just about had it with my plants!!!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
i may try that but first im moving 4 of my larger fish to my new tank. should reduce the bio load considerably. that may be the issue.
 
try doseing with iron supplements...i had the same fustration with my fish breaking my anubias be for they grow and black hair algea covering them from light.
 
i know csm-b has iron. i just checked and 1/2 teaspoon will add .3pmm of iron. i do that 2x a week. that should be enough right?
 
I wish my Swords looked that good! Yeah, thats some serious light for slow-growing plants. Try splitting your light cycle into 3 hours morning, 2hours off, 3 hours afternoon. It really did help with the algae in my tank. Other than that, I would say reduce/stop the ferts. If you have both CO2 & UV running, that algae has to be coming from somewhere. I barely dose my low & medium light plants anymore & they still grow just fine, but no more algae. As far as nitrates, plants aren't very good at reducing them... Maybe an algae scrubber is better for your needs? We know your tank can grow that stuff!
 
you might be getting algae from excess lighting
get more plants in there to take up more light
algae might also be caused by excess nutrients as you said.. more plants will also help keep nutrient levels at a good place
also if you add duckweed or some other top floating plant that would greatly help with algae
 
Oh I hadn't looked carefully at the tank specs. I agree that that is an awful lot of light. Swords don't need all that much and real bright light will most definitely encourage algae.

How are the lamps configured in that fixture? Is it possible to only run 1/2 of the lighting.
 
The swords seem to be doing well, but you appear to have planted the stems in bunches.

Try spreading them out each stem a couple of inches apart, and just in case you havent, take off the lead/weight/foam/rock wool/plastic pot.

You can get everything else right, but unless you plant them right, they arent going to do well.

As mentioned, upping CO2 and lowering light should help a lot too.

The other thing that will help, get more plants :).
 
I did remove all wool and weights also uped co2 some. The plants were together like that when I received them. All 1 plant. Should I separate them?
 
mos90;3780682; said:
i have a 125g hightech,co2inj w/contoller,uv,400w cp. it just seems to be too much work to keep the plants trimmed and the algea at bay. and using ei dosing 50% water changes a week are tiring me. on top of that i may have the tank overloaded and my nitates are impossible to keep under 25, unless i do 2-50% water changes a week. the higher nitrate levels could be why im fighting algea. mostly spot algea and some brush on the leaves of my swords.

im temped to rip everything out and keep it simple. im in the process of setting up a 300g non-planted to lessen my load on the tank. i think my 15" silver arow is taking up 1/2 my 1" per gallon rule. 15X1.5X3 calculates to 67 gallons.

i think id rather cut my losses and just say that plants arent for me.
Click to expand...



SIGH your over doing all this stuff

short version to much plant food

solution

stop dosing the ferts trust me you have alot of stuff in the substrate that will do your plants fine and all it is doing now is feeding your alge.

unless your are dosing directly under the substrate at the roots your plants are not really getting it anyway your just feeding the alge.


and btw wonder why everyone says to do all those water changes. well here is the answer your doesing is upping nutrients in the water and the water changes throw them out to lower the levels again and help stop the alge. (kinda making work for yourself hehe) so stop the dosing and you will not need to change the water anywhere as often.


about the nitrates check your ammonia levels just to ensure your biofilter is working. if it is then you are over stocked and your plants are not absorbing fast enough. (stoping ferts will help them absorb more of what your fish leave behind also)

Also up the lighting hours on the tank to atleast 12 this kicks the growth into overdrive and so the plants absorb more nutriants.


As for plants trimming to much try cutting your plants back ALOT then they have more space to grow for more time... or plant plants that fit in your tank at full size...(shocking i know *to tell the truth i make this mistake too:headbang2*)



hope that helps
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom