Alex Ander
New Member
Hello everyone.
Thank you for having me on this forum and I apologize in advance for the long post.
Also, if this post belongs to a different section, I'm kindly asking the moderators to move it (thank you!).
I'll start with my tank specs and then will be adding my questions, so please bear with me 🙂
Fluval Flex 123 (AIO filtration system)
Size: 81 x 38 x 38 cm (L x W x H)
Final (net) water volume: 91 litres
Age: 6 weeks, currently cycled
Design: Iwagumi with Galapagos stones and bonsai tree
Substrate: Flourite Black Gravel (average of 2-3mm grains), 6 cm deep (average)
Plants: Monte Carlo, Anubias Barteri mini coin, Christmas moss (for bonsai tree) + recently added some Salvinia Minima to help me fight algae (maybe?)
Livestock: Nerite snails, clithon snails, Blue dream neocaridina, 5 otocinclus affinis ... planing on adding 15-20 chilli rasboras after tank matures and stabilizes more
Feeding: none. All livestock munches on algae and biofilm. Tried to introduce special shrimp food, blanched zuchinni slices, etc...everyone seems to ignore everything I put in
Light: 2 x Fluval Aquasky 2.0 (42 watts, 2900 lumens in total)
Light schedule: please see attached (same for both LEDs)
Fertilization: initial root tabs for the whole substrate (inserted every 8 cm), 5 ml of Seachem Advance daily for the first 2 weeks and then 5 ml every other day for the next 2 weeks
Liquid fertilization via automated dosing pump:
- Dennerle NPK - 1.3ml daily
- Dennerle S7 - 0,5ml daily
- Dennerle V30 - 0,4ml (Monday and Friday)
- Seachem Excel - 3ml daily
CO2: yes, pressurized, distributed via diffuser, 25-28 ppm (measured by ph drop). 2 hours ON before lights ON and 1 hour OFF before lights OFF
Filtration: customized - got rid of the standard sponges and replaced with (bottom to top): seachem matrix in bag (75%), filter floss and sponge
Water circulation: upgraded the water pump with Eheim CompactON 1000 for better circulation and water turnover
Water change: weekly 35% (afraid to do more because of the shrimp), cleaning all surfaces, rinsing the top sponges and filter floss with aquarium water, vacuuming rocks, prefilter chambers, pump chamber, lightly vacuum the carpet and substrate, cleaning algae.
Water parameters:
First and third image are the evolution of the tank. Monte Carlo carpeted pretty nice, without melting, Anubias are shooting new leaves every week. The moss covered almost the entire tree. All plants are pearling after 3 hours of lighting.
Now, for the questions and issues:
1. I'm not sure about my lighting period, intensity and color channels. I recently added this 2 hour siesta hoping that this will help getting rid of the alge faster.
I know this is a new tank and it takes time to stabilize but I'm just curios if I can do anything about the hair algae (brown) I got on my moss (see photos bellow). I just want to know if I should rule out the lighting and/or CO2 or should I change anything in my dosing schedule and quantities. I keep cleaning it with a soft brush during my WC but they keep growing, especially on the side that gets more light.
2. I'm seeing more and more Monte Carlo and Anubias leaves with small holes in them. Is this predation or a deficiency in my dosing? If predation, which of my livestock members can do this? (and why?). If nutrient deficient, what should I work on? (photos bellow)
3. Some snails have random white patches on their shell. Is this an effect of CO2 and low Ph, slowly dissolving their shells? (see photo)
4. Do you have any recommendations for me?
Thank you so much for your patience.
Thank you for having me on this forum and I apologize in advance for the long post.
Also, if this post belongs to a different section, I'm kindly asking the moderators to move it (thank you!).
I'll start with my tank specs and then will be adding my questions, so please bear with me 🙂
Fluval Flex 123 (AIO filtration system)
Size: 81 x 38 x 38 cm (L x W x H)
Final (net) water volume: 91 litres
Age: 6 weeks, currently cycled
Design: Iwagumi with Galapagos stones and bonsai tree
Substrate: Flourite Black Gravel (average of 2-3mm grains), 6 cm deep (average)
Plants: Monte Carlo, Anubias Barteri mini coin, Christmas moss (for bonsai tree) + recently added some Salvinia Minima to help me fight algae (maybe?)
Livestock: Nerite snails, clithon snails, Blue dream neocaridina, 5 otocinclus affinis ... planing on adding 15-20 chilli rasboras after tank matures and stabilizes more
Feeding: none. All livestock munches on algae and biofilm. Tried to introduce special shrimp food, blanched zuchinni slices, etc...everyone seems to ignore everything I put in
Light: 2 x Fluval Aquasky 2.0 (42 watts, 2900 lumens in total)
Light schedule: please see attached (same for both LEDs)
Fertilization: initial root tabs for the whole substrate (inserted every 8 cm), 5 ml of Seachem Advance daily for the first 2 weeks and then 5 ml every other day for the next 2 weeks
Liquid fertilization via automated dosing pump:
- Dennerle NPK - 1.3ml daily
- Dennerle S7 - 0,5ml daily
- Dennerle V30 - 0,4ml (Monday and Friday)
- Seachem Excel - 3ml daily
CO2: yes, pressurized, distributed via diffuser, 25-28 ppm (measured by ph drop). 2 hours ON before lights ON and 1 hour OFF before lights OFF
Filtration: customized - got rid of the standard sponges and replaced with (bottom to top): seachem matrix in bag (75%), filter floss and sponge
Water circulation: upgraded the water pump with Eheim CompactON 1000 for better circulation and water turnover
Water change: weekly 35% (afraid to do more because of the shrimp), cleaning all surfaces, rinsing the top sponges and filter floss with aquarium water, vacuuming rocks, prefilter chambers, pump chamber, lightly vacuum the carpet and substrate, cleaning algae.
Water parameters:
- using tap water (tested and safe) for my WC and top offs (treated with Prime)
- temperature 23 C
- 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrites (Salifert)
- 10-15 Nitrates (Salifert)
- Ph 7.5 (before CO2) and 6.7 (during CO2) - tested with both JBL Pro test and electronic tester
- Kh 4 (JBL)
- Gh 9 (JBL)
- Potassium 15 mg/l (JBL)
- Phosphate 0.03 mg/l (JBL)
- Iron 0.09 mg/l (JBL)
First and third image are the evolution of the tank. Monte Carlo carpeted pretty nice, without melting, Anubias are shooting new leaves every week. The moss covered almost the entire tree. All plants are pearling after 3 hours of lighting.
Now, for the questions and issues:
1. I'm not sure about my lighting period, intensity and color channels. I recently added this 2 hour siesta hoping that this will help getting rid of the alge faster.
I know this is a new tank and it takes time to stabilize but I'm just curios if I can do anything about the hair algae (brown) I got on my moss (see photos bellow). I just want to know if I should rule out the lighting and/or CO2 or should I change anything in my dosing schedule and quantities. I keep cleaning it with a soft brush during my WC but they keep growing, especially on the side that gets more light.
2. I'm seeing more and more Monte Carlo and Anubias leaves with small holes in them. Is this predation or a deficiency in my dosing? If predation, which of my livestock members can do this? (and why?). If nutrient deficient, what should I work on? (photos bellow)
3. Some snails have random white patches on their shell. Is this an effect of CO2 and low Ph, slowly dissolving their shells? (see photo)
4. Do you have any recommendations for me?
Thank you so much for your patience.
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