My 45 gallon breeder was having issues with string algae. Still is after a huge clean up, although not as bad or fast. However now my plants aren't really growing either... I dose All-in-One fertilizer from ACoOp and maybe I need to do it everyday? I just dose it whenever. I haven't done a water change in a while, but I have never seen this in my time in the hobby.

My problem: Ive had this tank for over a year now and I can just NOT seem to get any plants I put in here to grow. They all stay so tiny and get overrun with hairstring algae and diatoms

Specs:
40 gallon tank with driftwood and slate
Substrate is seachem flourite black
- Limnophila Sessiliflora
- Bacopa
- Java Fern
- Pearlweed
- Christmas moss
- Floaters are Hornwort and Duckweed
- Potted Pothos hanging on edge of tank

Tank is only stocked with ramshorns and neocaridina currently but I want to get fish

- Photo period is exactly 6 hours daily
- Has a heater but its unplugged and currently not in use so tank is around 68-70F
- Amm and Nitrite are both 0
- Nitrates are less than 20ppm
- dGH is about 7-8
- dKH is about 4-5

I dose weekly with 2 pumps of APT complete. I used to include Seachem Flourish (not excel) in weekly dosing but stopped due to algae issues

This tank went through a lot of recurring problems with hairstring algae growing just everywhere (plants, driftwood, on the glass and filtration). I reduced the photo period from 8 to 6 hours and stopped dosing with any kind of ferts. This seems to have helped but now I cant get the plants to grow still.

This tank also used to have Water Sprite and Ludwigia but both died and could not survive the algae. I have a few sprigs left im trying to propogate in my shrimp breeder. I replaced both with the Limnophila about 4 months ago but its had very little growth in that time.

Any advice is appreciated that doesnt involve CO2.

Im wondering partially if maybe I need more substrate? Like if there isnt enough for roots to hold? Or if I should be using more root tabs? Or if maybe what I need is fish to increase nitrate levels. Im scared to start dosing higher with the APT or Flourish/increase the photo period back to 8 hours because of the algae. I have Excel on hand because I used it to try and kill the algae, but it just made the issue rebound worse. Its also not shrimp safe in higher doses so I can only use it very sparingly.

New to CO2 and want to start using it for the first time, is this a good system and what would you change on it? Thank you all so much

Came with iron weights, does that mean it can’t be planted?

Edit: The paragraph that was here was supposed to be deleted, instead I was going to ask for plant recs if anyone had any suggestions, especially emersed plants. The back section is only 4in tall at max.

I feel like the co2 from the diffuser is going straight up and not reaching where it has to, what should i do? should i change the filter/filter location? if so, i'd have to move my light forwards - would that affect my stem plants? I feel like the water is near stagnant towards the right side of my tank as well.

Saw my single shrimp ( dunno the kind but it's white and big ish ) struggle walking against it in some areas. Is the current too strong?

My most simple scape I have made and probably my favorite. Additionally, it is the lowest maintenance of all my tanks.

Stocked with only Celestial Pearl Danios, Pumpkin Neocaridina Shrimp and Ramshorn snails.

I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank that has lots of plants, a large piece of driftwood, aqua soil capped with sand and a sponge filter. I had a hang on back filter but recently replaced it with a sponge because the water current was too strong for my shrimps and pygmy spotted rasboras. I saved the filter cartridge and shoved it behind the sponge filter to help keep the bacteria going.

I was using bottled spring water but recently switched to using well water from the sink. At first I was having a problem with nitrites and nitrates but the pH seemed fine. The last few days the pH keeps crashing down to 6 and I assume lower. The nitrites nitrates and ammonia are all reading 0. Today I added some aragonite substrate in a mesh bag to try and bring the pH back up but I don't understand what is happening. We have lost 2/8 cherry shrimp but the rest seem like they're on the brink.

I read not to use any sort of "pH up" additives. What should I do? There were a few Indian almond leaves in there but I took them out. The well water has 0 nitrites and nitrates and a relatively high pH. I've added conditioner. I was adding extra bottled bacteria to try and speed up the sponge filter getting established. The nitrites were .25 and the nitrates were 5 but all of a sudden they're all 0 with the super low pH.

Any ideas?? Did I crash my whole tank? I'm rather new to this and I just don't understand what is happening. The tank was fully cycled before I changed the filter to sponge.

I'm just so worried and don't want to lose anymore of my creatures.

Hi all,

I’ve had black beard algae (BBA) and hair algae in my planted tank for about a year now. I’m trying to decide whether to fight it in place or do a full restart, and I’d love your opinion on both options.

Tank

• 150 x 50 x 50 cm (about 375 L), open top, set up for about 2 years
• Filter: Eheim 2217 canister, cleaned every 2 months
• Substrate: organic potting soil capped with 5 cm of basalt split
• Flow: good as far as I can tell, but I don’t know if there are dead spots
• Livestock: Neocaridina red shrimp, Amano shrimp, kuhli loaches, hillstream loaches, galaxy rasbora, Pseudomugil luminatus and harlequin rasbora. I have a second, smaller tank where I can house them while I clean the main tank.

