Oh boy. So new at this. Fuzzy/strands from plants

no2 is an issue if it it present. It is highly toxic to fish, and indicated your tank is not cycled. I would recommend frequent large water changes until you see nitrite drop to zero. Once this happens, and you see them stay at 0 without any further water changes, you are good. After that, weekly 50% WCs are standard.

well I smell some issues, I recommend u go through old threads

Probably is algae of some sort but first we need to know what is going in your tank. Lights, fertilisation and filtration etc. Getting your plants to grow healthy is the first step to success.
Second thing, don't bother trying to change your pH, it creates more problems than it solves. Just leave it where it is, most fish and plants aren't too fussed with pH as long as it isn't in the extremes.
As Sohank said NO2 is pretty bad and is probably hurting your fish, and it means the cycle in your tank isn't complete. The advice he gave was good. Also, NO3 is not the devil. Plants need it as 'food'. Don't have it in levels that are too high, but you don't want it to be at 0 either.


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The ludwigia repens is fine. It's just ditching its old leaves, and you can already start to see new ones coming in.

When java fern is the only plant in a tank that is taking on algae, I usually assume that that's because it's getting too much light. Java fern is a a slow growing plant that belongs in lower light or in shade.

sohankpatel said:

no2 is an issue if it it present. It is highly toxic to fish, and indicated your tank is not cycled. I would recommend frequent large water changes until you see nitrite drop to zero. Once this happens, and you see them stay at 0 without any further water changes, you are good. After that, weekly 50% WCs are standard.

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weekly 50% water changes is far from the standard. More like 50% water change once a month is more reasonable. 50% water change is overkill.

IntotheWRX said:

weekly 50% water changes is far from the standard. More like 50% water change once a month is more reasonable. 50% water change is overkill.

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50% is a good starting area, especially for the beginner. Please stop telling people that 50% water changes are not normal. Many members here do at least weekly water changes on their tank. No harm comes from 50% once a week, if I tried to do my tank once a month, it would turn into an algae ridden wasteland. 50% is a good area to begin with, and listen to your tank to tell you that its fine with once every two weeks or even once a month.

sohankpatel said:

50% is a good starting area, especially for the beginner. Please stop telling people that 50% water changes are not normal. Many members here do at least weekly water changes on their tank. No harm comes from 50% once a week, if I tried to do my tank once a month, it would turn into an algae ridden wasteland. 50% is a good area to begin with, and listen to your tank to tell you that its fine with once every two weeks or even once a month.

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I started this hobby less than a year ago. I am a beginner.

I went on this website and learned the rule to change 50% a week. I did so wanting to do the best for my tank. But I got lazy, and didn't change it for 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months.

But wait, my tank still looking fine, still looking good. I don't know why you guys are prescribing such a high maintenance water change rule that is off the charts waste of efforts. Change it once a month instead. It is still good.

peep my tank journal CAVE AND TREE to see