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Go for a blackout - more complex plants will be more able to endure it.
That should give a 'reset' - key then is to make damned sure the plants are growing as fast as they're able to. That's where Easycarbo helps.
Counter-intuitively, this might mean reducing your lighting duration over time as once you've reached the max for your 'low tech' system in terms of growth any more light is just algae food.
That should give a 'reset' - key then is to make damned sure the plants are growing as fast as they're able to. That's where Easycarbo helps.
Counter-intuitively, this might mean reducing your lighting duration over time as once you've reached the max for your 'low tech' system in terms of growth any more light is just algae food.
extraT said:
In need of advice for green Algae, which I cannot get under control. I have tried carboeasy which seems to have given the algae and not the plants the boost I had hoped. Specific Algaecide hasn’t helped.
Any tips to combat this awful stuff?
Tank has live plants and a few fake plants and a large piece of LFS purchased driftwood. Also has the standard white LED installed too. Water changed normally once per week.
Now not back home until Monday, but MIL says it’s getting greener. Nothing I can do for that except ask them not to turn the lights on and… cover the tank with a sheet? I have read covering for 48 hours would be ok - can anyone confirm? but when I’m back, is there anything else I can do?
Inhabitants are:
9 x neon tetras
4 x blue German Rams
5 x orange cat fish
And normally 5 snails which are removed while the algaecide is in the tank.
Any advise?
How many hours per day is your light on, and is the tank in direct sunlight? Any tips to combat this awful stuff?
Tank has live plants and a few fake plants and a large piece of LFS purchased driftwood. Also has the standard white LED installed too. Water changed normally once per week.
Now not back home until Monday, but MIL says it’s getting greener. Nothing I can do for that except ask them not to turn the lights on and… cover the tank with a sheet? I have read covering for 48 hours would be ok - can anyone confirm? but when I’m back, is there anything else I can do?
Inhabitants are:
9 x neon tetras
4 x blue German Rams
5 x orange cat fish
And normally 5 snails which are removed while the algaecide is in the tank.
Any advise?
I have been running planted tanks with pressurised CO2 for eight or nine years (and low tech ones before that) and I still think getting it to the point where it’s stable with no algae is a black art. I’ve done it several times with new tanks and rebuilds and once they’re right they tend to stay right, but I am not sure I could actually explain a foolproof route to that.
Sway said:
Go for a blackout - more complex plants will be more able to endure it.
That should give a 'reset' - key then is to make damned sure the plants are growing as fast as they're able to. That's where Easycarbo helps.
Counter-intuitively, this might mean reducing your lighting duration over time as once you've reached the max for your 'low tech' system in terms of growth any more light is just algae food.
Not for the first time, thank you again for your advice. I’ll get my father in law to feed them and then throw a blanket over to dark everything for two days.That should give a 'reset' - key then is to make damned sure the plants are growing as fast as they're able to. That's where Easycarbo helps.
Counter-intuitively, this might mean reducing your lighting duration over time as once you've reached the max for your 'low tech' system in terms of growth any more light is just algae food.
HustleRussell said:
Finally started on mine this week
Checked the bowl held water. 30 litres to the brim as it turns out
Fashioned a widget
Built it up
Substrate and wood in. The bottom layer of the substrate is a mix of sand, garden soil and clay based aquarium soil powder. There’s quite a lot of plain sand on top to cap it.
Plants. Seven species already believe it or not.
Moved it upstairs next to the temporary tank which will eventually populate it
The widget tells me where the ‘water table’ is.
I’ve not had any success with plants before and this is my first attempt at a nutrient rich substrate. Also I’m trying a ‘dry start’ where the plants are allowed to take root terrarium style with their foliage out of the water. No idea how it’s going to go.
Wow, three and a half months! Checked the bowl held water. 30 litres to the brim as it turns out
Fashioned a widget
Built it up
Substrate and wood in. The bottom layer of the substrate is a mix of sand, garden soil and clay based aquarium soil powder. There’s quite a lot of plain sand on top to cap it.
Plants. Seven species already believe it or not.
