Trying to find that balance

[vosevichs]

I got a well balance of algae, (Green fuzzy slimey stuff)every side is covered.
I have a 55 gal tank:
Emperror 400 filter
Fish: 2 Red Rams, some neon tetras & 3 ottos ( the Discus are coming ) Looking for some wilds. and want to add some wild angels
Plants:
12 amazon swords
4 Java ferns and 1/3 of the tank filled with ludwigia arcuata (want to replaced with south american plants) Going for a Amazon Biotope
Lighting: 3 32w t8 4100K bulbs overdriven 2x (2 bulb electronic ballast wired to 1 bulb)
Laterite substrate, pea sized river rock on top.
Feritlize with root tabs at the base of the swords
Chlorine 0 ppm
ammonia 0 ppm
nitrites 0 ppm
nitrates 0 ppm
PH 7.0
GH 10deg.
Kh 4 deg.
CO2 80 ppm in morning 54 ppm in evening
Iron 0 ppm

W/C's 30% weekly

Any Recomendations???
This is my first planted tank. ???

Thanks,
Scott

[b3dlam]

vosevichs,

When the water in the tank is nutrient poor, you will find that algae will grow instead of your plants. Algae are much more opportunistic and more adaptable than higher order plants. Funnily enough, if the conditions are good for plants, they will rob the algae of the nutrients.
I would add potassium nitrate to increase the nitrate levels of your tank to about 5-10ppm. Checkout http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_dosage_calc.htm for the dosage required. You might want to add a bit of trace elements (including chelated iron) as well. If you see your plants pearling, you will then know that you're on the right track.
For your current lighting level, I would not add phosphate at this stage. If you can remove as much algae off the covered surfaces, it will give you a head start on getting on top of the algae problem. Do a 50% water change immediately after the manual algae removal (to remove as much of the algae spores as possible).

hth

[ronrca]

Hey Scott,
Sounds like my 90G also! I have found that algae comes and goes in cycles. First its one kind, then it fades away, then it another kind and so on. At the moment, I'm battling the bright green hard algae. I just went thru the cycle of the green fuzzy slimy stuff.

One thing I have not tried yet is adding nitrates and in actual fact, Im not even sure where I can get nitrate supplement! I do not have a large fish load and do plan on increasing it in the new year hoping that it may make a difference.

[vosevichs]

Yes my water is nutrient low. I've been concentrating my fertilization to the substrate due to 2/3 of the tank are swords. Swords are root feeders?? Right??

I'll get some liguid fertilizer. Any recomdations?

Does my CO2 seem high?

Ive been scrubbing weekly and doing 50% wc's. (thats why nitrates are low)

[chavez720]

I was just looking at some of your parameters. These are just some sugesstion

Are you injecting CO2?
Ever heard of PMDD?

Lighting: 3 32w t8 4100K bulbs overdriven 2x (2 bulb electronic ballast wired to 1 bulb)

- Typically in a planted tank you would want to run full spectrum bulbs with a Kelvin rating 5000(Cool White)-6700K(White). The bulbs your using probably have a red/yellow apperance.
- What is the CRI rating? Anything under 85 is probably not a good choice for plants. Should be 90 or above.
- 2-4 watts of Full Spectrum lighting per gallon will need to have CO2 injected or DIY CO2.

Laterite substrate, pea sized river rock on top.
Feritlize with root tabs at the base of the swords

- Good

Chlorine 0 ppm
ammonia 0 ppm
nitrites 0 ppm
nitrates 0 ppm

- Provide some nutrients to your plants even in the water column.

Ideal conditions for plants

Fe - 0.1 - 1.0 ppm
Nitrate - 5-10ppm
Phostphate - 0.2-1.0ppm
Potassium - 20-30ppm
CO2 - 20-30ppm

Find out about PMMD on the web. Use any search engine

PH 7.0
GH 10deg.
Kh 4 deg.
CO2 80 ppm in morning 54 ppm in evening

- What test kit are you using for CO2? At those levels your fish should be dead!

Use this formula to get CO2 in solution:
CO2 (ppm) = 3 * KH * 10( 7-pH)
- Just measure pH and kH and input into formula

Calculating your CO2 I get 12ppm, not enough for a planted tank. This assumes that you are only using carbonate for kH and CO2 to control your pH. If you are using any buffers (phosphate or peat) to adjust your pH the calculation is off.

Iron 0 ppm

-see above

Get the nutrients in balance and see the algae disappear!

Go to www.aquabotanic.com and get some good ideas on how to control algae.