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I suggest that you avoid manure until you have more experience. Decomposing manure releases high levels of ammonia. You do not need to worry about the soil you have. Just carry on with it. Cheers,

Yes. Cheers,

Hi Ollie, I'm sure you can use 2 or 3 bulbs if doing a dry start. The only worry is whether the heat generated will dry out the tank but I assume you'll have it covered to retain humidity. The leaves have contact with atmospheric CO2 so this is not a problem. You're wise to plan on...

Hi, You might have had too much water covering the substrate so you could let the water level drop to below the substrate and let the top of the substrate dry out a little. Let the sludge dry and then pick it out. Cheers,

Yep, virtually every plant needs to change out the leaves when submerged. Leaves that functioned perfectly in open air are very inefficient underwater, so flooding a tank traumatizes every plant for reasons described in the thread viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16038 However, when you experience massive...

Err...are we reading the same thread? :? What does dry start have to do with any of the problems discussed? The OP's problems started after he flooded the tank, so this would be like blaming your car for causing a car accident. The OP incurred the same faults that many others incur when...

There are bacteria that feed on anything you can imagine. Could have been decaying bodies of the dead algae triggering a bloom which took a week to incubate and grow full scale population. Could have been something introduce when you added new plants. Difficult to say. These bacteria may not be...

I'd just keep doing multiple large water changes, keep CO2 high and keep dosing. Cheers,

Do exactly what you just stated mate. Clean the tank out really well, using plenty of elbow grease, even a 70%-90% water change isn't over the top to get all the gunk out. Return the CO2 to previous levels or higher if possible. Dose double what you were dosing prior and see how it goes. Cheers,

Well, Eleocharis is more at risk of being consumed by BGA, so the blackout is the lesser of evils. Forget about pulling things out. Just get on with it. Afterward, the plant will recover when you resume CO2, flow and proper dosing. Just double the dosage to make life simple. You are thinking too...

Err..hello, Earth calling ukco2guy....is there a good reason for not doing a blackout? Light causes algae, therefore lack of light kills algae. If you have access to antibiotics such as erythromycin then you can kill it that way. Although many frown on it's use it is extremely effective. BGA is...

Hmm, I'm not really sure. I guess it will depend on what you're planning to do with them during the blackout. I suppose you could keep the emmersed under high humidity. That would kick the algae at the same time. If you put them in another submersed environment then you have to make sure that...

You'll probably have to do a blackout to regain control. 1. Clean out as much of the algae as you can and do a 50% water change. 2. Dose nutrients, especially KNO3. 3. Suspend CO2. 4. Turn off lights and completely cover the tank with black bin liner or similar so that absolutely no light...

Yep, getting the flow to the substrate is of paramount importance, so glad to hear that you've got movement down low there. The brown stuff is diatoms and yes, is related to new tank - but is much more related to high light. Never forget that :crazy: Cheers,

Naw, I probably just read it wrong. It's just more complicated than necessary. I'd just dose the full amount after the water change and call it good. In any case, if you're dosing properly then this points more to flow/distribution than anything (although I can't quite tell from the photos if...

Yes, that's what I mean. As many people find out, HC does not tolerate any level of incompetence. High CO2 coupled with high dosing (what on Earth possessed you to do half dosing? :eh: ) is required. Aren't you glad you didn't use 100 Terrawatts of T5 Klingon Disrupter Beam? Your troubles might...

Well, we know BGA is an NO3 issue so the first thing you have to look at is what KNO3 dosing you are using. If you prepared a mix you have to review how you prepared the mixture. Then of course one has to consider whether flow strength is adequate (did you follow the 10X rule?) and if so the...

100 watts T5 over a 20G tank is completely over the top, especially if they are mounted with reflectors. :jawdrop You shouldn't need any more than half of that, and you'd save yourself some grief if you started the tank out with 1/4 of that for the first few weeks. Cheers,

Yep, they are made up of the same stuff but use ammonium salts in addition to potassium salts. Cheers,