Generally struggling with growth and algae

[Miniandy]

The aquarium has been setup for around 8 months and until the last 6 to 8 weeks or so has been thriving. However, recently I'm seriously struggling with plant growth and algea.

I carried out a couple of mini re-scapes:

1. Thinned out a seriously overgrown carpet of mini hair grass and Helanthium tenellum 'Green'
2. Uprooted and replanted a number of stems

Since doing that at the end if August I've massively suffered from BBA and more lately staghorn algea.

I've realised that tank husbandry had lapsed and whilst still doing the weekly 50% WC, the tank had become fairly 'dirty'. My CO2 was also lower than optimum (the original 1ph drop had drifted and was more like 0.4). My fertilizer regime was also a bit sporadic with me missing doses (I use an old batch of APF).

With these issues now fixed and a steady 1ph drop across the photo period I have overcome the BBA, which fingers crossed is and will continue to reccede. However, the staghorn algae is constant and plant growth is also poor. The carpet of mini hairgrass is barely growing and most concerning is that the Hygrophila pinnatifida is similarly affected. The latter had been so prolific that it was almost annoying to deal with, it now looks like it's fading away.

I was happy to run through the BBA and staghorn algea playbook, very well covered on the forum, as a way of developing my skills, but this last point has stopped me in my tracks. Why would my Hygrophila pinnatifida stop growing?

I was starting to convince myself that the active substrate (tropica) was running out of oomph, but surely this wouldn't affect the Hygrophila pinnatifida which is growing as an epiphyte.

Have I got a fertilizer problem 😕 ?

 

[Mat H]

Sounds like you pinned down the causes and have taken all the right actions to address it.

It may just be a case of time now and that the plants will need time to adjust. The period of lack of fertilisation and inconsistent / low CO2 will likely have made the plants start to adapt to that environment, however now it's been corrected they will need to adapt back to their new more preferable environment.

Longer term if there is an underlying nutrition issue folks will need to understand what your dosing and more tank details - not that I'm an expert myself in any way.

 

[_Maq_]

What about the temperature? Has it changed lately?
I agree with @. Substrate is full of reduced compounds. These are ok in the substrate but harmful when they reach water column.

 

[Miniandy]

@ this is something I may have overlooked when re-scaping. I probably should have done a running WC when lifting plants. I wonder if this is recoverable?

@Mat H I'll get the breakdown of the fertilizer, but my rudimentary understanding is that it's essentially an EI type of approach.

@_Maq_ no attempted change in temp, its possibly reduced from 24decC over the summer to my stat temp which is 22decC. I would say its been between to 22 to 23 since August.

 

[Miniandy]

Ok more tank details and ferts..

The tank is a 220litre, 180litre actual water volume. I change 50% of water once a week, I use tap water with approximate Kh of 2 and Gh of 6.
I use an aqua one canister filter which pushes out around 1000litres per hour, but generally moves the Co2 microbubbles very well all round the tank (clearly visible)
The substrate is a mix of bulking aggregate (alfagrog) and tropica aqua soil
Co2 is injected by external inline diffuser
Plants include:

Rotala rotundifolia 'Green'
Rotala rotundifolia 'H'ra'
Rotala wallichii
Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini'
Helanthium Tenellum 'Green'
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Littorella uniflora
Micranthemum tweediei 'Monte Carlo'
Micranthemum callitrichoides 'Cuba'
Sagittaria subulata
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Cryptocoryne parva
Hottonia palustris
Phyllanthus fluitans
Hydrocotyle tripartita
Blyxa japonica
A mix of Bucephalandra
A mix of mini Anubias
+a few bit of moss here and there

Fish and invert wise - stocking is incredibly low. 9 neon tetras a couple of guppies and around 2 dozen shrimp

Ferts are APFUK EI starter kit:



Few pics attached, one showing how slowly and badly the Hygrophila pinnatifida is growing - leaves that are a couple of weeks old have holes and its generally fading away. There is growth, but its so slow its painful, I hadn't realised how bad until this week.
Another showing what happens to the carpet after 5-6 days. I WC and cleared up the algea on Saturday, but the matt of staghorn and thread algea is back within no time. The carpet is growing, but very slowly.

 

[Mat H]

As mentioned before I think you're now on the right track and will just need to keep it up and give it time.

I don't think nutrient deficiency is the issue given the details and I agree that the likely cause was the prior lack of tank husbandry combined with the uprooting as that's almost guaranteed to cause issues of some sort unless managed very carefully.

This thread on How to succeed with H. Pinnatifida may be helpful.