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Ok im sure this msg will be redundant with previous posts but im not too sure what exactly to do. I have been on the quest to build up and grow plants in my freshwater tank. Im tank size is 110gal, i am using a double tube florcent fixture with two 40watt blubs... I realize that this is rather low in wattage for growing most plants. First question, What is the most economical way to add more light. should i just add another light fixture? Should i go with Magnetic ballist or Electronic...Pros and cons to both?

I have also tried using two light fixtures producing aroudn 150watts... however the weight of the hood makes it hard to do water changes... Thus causing my main problem. I have the normal Green algae on my glass, i just use my magnetic cleaner and it solves the problem there... however i now have what looks like black Algae (could be other colours) covering everything.. my gravel has patches of this algae all over it, everything in my tank is covered. Ive already taken everythign out and scrubed it down and a few weeks later its back. My live plants are Covered at the tips and spots all over... What can i do to elimiate this problem. would this be a lack of proper filtration. I have recently found out that the store inwhich i bought everythin from sold me a filter that can only handle 80gal...not 110. ALso I have reduced the ammount of light hrs that my tank is on.. and i have removed the second light fixture bringing my total wattage down to 80 and i still have this problem. Any suggestions??

Shawn,

EDIT: Welcome to FP

Algae issues require similar information than a hospital entry where you need to provide valuable information that helps to identify an issue. In this case (in no particular order):

- What are the live plants in the tank?
- What is your fertilizer routine, in details with what ferts, when, and how much of it?
- Are there fish in the tank as well?
- You say you reduced light intensity and duration, from how many hours to what?
- What kind of substrate do you have?
- How long is the tank set up for, in general and its current layout (last major overhaul)?
- Do you know your tank parameters for KH, ph, Nitrate, Phosphate, and what else comes to mind?
- What is your maintenance routine (water changes etc.)?

Puh, I hope that will cover the basics,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the reply and the welcome note!

Ok the tank has been running for about 3 years now. One light hood with approx 64-80watts of light running on an emperior biowheel. I have had a few plants in there, some with average results and others have flurished and died ( go in cycles). The one type of plant i have in there is a java fern, the second one is a amazon sword. and the third plant type... lol im drawing a blank... it looks like a tomato / pot leaf, starts with H....anyhow I have the lights set up for approx 12-14hrs duration. that worked find for awhile and then over time my plants stopped growing... they would get black in the middle (tomato plant) and rot and die off. So i figured it was a lighting issue.. then i added another light fixture increasing my wattage, then the algae set in... the black carpet kind that has blanketed everything. So i removed the second light fixture after doign a major water change and scrubbed everything down. Now im back to where i ahve started and i still have the algae.

this is what i use for plant fert.

my g/f and i are in constant battle for how much fert to use... so what i use is florish excel and used the recommended dosage according to the bottle. However i have stopped using that when the algae has hit.

sorry i'm all over with this post

Tank size = 110gal
current filtration = emperior biowheel
Water change = 3 weeks to a month
Fish type = barbs, molleys, various other community fish
light wattage = 64-80 watts
light duration - 12hrs
water temp = 78deg
substrate is prox 1/8" gravel (bought it at big als its the two colour blue stuff)

PH i am not too sure of
Nitrate and Phosphate are in the norm levels.


i hope i got it all

thanks again

shawn

OK Shawn,

Now we are getting somewhere

Let's start with this: Excel is not a fetilizer at all, it is a carbon source for plants, usually used in low tech/low light tanks where no additional CO2 is added.

Lights - for sure low, adding more made algae appear because you provided light and carbon, but no fertilizer.

Substrate - way too shallow for rooted plants, 2 to 4 inches are suggested, plus you don't seem to have any substrate fertilizer either.

Water change - way to sparse to provide nutrient in any form from the tab (what % of the volume do you change).

"Nitrate and Phosphate are in the norm levels" - What does that mean - what is the norm?

Light was on for way too long, 12 hours are ok, 11 even better.

Tank may be underfiltered, but that alone doesn't cause algae. It may cause algae with Nitrate build-up from the fish load without adding the other fertilzers (namely Phosphate, Potassium, and Micros). Would you consider the tank heavily planted?

If you are seriously interested in doing something about it, why don't you start off by reading (or at least skimming) through My Log. There is a load of useful information on plants and fertilizers, including my own woes with it (and algae). I know its long, but its worth the money (actually, its free ).

I hope this helps at least a little, there will be no 1 thing that can fix this problem as it clearly is a combination of many issues.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Some thing LF didn't mention is that your tank is super tall. Do you use scuba gear to do stuff in it? Anyways with a tank that tall it take a ton of light to actually get it to the bottem.

Because of this I would stick with plants that can almost grow in the dark.

Java Fern
Java Moss
Anubius

Maybe some other plants too but those are the big three that I can think of right now.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

This is only for part of your problem...

In your case l would add an extra double light like what you have already, so in total you would have 4 lights. but the duration you have is way too long.

l would run only 2 lights in the morning for 3hrs, then have no lights for a few hours, then have all 4 lights on for another 3-4 hours. This will not hurt the plants and will get rid of the algea problem you have.

LF has you on the right track.

Excel is not really a fertilizer. Actually with the appearance of black algae increasing Excel is usually a good idea, has it has some ingrediants that can kill this stuff.

The light is low but by the sound of things , cycles of growth then dying off, nutrients seems to be your main problem.Plants starting well then exhausting nutrients and dying off.

Balance is the key. Excel providing carbon will increase the growth rate by about 2 -3 times. That means more nutrients are needed to support this.

Would need to know your NO3 and P levels. One mans "normal" is anothers desert like conditions. You may need to supplement both nitrate and phosphate.
You will also need to get hold of some micro nutrients. Something like Flourish Regular.

Once you have the ferts in place you can start killing off the alage. The stuff on the substrate should be easy to remove, just pluck out with a tweezers, the piece of gravel that the algae is attached to will also come out with it, just chuck in the bin. To treat the plants dose the Excel at about 3-4 times the reccomendation on the bottle for a week or so.

But you need the other ferts ready or the alage will just come back.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Thanks everyone for your help with this matter. I seem to be on the right track, but i have missed some of the little parts along the way to make my planted tank a success. I believe my plant problem as you have pointed out is due to a lack of nutriance in the tank. here are all my levels, i just tested them.

PH = 7.6
Ammonia = .1-.2ppm
Nitrite = 0.1ppm
non-chelated iron = 0ppm
chelated iron = oppm
phosphate =1ppm
nitrate = 10ppm
GH = 100-200ppm
KH = 5deg or 75ppm

as for fert for my tank, i have bought some seachem flourish i believe its called, and im using tabblets for my amazon swords... and the plant name that i have inwhich i coudlnt remember the name was hydra....

Yeah my tank is kind of a tall tank, but i got a good deal on it so i picked it up...

As for lighting. I have mentioned before, I hae tried to use two magnetic florcent light fixtures but my problem is weight, the way i have my tank setup i have to lift the light rig off of my top crown piece to be able to clean my tank. Are electronic balists better / lighter? What would you guys suggest for lighting? or should i just leave what i have in there now? I appreciate all your help.