i have a 46 gallon tank. 96 watts of light. fluval 304 cannister filter and an emporer 280 HOB filter. 3 3 bags of flourite mixed with some pea sized gravel as my substrate, flourish tabs, i dose flourish excel, flourish and flourish potasium. amomonia 0 nitrite 0 pH 7.4 . the plants are 2 watersprites, 1 bunch of red ludwigia, 1 bunch anachris, 3 melon swords, 1 green wendtii, 2 lutea plants, 1 red rubin, 2 java ferns, and like 8 anubias. The watersprite seems to be stretching like crazy, the anubias are getting holes in the leave, i have a lil bit of algae(both green spot algae and some other kind on the java ferns). the plants just dont seem to be thriving, more like just getting by. what am i doing wrong? i feel so lost.
struggling with planted tank, need help..
- Thread starter jujubee
- Start date
What is the K rating of the bulbs you have?
How long do you keep the lights on?
Do you introduce any form of carbon to the tank besides Excel?
How often and how much Excel do you dose?
Do you follow any particular dosing schedule?
You say you are dosing Excel, regular flourish and flourish K. But you are missing Nitrogen and Phosphorous which are very important in plant growth.
How long do you keep the lights on?
Do you introduce any form of carbon to the tank besides Excel?
How often and how much Excel do you dose?
Do you follow any particular dosing schedule?
You say you are dosing Excel, regular flourish and flourish K. But you are missing Nitrogen and Phosphorous which are very important in plant growth.
the bulb is 67005, i dose 1 capfull of excel about 3 times a week, more after water changes. i know i need nitrogen and phosphorus. i have been trying to find the flourish ferts for them at my local stores with no luck so far. lights are on 8 hours a day. i dose fluorish potassium 3 times a week, one capful each time. regular flourish twice a week 1 capful. no other carbon except for excel.
Try upping the lighting to 10-12hrs and see how they do.
For green spot algae you can either try rubbing it off the glass/plants or otos are known for eating that algae well. So if your stock allows you for extra fish try them out.
And for flourish NP you can get that online for cheap.
For green spot algae you can either try rubbing it off the glass/plants or otos are known for eating that algae well. So if your stock allows you for extra fish try them out.
And for flourish NP you can get that online for cheap.
thanks BK. i already have 6 ottos in the tank right now so hopefully they will keep it in check. i originally had the lights on for 12 hours but had lowered it due to the algae. i thought less time with lights on would lessen the algae. i will try putting them back up to 10 hours and see how everything does. thanks again for your help.
The green spot algae does occur from high light but it should get balanced out with the co2. If you can setup a diy co2 system so you get some extra carbon for the plants.
is there a website that can walk me through how to set up a diy co2 system? im not the handiest person. does the plant gro Co2 natural system work well ?
yes theres the red sea system and the hagen one. Both are fine but for a tank size like yours I would just setup a 2-3L bottle and diffuse the co2 via canister filter
Here are your basics for a diy co2 system. But you dont really have to setup the diffuser/reactor the way they do
http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html#2
you can also google images of diy co2 to get an idea of how it looks
Here are your basics for a diy co2 system. But you dont really have to setup the diffuser/reactor the way they do
http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html#2
you can also google images of diy co2 to get an idea of how it looks