Plant newbie questions

[DMS]

Hello all! I'm pretty adept w/ the fish (if I do say so myself),but I'm new to this plant thing so please excuse the duh factor

I have a 120 high so it's 5 ft long. I have 3 55watt PC on one side and 2 55 watt PC on the other, on for 12 hrs. No CO2 as yet. No dosing of ferts as yet. Just 5 small rainbows and a few shrimp so far. A big piece of Malaysian DW. pH 6.8, dGh & dKh at 4*(if my test kits are right).

The tank was set up 1 1/2 weeks ago. I pulled a Fluval 404 (output below water level) from an established tank so no ammonia or nitrites. It has become an algae festival as far as I'm concerned. No green water but grenn tufts of algae, long stringy algae.

I have in the tank: 6 Glossostigma elatinoides, 6 Japanese fans (acorus pusillus), 3 java moss bunches attached to the wood, 1 Nymphaea maculata "red", 2 anubias coffeefolia, 2 golden lloydiella, 2 Tropic sunset Hygro, 3 Mexican Oak (shinnersia, rivularis), 2 marble queens (cordifolius Tropica), 1 Val (not sure what type), 1 anacharis stem.

Only one Oakleaf & one Tropic Sunset Hygro & the Japanese Fans are on the side w/ two bulbs, the rest is under the three bulbs.

The plants seem to be doing okay I guess, except the Oakleaf-it's like it's melting. The leaves turn brown & mushy. I've ordered some Flourish liquid & tabs but I'm afraid to use anything for fear the algae will take over. I'll be adding some Otocinclus and more shrimp soon but, any thoughts on what else I should do?

Sorry so long, Thanks!!!

 

[superjohnny]

I just bet with >2 watts of light per gallon you have some algae. It's a fine balance between plants, nutrients, lighting and CO2 that makes algae go away. Algae forms because there are nutirents available for them. To get rid of algae you need some fast growing plants that will use the nutrients thereby out-competing the algae.

 

[Cearbhaill]

I agree- throw is some fast growing stem plants like anachris, plain hygrophilia, lots more vals, or big water sprites to soak up the nutrients. That's a big tank so you'll need lots of plants in there.
You can remove them after things settle down if you don't like the look. You could also take out a bulb or two IMO- that's a lot of light for no CO2.
Nutrient balance will help a lot. I do not have CO2 yet, but use Flourish Excel, and other Flourish products and don't have algae.

 

[DMS]

Thanks for your thoughts! I am experimenting w/ the light- that's why I have three bulbs on one side & two on the other-I could put three in on both sides. The algae IS worse on the three bulb side. I wanted to see what the plants I like would do under these conditions.

 

[MrGoodbytes]

There is free water exchange between the two parts of the aquarium, so it might not be an accurate example of what the system would operate like under one set of conditions or the other.