New method(?) to start up an algae free tank without any water changes or work(really

[jazzlvr123]

nope the aquasoil is nutrient rich enough, once I add water in a couple weeks i am going to start dosing macro and micro fertilization (probably pps classic) and add compressed co2 right from the get go To avoid any nutrient imbalance/algae growth. I also have a cycled cannister filter which i am going to move to this tank once i add water so I can avoid any new tank symptoms.

[cookingnerd607]

Mine looks bad.

Im going to give up soon. I cant figure out what the problem is.

Some spots grow.. other spots... turn to mush.

[fishscale]

WOW. that grew a lot faster than mine did. Mine went through an adjustment period before it started growing.

[cookingnerd607]

Yeah, Im completely jealous. Ive got very little growth with mine. Im really close to ripping it up.

[trfjason]

My HC in emersed setup is growing, I mist the plants twice a day, light is on for 12 hours, using a 15W 6500K screw-in. The problem is that some HC leaves turned yellow and some of the veins remain green. The light is less than 15cm from the plants. However there is a lid covering the container with a small hole. What causes the yellow leaves?

[fishscale]

To be fair though, I only have SMS, not aquasoil, so I have to DIY up some fert mixtures every once in a while. Finally got my camera working again, there are some pics in the journal I just posted:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/ph...tml#post484474

[cookingnerd607]

Mine looked like that. Now alot of the patches are brown mush.

I checked this morning and noticed 3-4 stems of growth where I planted single stems. Hopefully it comes thru!

[fishscale]

Mine already went through the mush stage, they're spreading now. Excel is key. Try it.

[cookingnerd607]

Yeah, Ive sprayed excel too. Ill keep at it.

[plantbrain]

Do not add too much Excel, it'll kill if you OD it(spray or submersed dosing).
Do not breath it either. Get it in your eyes => blindness.
It's not water

Regards,
Tom Barr

[mistergreen]

Why are you guys using excel? Isn't air enough?

[Brian A]

It killed of all of the slime algae i had growing on the substrate. It also seemed to give my HC a little perk. I only sprayed it once and will again if algae comes back before it has filled in all of the way.

[fishscale]

I just add a capful to the spray bottle of water. It makes the leaves sparkle

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by fishscale

I just add a capful to the spray bottle of water. It makes the leaves sparkle

THIS IS OKAY, ADDING PURE EXCEL WILL ROAST ABOUT ANY AND EVERYTHING WITHOUT WATER DILUTION!

Use diluted Excel if you wish, it also works well if you have algae issues in a submersed tank condition, you do a large water change to expose the infected areas, spray with diluted Excel, 1:20 or so, then refill the tank.

You can and will burn plants if you use higher dosing.

It is far far wiser to use less and do so several times, than one big concentrated amount, folks that OD excel and kill their shrimp or fish are not following directions.

You do not need to do this.

Killing algae is not really the root cure anyway, adding enough nutrients/CO2 are for submersed conditions. Adding some Excel here and there as a spray at pretty diluted amounts is okay if needed.

Same for H2O2.

Use little, spare the plant.

Watch the algae, and see how little it takes to cause some death/change etc. Use about 75% that amount 2-3x instead. Excel will kill plants also if you keep adding more and more.

Also, airing out the tank every so often reduces algae etc.
Make a slight crack in the seal to let air in/out but no so much as to dry up your plants.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[mistergreen]

I hear the BGA plays a symbiotic relationship with plants eg Rice...
The rice plant depends on BGA to grow on top of the mud where BGA fix nitogen from the air and when they die, they release the N to the rice plant.

So I'm thinking it's good to have BGA in a emersed container.