Newbie to planted tanks (less than a year...)

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Anybody?

You probably just need some more plants. I know it is difficult with the Goldfish, but people can probably advise you of larger leaved plants that they don't eat. The algae is Black Brush Algae (BBA), we don't really know what causes it.

I DO have phosphates in my tap water, so must have done the test incorrectly last time! Assume this contributes to the algae? How can I reduce levels?

Plants need all of the nutrients required for growth, one of the "big three" is phosphorus (P), it is a huge issue in <"natural wetlands">, but I honestly don't think it is your problem. Marcel @zozo has Goldfish in his outside "tanks", I'll add him in.

cheers Darrel

 

[Onoma1]

Your lighting looks a bit low. There is lots of info on this in the forum. Review your substrate, it looks a little bit thin and doesn't seem to contain much in terms of nutrients. Go for a deeper substrate so that your plants can anchor themselves. Lots more plants for biomass.

Ok...my honest advice would be to review your setup and do what I did: read everything, decide on an approach (high energy/ low energy), plan and then rebuild based on the approach you have selected and restart.

In my first post my plants looked exactly like yours...

 

[zozo]

Thanks I'll watch those, I am bound to say that considering how much my goldfish love sifting through the sand, I'm always a little sad to see bare bottom tanks, but I guess it's down to a visual preference.

It's Goldfish sifting and disturbing the sand prevents you from growing young plants that need to root in it. They do not really get a chance to do so. Best practise is to firstly grow in the plants without any goldfish present, then take plants species that root and run fast such as Valis or hornwort. Once plants are fully rooted and matured there will be an extensive blanket of roots under the substrate and it will not be a problem when the fish are moving the sand around above it. But in low light conditions, this can take about a year or longer.

In your case, this isn't an option since the fish are already present. Then the setup as shown in the video is a very good approach. You have a nice piece of driftwood and large mature Java ferns, Bolbitis heudelotii, Bucephalandra sp. Anubias sp. would be a good option. Glue or tie it to the hardscape. Then add some floaters, such as Elodea, it's cheap grows fast and goldfish like to eat it. But then add a lot to give it a chance to grow.

What also could work for some substrate rooting plant sp. is glue some (3) smaller but heavy enough pebbles around the stem and roots. this you do on the kitchen table. Mask the gel super glue with sand from the substrate. Then sink the complete creation down into the tank. This way the plant is anchored and stays in place. Works for Echinodorus and a lot more.

 

[Ragnarok]

It's Goldfish sifting and disturbing the sand prevents you from growing young plants that need to root in it. They do not really get a chance to do so.

In your case, this isn't an option since the fish are already present. Then the setup as shown in the video is a very good approach. You have a nice piece of driftwood and large mature Java ferns, Bolbitis heudelotii, Bucephalandra sp. Anubias sp. would be a good option. Glue or tie it to the hardscape. Then add some floaters, such as Elodea, it's cheap grows fast and goldfish like to eat it. But then add a lot to give it a chance to grow.

What also could work for some substrate rooting plant sp. is glue some (3) smaller but heavy enough pebbles around the stem and roots. this you do on the kitchen table. Mask the gel super glue with sand from the substrate. Then sink the complete creation down into the tank. This way the plant is anchored and stays in place. Works for Echinodorus and a lot more.

View attachment 131893

Thanks for info yes I think I'll continue with plants that I can stick to the driftwood (anubius) or that float (watersprite/elodea) I may also added more of the lace plant which as a bulb seems to be surviving well enough. What concerns me is the increase in algae and the browning of leaves which I took photos of. I have 2x36" T9 and 1x30" T9 fluoro tubes 'sunlight' on from 1pm to 9pm is that too much, or too little light for what I have so far. I thought the green algae on driftwod was due to morning sunlight hitting tank earlier this year, certainly it seems to have slowed down. I'm taking more care to remove rotten plant matter, and keeping nitrates down.
And can their really be 0 carbon dioxide in the water? That can't be good for the plants can it?

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[Ragnarok]

Hi all,You probably just need some more plants. I know it is difficult with the Goldfish, but people can probably advise you of larger leaved plants that they don't eat. The algae is Black Brush Algae (BBA), we don't really know what causes it. Plants need all of the nutrients required for growth, one of the "big three" is phosphorus (P), it is a huge issue in <"natural wetlands">, but I honestly don't think it is your problem. Marcel @zozo has Goldfish in his outside "tanks", I'll add him in.

cheers Darrel

I thought BBA was black beard algae? :- when I got the aquarium second have over a year ago the rocks which came with it had BBA on them so I didn't use any of them. There has been no sign of anything thing other than brown or green algae till this last month. It really looks like staghorn reference the fishlab article pic attached, I'll try to get a photo of mine for you.

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[dw1305]

Hi all,

I thought BBA was black beard algae?

I'm pretty sure you have both. Blue circle is BBA, red circle is Staghorn.

BBA is the algae growing over the Anubias leaves on page.1.

I'll be <"in a minority">, but I really like your <"green bog-wood">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Ragnarok]

Hi all, I'm pretty sure you have both. Blue circle is BBA, red circle is Staghorn.

BBA is the algae growing over the Anubias leaves on page.1.

I'll be <"in a minority">, but I really like your <"green bog-wood">.

cheers Darrel

Hi Darrel, sorry that pic is from the fishlab article: https://fishlab.com/staghorn-algae/ I can't get a clear picture of mine, but I will try.
one the Anubias leaves the algae isn't fluffy, so assumed not BBA but I can take the coconut shell out and check.
Tonight I have also as small patch of brown spot algae on the glass, and while I'm happy enough with green algae on the driftwood (it's good for the hillstream loach) I have 10 nerite snails in quarantine to ensure the glass gets a going over, just worried the comet might be able to eat them...

 

[Matt @ ScapeEasy]

I have 2x36" T9 and 1x30" T9 fluoro tubes 'sunlight' on from 1pm to 9pm is that too much

I think you have too much light and you could get away with less and likely have less algae issues as a result - Anubias and elodea don’t even really require a light in my experience. The dark leaves demonstrate they have a lot of chlorophyll and can work in very low light situations.
If the water sprite is floating it should have access to enough light too.
Vallis may need a little more light, how is this doing now? Bacopa can take some time to get going in my experience... needs probably more light still.
to be honest I would switch one light off right away and probably two if things don’t improve.

 

[Ragnarok]

I'd begun to start taking your advice by turning off the longer tubes to encourage Bristlenose to feed. So I will leave one of for 7 days and see what occurs, thanks!

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[Ragnarok]

I think you have too much light and you could get away with less and likely have less algae issues as a result - Anubias and elodea don’t even really require a light in my experience. The dark leaves demonstrate they have a lot of chlorophyll and can work in very low light situations.
If the water sprite is floating it should have access to enough light too.
Vallis may need a little more light, how is this doing now? Bacopa can take some time to get going in my experience... needs probably more light still.
to be honest I would switch one light off right away and probably two if things don’t improve.

Valis not looking so good, photo before and after...

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