Venturing Into The World Of Co2 And Fertilisers

[Turketo]

Hello fellow waterpet owners,

As I am very new to forums and fishtanks alike I'd like to introduce myself.

I started with a 2ft tank in Jan due to the fact I needed a pet, and am not allowed to have cats or dogs in my apartment, only recently I started running a 45gl aquarium, and more so recently started introducing DIY Co2 and Fertilisers. After some yellowing of foliage and epidemic scale algae outbreaks was advised to up my lighting. And typically, now that the lighting, co2 and nutrients are under control I have recently stumbled on the wonderful range of substrate available through ADA. So, once I sell one of my kidneys to afford it I will be venturing into that realm.

So, here is a pic of my tank as it is.

http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/3455/140ltrtankcm0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Housed within my glass backyard is a typical selection of fish. 5 silver sharks, 6 neon tetra, 2 emporer tetras, 1 pictus catfish, 3 gourami, 4 Siamese algae eaters, 3 loaches, 5 cherry barbs, 1 sword and his 3 swordettes and 3 black skirts, and 1 homicidal red tailed shark.

My tank water yo-yos between 6.8 - 7.0 ph as the co2 levels fluctuate. I use a dual 30w fluro lighthood with power glo and an aqua glo bulbs. And for filtration I am using a fluval 305 with Biochemzorb, Glass noodles, zeo pad and zeo lite shards, and filterwool.

My plant selection has dwindled down to blue stricta and java fern (QLD lace) which suits me fine as most plants in the Nation's capital are either hideously expensive, or lookin like they are about to check out.

So, I believe that should bring you up to speed.

[Turketo]

Sorry, I got so hung up in saying hello that I forgot to actually pose my issues.

I am assuming that 60w to 140 litres is edging on the lower light conditions, could someone suggest some plants that do well in low light tanks?

And secondly with all the waste from my fish and woodrot creating nitrates would it be wise to introduce a nitrate/phos remover like green X to my filter?

And finally, my stricta is developing little brown dots which I originally thought were diatoms, but after relocating and trimming two of the plants yesterday noticed that they were actually burnt into the green leaf with little yellow halos? I asked my local pet store guy, and many others but with the local knowledge once you go into Co2 introduction and fertilisers you are definately entering uncharted waters.

Which is why I am here.

Regards,

Turketo

[GoGuppy]

G&#39;day Turketo</span>

Welcome to the forum and it&#39;s a very nice set up you&#39;ve got.

Given you&#39;ve only recently got yourself a larger tank and have already experienced the &#39;joy&#39; :rolleyes: of rampant algae growth and the like, you may also by now be aware that things take time to settle down in an aquarium and you can&#39;t just go ahead and rush things.

If you can manage to keep the pH around 7.0 (that is neutral) that would probably be the best for the selection of fish you have, as the tetra&#39;s like the water to be slightly acidic to neutral, whereas the mollies, swordfish and barbs like water that is between neutral and slightly alkaline. Maybe add a small amount of crushed sea shell in an old nylon sock
to your filter to increase the kH (alkalinity) a little, but keep up the CO2.

As far as adding a nitrate or phosphate remover to your filter, I believe that the biochemzorb and zeopad already carry out this function (but I am not 100% sure on this). Have you asked your LFS to analyse your water, just take a small amount there in a clean container (thoroughly rinsed with tank water prior to adding the water to be tested) and they should be able to tell you if you have a nitrate problem.

The other way of getting rid of XS nitrates is adding more fast growing plants, they&#39;ll gobble up the fish waste.

As far as the lighting is concerned, your level is possibly on the low side, but if you increase the light level too much you could end up once again with an algae problem. It&#39;s all about getting the right balance between lighting level & duration, CO2 levels in the water, alkalinity and fertilisation levels. Too much of any one of these parameters and you&#39;ve got an algae accelerator on hand. :ohmy: .

As I said above, take your time and make minor changes at a time, ideally one at a time, and see how you go. Oh, anubias are excellent low level light plants, but they are also slow groing plants. Fast growing plants include Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis), Water fern (Ceratopteris thalictroides) and Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum).

The following link http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/plants...tting%20up.html (http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/plants/randall_Setting%20up.html) leads to an article by Karen Randall that may be of interest to you.

Good luck and let us know how you go.

Cheers