Relocating and resetting Aquarium

[scoobiemandan]

I've been having ongoing issues with algae for some time now and I believe a major cause of this issue is the current location of the tank, near double doors getting direct sunlight for a couple or three hours a day. I'm hoping that both the relocation and resetting will put me in good stead to have a healthy, algae free or at the very least algae controlled tank.

We are having a new sofa delivered some time in February which is forcing us to move the living room around so it stands to reason, this would also be a good time to relocate the tank.

Currently the tank is planted with a sand substrate (no underlying plant substrate) and with CO2 injection, Ei ferts and LED lighting.

I did consider draining the tank so far, removing the fish, throwing the plants and [somehow] sliding the tank to it's new location being that it would be quite a bit lighter. However, I'm wanting to give any new plants the best start possible so my plans are thus;

- introduce an underlayer of plant substrate topped off with the sand I currently have
- introduce a large amount of new plants

My questions are based around the bedding in and growth of the new plants. I'm concerned that by starting afresh I'll somehow create an inbalance in the tank so am not sure how best to set about it. Stripping the tank down isn't an issue, done that before.

So, after resetting and aquascaping what do I do in relation to ferts and CO2 injection? Do I carry on the ferts regime that I left off with and also the same with the CO2 injection or do I need to start low and gradually raise? Same with lighting, start short amount and gradually increase?

Any and all advice appreciated, especially in depth advice 😉

Also as a side thought and linked question, I've noticed that my phosphate levels are through the roof, could this also contribute to unwanted algae growth? Would the addition of, say, APi phos-zorb be a worthwhile investment or will it go against the whole point of dosing Ei which includes phosphates?

 

[Julian]

You'll kill off some of the bacteria when you move it about, but as long as your filter is properly cycled you shouldn't have any major issues, maybe some diatoms. There's products you can buy to speed up filter cycling, none that I can recommend, but adding these to the tank should help replace bacteria that was lost. Keep on top of your water changes as a precaution as disturbing substrate can release ammonia, but depending on your plant mass this may not be a problem.

Ignore your Phosphate levels.

 

[scoobiemandan]

Thanks for the reply but my points were specifically towards the introduction and 'best start' for new plants! I'm running a Fluval 306 external nand U2 internal (both fully established filters) so the bacteria there and that contained in the sand which will be reused should be plenty to carry on where left off. I'm not anywhere near fully stocked as far as fish go so all good 🙂

 

[Julian]

I'm concerned that by starting afresh I'll somehow create an inbalance in the tank so am not sure how best to set about it.

You'll have to go into a bit more detail here, I'm not sure what type of imbalance you're imagining that will occur if you replace/move your substrate, if not bacteria related.

You are essentially resetting your tank, so you will need to start from day 1 (minus the cycling). As long as you haven't made any changes to your CO2 setup, you can plug everything back in once it's moved and carry on as normal without making any adjustments. If you were to add check valves, shorten the CO2 pipe or knock the needle valve, this would be a different story.

When introducing any new plant, it's always a good idea to lower your lights while it establishes it's self, especially if they aren't grown submersed to begin with.

 

[scoobiemandan]

You'll have to go into a bit more detail here, I'm not sure what type of imbalance you're imagining that will occur if you replace/move your substrate, if not bacteria related.

Well, simply put, would I be overdosing ferts/CO2/lighting if I'm introducing new young plants if I started where I left off? Lighting, yup, was pretty sure I'd have to start shorter time period and gradually build up but as I'm relatively new to the CO injection and Ei ferts I'm not so akin to what I should be doing 🙂

 

[Julian]

Well, simply put, would I be overdosing ferts/CO2/lighting if I'm introducing new young plants if I started where I left off? Lighting, yup, was pretty sure I'd have to start shorter time period and gradually build up but as I'm relatively new to the CO injection and Ei ferts I'm not so akin to what I should be doing 🙂

Lighting isn't just about photoperiod, but intensity also. 5 hours is fine, even for new plants, but 'brightness' is what does the damage.

It's extremely hard to overdose on ferts, people have dropped entire containers of the stuff into their tanks and never had adverse effects. Again, if this concerns you, just do regular water changes.

CO2 is the most important thing to get right at the start. There's plenty of info here about how to achieve this.

 

[scoobiemandan]

Thank you for your replies. Are you, in essence, saying that carrying on with my current regime of ferts and CO2 injection is not a problem then?

 

[Julian]

Thank you for your replies. Are you, in essence, saying that carrying on with my current regime of ferts and CO2 injection is not a problem then?

Yes, that is assuming they were not causing you any problems to begin with, and assuming you understand that adding more plants requires more CO2.

 

[scoobiemandan]

Indeed. The only problem I've had is algae, plants are otherwise growing as they should be. I'm currently running at 30ppm CO2 (going by pH change) which I was lead to believe is the optimum level for plant growth.