yanking out some plants and starting over

[tinymitymo]

I have a 28g bowfront. I have two light hoods on the top - the 18w regular fluorescent it came with and we added a pair of T5 fluorescent bulbs (I forget what wattage right now). I think it came up to about 2.5 wpg.
I have an anubias planted driftwood that is growing nicely. I have some floating hornwart tied into one corner that grows nicely and frequently has little bubbles all over it. I also have some anacharis, cabomba and red ludwigia that I bought before I new about light requirements. They actually all grow - especially the anacharis. I do not add CO2 and I do not want to start having to. I plan on buying some Flourish Excel. Right now I use a regular Flourish and every time I add some I get a growth spurt on the plants.
Problem is that I have algae - bad algae. I know adding the Excel should help with this.
I have discovered that when I pinch off a cabomba that has reached the top of the tank and replant the top half it grows but the bottom half doesn't. I have a bunch of cabomba that I've pinched off that is covered with algae that I think I'm just going to yank out of the tank since it no longer grows. I've already ditched some Ludwigia that started bba and what's left looks ok. I may also ditch some older algae covered anacharis.

So my question becomes what is the best way to ditch the old plants and add new. Should I do a 50% water out, uproot the algae covered plants and ditch them. This is when I'll pull out some ornaments and scrub them in a bucket of old tank water to get algae off. I assume it will mean a heavy gravel vac with stirring this all up. Should I have the new plants first and ready to replant immediately or should I do all this tank maintenance and fill it back up with water and wait a little while (a week?) until the next WC and add the new plants.

Also are there any recomendations for some good, back of the tank plants that will provide a "green wall" type of cover that will grow ok under low-med light and only Flourish Excel as the carbon source.

Here is a picture of the tank after the last time I pinched off all the anacharis and cabomba that had reached the surface.

 

[snickle]

You could do a Christmas Moss wall for the back of the tank.

Also, I would try dosing with excel for a week and see if that helps out your algae problem. The tank looks nice, so seems a waste to just start over.

 

[12 Volt Man]

Just throw out the algea covered plants, scrub the ornaments with an aqurium suitable pad in some tank water and begin to repopulate.

now, as far as the algea goes, this is generally how I combat algea.

Lots and lots of plants!

take the amount of plants that you think will be the right amount for tank, and double it.

yes, it might look like a lot, but the trick is this:

have lots of light

have lots and lots of plants

add a little liquid fertilizer (a little goes a long way)

and generally what you will find is that the plants will tend to out compete the algea.

What is probably happening in your tank now is you have too much nutrients/light and not enough plant matter to use it all up.

hence, the algae tends to win the battle.

When I set up planted tanks, this is how I do it.

For example, here is a shot of my 20 gallon long, with two T-5 coralife bulbs on it (very bright for a 12 inch high tank).

I don't get very much algae at all:

once you get the right balance of lots of healthy growing plants, algea will become a thing of the past.

Another thing to note is remember that when you are first adding plants, go easy on the fertilzier.

For example, if the directions call for say 10 mls for a 30 gallon tank say, only ad 5 mls at the start.

Slowly increase the amount of fertilizer as time goes on.

try to taper up the dosage as you gain new plant matter in the tank. Trim your plants weekly, and (and plant the new trimmings to allow for new growth if they are "bunch" plants like cabomba, hygro or ludwigia).

Hope this helps!

oh, and add a few good plant safe algae eaters, such as siamese algae eaters, clown plecos or ansistrus species.

-12 Volt Man

 

[Miyavism]

A little warning, the Excel might cause your anacharis to melt.

 

[tinymitymo]

I emptied half the tank, took out the ornaments and scrubbed them down and rearranged the remaining plants that weren't too badly algae covered (before they were hodge podge all over and now they are together by type). A couple of days later I went to the lfs to get the Excel. They didn't have it so I just ordered it online. I did buy two small Amazon swords and put them in the center back. Here is a new picture....

 

[BucJason]

Why don't you add a couple Oto's ?

Edit: nevermind you do have oto's, I see them in the pic. Well don't get rid of all your algae or the little guys will croak.

Nice looking tank by the way I wouldn't change anything if I were you. I don't see much algae either, you sure you have a problem? A little algae is normal and healthy.