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Whats wrong with this tank? Scaping advice welcome!

Re: Whats wrong with my tank?

Where did you get the Potassium nitrate from, you may not actually have the proper thing. So you may need a lot more in the mixture to get the required level of nitrate.
 
Re: Whats wrong with my tank?

Well I got it from a local lab which imports it. It should be the right stuff.
 
Re: Whats wrong with my tank?

Ok then well try adding about 100g of potassium nitrate to your mix and see how you get on.
 
Re: Whats wrong with my tank?

ok so thats another 100grms to the 66grms which is already in there.
 
Re: Whats wrong with my tank?

No sorry I meant 100g instead of 66, sorry if I wasn't very clear. You could even add about 120g then you are adding about twice as much as you are now
 
Re: Whats wrong with my tank?

Ok thanks.
 
Would be more than happy to receive some planting advice for this tank......

20110919122020.jpg


Some of the plants in there from the top of my head include:

Glosso
Blyxa Japonica
Hygrophila Corymbosa
Java Fern
Cryptocoryne Tropica red
Cryptocoryne Tropica green
Bolbitis struggling with some algae
Proserpinaca palustris
Christmass moss
Flame moss
Eleocharis acicularis
 
Hi
This is probably a Co2 flow issue....you must try and direct the flow to the front base of the aquarium.
The plants nearer the surface seem to be doing better..this may give you a clue.
So I don't think its a nitrate deficiency.
I would cut back on the lighting also till you get nice green algae free growth.
Remove the moss from the substrate and tie it to some wood....it will only collect detritus..... if you don't remove it regularly, and wash it.
Moss don't like liquid carbon...so I would stop using it.
There looks as though you have a lot of large fish this wont help the problem....fish waste + plant waste = algae growth.
Gravel clean and remove all dying dead leaves and do the largest water change possible.
The crypt on the left looks in better shape maybe there's more flow around that area.
Do you have enough MgSo4.
Cheers
hoggie
 
hi hoggie, thank you for your advice. so i currently have a spraybar coming out of the bluemec filter on the left hand side top pointing down slightly forwards. on top of the crypt on the left i have the pump outlet from the chiller, exactly below it behind the crypt i have the co2 diffuser and a power head. also on the left hand side at the back i have the juwel filter outlet at the top pointing to the front and slightly downwards and last but not least i have another power head on the right top corner pointing across. being a corner tank getting flow around is tricky especially with plants in the way. do you suggest that i take the power head from the right and place it on the left blowing across the front of the glass downwards?

i add 20grms MGS04 with 500ml of water and dose 35ml of this solution three times a week together with the EI mix. is that enough?
 
wow seems like my measures are really messed up! I have only mixed a solution a couple of days ago which is as follows:

500ml water
66grms kno3 Potassium nitrate
14.4grms kh2po4 Potassium phosphate
14.4grms k2so4 Potassium sulfate
20grms Magnesium sulfate

Dose 35ml three times a week

250ml water
10grms csm+b

Dose 17.5ml three times a week

according to the calculate you pointed me too this should be a lot different. so i would have two questions. 1. can i save / amed the solutions i have in order not to throw them away and 2. at the bottom of the link you pointed me to it says Day 1 - 50% water change and add 175ml marcro solution to your tank...... sound like a lot and there are no measure for the rest of the days of the week. any ideas? thanks a million for you help so far 🙂

The more i read your last post the more i tend to agree. I have lots of co2, lots of light.... and probably not enough nutrients!
 
What the calculator gives you is a weak recipe, you can multiply those quantities by 4 in the same liquid and dose 4 times less mix each day. The strength of the solution makes no difference. I mix 500ml of each once a month and only dose 20ml on alternate days in a 260lt.
 
Thanks for your feeback Iain. makes sense what you said and I may give it a go that way. in the meantime i had tried to using dry ferts. only thing is that when i added the potassium nitrate, some of it remained floating on the top whilst two smaller clumps fell straight to the ground. seems like this does not dissolve well or will it eventually dissolve?
 
Hello

Only just read this and i can't help but feel that as well as looking at your dosing you need to consider your CO2.

It sounds like you have good flow (or lots of it) but you say you are using a controller to maintain your CO2. (There are varied opinions about the success of these based around unstable C02 levels) I would suggest not using your controller for a month and try having your CO2 come on 2 hrs before you lights and off an hour b4 your lights go off. You will need a drop checker to get your levels to 30ppm. This will ensure a stable CO2 and this combined with your adjusted dosing should have some effects.

Its also worth pruning and removing as much Algae infected plants etc as possible. Try to give the substrate along the front a brief clean too to get rid of the BGA its actually a cyanobacteria. So you need to be thorough with your cleaning.

Good luck
 
Hi andyh thanks for your post. I sort of use the controller as an emergency valve for the co2 to shut off if it gets to dangerous levels. I had read about controllers and am aware of the different opinions on using it. The controller never really kicks in. Flow is plenty and indeed I am not too happy with the way the plants sway about (I do not tend to see this movement in other planted tanks). Cleaning the substrate is going to be a killer since I have some glosso coming right up to the glass.....
 
a good technique is using a credit card to slide down the front of the substrate (typically were you find the BGA) to loosen and disrupt and then suck up the debris with your syphon hose.
 
Priceless 🙂
 
LOL dont you worry, i had exactly that same thought 😉
 
BGA is nasty! it is almost gone in the morning but then by this time when the lights have been on, it seems to gain a foothold again and starts to creep up the front glass and covers a lot of plants.
 
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