# Superfish home 40 soil with algae issues



## rubadudbdub (7 Nov 2019)

This tank has been going about a year and gas struggled with algae and never really thrived. 

I'm looking for suggestions to get things growing better and tackle algae issues. 

It was set up with pond soil and peat mix, as per the guide on here, with gravel on top.  I sprinkled about a dozen osmocote balls on the bottom before 1- 1.5cm soil and 3-4 cm gravel.

Plants:
Vallis- this started spreading quickly, but has really slowed recently. It's got quite a lot of fuzzy black algae on the edges of leaves and hair algae.
Crypts- moehlmanni is OK, americum is also doing OK but easily colonised by algae. Another type unknown is surviving but not thriving.
Bucephelandra green.  OK, not thriving.
Floating - salvinia natans and water lettuce.

Reducing light by putting insulation tape over every other row of leds has helped reduce the hair algae rate of growth. The tank gets a little direct sun at times, despite my efforts to keep the blinds closed the Mrs opens them.

Ferts:  EI mix, once a week or two when salvinia leaves are looking small.

Water changes every 2-3 weeks.

I'm just a bit puzzled as to why things aren't thriving and theres so much algae. 
 Flow from the filter is pretty sluggish. The gravel accumulates debris, which I siphon out at times. But try not to disturb the gravel due to the soil beneath.

I'm wondering whether the soil cap isn't deep enough.  The tank isn't very big so a two inch cap seemed too much.

Any suggestions gratefully received.


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## rubadudbdub (7 Nov 2019)

The floating plants


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## dw1305 (7 Nov 2019)

Hi all,
It doesn't look too bad, but it definitely isn't optimal growth. Do you have hard water? and do your EI salts include magnesium (Mg).

cheers Darrel


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## Soilwork (7 Nov 2019)

There’s enough ferts in there to grow a small garden. I would look in to increasing your oxygen levels and if you’re not using co2 a bubbler or airstone should help with botyh o2 and co2.


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## Majsa (7 Nov 2019)

I have the same tank. Do you run it with the original filter? I found that pointing the little spraybar towards the glass just at the surface (so that you see a good surface agitation) somehow gives a better circulation. I have to rinse the filter media every week, it’s so small and can’t hold a lot of debris (and it gets dirty really quickly).


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## sparkyweasel (8 Nov 2019)

Vallis is one of the plants known to be sensitive to glutaraldehyde, you would risk killing it all off. Some people have got away with it, but without knowing how.


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (16 Nov 2019)

Are there any others that use citric acid in their tanks? What precise product do you use?


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## dw1305 (16 Nov 2019)

Hi all, 





Matt @ ScapeEasy said:


> Are there any others that use citric acid in their tanks? What precise product do you use?


People have tried it as an <"additional carbon source"> and to lower pH. Have a look at @regani's comments in this thread on <"Apistogramma forums">.

cheers Darrel


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (16 Nov 2019)

Thanks for the link.  I have used a similar product in the last but didn't think it made much difference... I just managed to win myself some more... Will give it another go... any ideas on like increase in co2 concentration achievable?


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