TexasBetta

Greetings everyone. Im new to planted aquariums, and just wanted to say hi and ask for alittle bit of assistance. I currently have a Eclipse 3 that I'm starting minor planting in, it will house 1 betta being shipped from Thailand by the end of this week.

I use RO water or spring water, it has normal gravel substrate, and 2 medium, 2 small java ferns directly in the substrate. I also have 2 smallish/medium nana's on the way soon, although I might only put one in there.

I generally leave the light on 10 hours. It's the stock 8 watt fluoro bulb. The tank is heated at 79-80F. It currently has no fish. I used Hagen cycle to start it off and a pH 7.0. I've noticed small patches of algae growing on the substrate in some areas, and a little bit on the bottom of the glass. It's been running for about 5 days. The algae also seems to have taken a liking to some of the roots of the java ferns, as I see it growing on their roots in some cases.

Any way I can pre-emptively fight this algae before it starts to become a problem? I was thinking of maybe some Amano Shrimp, but am inexperienced in care for these. I was also considering a Zebra Narite snail, but again, am inexperienced.

Anyone give me some pointers? Should I add anything to the tank fertilizer wise, CO2? Also, I know my light situation is not ideal, and is a "low" light situation. Is there anyway I can bump this light up, without heating the tank anymore from it? And would it be beneficial? Well, thanks for your help guys, look forward to hearing from you all.

trenac

First of all don't plant the Java fern in the substrate, tie it to a piece of wood or rock. You can upgrade your bulb to a plant bulb if you can find one that small. You could put in a couple of Amano shrimp but they may become a snack for the Betta. Don't add any ferts intil the tank has been set up for four weeks, most than likely you want need to add ferts since you have low light and no C02. You can use Seachem Excel for a carbon source instead of C02. All new tanks get some algae so just give it time to seattle in. You may want to stick a fast growing plant in the tank to help with the algae for the time being, then remove it once your tank has seattle in.

Error

The RO water is probably not a good idea. It is deficient in many of the nutrients plants need to grow well.

If you're not going to use CO2, I wouldn't worry about fertilizers. Non-CO2 tanks have a much slower "momentum" (that is, speed of plant growth and nutrient processing, etc.) that leaves you leeway to forgo the ferts in favor of just letting the products derived from your fish food do the trick.

If you're going to stay with the 8 watt bulb, don't expect to have a great selection of species available for planting. The only things I've grown in light levels that low have been Najas grass, Anubias, and Java moss.

What is your water change schedule?