Moved it upstairs next to the temporary tank which will eventually populate it
The widget tells me where the ‘water table’ is.
I’ve not had any success with plants before and this is my first attempt at a nutrient rich substrate. Also I’m trying a ‘dry start’ where the plants are allowed to take root terrarium style with their foliage out of the water. No idea how it’s going to go.
Put water change water from the quarantine tank and the filter seeded from the quarantine in last night. The dry start was a partial success, I left it far too long- two months would’ve been plenty. I was starting to get some kind of mould attacking some of the plants.
How they’ll do now submerged after growing emergent is anybody’s guess.
Thanks, that’s very generous of you to say. I spent about an hour and a half with the glass bowl outside my local Maidenhead Aquatics auditioning bit(s) of wood! Because of the shape and size of the bowl, the bit of wood was about 95 percent of the ‘aquascape’ done. I am really happy with how it looks so far though. It’s funny how filling it with water changes the optical effect of the bowl’s contents so much. It’s interesting to look at but I hope I am never going to have to take any close-up photos of anything inside the bowl, or net any of the critters!
otolith said:
Crikey, just saw all my bristlenose catfish out together - there are eight of the buggers in a 260l tank, no wonder the algae problem subsided!
They like a nice chunk of cucumber that has had boiling water on it, the shove it on a fork and that holds it down. Many people do not realise you need to Blanche the food as fish did not evolve stomachs to break down the cellulose of land plants as cellulose makes the plant stand up on land.Please excuse this complete amateur question, how do you clean the waste of of these heavily planted / landscaped tanks?
I have had a Fluval 46 for years now and every time I clean it I remove the plants, large stones and hoover the substrate to extract the waste.
After that I do the percentage water change as some of the waste suspended in the water will be taken out.
The very nice planted globe tank above for eg, I presume the live plants dispose of the waste?
I have had a Fluval 46 for years now and every time I clean it I remove the plants, large stones and hoover the substrate to extract the waste.
After that I do the percentage water change as some of the waste suspended in the water will be taken out.
The very nice planted globe tank above for eg, I presume the live plants dispose of the waste?
Ritchie335is said:
Please excuse this complete amateur question, how do you clean the waste of of these heavily planted / landscaped tanks?
I have had a Fluval 46 for years now and every time I clean it I remove the plants, large stones and hoover the substrate to extract the waste.
After that I do the percentage water change as some of the waste suspended in the water will be taken out.
The very nice planted globe tank above for eg, I presume the live plants dispose of the waste?
When I ran a 4 foot planted setup, I had big filtration - 2x Eheim Pro2, so water turnover though the filters was very high.I have had a Fluval 46 for years now and every time I clean it I remove the plants, large stones and hoover the substrate to extract the waste.
After that I do the percentage water change as some of the waste suspended in the water will be taken out.
The very nice planted globe tank above for eg, I presume the live plants dispose of the waste?
My daughter has decided to get a tropical aquarium after seeing mine, for community fish, its a 250 litre tank, I'm not sure if she's gone a bit overboard on the filtration though.
She's running twin Fluval 307's external cannister filters and two of the biggest sponge filters attached to an air pump I've ever seen.
On my own 180 litre setup its just a mid sized built into the tank juwel pump system, and since the molly's started breeding like a monkeys a moderate sponge filter on an air pump to assist, zero water parameter issues.
She's running twin Fluval 307's external cannister filters and two of the biggest sponge filters attached to an air pump I've ever seen.
On my own 180 litre setup its just a mid sized built into the tank juwel pump system, and since the molly's started breeding like a monkeys a moderate sponge filter on an air pump to assist, zero water parameter issues.
I got back from holiday last night to this…
Plan is:
Almost complete water change.
Scrub any surfaces I can (glass, the driftwood in middle etc…)
Refill.
Add snails to eat algae
And then…
Should I go max dosage of EasyCarbo or max dosage of Algaecide? I have both to hand.
Once decided, I’ll throw a black out blanket over it for two days and hope for the best
I also have some clearwater stuff I can throw in there too if needed/recommended by this thread? Perhaps the clear water/easycarbo is best? And then reposing easycarbo as needed every day? + blackout blanket?
