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Steve Pituch · 06-28-2004, 05:10 AM

I have two tanks I would like some help with. I will explain the first now and if things go well will talk about the second one later. This first one is a seventy-five gallon tank. I have about 1.5 inches of soil/sand under about 1.5 inches gravel in this tank. This setup is about six months old.

Lighting: I have (6) 40W NO 48 inch tubes in a suspended hood I built. No metal reflectors, just flat white painted plywood. The tubes are 2325 lumens each, cri-84, 6500K Philips daylight deluxe Altos. The bottom of the tubes are 9.5 inches from the water, and I do not presently have a glass top on this tank.

Ferts: I presently use 10 ppm NO3 from KNO4, 1 ppm PO4 from KH2PO4, .2 ppm Fe from Flourish, and .2 ppm Fe from CSM+B, all twice per week with one 50 to 80 % weekly water change. I have 4 Siamese algae eaters, and about eight 1.5 inch long sheepshead minnows (local).

CO2: My pH is about 6.7 to 6.8. kH seems to be about 5.5 to 6.5. GH I think is about 20.
I get some green algae of the front glass and a little on some of the plants. The algae shows up more on the lighter green leaves. Plant growth is slow to moderate. I just cleamed the glass of the algae before the picture. The water is slightly green. I also have a slight biofilm on the surface that will not go away.

I must be doing something right as there is much less algae in this tank as is in my 125 tank. However, I would prefer less algae and a little more growth. What I think is Rotala indica is a bit scrawny, and growth of the crypts is extremely slow. I figured I was planting too heavily causing less light at the bottom so I have thinned out the plants a bit to get more light down below. I may have reduced the bioload too much as the algae is increasing. Before I had reduced the bioload the B. carolina , L. repens, and Cabomba grew quickly near the top of the tank but were shading the bottom areas too much. Part of my problem is aquascaping. I don't know yet how to grow enough of the tall plants without overdoing it and shading the low plants. My goal is a clear tank with little algae. The darker becketti looks pretty algae free and has been in the tank 6 months, but the lighter quick growing ludwigia has a lot of algae visible on the middle and lower leaves.

One of my problems is that the lighting is not the "standard bulbs resting on the glass top" arrangement, so I have never really figured out how high to hang the lights. I therefore do not know if the tank is a high light or low light tank. It always appears dimly lit to me. I don't want to go with a high light tank if less light will do. I have enough problems with deciding how much to dose anyway. It seems every time I reduce ferts or forget to fertilize the algae increases. So I have been hesitant to lower the lights for more intensity.

Any help on dosing and lighting and algae reduction is appreciated.

Regards,
Steve Pituch

06-28-2004, 05:10 AM	#1 (permalink)
Steve Pituch Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Corpus Christi, Texas US Posts: 542 iTrader Ratings: 0 Plant Points: 3850	Help with my 75 gal tank I have two tanks I would like some help with. I will explain the first now and if things go well will talk about the second one later. This first one is a seventy-five gallon tank. I have about 1.5 inches of soil/sand under about 1.5 inches gravel in this tank. This setup is about six months old. Lighting: I have (6) 40W NO 48 inch tubes in a suspended hood I built. No metal reflectors, just flat white painted plywood. The tubes are 2325 lumens each, cri-84, 6500K Philips daylight deluxe Altos. The bottom of the tubes are 9.5 inches from the water, and I do not presently have a glass top on this tank. Ferts: I presently use 10 ppm NO3 from KNO4, 1 ppm PO4 from KH2PO4, .2 ppm Fe from Flourish, and .2 ppm Fe from CSM+B, all twice per week with one 50 to 80 % weekly water change. I have 4 Siamese algae eaters, and about eight 1.5 inch long sheepshead minnows (local). CO2: My pH is about 6.7 to 6.8. kH seems to be about 5.5 to 6.5. GH I think is about 20. I get some green algae of the front glass and a little on some of the plants. The algae shows up more on the lighter green leaves. Plant growth is slow to moderate. I just cleamed the glass of the algae before the picture. The water is slightly green. I also have a slight biofilm on the surface that will not go away. I must be doing something right as there is much less algae in this tank as is in my 125 tank. However, I would prefer less algae and a little more growth. What I think is Rotala indica is a bit scrawny, and growth of the crypts is extremely slow. I figured I was planting too heavily causing less light at the bottom so I have thinned out the plants a bit to get more light down below. I may have reduced the bioload too much as the algae is increasing. Before I had reduced the bioload the B. carolina , L. repens, and Cabomba grew quickly near the top of the tank but were shading the bottom areas too much. Part of my problem is aquascaping. I don't know yet how to grow enough of the tall plants without overdoing it and shading the low plants. My goal is a clear tank with little algae. The darker becketti looks pretty algae free and has been in the tank 6 months, but the lighter quick growing ludwigia has a lot of algae visible on the middle and lower leaves. One of my problems is that the lighting is not the "standard bulbs resting on the glass top" arrangement, so I have never really figured out how high to hang the lights. I therefore do not know if the tank is a high light or low light tank. It always appears dimly lit to me. I don't want to go with a high light tank if less light will do. I have enough problems with deciding how much to dose anyway. It seems every time I reduce ferts or forget to fertilize the algae increases. So I have been hesitant to lower the lights for more intensity. Any help on dosing and lighting and algae reduction is appreciated. Regards, Steve Pituch