrients.
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If it's a light problem, then i don't have enough light and maybe dosing too much ferts?

And for dosing, i do just about one capful per product twice a week. I guess this was done blindly and i need to experiment, not just add like i have been. I'd prefer not to change my lighting, I just spent the money to buy this fixture.
 
First you do have a light problem. Too much light. Good choice to reduce to 8 hours a day.

Second, sounds like you are providing enough nutrients.

Third, the real problem lies in too little CO2 with high light conditions leading to that black beard looking algae. With the hagen ladder, try following the tips discussed here to increase your CO2 output. http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...4453-diy-co2-guide-with-pictures-recipes.html

-John N.
 
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