Getting an aquarium in the "shape"

[mpc]

Greetings!

I was trying on my own for quite a while but with almost no results. I need a little help on getting my 60 litre aquarium into a good (or a just a better) shape. I have many questions, so I think I should tell something about it first.

Volume: 60 litre
Filter: JBL Crystal Profi e700
Heater: 200W Hydor external
Lights: DIY genuine Cree LEDs (I can vary the "power" in the range from ~9W - 90W) - 3x10 LEDs with adjustable drivers.
Started: september 2011
CO2: ~1 bps
Substrate: ADA powersand s + aquasoil amazonia 1
Decoration: driftwood, few dragonstones and some plants
My experience: total noob

So start was promising - until algae started taking over. So the plants I had/have - glossostigma, lace fern, lilaeopsis brasiliensis, echinodorus tennelus, small leaf anubias and rotala wallichi. In the beginning I had CO2 at around 1.5-2 bps and light at about 40-45 W. I also regularly measured key water parameters - phosphates, nitrates, ammonium and does dry ferts accordingly. I didn't had to add nitrates but phosphates were always low. So on even days I dosed trace elements and iron and on odd days I played with macro nutrients (mixed from dry salts). Probably I went too fast (don't know). I also had pogestemon helferi - they melted quite quickly, glossostigma growed like crazy but leaves were very large (elongated) and the growth pattern was very chaotic - more towards light than lateral stretch. Lilaeopsis also developed thinner and longer than expected leaves. Walichi and tennelus did great tho - extremely fast growth. But this growth was accompanied by massive amounts of green thread like algae (green snot). Some ciano patches were also present. So by the end of October I thought - something is out of proportion. I quit fertilizing and switched my lights to 25 W (I played with lights previously because I thought glossostigma didn't get enough photons but increasing light didn't change anything - just more algae). And since then snot algae has gone (almost everything), no signs of ciano. There is some green spot algae on glass and a stag-horn algae. So this is the tipping point where I ask for your help.
Please advise, comment, suggest. What I was doing wrong? How can one tell if the LED light is too bright/dimm and how to balance everything out - lights, Co2, ferts? I don't have a par meter and no one near me as well. How should I approach this? How to continue correctly?

Also I have noticed some whitish tiny bugs in massive amounts - what are they? I can compare them with tiny ticks - they move quite fast. At one moment they are on a driftwood at the next current has picked them up and then they again land on some hard surface - so hard to get a clear picture.

Thank you!

 

[Viv]

I can't really help with your plant issues as I don't have the knowledge. When I set my tank up I had huge problems with algae but mine was all to do with insufficient flow. About the white bugs though, they might be planaria worms. Over-feeding contributes but there is a treatment called 'No-planaria'. Its meant to be shrimp safe but I lost at least half of my rcs when I used it. It did get rid of the planaria though and cutting back on feeding has kept them away.

Viv

 

[spyder]

I have no experience with led lighting but it seems they have a little more oomph than meets the eye.

Are you using a drop checker with appropriate solution to monitor co2? Even if you are your plants are telling you there's not enough. Sounds like too much light and low co2.

Withholding nutrients would cause your plants more trouble and benefit the algae. Algae is attacking sick plants and then you starve them. If you have the salts it maybe worth mixing 4 week batches and dosing. Ei is based around supply excess nutrients so nutrients should not be a limiting factor. The only time to experiment is when your plants tell you there is a shortage of something.

A couple of pics would help people assist with your problems, it helps see how your tank is setup and makes it easier for others to offer advice.

Manual removal of algae, get dosing routine sorted, reduce light intensity and duration and increase co2. Keep on top of trimming out bad leaves and water changes. Dosing a little liquid carbon will help clear it up but you need to address the issues otherwise it will return and persist.

Not sure on your filters flow rating. Do you have good flow around the aquarium?

 

[mpc]

Thanks for the input!

So I think I should start with pictures - this is a photobucket album showing pictures of current status.

About white bugs - I think I found what they are on the internet. They are definitely not flatworms. Most likely some cyclops or other tiny crustaceans.
I do not overfeed my tank because there is nothing to be fed - it is empty of any higher lifeforms. Currently only plants reside there. Yes - I have a drop checker. When it was in - it always was lime green to even yellow. Almost never went back to blue. So I decided to test if the solution still works and I took it out. As was expected in the air it went back to blue but I didn't bother to put it back in. Flow? Hmm - the manufacturer has specified 700 l/h. Maybe the CO2 isn't dispersed evenly through whole volume (I use a small glass ceramic diffuser) - I don't know but visually flow seems adequate. Maybe I don't know what is adequate...
About fertilizers - I was very accurate - I always measured parameters with test kits and dosed accordingly - I kept all the info in a diary. Liquid carbon in a form of EasyCarbo was also dosed regularly - still I had an algae outbreak. I don't know - maybe it was a new tank syndrome, maybe a driftwood leached something into the water - I don't know. Because this green threaded slimy algae loved to cover the driftwood - so I thought maybe the driftwood was the problem.
At this point I am afraid to start dosing ferts again because still the shape of glossostigma is unusual and I don't know why. Probably I also shouldn't start with a full dose. I would need to gradually build up my dose? So main problem I would say is to understand if the LEDs are too bright/too dimm, maybe I need to change out them to a different spectrum? Currently I have a mix of High CRI warm whites with neutral whites. Cool white maybe is the way to go? I have seen info on the web that gloso likes blue spectrum - maybe that is the cause for abnormal growth? I am out of ideas.

Thank you for your help!