Any tips or recommendations on which chemical to use?
Plan is:
Almost complete water change.
Scrub any surfaces I can (glass, the driftwood in middle etc…)
Refill.
Add snails to eat algae
And then…
Should I go max dosage of EasyCarbo or max dosage of Algaecide? I have both to hand.
Once decided, I’ll throw a black out blanket over it for two days and hope for the best
I also have some clearwater stuff I can throw in there too if needed/recommended by this thread? Perhaps the clear water/easycarbo is best? And then reposing easycarbo as needed every day? + blackout blanket?
Any tips or recommendations on which chemical to use?
Edited by extraT on Monday 9th August 16:43
Caddyshack said:
They like a nice chunk of cucumber that has had boiling water on it, the shove it on a fork and that holds it down. Many people do not realise you need to Blanche the food as fish did not evolve stomachs to break down the cellulose of land plants as cellulose makes the plant stand up on land.
Their supplementary feeding is algae wafers at the moment. They do seem nice and fat!
Ritchie335is said:
Please excuse this complete amateur question, how do you clean the waste of of these heavily planted / landscaped tanks?
I have had a Fluval 46 for years now and every time I clean it I remove the plants, large stones and hoover the substrate to extract the waste.
After that I do the percentage water change as some of the waste suspended in the water will be taken out.
The very nice planted globe tank above for eg, I presume the live plants dispose of the waste?
I just give the sand a bit of a "waft" with my hand which moves any dirt from between rocks/plants into the water column then use a bit of 12mm clear tube to suck it into a bucket. If you hold the tube about 1cm above the sand it sucks up the waste without disturbing the sand, bit of a knack to it. Never move any plants, the roots are too long to let me lift them!I have had a Fluval 46 for years now and every time I clean it I remove the plants, large stones and hoover the substrate to extract the waste.
After that I do the percentage water change as some of the waste suspended in the water will be taken out.
The very nice planted globe tank above for eg, I presume the live plants dispose of the waste?
extraT said:
I got back from holiday last night to this…
Plan is:
Almost complete water change.
Scrub any surfaces I can (glass, the driftwood in middle etc…)
Refill.
Add snails to eat algae
And then…
Should I go max dosage of EasyCarbo or max dosage of Algaecide? I have both to hand.
Once decided, I’ll throw a black out blanket over it for two days and hope for the best
I also have some clearwater stuff I can throw in there too if needed/recommended by this thread? Perhaps the clear water/easycarbo is best? And then reposing easycarbo as needed every day? + blackout blanket?
Any tips or recommendations on which chemical to use?
Plan is:
Almost complete water change.
Scrub any surfaces I can (glass, the driftwood in middle etc…)
Refill.
Add snails to eat algae
And then…
Should I go max dosage of EasyCarbo or max dosage of Algaecide? I have both to hand.
Once decided, I’ll throw a black out blanket over it for two days and hope for the best
I also have some clearwater stuff I can throw in there too if needed/recommended by this thread? Perhaps the clear water/easycarbo is best? And then reposing easycarbo as needed every day? + blackout blanket?
Any tips or recommendations on which chemical to use?
Edited by extraT on Monday 9th August 16:43
I’m going to go with clearol + snails + easycarbo + blackout to try and beat this b
d stuff! Ritchie335is said:
Please excuse this complete amateur question, how do you clean the waste of of these heavily planted / landscaped tanks?
I have had a Fluval 46 for years now and every time I clean it I remove the plants, large stones and hoover the substrate to extract the waste.
After that I do the percentage water change as some of the waste suspended in the water will be taken out.
The very nice planted globe tank above for eg, I presume the live plants dispose of the waste?
Thanks for the compliment! The globe is my first crack at a low-tech ‘ecosystem’ style aquarium, loosely inspired by Diana Walstad’s book. I have had a Fluval 46 for years now and every time I clean it I remove the plants, large stones and hoover the substrate to extract the waste.
