I usually test the ph about two hours before lights out and it always
ranges from 7.6 to 7.0 with a kh of 5-6.

That is a *huge* variation. With your KH, your pH should be 6.8-7.0, all day,
every day. With your lighting levels, it's essential.

You might find it easier to just leave the CO2 on 24/7. After measuring the pH
of my tank several times a day for a few days, I found that leaving the CO2 on
all the time resulted in a more stable pH than turning it off at night. (Not
to mention a head start in the morning when the lights go on.)

The dark brown is not removable with fingers so I wouldn't say that it is
soft it is more spotted on the leaves but it forms clumps. Its not on
everything .

Hmm. Can you get a picture? I don't think I've ever seen a dark brown algae
that forms clumps. There's a dark blue-green algae that does.

In any case, you should add a few algae-eaters to your tank if you don't have
any. Otos, the right kind of snails, a bristlenose pleco, something like that.


But it might be best to wait until you get your CO2 stable. Some of these
animals are rumored to dislike wildly fluctuating pHs.

In april I started.
My tank was redone on 5/25 with new substrate and I've had problems ever
since. I used to have blue/black rock and it wasnt very appealing so with
research I changed to about 1- 1 1/2" of flourite and 2" of natural
stone(small)

Your tank is still new, then. It can take awhile to get a new tank in balance,
especially if you're new to planted tanks. Don't give up! The most important
thing right now is to get your CO2 levels up and stable. What kind of filters,
powerheads, etc., do you have on the tank? With a tank as large and as
brightly-lit as yours, it may be hard to keep enough CO2 in the water, even if
have a compressed system. See if you can reduce surface turbulence.

Also, what kind of reactor or diffuser are you using? If turning up the CO2
and reducing turbulence doesn't work, a more effective diffuser might help.

Since your tank and presumably your plants are new, I would definitely cut off
old, algae-encrusted leaves. (Not all once -- maybe one or two a day.) It's
normal for the leaves of swords to die after a few weeks after you plant them.
Swords (and many other aquarium plants) are grown emersed (with the leaves
above water). Once you plant them underwater, the emersed leaves die, and are
replaced by new, submersed growth that may look quite different. As long as
new leaves are appearing, the plant is probably okay.

I appreciate your reply its hard for me to find people with knowledge. I
feel like a lone ranger.

If you haven't found Chuck's page yet, check it out:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/index.htm

Lots of useful info, especially in the "articles" section.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/