# Things going bad



## dkatsariotis (28 Sep 2014)

Greetings,

I am having huge problems with my planted tank. Tank has been running for a year.First a BBA appeared and now everything goes worse.

I am giving water parameters and tank info.

- PH: 7,2
- KH: 10o dKH
- GH: 7o dGH
- ΝΗ3/NH4: 0 / 0
- ΝΟ2: 0
- ΝΟ3: 20 ppm
- Cl2: 0
- Temp: 26-27 C

Hailea F60, 60lt
Finnex Planted + 1t" lighting
Tetra EX 400 Filter
Hydor Pico circ pump

Fish
1 Angel
3 Platy

Plants
3 Anubias
3 pots Micranthemum Monte carlo
1 Ozelot sword
1 Rangeri sword

Ferts
1,4ml Flourish 2 times per week
3ml Flourish Excel 6 times per week (to get rid of BBA)
1,2ml Iron 6 times per week
2ml Potassium 2 times per week 

Can you help me?

























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## Ben C (28 Sep 2014)

Hi there, 
Can I suggest you read through some of the threads on the El Natural Low Tech section of this forum as that is what you appear to be running. 
I think you're possibly a little bit confused about which branch of planted tank-keeping you're pursuing; you have a CO2 drop-checker in there, but don't appear to be injecting CO2 (from your parameters and the fact that the drop checker is dark blue (it should be a nice lime-green colour when injected CO2 levels are where they need to be)). I'm not sure why you've got it in there, which I can only assume means you're not sure either.  That's not meant to be unsympathetic - its taken me years of reading (and confusion) to get to the stage I am now. 

You appear to be running a low-tech planted tank so a specific approach is required. I don't run low-tech, but you probably won't need to be fertilising anywhere near what you are doing currently, particularly with so few plants in the tank. The black algae on the edge of your Anubias leaves is most likely caused by fluctuating CO2 levels - you either need to be injecting or not. 

Start reading the low-tech basics, and you'll find you learn a lot about what you should be doing. 

I hope this helps. Back to basics and start from scratch (with the learning part, not necessarily the whole tank). Good luck and let us know how you get on. Everything you need to know to succeed can be found in these pages.


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## dkatsariotis (28 Sep 2014)

Hi, thank you for your advice. Any advice about the brown algae between the substrate and the glass? The drop cheker is to check the CO2 levels because i use te Excel as liquid CO2. When i calculate CO2 levels by PH and KH levels seem ok even though the colour in the cheker shows the opposite.
 Also the photoperiod is 4 hours per day.


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## mr. luke (28 Sep 2014)

Id reduce the lighting if at all possible. 
Id also suggest that liquid carbon will not change the ph like co2 will so its an unnecessary taak to measure it in this case.


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## sparkyweasel (29 Sep 2014)

I think you need more plants, including some fast-growing species. You have nutrients, light and carbon, and if your plants aren't using them algae will.


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## Martin in Holland (29 Sep 2014)

I agree with sparkyweasel, more plants, fast growers and you could consider a blackout.


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## dkatsariotis (29 Sep 2014)

Hi, thank you all for your replies. Is it ok to plant a few branches of Egeria Densa? I will also add a Nerite Snail. If i do a black out will my Monte Carlo survive?


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## Martin in Holland (29 Sep 2014)

Don't be shy in using Egeria Densa or other plants, use as much as possible...
Monte Carlo and other plants will have no problem with a blackout at all.


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## Edvet (29 Sep 2014)

The Excel wont register on the dropchecker.Only gaseous CO2 will.


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## dkatsariotis (29 Sep 2014)

Edvet said:


> The Excel wont register on the dropchecker.Only gaseous CO2 will.


Any way to check CO2 levels when using Excel?


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## Edvet (29 Sep 2014)

Not that i know of.
The plants should tell. In your case i would probably lower the light (as in less intensity), clean everything up, remove and clean the ornaments and do large waterchanges for a few weeks (50% 2/week) and add plants. Make sure you have good flow in the tank and maybe clean the filter and the gravel.


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## ian_m (29 Sep 2014)

1. As stated drop checker is for indicating CO2 gas dissolved in water, not liquid carbon.
2. Excel will melt Egeria Densa, it's one of the species that doesn't like liquid carbon. There are also plenty more that just don't get on with it either.
3. Flourish contains iron, no need to dose flourish iron.
4. You don't appear to be dosing any form of nitrate, so plants will suffer and algae abound as plants die. I think Flourish potassium is potassium sulphate.
5. You don't appear to be dosing any form of phosphate, so plants will suffer and algae abound as plants die.
6. You appear to following some sort of hybrid high tech approach, your light levels are in the low range, yet you are dosing as if high light range.
You light is equivalent to 24W T8 (24W PL tube).

Anyway the chart below from http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=105774 is a rough handy guide to light level.




You distance is 500mm -> 20" well and truly low light at substrate level.

7. Not sure Monte Carlo, with your level of light, liquid carbon and your level of flow will prosper. Monte Carlo really requires, higher light, gaseous carbon and high flow before it really carpets well.
8. BBA can be caused by plants dying due to lack of ferts and/or carbon as well as fluctuating carbon levels due to poor dosing regime and/or water flow.

So...
1.You need to dose and sort your tank as if low tech tank.
2. Sort out your ferts, look at the EI stuff. My mate has low light tanks, doses EI ferts at 1/3- 1/4 dose and liquid carbon at much reduced dose, when ever he remembers, so doesn't need to be done regularly and plants grow fine algae free, albeit slowly.
3. You don't state light on time, but should be in order of 4-6hours, if not less.
4. You could try rescuing what you have by, clean up, massive water change followed by 3 day complete blackout, and massive water change.
5. In my experience anubias with BBA is unrecoverable, just remove the affected leaves. However I have had some success by wiping the leaves with diluted liquid carbon, which will kill the BBA. However too weak solution has no effect and too strong kills the leaf as well. need to suck it and see.


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## dkatsariotis (29 Sep 2014)

Hi again. Thank you all for your help. I cut down ferts and planted 3 banches of stem plants. One of them is Hornwort. The others i dont know but i asked for fast growing plants. I stopped lighting and now i wait and see. I also did a 80% w/c after scraping the algae from the glass. I also removed the brown dust from the Anubias using a soft toothbrush.i also vaccumed the gravel and removed as much algae i could.


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## ian_m (29 Sep 2014)

Blackout, means complete 100% blackout, not just lights off for 3 days. My mate wrapped his tank in couple of layers of bin liners and it worked fine. Fish all happy after 3 days, including no feeding as well.


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## dkatsariotis (29 Sep 2014)

ian_m said:


> Blackout, means complete 100% blackout, not just lights off for 3 days. My mate wrapped his tank in couple of layers of bin liners and it worked fine. Fish all happy after 3 days, including no feeding as well.


Thanks for the tip. I will use towels or a blanket instead.


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## ian_m (29 Sep 2014)

dkatsariotis said:


> Thanks for the tip. I will use towels or a blanket instead.


Absolutely fine alternative.

You then need to sort out why you are getting the algae in the first place. My mates case was he replaced the light fixture in his hood with a new brighter one as well as having it on 10hours odd, caused the algae. He reduced lighting period, put diffuse plastic sheet under light (to lower light level) and dosed  small amounts of ferts and liquid carbon. That was a year or two ago and tank has stayed algae free.


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