Scrap tank I've grown to love.... 7/11 going low tech

[sewingalot]

I am not sure what you feed shrimp. They kind of freak me out. Look too much like bugs..... If you ever want to try Turface in a tan color, let me know. I can ship you a ton of it if you want to pay for shipping. I love the stuff, but you have to top it since it is light weight.

Yeah, spouses tend to frown upon too many fish purchases....especially when you forget to buy them something for the holidays, lol.

Suga Shack is chugging along, thanks for asking!

[fastfreddie]

Well, I swapped light fixtures on this tank:
FROM: 6700k 36w CF
TO: 24" Coralife 2x14W T5 NO with a 6700k bulb and a Colormax bulb.

I did not change the photoperiod of 5 hours.

In ONE LIGHT CYCLE, it was covered in light brown hair algae. That was about two weeks ago. I've upped the daily excel dosage, removed all of the algae I could, done extra water changes, and even threw away the algae infested Java Moss mat I was working on for months. The algae is still coming back.

I must have been mistaken in my thinking that 24 W of TF NO light would have been less intense than the 36w CF I was using.

Can anyone help? This is the first algae I've dealt with in this tank.

[sewingalot]

I had this problem switching over to T5 from compact flourescents. I am still battling some algae, not too much now. I ended up raising the lights four inches cutting back on the fertilizers (by half) for a couple weeks and that solved most of the issues.

[fastfreddie]

Thanks Sarah. At least I'm not alone... haha. Didn't you increase your light intensity a lot from the switch? Haven't really thought about decreasing ferts. I'm using EI and 50% weekly WC's. Are you using EI?

[CL]

There has always been something about wisteria that I love. You use it well in your tank. Awesome rubiks cube too!

[sewingalot]

Originally Posted by fastfreddie

Thanks Sarah. At least I'm not alone... haha. Didn't you increase your light intensity a lot from the switch? Haven't really thought about decreasing ferts. I'm using EI and 50% weekly WC's. Are you using EI?

I tried it when I switched to the highlights. I went back to PPS Pro after all the issues I started having with algae after two weeks with minimal dosing. I will try EI in the future, but for now, PPS works for me.

[fastfreddie]

Originally Posted by clwatkins10

There has always been something about wisteria that I love. You use it well in your tank. Awesome rubiks cube too!

Hey thanks! Good to hear from you. I love the wisteria too. It's one plant you never run out of. Buy it once and you get plants for life. I much prefer the way it looks compacted in a slow growing tank. In my higher tech tank, it grows too quickly and the stems become thick and tall like bamboo and the branches are far apart.

No tips on how to shake the hair algae?

Originally Posted by sewingalot

I tried it when I switched to the highlights. I went back to PPS Pro after all the issues I started having with algae after two weeks with minimal dosing. I will try EI in the future, but for now, PPS works for me.

Ah I see. Hey sorry I spelled your name Sarah instead of Sara yesterday. I thought about it when I typed it, and second guessed myself.

[sewingalot]

No problem. My mom actually spelled my name wrong a couple times.

[sewingalot]

*cough* update *cough*

[fastfreddie]

lol....Will update soon. I guess the tank finally got adjusted to the T5's, but I think I'm swapping for a 15 gallon, changing substrate, and getting some new stems.

Kind of bummed on this thing for now.

[sewingalot]

15 gallons are great. The few extra inches really make a difference. I am glad to hear the tank caught up with the lights, I am still struggling on that one.

[fastfreddie]

Well, I've stopped using DIY Co2, cut the lights to one 14 watt Normal Output T5, and I've cut my EI dosing roughly in half to accommodate the slower growth. I'm also not using excel anymore. I am still doing weekly 50% WC's.

As of now I'm not seeing any real plant deficiency, but I've only been on this low tech routine for about a month. I was expecting the wisteria to die down, but it hasn't yet. I'm not moving this to low tech forum, because I do still want to upgrade this tank to a 15 and give Aquasoil a try, but that may be a while. So, I'm still just working with what I have. I really have not put any money at all in this tank yet, so it's been a pleasure to watch it grow.

Let me know what you think.

[skinz180189]

I like how the tank looks, yet another source of future inspiration for me.

[Craigthor]

what type of java fern is that? looks great.

Craig

[hbosman]

The display at the museum looks great except they should have put that 50 gallon drum of Excel away.