High nitrates & algae & weak plants
 

Hi,
i've been facing algae problems for some time, i first bought an
alguicide which had very little results and used the tipical magnet
brush (by the way, which way is suposed to clean algae: the soft one
or the spicky one? i've tried both!). But algae continue to grow, and
some plants have become weak and grow very slowly. I'm planning on
buying some algae eaters and some product to reduce nitrates...

The guy from the fish shop told me about two algae eaters types: one
for brown algae and another one for green-filamented ones, i'm not
sure if i should buy some of each kind or what... which ones give best
results?
and how many should i put if i have a 66 l./17 gal. with about 30
guppies?

Also, do nitrates-reducing products work well? and why could be that
plants grow higher at sides that at the center?

Thanks.

Fernando wrote:
Hi,
i've been facing algae problems for some time, i first bought an
alguicide which had very little results and used the tipical magnet
brush (by the way, which way is suposed to clean algae: the soft one
or the spicky one? i've tried both!). But algae continue to grow, and
some plants have become weak and grow very slowly. I'm planning on
buying some algae eaters and some product to reduce nitrates...

The guy from the fish shop told me about two algae eaters types: one
for brown algae and another one for green-filamented ones, i'm not
sure if i should buy some of each kind or what... which ones give best
results?
and how many should i put if i have a 66 l./17 gal. with about 30
guppies?

Also, do nitrates-reducing products work well? and why could be that
plants grow higher at sides that at the center?

First off, put down the chemicals and algae eaters and step back a bit.
You need to get an overall picture of the setup of your tank to determine
why the plants are not thriving. Throwing this or that in without
considering the setup is at best just a bandaid solution. So, go back to
the basics.

What kind of lighting do you have (wattage, brand of bulbs, etc)?
What kind of plants do you have?
What is your substrate?
Do you have CO2 injection? If so, describe the setup.
Do you dose with nutrients? If so, what brand or DIY formula and how much?
Have you tested your water for phosphates?

Fernando wrote:
Hi,
i've been facing algae problems for some time, i first bought an
alguicide which had very little results and used the tipical magnet
brush (by the way, which way is suposed to clean algae: the soft one
or the spicky one? i've tried both!). But algae continue to grow, and
some plants have become weak and grow very slowly. I'm planning on
buying some algae eaters and some product to reduce nitrates...

The guy from the fish shop told me about two algae eaters types: one
for brown algae and another one for green-filamented ones, i'm not
sure if i should buy some of each kind or what... which ones give best
results?
and how many should i put if i have a 66 l./17 gal. with about 30
guppies?

Also, do nitrates-reducing products work well? and why could be that
plants grow higher at sides that at the center?

Thanks.

With 30 guppies in only 17 gallons, you're going to have algae problems.
You're also going to have problems growing out the babies without
their growth being stunted. The best and cheapest nitrate reducer is
water changes and it sounds like you're not doing nearly enough.

Algae eating fish are good, but they'll add to your nitrate problem and
overstocking. If you want help choosing a fish, you need to tell us
what sort of algae you're growing. If you've bred all your guppies and
they're young and healthy, you can try trading in some of you guppies
for store credit to buy the algae eaters so the aquarium is better stocked.

To give you an idea of stocking, I'm planning 6 adult guppies, 2
otocinclus, and 1 siamese algae eater for my 10 gallon planted guppy
tank. For 17 gallons, you might consider 10 guppies, 3 otocinclus, and
a bushynose pleco. Algae shrimp are cool too if you can find them.

As for plants, algae killing chemicals can weaken them. So can lack of
fertilizer, C02 or light. You need to tell us about the plants, tank,
and how you care for it in great detail for us to help you out.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Hi,

There are three types of plants
-Heteranthera zosterifolia: grows well depending on the zones they are
planted
-Limnophila sessiliflora: most of them seem weak and short, except
from one, and have many ramifications, growing more horizontally than
vertically...
-Lemma minor: a few that came with another plant

I planted "one" of each of the first two, they came in little packs.

Light is "aqua-glo" brand, 15W and 18 inches (tube).

Substrate is gravel, i don't use CO2 injection or extra nutrients and
don't test phosphates, only NH3, NO2, NO3.

Algae are filamented green ones, like little hairs.

I do 20-25% water changes weekly, although i've done some extra ones
this week to reduce high nitrates.

Not all of the guppies are grown, there could be about 20 with more
than two months old.

Fernando wrote:
Hi,

There are three types of plants
-Heteranthera zosterifolia: grows well depending on the zones they are
planted
-Limnophila sessiliflora: most of them seem weak and short, except
from one, and have many ramifications, growing more horizontally than
vertically...
-Lemma minor: a few that came with another plant

I planted "one" of each of the first two, they came in little packs.

