Spots on driftwood and brown algae

LS2012

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 24, 2013
782
3
33
Northern NJ
Could definitely use some help.... Just upgraded my lighting from one Sat + LED and added the new Finnex fugeray planted +. Prior to adding the new lights, I started to see a lot of ?brown hair algae? growing on the seams of my 3d background and brown on the leaves of my plants. Also started seeing white spots on my driftwood and now its also migrating to some of my plants. There are no snails in the tank and there never have been. . I can wipe the spots off with my finger or rinse them off in the sink. But after a day or so it comes back. They're definitely not bubbles. I wasn't sure if this was from lack of light and hoped it would decrease with lighting upgrade. However, it doesn't appear to be going anywhere and I can't stand the way it looks. Mostly, I'm concerned the white spots could be harmful to my fish.

I'm about to redo the scape and add more plants, but want to straighten this out first.
Tank is SA cichlid 110g, 48x28x18. Running for about 7 months. PH 7.4, GH/kh 5/6, temp 79°, nitrates 10. 30% WC weekly, but more often if nitrates hit 20. Alternate day dosing of pps pro micro and macro, root tabs. 2 eheim 2217 canisters, hydor 1050 power head, eco complete and black sand substrate.

Input and suggestions are most welcome! Thanks!
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HybridHerp

Fire Eel
MFK Member
May 18, 2012
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New York
the brown is just diatoms, you can rub that off with your fingers half the time. Best way to get rid of it is basically, just to add more plant or wait it out. its one of those things that goes away over time when things are all nice and settled in, but sometimes it just pops up for no real reason. There are fish like bristle nose plecos that will eat that stuff as well

the driftwood, its hard to say. I feel like driftwood sometimes goes through a period were it grows some funky but non-harmfull stuff on it, but then that too goes away in time.
if you dislike it enough though, could always just cover that wood in anubias, fern, or moss though right? :p

the tank looks like its going places, I demand a journal to keep track of your progress though....and in turn I'll update mine eventually lol

any idea what your par would be about with the planted +? I haven't seen any par data on it.
 

LS2012

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 24, 2013
782
3
33
Northern NJ
the brown is just diatoms, you can rub that off with your fingers half the time. Best way to get rid of it is basically, just to add more plant or wait it out. its one of those things that goes away over time when things are all nice and settled in, but sometimes it just pops up for no real reason. There are fish like bristle nose plecos that will eat that stuff as well

the driftwood, its hard to say. I feel like driftwood sometimes goes through a period were it grows some funky but non-harmfull stuff on it, but then that too goes away in time.
if you dislike it enough though, could always just cover that wood in anubias, fern, or moss though right? :p

the tank looks like its going places, I demand a journal to keep track of your progress though....and in turn I'll update mine eventually lol

any idea what your par would be about with the planted +? I haven't seen any par data on it.
Thanks Chris! Good to hear from you!

The driftwood is three pieces and one is pretty big. I've tried covering the pieces with java moss, but my chanchitos ate all of it. Also had a bunch of other plants and my fish made a quick meal of most of the plants. :banghead: Glad to hear they're diatoms and will go away with more plants. I was thinking/hoping its transitional but wasn't sure. As far as the white spots, as long as it won't hurt my fish, I'll have to deal with it for now. I was eyeing some baby BNP's at the last NJAS meeting, so I'll probably pick some up at the next one.

Just picked up piles of Val. Spiralis and Italian Val's but didn't want anything to spread. So that's in another tank with my Menarambo and Sarotheradon Knauerae for now. Maybe the Menarambo won't eat it and I'll be lucky.

Btw, what, if anything, is the difference between Val. Spiralis and Val. Spiralis, Italian? It was labeled as two different plants but they look the same to me.

I'll start a journal right after you do :p

Regarding par, your guess is better than mine. I haven't seen par for the new finnex planted+ either. With 48in fixtures, Sat+ is about 20@24in and Finnex planted + is higher than fugeray, 34@24in and lower than ray2, 50@24in. So at 24in, par range is 54-70. Less in mine at 28 in tank, glass tops and a few more inches of air between lids and water.... Hopefully enough for medium light plants w/o co2???? I guess we will see!

