exasperated.

[aquabee]

Hey all. I got the Fluval Flora (7.9 gal) about 6-8 weeks ago. I used the substrate it came with and doubled the lighting. I have some dwarf baby tears and a narrow leaf sword. I'm doing CO2 twice daily with that lame CO2 diffuser the tank comes with. And over the past week, I've started dosing Flourish, Flourish Excel, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. I keep the lights on 8-10 hours per day.

The narrow leaf sword has been doing much much better, sending out runners with new daughter plants every other day or so. The dwarf baby tears looks a tad greener but is still recovering from the damage I think.

My problem is that there's still a ton of hair algae and other weird spotting algae that my oto doesn't eat. The Excel doesn't seem to touch the stuff, whereas others have said it kills off their algae in days.

Help. :( I want nice plants! Do I really need to add one of those crazy expensive CO2 diffusers?

[Tetranerd]

Too much fertilizer can feed an algae outbreak. And, its not uncommon on the first few months. Do not rush Grasshopper. Give it time.......and maybe less fertilizer for a while. (just my 2 cents)

[aquabee]

Thanks Tetranerd. I had the algae outbreak even before the ferts. What do you recommend I back off on? I'm doing nitrogen/phos/potassium once a week (the nitrogen because my bioload is too small to build up any detectable nitrate), flourish twice weekly, and excel every other day. Can you give me an idea of how much or how to fertilize? I'm feeling sort of lost, even after reading so many articles and forums, of what kind of routine to adopt. Thanks.

[photogdude]

Algae is almost always caused by to much light and not enough Co2

[aquabee]

Algae is almost always caused by to much light and not enough Co2

I was afraid of this. Looks like I'm gonna hafta spring for a "real" CO2 diffuser...

[Chef]

I would think even a modified diy would work on a nano tank. much cheaper

sent from the kitchen

[Tetranerd]

Algae is almost always caused by to much light and not enough Co2

Please explain this statement? I am not sure I understand the science behind it. Thanks

[aquabee]

I would think even a modified diy would work on a nano tank. much cheaper

sent from the kitchen

Do you have a particular method that has worked for you? I've read about so many different ways that my eyes are rolling in circles...

[aquabee]

Just discovered the GLA website... they have a pretty compact complete CO2 system for nanos (11g and under) for about $100. It's called the WaterPlant CO2 Set Premium. Comes with regulator, cartridge, cartridge stand, bubble counter, check valve, tubing, ceramic diffuser. Ordered it, should be in next week. Will let you guys know how it works out.

[sunkenmetal]

A tank that size do you really need C02?

[aquabee]

A tank that size do you really need C02?

See... that's what I said. Nothing else is working though. Algae is rampant and the plants aren't looking great. And they don't grow.

[sunkenmetal]

I am not a expert on anything. (well maybe a few things but nothing aquarium related.) But some plants do not grow fast. Maybe in an effort to make them grow faster to much light, Co2, ferts etc caused the algae. I have killed alot of grass in my back yard over fertilizing... Just a thought...

[aquabee]

I am not a expert on anything. (well maybe a few things but nothing aquarium related.) But some plants do not grow fast. Maybe in an effort to make them grow faster to much light, Co2, ferts etc caused the algae. I have killed alot of grass in my back yard over fertilizing... Just a thought...

You make valid points. I know the dwarf baby tears are slow growing, as is the crinum. But my narrow leaf chain sword finally started growing once I started fertilizing, and I'm doing the bare minimum fertilizing. The algae was there way before the ferts were purchased, and I barely do any CO2 cuz my system for it sucks (it's the cheapo one that comes with the Fluval Flora tank setup). I just want a nice lookin tank, ya know? It just looks crappy. And no one else I've spoken to is having the same problem so I'm not sure what's going on. I'm mostly fertilizing and CO2-ing to rule out the various causes of my plant stasis (aaaaaand there's the doctor in me).

[sunkenmetal]

well maybe start over but get more of the slow growing plants. Planted tanks take a while to grow in. I just stick with the easy plants for my shrimp tanks.

[aquabee]

well maybe start over but get more of the slow growing plants. Planted tanks take a while to grow in. I just stick with the easy plants for my shrimp tanks.

What are these "easy plants" you speak of? Only my crinum has been "easy" so far! And my tank is almost all slow growing plants to begin with.