After that I do the percentage water change as some of the waste suspended in the water will be taken out.
The very nice planted globe tank above for eg, I presume the live plants dispose of the waste?
The fundamental idea is that if you have;
-a soil layer at the bottom instead of an inert substrate
-you plant heavily and are able to create the conditions for successful plant growth
and
-stock considerately and gradually with fish etc
you can begin to benefit from some of the same microbiological processes which occur in the natural world.
If you are able to do that, then the fish waste will in theory nourish the plants, and the plants will in theory keep the water free of pollutants and contaminants. This makes hoovering the bottom counter-productive.
Walstad goes as far as saying that eventually water changes are unnecessary once the plants have gained traction, and that the tank can be run with very minimal filtration and water circulation- however I have decided to instal a power filter and am not expecting to stop doing water changes altogether at any point.
Whether it’ll work out first time or not I don’t know. I am at a nervous stage at the moment waiting for signs that my plants are going to take off.
HustleRussell said:
Thanks for the compliment! The globe is my first crack at a low-tech ‘ecosystem’ style aquarium, loosely inspired by Diana Walstad’s book.
The fundamental idea is that if you have;
-a soil layer at the bottom instead of an inert substrate
-you plant heavily and are able to create the conditions for successful plant growth
and
-stock considerately and gradually with fish etc
you can begin to benefit from some of the same microbiological processes which occur in the natural world.
If you are able to do that, then the fish waste will in theory nourish the plants, and the plants will in theory keep the water free of pollutants and contaminants. This makes hoovering the bottom counter-productive.
Walstad goes as far as saying that eventually water changes are unnecessary once the plants have gained traction, and that the tank can be run with very minimal filtration and water circulation- however I have decided to instal a power filter and am not expecting to stop doing water changes altogether at any point.
Whether it’ll work out first time or not I don’t know. I am at a nervous stage at the moment waiting for signs that my plants are going to take off.
Sounds great, good luck!The fundamental idea is that if you have;
-a soil layer at the bottom instead of an inert substrate
-you plant heavily and are able to create the conditions for successful plant growth
and
-stock considerately and gradually with fish etc
you can begin to benefit from some of the same microbiological processes which occur in the natural world.
If you are able to do that, then the fish waste will in theory nourish the plants, and the plants will in theory keep the water free of pollutants and contaminants. This makes hoovering the bottom counter-productive.
Walstad goes as far as saying that eventually water changes are unnecessary once the plants have gained traction, and that the tank can be run with very minimal filtration and water circulation- however I have decided to instal a power filter and am not expecting to stop doing water changes altogether at any point.
Whether it’ll work out first time or not I don’t know. I am at a nervous stage at the moment waiting for signs that my plants are going to take off.
Cheers!
I have an outbreak of Cyanobacteria at the moment so it’s blackout and hope!
Ritchie335is- are your plants live or artificial? In previous tanks I have done with inert gravel bottoms, I have noticed that after several months some live plants seem to be able to take up the mulm which has accumulated in the gravel and start growing well despite there being no soil and no added fertilisers or CO2. If you don’t have any already, and like the look of it, you could in my experience plant some hardy root-feeding plants like Vallisneria and have it grow successfully. This may not work if you are keeping fish which will uproot and attempt to eat it e.g. goldfish.
ETA: I have hard water and I have found that Vallis in particular grows really healthily with zero intervention.
I have an outbreak of Cyanobacteria at the moment so it’s blackout and hope!
Ritchie335is- are your plants live or artificial? In previous tanks I have done with inert gravel bottoms, I have noticed that after several months some live plants seem to be able to take up the mulm which has accumulated in the gravel and start growing well despite there being no soil and no added fertilisers or CO2. If you don’t have any already, and like the look of it, you could in my experience plant some hardy root-feeding plants like Vallisneria and have it grow successfully. This may not work if you are keeping fish which will uproot and attempt to eat it e.g. goldfish.
ETA: I have hard water and I have found that Vallis in particular grows really healthily with zero intervention.
Edited by HustleRussell on Tuesday 10th August 11:33
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