210 Redo (or didn't I just do this 3 years ago?)

[Htomassini]

So my arch enemy algea that I struggle with has returned to haunt me. GSA no problem, brush no problem, but brown crud that lays on leaves and must be rubbed off is here to annoy me. I assume that this is diatoms. It sticks to leaves. I am dosing daily and use ro water reconstituted with alkaline buffer and equilibrium. Temp is high in tank at 84f. Light in the 30 to 40 par at substrate. Ei dosing. Once a week wc.

Any suggestions. ?


Henry Tomassini
www.theplantedaquariumstore.com
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[Gerryd]

Hey Henry,

Give me a call at home...want to talk cars.... good stuff for you, no worries...

Yes, sounds like diatoms...I know my ottos did an excellent natural job of this in little over a week and I had it BAD, all over 40 anubias plants, etc.

All over my new 57 and 304 of them did away with it in several days...

You redid the substrate, yes? Well, is close to a new tank cycle

[Htomassini]

Here are pics taken today. So I had to cap the MrAqua soil with black gravel as all of my fish (with the exception of the ottos, rainbows and sharks) have been sifting the substrate so much that they have been clogging my filters with the ground up substrate. I had this problem before with the ada stuff till i capped it with gravel. Should have remembered this when I redid the tank. I am running 2x 80w hot5's on the tank. Mosses never made it with temp in the 83-84 range. I am growing out the blue JD's to take back to the store, when Miryam got them they were too small for anyone to notice. High temp, good GH and good protein food 2x a day makes fish grow out well in my tank. Also note the two GEO's.

Wish crypts would grow quicker....

[Htomassini]

On a side note, I fixed the issue I had with my camera a SONY NEX3 with the 18-55mm lens. I used to get a lot of distortion at the corners of the tank ( fish eye lens). So in searching for a macro lens to use at the store, I read that this is an issue with that lens. So I have been using the 35mm macro lens and it gives excellent shots. Note that the lines of the tank are perfectly straight. I can see why people on forums have said this is a great all around lens.

(btw I am far from an amateur photographer. I am only learning this stuff as I go along, so please feel free to educate me!)

[kiwi tom]

man thats a pile of otos!
nice tank!

[Htomassini]

Thx. Now I need it to grow out.

Yup. And it's cool that they will school and swim in a shoal


Henry tomassini
www.theplantedaquariumstore.com
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[Htomassini]

Here are the lates pics. Playing with the right camera settings seems to be my biggest challenge. I am experimenting with aperture and wb trying to get the most natural looking pics without photoshop.

I am dosing ei daily, co2 at approx 21ppm, main lights of 40par at substrate on for about 10 hrs. I still have have some brownish dust on anubias that the ottos are not touching. I can rub most of if off the leaves though. If I could get that squared away, ill be happy. btw, the fish stress at higher co2, so this is the limit. I have not tried dosing with excel. I have since added swords flanking the sides and trying out some cardinal plants. I have increased the lighting from 2 80w hot5 to 4. The lights are 12" above tank. I also run 2 Ecoxotic magenta/white led strips to add some color, they produce 2-4 par at substrate so I have these on before the main lights go on and after.

[Gerryd]

Henry,

You got some great fish there my friend..

A suggestion or two...

1. Your c02 limitation may be forced by insufficient 02. I know you have a sump and skimming, but you also have a nu-clear canister which will retain c02. You also have some big beautiful fish... Perhaps a small powerhead or one of your loclines for some surface ripple during the c02 period? This may enable you to push the c02 a bit more...I know this was one of my issues lol

2. Perhaps a bit more light to get the plants growing a bit faster? Once growing well, I find is easier to back off light and slow the growth.

I love your fish. They are so big compared to mine, it cracks me up! And the colors are gorgeous...

[jerrybforl]

Those are some really nice fish you got there Henry! I used my Magnum 350 with a micron cartridge in it plus ottos to solve my diatom issue. Haven't had a problem in months!

I think another issue with your CO2 is that you don't have enough plants in there. I would also point your loclines more toward the surface to get a nice ripple. Maybe a little heavier lighting will help some as well.

You have a nice piece of manzy in there, but to me, it looks too centered. Maybe slide it to one side or the other, and use a smaller piece on the opposite side to accent it. Just my two cents.

One last thing...just keep doing your 50% WCs, and the diatoms will start to be less and less. Hope this helps...

[Htomassini]

Thanks gents. Well I no longer have the nuclear.

I have a new eshopps wet dry with two bio areas

I run a magnum for polishing
I also run a fluval fx5

I have some surface ripple

I have increased recently (about 2 weeks ago) my lighting and I do have less diatom.

Discus can be known to stress over co2. Remember I run my tank at 84f so at that temp o2 concentration is lower. Also all my plants are slower growth so they will never pearl like fast growing stems or ground cover.

Anubias are growing a leaf a week so I guess that's pretty good.

I think I will run two more bulbs on the lamp and see what happens.

I can't move the wood because of the braces. The wood rises out of the tank btw

Also it would require breaking the tank down to take the wood out. It was screwed toghether in placed.

It was a pain getting it there.

One of the things that's helps a lot is good water flow during day.

Let me know on suggestions.




Henry tomassini
www.theplantedaquariumstore.com
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