So i planted my tank about 2 weeks ago. so far the plants are doing OK . having some issues with leaves curling and tiny little holes in some leaves on the anubias and on the swords(not sure if they are radican swords or melon swords). just yesterday i started noticing some algae growing. did about a 50 percent water change today. i am dosing with flourish excel and flourish as my ferts, as well as tabs for the swords. i am running 96 watts of light right now (2.08 wpg). is that enough light for the swords? maybe thats why i am getting curling leaves oh and brown spots? if so i can put another 30 watts of light on no problem bringing me to 2.73 wpg. should i be worried about the algae really and what am i doing wrong.
starting to get algae, should i be worried?
- Thread starter jujubee
- Start date
Hm. Well, what can I say, it seems to me that you are having a nutrient deficiency problem. For one, I know the "holes" means that you have depleted potassium. Leaves curling is a lack of trace I think. Well algae is a sign that means things are not controlled yet. Look for seachem potassium, trace, phosphorus, nitrogen
thanks, i will take a look at that. what about my light? is 2.08 wpg enough for the swords or should i up it to 2.7 wpg? and with 2.7 wpg would i need some kind of co2 or would flourish excel be enough?
Keep the light at 2.08, until you balance your fert/deficiency issue, more light will make it worse, and swords do fine at 2.0wpg. And as long as you dose enough Excel, you wont need to introduce CO2.
I agree, do not up the lighting as that will probably make it worse at this point...if you are only dosing flourish and excel you are probably not getting all the nutrients you need.
In addition to balancing out your ferts, more fast growing plants can also help contain / control algae.
Not sure about the algae, but in water that is too rich in organic material anubias leaves may develop holes in them, so you must look after the condition of the aquarium. This happens when you don't regularly vacuum the gravel, or overfeed the fish, or a dirty filter, or even if you forgot to change the water for quite some time.
what other things i should be dosing with besides flourish and excel? i thought those covered most of the basic nutrient needs. i figured that plus the tabs would be enough.
Flourish, tabs and excel, cover your carbon source and your micro nutrients. The only thing your not adding is N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium), the macros. But if your lightly planted, the fish and their food usually provide N and P, so you might be deficient in K. Which by the way, pinholes or yellowing between green veins is the lack of potassium. If you want to keep using liquids, there is Flourish Potassium available from DFS or Bigal's, or you can go with dry ferts that last a long time.
It definitely sounds like you need potassium (K). You may also need N and P, but for an easy solution for K, look for something called NoSalt or NuSalt in the baking/spices isle of your supermarkets. It's almost pure KCl and will work well for very cheap. Dose roughly 1/4 tsp per 10 gal after each water change. Flourish potassium is extremely dilute and way way too expensive to use. Flourish N and P may be ok for short term, until you become comfortable and can obtain dry ferts. Keep dosing the Flourish and excel.