Light is "aqua-glo" brand, 15W and 18 inches (tube).

Substrate is gravel, i don't use CO2 injection or extra nutrients and
don't test phosphates, only NH3, NO2, NO3.

Algae are filamented green ones, like little hairs.

I do 20-25% water changes weekly, although i've done some extra ones
this week to reduce high nitrates.

Not all of the guppies are grown, there could be about 20 with more
than two months old.

Filamented green algae, if it's fuzzy with very short hairs, is good
food for baby guppies. Tiny organisms like paramecia grow in the algae
and the guppies eat those too. You've probably noticed them picking at
it. So some is good to have in your tank. If you can reduce the
stocking level in your tank, you could add a bristlenose pleco
(Ancistrus spp.) or three or four Otocinclus spp. to help eat the algae.
Ancistrus are very fond of the fuzzy green stuff. Ancistrus and
Otocinclus require a piece of uncoated driftwood to chew on to obtain
necessary dietary fiber.

Mystery snails (Pomacea bridgesii) or ramshorn snails (Planorbus
corneus) are also good algae eaters, as are Japanese shrimp (Caridina
japonica). You can learn to tell the non-plant eating mystery snails
from the plant eaters at applesnail.net. Snails and shrimp will have
less impact on your biofilter and nitrates than fish, but also eat less
algae.

15 watts of light over a 17 gallon tank is not enough light for
Limnophila and I'm surprised you can grow Heteranthera. Under 1 watt
per gallon is considered low lighting when you look at aquatic plant
profiles. Aqua-glo is a poor spectrum for plants too - the light looks
purplish, right? Lemma will further reduce the light reaching your
plants, so net it out as it starts to grow too much.

I'd suggest you switch your bulb for a full spectrum "daylight" bulb
(5500K to 6700K color temperature) and get some plants better suited to
low light. You're not going to get a huge reduction in nitrates without
high lighting and CO2, but more plants will certainly help. Java moss
(Vesicularia dubyana), Java fern (Microsorium spp.), Anubias spp. and
Cryptocoryne spp. are all good plants for low light.

For the Cryptocorynes, since you have plain gravel, get a fertilizer
tablet to put in the gravel at the roots of each plant. It should have
iron and potash, but no nitrogen or phosphorus. Also, if you end up
with lot of plants actively growing, start using an iron fertilizer like
Tetra FloraPride or Seachem Flourish with iron.

You're still going to need frequent water changes as the guppies grow,
but maybe these suggestions will help some.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Elaine T wrote:
15 watts of light over a 17 gallon tank is not enough light for
Limnophila and I'm surprised you can grow Heteranthera. Under 1 watt

per gallon is considered low lighting when you look at aquatic plant
profiles. Aqua-glo is a poor spectrum for plants too - the light
looks
purplish, right? Lemma will further reduce the light reaching your
plants, so net it out as it starts to grow too much.

I'd suggest you switch your bulb for a full spectrum "daylight" bulb
(5500K to 6700K color temperature) and get some plants better suited
to
low light. You're not going to get a huge reduction in nitrates
without
high lighting and CO2, but more plants will certainly help.

You make an interesting observation Elaine.
I also have an 20W aqua-glo which says that it promotes the growth of
plants.
It's specs are 55Lux and 18K color spectrum.

I don't know if this is the ideal light for a planted tank, but the
more than 10plants that I have in my 33gal tank, and I should say that
only a couple of them reach the top of tank, seem to be doing fine,
they are growing and look healthier.

wrote:
Elaine T wrote:

15 watts of light over a 17 gallon tank is not enough light for
Limnophila and I'm surprised you can grow Heteranthera. Under 1 watt


per gallon is considered low lighting when you look at aquatic plant
profiles. Aqua-glo is a poor spectrum for plants too - the light

looks

purplish, right? Lemma will further reduce the light reaching your
plants, so net it out as it starts to grow too much.

I'd suggest you switch your bulb for a full spectrum "daylight" bulb
(5500K to 6700K color temperature) and get some plants better suited

to

low light. You're not going to get a huge reduction in nitrates

without

high lighting and CO2, but more plants will certainly help.


You make an interesting observation Elaine.
I also have an 20W aqua-glo which says that it promotes the growth of
plants.
It's specs are 55Lux and 18K color spectrum.

I don't know if this is the ideal light for a planted tank, but the
more than 10plants that I have in my 33gal tank, and I should say that
only a couple of them reach the top of tank, seem to be doing fine,
they are growing and look healthier.

Hmm...I must be thinking of a different bulb. I was thinking of the
dim, purplish bulbs that come with hoods. 18K sounds really blue! How
does your tank look?

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com