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155 Gallon adventure.

3K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  kitten_penang 
#1 · (Edited)
This thread is going to be an on going thread about a 155g tank i've setup. The ups and downs of it's life and a tale of my achievements in reaching a solid look for this tank.

Tank Specs

155 Gallon (30% water changes every week)
20 Gallon sump (Eheim 2217 on the way)
8 t5 54watt 6500k bulbs (Light runs for 11 hours)
c02 Injected at 4bbs right now
DIY Defuser
eco complete substrate
driftwood
some plants
some fish
Seachem flourish and suppliments being added once a week, after water change.

It's been up and running for 4 months now. I had it cycling with danios for about a month, then I bought some substrate for it, along with wood. Water logged the wood inside the tank and did frequent water changes to remove the tannins which left after about a month. Then I bought a few plants and transfered some other ones from another tank. I had two flouresent lights going on this that were just to light the tank up till I bought the 8 light t5 fixture. Which now I currently have and the problems begin.

There was a small buildup of brown algae that I started to notice. After I installed the new light fixture which I've had now for about 2 weeks or so and keeping the light on for 11 hours and have co2 running. The brown algae is exploding it seems. It wasn't so bad before, when I had a few flag fish in there. However I took them out because they seemed to be beating up a few corys I had, so I put them in timeout. Now though, the brown algae is going rampant and I put the flag fish back in. This is where we stand.

This seems to happen to new tanks and I never really had a problem with it, but now that Its happening to my new big tank, it's very noticeable and getting on my nerves. Especially since I just spent money on new plants which are now being covered in brown algae.

I'll post some pictures today.

Scott
 
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#2 ·
is it brown alage? most newly set-up tanks experience "brown algae" known as diatoms. does it look like (and excuse the comparison) cinnamon? are you able to rub it off your leaves on your plants and easily wipe it off the walls of your tank??

also, what are you current parameters?
 
#3 ·
i think i have something like that but they are greyish.byron said it's normal algae. but it looks ugly on the leaves
 
#5 ·
wow ... it's really nice.like the twig like wood a lot
 
#8 ·
hmm.. we don't have that here. lucky you ^.^
 
#10 ·
wait why did it die =(
 
#12 ·
Update

So it's been roughly 1 month. I'm just going to post some photos on how the tank is coming along. The brown algae problem I was having has completely vanished now. Also there was a green algae bloom following the brown algae, and that has also vanished. There doesn't seem to be enough light in my tank. There is 8 x 54 watts, however the tank is longer then 48 inches and thats the size of the ballast. The light is more focused into the center and is not as bright on both ends of the tank. The plants aren't growing very fast. I haven't added any ferts yet, because I was trying to clear up the algae problem. Now that it's over i'm going to start fertilizing and crank the c02 up a bit.

Equipment added -
I've added a eheim 2217
I've added a fluval Fx5
I have a 38watt UV Tube i'll be adding to help kill unwanted pests and floating things.

Plants added-
Added a few swords to help eat nutrients

Fish added -
I've added 3 Flag fish
I've added 3 Large discus, and transferred 4 juvenile discus from another tank into this one, i have another discus that i'm currently medicating before I put into the tank. He's being dewormed right and he's almost finished his cycle.
I've added 10 Otto Cats
I've added 30+ Grass shrimp to help aid in left over food.


I cleaned the gravel alot to remove nutrients that were helping with the algae problem I was having and I had to remove some of the foreground grass that was there.

The water Quality is almost clear and there is hardly any debris floating in the tank.

I've been maintaining regular water changes, 30% water changes once a week, refilling the sump 10 5 gallons twice a week. Here are some photos, of some of the same spots that I posted before.

I want to start the planting foreground and take control of the lighting and the co2. Then I will be transferring cardinal tetras from the holding tank to this tank once I install this uv sterilizer.




 
#14 ·
new plants nice tank =) they got killed by the algae but at least you got rid of the problem
 
#15 ·
The algae didn't kill the plants; they had insufficient nutrients (no fertilization). The light must balance the 17 nutrients (CO2 is only one of the 17). To cite from Dr. Christel Kasselmann:

Always typical of natural waters with rich plant populations is the presence of all the vital nutrients important for growth. If even a single nutrient is missing or is present in insufficient supply it will, according to Liebig's Minimum Law (1855), constitute the one growth-impeding factor. In contrast to natural water, tap water contains many of the essential nutrients for plants--such as iron, potassium, manganese, sodium, etc.--in inadequate quantities or not at all. Other nutrient components, on the other hand, like nitrogen and phosphorus, are presently in mostly high concentrations. Therefore, it is occasionally necessary to add fertilizer to the aquarium water which contains all available nutrients for plant growth in a favourable combination. ... Finally, it should not be forgotten that nutrients are absorbed in different quantities and composition by ea=very plant species.

Algae occurs due to excessive light, nothing more. The limited nutrients (the organics in this case) were insufficient to balance the light and carbon and the plants could not use the light and carbon so algae did. While brown algae was probably normal, green should not be if the nutrients are balanced with the light for the plants. The lack of sufficient nutrients through lack of fertilization from day one was the sole cause of the problems. I explain this in the articles "A Basic Approach..." with respect to low-tech (natural) planted tanks, but the principle is identical in all planted tanks. Nothing changes except the quantities.

Byron.
 
#16 ·
=S not enough nutrient.the algae ate up all the plant food.poor plants.i founf the mopani wood.damm expensive. a Y shaped twig cost rm20 :shock: only a few inches long
 
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