New Stands New Starts

[dallen98]

Love the write-up, honest and funny
You seem to have a decent handle on how to correct things, if I was to suggest anything it would be to lower the light intensity a little bit further just in this start up period. Then it can be ramped up slowly when algae is controlled and the plants are ready. At some point aggressive trimming of algae affected growth will start to take its toll on the plant health. If the underlying cause is not truly handled then repeated trimming can end up killing the plant. The difficult question is always if we have done enough to address the cause or not

Looking forward to following this journal 😃

Thanks! You know, I had the same thought about trimming. There is always an underlying issue to be resolved. The other tricky thing with this hobby is managing changes. I have noticed and of course read from many others that stability is key. It's tempting for me to make quick and drastic changes but these can sometimes lead to other issues. I have learned to take things in a two or three week pacing. Make a change, wait. Make another change, wait. Etc. Constantly learning

 

[dallen98]

How many amanos did you add? With algae like that I’d add 1per 5l and do 2 days with no photoperiod. I’d also trim the rotalas in your cube and float them in the 45p to increase plant mass.

I had a 45p running with the same light and an eheim 700lph filter and never went above 50% intensity for the first 4 months then up 5%every 2 weeks until I was running it at 85%. My tank had more planting density than yours which will have helped though. As for dosing I was doing 2ml of tropica specialized everyday from day one.

So I had two separate shrimp orders which I split between the two tanks. I think in the end there were 10 or so Amanos in the 45 P and maybe 6 in the 30CM? After the second order of shrimp, combined with the reduced photo-period, there was a rapid decline of hair algae before another came in and took its place. Yes, as I browse through other journals I realize the best thing would have been to start the 45 P off with 50% and very gradually increase it. As the algae isn't going completely crazy right now, I'm going to hold it at this 80% (which is just the climax of my 8 hour ramp up and down) and see what comes through. I know the stems and UG appreciate it and I hesitate to make another drastic change. But, if things continue to be sour with the algae, I will definitely resort to even more reduced lighting. Thanks!

 

[Garuf]

The thing that made me “get it” when it comes to light is that reducing light lowers the demands on co2, or read another way, it makes it easier to meet the co2 requirements, the more light you have and the higher demand you have and this makes meeting your demands more difficult.
Think of it as an engine, if the engine is idling then the delivery of fuel being slow isn’t a problem, it meets the requirements. If however you throttle it up and the engine is working hard, you have to have a good delivery giving plenty of fuel, fast enough. If the engine stalls then the engine gets damaged and the damage can allow rust.

The analogy gets thin there but a plant in deficiency will start to chuck out broken enzymes and produce sickly growth which it is easier for algae to feed on.

Your algae seems to just be usual start up algae but high light won’t have helped.

Just to clarify are you running a stepped photoperiod? I generally find they only work once the tank is mature and stable, during start up a stepped photoperiod changes demands during the photoperiod and makes for delivery issues.

Back to the engine analogy it is like pushing the throttle and revving the engine up without increasing the fuel input. Fluctuation between good co2 delivery and less ideal delivery. Not necessarily wise when everything is establishing.