Spots on driftwood and brown algae

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
LS2012 said:
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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Pics will happen soon, I'm getting like 4 boxes of plants tomorrow in the mail, so I'll update after I add all the new pretty things XD

As far as your other comments...anubias and crypts grow so slowly that I doubt you'd see significant change. Even in high tech it takes a few months for them to really respond to changes.

I do still like root tabs as even with water column dosing, I know certain plants have monstrous roots and would love to take nutrients from the roots, plus it never hurts. Vals also tend to melt when moves around, but they come back, so you'll be fine. You can move it as well, unless of course your current stock list destroys them. My rainbows used to love dismantling vals but have since calmed down.

6-8 hours a day is the general timespan, I say go for whatever you are comfortable with and whatever does not cause algae. And PPS-Pro is everyday ferts yah? If its working, stick with it, ya know? If you notice any deficiencies then just dose more. That's how I treat it anyways lol

You'd be surprised how many I've been talking to that tell me that their tanks don't get dosed that much, just have a lot of light and co2 and great substrate, and they get awesome growth. I can not dose in dirted tanks but in my 75 with eco-complete, I gotta dose.

Which reminds me, I should add more root tabs and such as I plant the billions of stems I'm getting lol
 
HybridHerp said:
Pics will happen soon, I'm getting like 4 boxes of plants tomorrow in the mail, so I'll update after I add all the new pretty things XD

As far as your other comments...anubias and crypts grow so slowly that I doubt you'd see significant change. Even in high tech it takes a few months for them to really respond to changes.

I do still like root tabs as even with water column dosing, I know certain plants have monstrous roots and would love to take nutrients from the roots, plus it never hurts. Vals also tend to melt when moves around, but they come back, so you'll be fine. You can move it as well, unless of course your current stock list destroys them. My rainbows used to love dismantling vals but have since calmed down.

6-8 hours a day is the general timespan, I say go for whatever you are comfortable with and whatever does not cause algae. And PPS-Pro is everyday ferts yah? If its working, stick with it, ya know? If you notice any deficiencies then just dose more. That's how I treat it anyways lol

You'd be surprised how many I've been talking to that tell me that their tanks don't get dosed that much, just have a lot of light and co2 and great substrate, and they get awesome growth. I can not dose in dirted tanks but in my 75 with eco-complete, I gotta dose.

Which reminds me, I should add more root tabs and such as I plant the billions of stems I'm getting lol
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Looking forward to pics of pretty plants!

Should I trim the melts or leave them? My fish seem to be leaving it alone for now. I may move it over, I think its too close to the power head and gets uprooted a bit from the pull. BTW, how many hours a day do you leave on your power heads?

Its tough to tell what is a deficiency vs fish damage vs lighting upgrade right now. I guess I'll have to continue what seems like an eternal wait for progress.

I'm going to up the finnex to 8 Hrs soon, after the next WC and moving/adding vals. It doesn't appear the sat+ has much benefit for plant growth in my tank. So its mostly very pretty accent lighting which I'll leave as is for now. Any work in this tank is a PITA since its 28 inches tall. And I have to stand on a step ladder to reach inside. I'm literally up to my shoulders in water whenever I move something. Thankfully I have long tweezers and scissors, or else I'd have to go snorkeling.

Yes, pps pro daily, but alternate days of micro and macro. I was told not to do both on the same day. Don't remember the reason anymore. And I'll keep up on the root tabs too. There's Eco complete substrate and caribsea black sand in this tank. Also using ro/di water with seachem equilibrium and alkaline/acid buffers . There used to be pretty borders and terracing sloping up to the back. Until my geos decided they had other plans.

Since starting my pt, I now have a much better understanding of Sisyphus!

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Pics update

Noticeable growth on willows and banana plant in the past 4 days. Brown spots on leaves almost completely gone. I think its from increasing light duration to 6 hours on finnex light.
uploadfromtaptalk1390684492281.jpg
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But, still white funk on driftwood
uploadfromtaptalk1390684692063.jpg
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And brown ?hair algae? Still on 3d background seams
uploadfromtaptalk1390684753235.jpg
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And new vals melting
uploadfromtaptalk1390684803594.jpg

Definitely feeling like the Sisyphus of planted tanks! :banghead::banghead::banghead:


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HybridHerp said:
get a bristle nose pleco....or 6 lol
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Lol, that's the plan. Theres always 1-1.5 inchers available at NJAS meetings. Next ones coming up soon. I'm going to get a few BNP's and piles of plants.

Btw, the hairy brown funk is no longer flowing from my 3d background seams, and almost no diatoms on leaves. Lots of pretty new green leaves :cool:

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Nice, and yah, the plecos are great. I have 3...I want to either get 3 more (I have L144) or get 3 super reds....there is a breeder in my area who has both.

I like the idea of white or red plecos though, cause they'd be easier to see than black ones that are designed to disappear in the tank.
 
Wow nice LS! Sometimes that can be a little sap left in the dw when its not completely dead and dried out.

I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't use root tabs, maybe I should start. That would be cool to buy a press and make your own tabs (if that's even possible)

Also herp and ls, do you see gains with pps dosing opposed to ei?


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HybridHerp said:
Nice, and yah, the plecos are great. I have 3...I want to either get 3 more (I have L144) or get 3 super reds....there is a breeder in my area who has both.

I like the idea of white or red plecos though, cause they'd be easier to see than black ones that are designed to disappear in the tank.
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L144 are yellow right? Very cool looking pleco! A black pleco isnt my choice either. Id never be able to find them in the tank, esp in or near the black substrate. Also, I have an adult male L240, hes gorgeous but I only see him at feeding time or in the middle of the night. He lives under the big piece of driftwood. Red would be great and really pop. That reminds me, I have to pick up the big d/w and clean underneath. I cant even imagine what a mess I'm going to find. Big w/c and cleaning for the 110 Saturday. Thats going to keep me occupied while my husband and brother are picking up a 125g tank/stand for me tomorrow!

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F1 VET said:
Wow nice LS! Sometimes that can be a little sap left in the dw when its not completely dead and dried out. I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't use root tabs, maybe I should start. That would be cool to buy a press and make your own tabs (if that's even possible)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info F1. Any recs on fixing the issue? This is a really pretty piece of DW and I'd like to fix it if I can, without harming my fish. Not that I have a world of experience, but I always see growth when I add more root tabs. It certainly can't hurt to try :D

And since you mentioned a press for making tabs... How about a silicone mini ice cube tray with each cell filled less than 1/2 way? Use a small measuring spoon or ChapStick tube w/cap on for better pressure to compact ingredients. I use them to make bath fizzies with my daughter all the time. Although I'd imagine your ingredients would need to contain something that wouldn't dissolve as soon as it hits the water ~ like a bath fizz :p

We use something like this
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Living-S...&qid=1391231652&sr=1-3&keywords=silicone+mini

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Idk how to make the tabs, buy I just buy tabs from my buddy Nilcog on TpT, the osmocote kind.

Also, not sure if this is still around though, but someone named hydrophyte ran a riparium website and made gro-soil tabs, which were basically tabs of soil. I really like them for my swords and crypts and heavy rooting plants.

Also, L, whatcha doin' with the 125?


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