Tank Just Not Doing Well

DGalt

DGalt

AC Members
Jun 1, 2008
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Connecticut
So it's been 4ish months since I planted the tank. So far, my results have been less than desirable.

The water is murky, I'm getting algae, and the overall plant growth is lackluster at best.

I just don't know what to do at this point. I'm really not in the market for any types of upgrades (at least not for the next couple months), but nothing I seem to do makes a difference.

I'm pretty sure I'm developing BBA, which is why I've been double dosing excel for almost 2 weeks now...no effects so far. My rotala is growing, but it's rather dingy looking (not really sure how else to describe it). I lost a whole bunch of the crypt leaves recently (they keep seeming to die...turn into this mushy substance)...it'll fill back in I'm sure but right now it's not so nice looking.

The anubias is gathering algae, like I said, and the clover is, well, just gathering debris, algae, and not doing much else (few leaves every now and then, but not much else). I pulled out the amazon sword because it was just ugly and dieing

I've been tempted on a few occasions to just pull everything out and leave it alone until I can upgrade the equipment, but I've yet to be that drastic.

Tank setup:
15 gallon AGA
40watt CFL (about 2-2.5WPG)
Aquaclear 50
50W Stealth heater
Dosing Excel daily, flourish and KCl 2x a week
Weekly water changes of about 30% or so


Not sure if anyone has any suggestions, but i just needed to vent a little. :headshake2:
 
Perhaps you might consider a DIY or a store-bought Bio-Co2 system. Store-bought shouldn't cost you more than $30 or $35 dollars (online...got mine for $26 plus shipping). Not sure about DIY, but I'd be surprised if it costed more.

At any rate, my plants were also pretty dingy...until I added Co2. Growth explosion, to say the least. I still battle some small hair algae problems, but nothing really major. I think you have enough WPG to warrant a Co2 system, and with a 15g tank, this seems to be right up your alley.

It's worth a shot! Planted tanks are not easy/are not always cheap if you want them to look great.
 
I agree. With 2.67 W/Gal you're definitely in CO2 territory. DIY will cost a lot less than $30 to set up, and a 2kg bag of sugar should last you a while on a 15 gal. You'll likely notice a considerable improvement.
 
Lets start with the BBA if you can get a dosing syringe dose the excel right on the BBA, If you cant get a syringe dose the excel as close to the BBA as possible this will kill it much faster.

You don't say how long your photo period is so leave the lights on for just 8hrs for now till we get your algae under control.

PWC I would change to 20% 2 x a week form once @ 30%

ferts seem fine adding co2 could help but not necessary.

anubias is the hardest to keep algae free because it grows so slow.
What I do is I have a 10g RCS tank I remove the driftwood with the anubias attached and drop it in with the RCS and in less than 24hrs its as clean as a babys butt. Its like droping a pieces of chicken in a piranna tank they way they attack the algae.

I can't help you with the crypts as mine do a simmalar thing they grow then melt then grow again PIA
 
try a SMALL powerhead (to get water moving in the lower levels)...

keep the tank topped off at ALL times to keep down on lost co2. ( you have a HOB filter... displaces water, which releases gases at the surface through osmosis, losing what little CO you have for you plants.)

I'd say 1 30% water change a week, stop with the excel, make a basic yeast reactor feeding into the powerhead I told you to add... or let it bubble into a peice of plastic bottle so it disspearses into the water. try 1 flourish tab in the sub ..... maybe break it into 1-3 peices and disspearse between roots... but only do this AFTER you have changed some of that super modified water out...



dude above me basically covered it so w/e...
 
I have a syringe that I have been directly dosing on BBA spots, but it's getting to the point that's its on almost every leaf of the dwarf clover. Like I said, I haven't seen much of an improvement

photo period is 11hrs, so I'll reduce that to 8 like you said.

i think i'm going to try to DIY CO2 thing, although I wanted to avoid this. Hopefully I'll be able to put something together this weekend
 
Im just curious if you have the correct type of CFL over your tank? The 6500K bulbs? Just thought ide throw that out there.
 
Yea they're the daylight 6500
 
quit doubledosing the excel and you'll likely see your crypts stop melting. i would quit using excel, period, and upgrade your carbon supplement to a DIY co2 system.
 
I think the number one problem is circulation. I would think that scooting the filter and hardscape around a little so that you maximize water circulation may help, as would adding a couple of Otocinclus cats. They can take algae off the clover leaves w/o tearing them up.

Although your lighting does work out to >2WPG, it's still just 40W/15g - not quite large enough so that the 2wpg rule of thumb applies (in my opinion). In other words, I think adding DIY CO2 will just invite a Cladophora (BBA) outbreak of epic proportions. It thrives on varying CO2 concentrations.

In short, I suggest keeping up w/ the Excel (15-20mL/day, targeting the bigger patches, maybe w/ the filter off for a few minutes while doing/after the additions), rearranging stuff or adding a little Maxijet to increase flow, adding a couple of Otos for the GSA/GDA on your clover.
 
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