Plants
Blyxa japonica, Rotala indica ‘Bonsai’, Alternanthera reineckii ‘Mini’, Hygrophila pinnatifida, Staurogyne repens, Pogostemon helferi, Anubias (unknown species), Anubias barteri ‘Mini Coin’, Bucephalandra diabolica ‘Kedagang’, Bolbitis heudelotii, Hydrocotyle tripartita and Monte Carlo (which grows vertically instead of carpeting).

Lighting
3 cheap LED floodlights (not aquarium lights), 6000 K, non-dimmable. Photoperiod is 5 hours. I suspect they’re not ideal for a 50 cm deep tank.

CO2 / ferts / maintenance

• CO2: 5 hours a day, starting 1 hour before the lights come on and stopping 1 hour before they go off. My drop checker is usually a little blue.
• Fertilizing: none at the moment
• Water changes: 40% once a month

The problem
BBA and hair algae on the glass, plants and hardscape, for about a year now. I wipe it off the glass but it keeps coming back. A blackout did not help. I haven’t used any algae treatments. Photos attached.

My questions

1. Is this tank still salvageable, or would I be better off starting over?
2. If I restart, how should I clean and sterilise everything: hardscape, substrate, filter media, canister, tubing and glass? Which methods actually kill BBA and hair algae, and how long should things dry or soak?
3. Which plants are worth keeping and dipping, and which are better replaced? Do the Anubias, Bucephalandra and Bolbitis with BBA on the leaves have a chance?
4. What is the most likely root cause (nutrients, CO2, light, flow), so I don’t get the same algae again after a restart?
5. Any tips for moving the fish and shrimp to the small tank and back, without exposing them to treatments?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Plants, shrimp and fish are all growing well.

T. gracile

Hi everyone, I’m new to this hobby and started this tank yesterday. What do you guys think about it and do you have any tips and tricks for me?

Hi everyone,

Still relatively new to this and I'm currently dealing with a tough algae outbreak in my planted tank and could use some advice on how to get it under control.

Tank & Lighting Details:

- Tank Volume: 58 gal, 100 cm x 40 cm x 53 cm height.

- Light: Chihiros WRGB II 90 cm, currently running at 70% intensity on blue and red, green is at 50%

- Photoperiod: 6 hours

- CO2: Injected via inline (2bps, not sure if my drop checker is correctly placed).

- Filtration: Fluval 307.

-Fertilizer: Azoo Plant Premium

The Problem:

As you can see in the photos, there's a heavy growth of algae tangled all over my java ferns, mosses, and hardscape, along with some algae on lower-light plants like Anubias.

I recently lowered the light intensity to 70%, but the hair algae is still persisting and suffocating some of my slower-growing plants.

Current Livestock:

- Cardinal tetra, black neon tetra, otocinclus, cherry shrimp, rainbow fish and pearl gouramis.

Thanks in advance!

Is there anyone that would be willing to sit on a phone call (teams etc) and answer some questions I have about how to setup a successful zero tech tank I have everything in the post and will be starting on Saturday but am a bit unsure of a few things and it's hard to get definitive answers researching online, I'm based in the UK for time reference, im doing a walsad/father fish hybrid

Beginner in this. I have planted aquariums doing fine without CO2 I don't want to pass this deal up that's all. My question is, is this worth it for 40 bucks. My tank is 30 gallons

It’s a relatively fast growing stem plant, under lower lighting the leaves were more thin diamond shaped, and under higher lighting they’ve gotten bigger.

I’ve had this lovely Anubias for about 4 years now. It’s my favorite plant but recently it’s developed these holes in several of its leaves :( Does anyone know the cause? Is it a specific nutrient deficiency? Not enough light?

I have a leaf growing baby leaves …. The “mother” leaf has stopped decaying and there are 4-5 new baby leaves….
How does this happen? And has this happened to anyone else?

I have H. pinnatifida in my low-tech planted tank. I have high light but very few algae problems and use an airstone to supply oxygen. The plant’s leaves are beginning to turn red and I’ve also been dosing with potassium on a schedule to keep it happy. I angled my canister filter’s output nozzle to hit the plant but some of the old growth is slowly melting. Is the flow TOO strong? Google says it likes high flow but I’m not sure how much is too much.

Sorry for the dirty glass. Best pic I could find.

I see one or two of these out during the day. If I shine a flashlight on my tank at night then I see bunches more. They mainly seem to stick near the bottom but they will occasionally go up all along the glass.

Assuming it is planaria, are there fish that would eat these? Used to have goldfish in this tank and they kept it pretty clean. I can't put them back because they'll eat my little mollies.

I've had two Zebra's in my 25L Walstad for a couple of months now, I added some front-planted grass and this one (Swinub) is obsessed with getting into the different clumps and hanging out in there, but it is disrupting the roots so it's a bit frustrating! Any ideas? They've not shown this behaviour with other new plants and the other Zebra (Swinot) has shown no interest.

Shrimplet zooming through for added flair!

Can't wait for it to grow in and add the first residents! Only have to figure out how to stop the wood from tipping over even though it has already been 20 days... Rookie mistake for thinking one big rock would keep it from floating.

Also don't like the way the wood cuts off like that on the left but loved the whole too much to have it matter. Maybe the moss will start to cover it up a bit.