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hello,
this is my first post on this forum, though i have been lurking and reading for awhile. i'm having trouble with various algae types and need some advice. I have a 125g with a few (5) discus, 2 swords, some wendtii's & other crypts, 3 tiger lotus, some anubias barteri nana & coffeelia. I use DIY CO2 & excel. My substrate is a layer of laterite, then ecocomplete, then capped off with inert gravel. 320watts of T5HO lighting. I use RO water with Seachem Equilibrium, about 30 gallons every 2 weeks give or take a few days.
I have alot of driftwood, a large stump, 2 large pieces, and lots of branches for roots. (the branches i collected on vacation in the vermont mountains, along with some rock pieces i probably shouldnt have in there). the stump & large pieces are store bought. is there such a thing as too much driftwood? how do you tell if they are rotting? is this affecting my water quality? they are completely covered in green fuzz, hair, and everspreading cyanobacteria (excel seems to have no effect on the fuzz). the tank has been running for a little over a year & every few months i have to take all the wood and anubias out and scrub them. The swords started off as tiny little things and are now touching the surface, the wendtiis have gone through a melt or 2 (i guess from changing too much water at once?)
I have tried adding Octos and farowella a few times and they eventually die after a week or so, i cant find any SAE's locally, so the only algae eaters i have are MTS and pond snails.
what is a fertilizing regime that works? i have the seachem line, and all it seems to do is produce more algae. would adding alot more plants help? what about removing the driftwood permanently? my original goal was for it to look like a section of the amazon or something (yea i know the swords are the only south americans in there) but now i just want a stable tank. should i reduce the lighting?
i guess what i want to know is what would you do? (short of getting pressureized co2)
sorry for jumping around alot, but im completely frustrated.
thank you for any help! i dont want to go back to plastics! (my wife has been pressuring for saltwater)
Damon
this is my first post on this forum, though i have been lurking and reading for awhile. i'm having trouble with various algae types and need some advice. I have a 125g with a few (5) discus, 2 swords, some wendtii's & other crypts, 3 tiger lotus, some anubias barteri nana & coffeelia. I use DIY CO2 & excel. My substrate is a layer of laterite, then ecocomplete, then capped off with inert gravel. 320watts of T5HO lighting. I use RO water with Seachem Equilibrium, about 30 gallons every 2 weeks give or take a few days.
I have alot of driftwood, a large stump, 2 large pieces, and lots of branches for roots. (the branches i collected on vacation in the vermont mountains, along with some rock pieces i probably shouldnt have in there). the stump & large pieces are store bought. is there such a thing as too much driftwood? how do you tell if they are rotting? is this affecting my water quality? they are completely covered in green fuzz, hair, and everspreading cyanobacteria (excel seems to have no effect on the fuzz). the tank has been running for a little over a year & every few months i have to take all the wood and anubias out and scrub them. The swords started off as tiny little things and are now touching the surface, the wendtiis have gone through a melt or 2 (i guess from changing too much water at once?)
I have tried adding Octos and farowella a few times and they eventually die after a week or so, i cant find any SAE's locally, so the only algae eaters i have are MTS and pond snails.
what is a fertilizing regime that works? i have the seachem line, and all it seems to do is produce more algae. would adding alot more plants help? what about removing the driftwood permanently? my original goal was for it to look like a section of the amazon or something (yea i know the swords are the only south americans in there) but now i just want a stable tank. should i reduce the lighting?
i guess what i want to know is what would you do? (short of getting pressureized co2)
sorry for jumping around alot, but im completely frustrated.
thank you for any help! i dont want to go back to plastics! (my wife has been pressuring for saltwater)
Damon