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HybridHerp

Fire Eel
MFK Member
May 18, 2012
1,192
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New York
I technically have one, that I haven't updated in forever XD

and I love how whenever I read the names of the fish you have, I don't recognize them, I gotta get my cichlid game back.

as far as the val, I was actually hearing something earlier today suggesting that a lot of val just hasn't really been scientifically described well, so a lot of people just throw names onto things. They way I think it, if it looks the same and keeps looking the same, its probably the same lol
 

LS2012

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 24, 2013
782
3
33
Northern NJ
Thanks Chris, the Chanchitos are Australoheros Oblongum or Cichlasoma oblongum, depending on the source. Here's some help for your cichlid game :) Interestingly......" The designation of chanchito, or the Spanish 'piglet,' derived from "its habits of fighting like a young pig and of uprooting plants" (Mellen, 1927) :what: Obviously, I forgot that crucial info when I decided to have a SA cichlid PT. Good article by Claudia Dickinson on them http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=371

Theyre small but have a healthy appetite, and they don't bother anything except plants. Aside from my geos, they're the most challenging in my pt. And another reason for rocks around stems. Here's a pic of the male, finishing off my once beautiful St. Elmo's Fire plant.

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HybridHerp

Fire Eel
MFK Member
May 18, 2012
1,192
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New York
That kinda reminds me of my rainbow cichlids, like if you took a rainbow cichlid and somehow mixed it with a baby jack dempsey.
Too bad about it eating plants though, are they actually ingesting it or just tearing it apart for fun? I feel like, sometimes they grow out of that and get bored of it.
 

LS2012

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 24, 2013
782
3
33
Northern NJ
That kinda reminds me of my rainbow cichlids, like if you took a rainbow cichlid and somehow mixed it with a baby jack dempsey.
Too bad about it eating plants though, are they actually ingesting it or just tearing it apart for fun? I feel like, sometimes they grow out of that and get bored of it.
Theyre wild caught and coloration changes depending on mood. Often black with blue bars and iridescent, sometimes almost all black body with transparent rainbow hues on the fins, esp the male. Pretty interesting species. They're some times known as a chameleon cichlid. She doesn't bother the plants at all. Just the male. I've seen him eat plants and tear it up, sometimes right on the leaf like you can see in the pic. Im thinking sometimes it depends on if he's bored or hungry. He had a field day with the water sprite and wisteria. I guess it was tasty.

Here's another pic of the species from in breeding dress, not my pic or fish, but a great example of how their colors change. Pics are toward bottom of page

http://www.cichlidae.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43





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HybridHerp

Fire Eel
MFK Member
May 18, 2012
1,192
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New York
yah, my rainbows destroyed the water sprite I put in and the wisteria as well. yet, they leave my fancier stems alone (shrug)

Ludwigia Tornado is untouched, just gotta get it to grow more :p
Now that my algae problem is basically over, I can add ALL OF THE FERTS, for ALL OF THE GROWTH.

I'm excited
 

LS2012

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 24, 2013
782
3
33
Northern NJ
I'm ready for growth myself, and lots of it, now that the lighting issue is resolved. I'm starting to see a difference in the giant hygro and willow leaf already. Lots of pretty new green leaves. I dont see a change in the bronze wendti or anubias, but the banana plant shot up two new leaves in a few days. Just added more root tabs. I'm not even sure if my plants need them in addition to nilocg's pps pro. I put some of the new vals in this tank and I'm getting a lot of melting. Not sure why, hopefully its die off from the transition. Do you think its ok to put more Val's from my 29g with Menarambo and Knauerae into the 110 now that I know the brown and white gunk isnt harmful?

When I had just the sat+ light on this tank, I ran it from 7am to 7pm, dawn/yellow/dusk settings, then moonlights all night. Now I'm using a ramp up/down timer on sat+ yellow 7am-8pm, then moonlights from new finnex all night till ramp up in the am.

I started the finnex plant light setting at 4 Hrs a day for a week, now its 6 Hrs. The sat+ is on same 12 hr schedule. Is this cycle a good idea? Do I need a shorter/longer duration? And should I keep the same fert regimen?

Ugh, just saw the awful run on sentences. Sorry, I'm too tired to retype.

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LS2012

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 24, 2013
782
3
33
Northern NJ
yah, my rainbows destroyed the water sprite I put in and the wisteria as well. yet, they leave my fancier stems alone (shrug)

Ludwigia Tornado is untouched, just gotta get it to grow more :p
Now that my algae problem is basically over, I can add ALL OF THE FERTS, for ALL OF THE GROWTH.

I'm excited
Pics please!!!

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