Hello OVAS

[bneloy]

HI All,

This is great to find a platform of like-minded people like this. I am new to Ottawa and in this country. My job brought me here and I am loving to be here.
Being a hobbyist for long time and it was hard when i dismantle my setup to come here. I had a planted discus tank and a planted nano tank (Full with red cherry shrimps and 5 neon tetras).
So I started a new tank here but there is no harm to say that I am failing to understand the water chemistry here.
My tank is a month old now, but I am not being able to control algae. My plants are not healthy, they are getting covered by layers of algae. Plants: Small Hairgrass (The thick one for carpet), Long hairgrass (in the corner of rocks), Anubias, Fern..

There are lots of chlorine in the tap water, so I am using water conditioner. I  am using DIY LED light. For substrate I have used Fluval. NO CO2 yet, as the plants I am using are not very CO2 prone.
Appreciate to get guidance from the experts.

Cheers
Neloy

[missavgp]

Welcome to Ottawa and OVAS.  Please share some pictures as well.

A couple of questions:
Which water conditioner are you using, how long are your lights on and at what height from the tank?

Ottawa water has chlorine and chloramine in it so you need to make sure that your water conditioner deals with both. I also found I was having an algae issue at one point and I needed to raise my lights to alleviate the problem.

[exv152]

Hi Neloy. Welcome to OVAS. Glad to see a new planted tank enthusiast. Can you provide more info regarding your setup? For example what size tank you have with dimensions, what type of LEDs you're using, how high above the substrate are your lights, and what fertilizers you are using if any? Pictures would also help. There are a few planted tank folks on the forum that will probably chime in.

[bneloy]

Thank you so much for your reply....

This is the tank I am having now. .. A layer of green algae has been cleaned this week end. But still you can see on the rocks.





And the nano setup I had earlier (with just a small fluorescent light) - plant were so lively


Appreciate any help from the experts..

[bneloy]

Some more information about the tank which were being asked

Size of the tank is - 25*12.5*17 inches - 20 US Gallon tank...

Light is - Fluval Full spectrum LED. Light is fixed just top of the tank...

[lucius]

I use to run a similar sized tank with a T8 bulb.  With that being said, your Fluval Full Spectrum LED might be too bright.  You can try raising it and/or reducing the light period.

[bneloy]

As per your suggestion I have reduced light timing a lot. I will update you on the progress.


Do experts suggest to use bottled water instead of tap water (of course dechlorinated)

I am a big fan of discus, but not getting any confidence after seeing the water condition here...

[wolfiewill]

Bottled water is not necessary if you use an appropriate dechlorinator. The city water is very soft: ~5 or 6 dTH so many of us increase the GH with Seachem Equilibrium to get between 4 and 6 dGH (it's about 3 out of the tap) - I do this for low and high tech tanks with good results for both. Many probably don't bother adding anything for low tech set ups, but potassium needs to be higher than the city water provides. But having said that I am not an expert on Discus, plants are my priority and the city water is terrific for almost all plants. I agree with others in that you may have to play with your lighting by raising the light and/or reducing the photoperiod to start. Typically, for a new tank, I'll start at 4 hours per day until I'm satisfied that the plants are rooted and fully utilizing the available nutrients (2 or 3 weeks depending on the plants typical growth rates), then I raise the photoperiod by a half an hour and wait a week or two 'till they respond to that level and gradually go from there. I usually max out at 10 hours per day but with the right set up I can stretch the lights-on to 12 or 13 hours. Oh, and welcome to the forum. We love to have more planted tank people. Cheers.

[exv152]

Unfortunately I can't see the pictures with this computer. But the full spectrum LED by fluval is quite bright, and being fixed just above a 17" tall tank, with substrate means the light is probably at a height of 13-15" above the substrate. That kind of light intensity should be balanced with co2 injection (not liquid carbon) and fertilizers. Otherwise, I would hang the light higher above the tank or put a screen on it that will lessen the intensity. The water chemistry in Ottawa is ideal for freshwater planted tanks and discus. I've kept discus and plants here with no issues. Lots of municipalities have much harder water, but most use chlorine and chloramine, this is a standard water treatment used in many North American cities, and should not be contributing to your algae issues. The other thing you can do is manually remove as much of the algae as possible, do some heavy 50% water changes at least once a week, add faster growing stem plants, increase the overall plant biomass, and that should help reset the tank somewhat.

[charlie]

Welcome to OVAS, how did you find us in www jungle?
Be sure to ask this question in the plant forum or maybe one of the nice moderators can help you split the thread.
You have received some good advice, but keep in mind a new tank is most imes go through the algae ritual, give it sometime & research the advice given.
Regards

[bneloy]

Welcome to OVAS, how did you find us in www jungle?
Be sure to ask this question in the plant forum or maybe one of the nice moderators can help you split the thread.
You have received some good advice, but keep in mind a new tank is most imes go through the algae ritual, give it sometime & research the advice given.
Regards

Thank you so much for your reply and I am glad to have your suggestions. There is Google to search like minded friends and forums so it is not very difficult to find you guys. And ofcourse after getting this forum it gives lots of confidence when I get advice from the experts.

[bneloy]

Unfortunately I can't see the pictures with this computer. But the full spectrum LED by fluval is quite bright, and being fixed just above a 17" tall tank, with substrate means the light is probably at a height of 13-15" above the substrate. That kind of light intensity should be balanced with co2 injection (not liquid carbon) and fertilizers. Otherwise, I would hang the light higher above the tank or put a screen on it that will lessen the intensity. The water chemistry in Ottawa is ideal for freshwater planted tanks and discus. I've kept discus and plants here with no issues. Lots of municipalities have much harder water, but most use chlorine and chloramine, this is a standard water treatment used in many North American cities, and should not be contributing to your algae issues. The other thing you can do is manually remove as much of the algae as possible, do some heavy 50% water changes at least once a week, add faster growing stem plants, increase the overall plant biomass, and that should help reset the tank somewhat.

Thank you so much for such encouraging comments. I agree the intensity of fluval is quite bright but at the same time the fluorescent bulb was also not good.
So I made the lighting period short and am observing the result.
I am not going to introduce any discus soon in the tank until I will not 100% confidence on my water condition...

Thank you again.

[Stussi613]

I kept Discus in a 135g planted tank for many years in Ottawa, as have many other hobbyists.  I would generally just treat my water with Seachem Flourish and dose with Seachem Excel.  I did not have a high tech setup and my plants did not require any CO2, but I know of several people on this forum who were very successful with high tech setups and Discus.

I wouldn't be discouraged about keeping Discus in planted tanks based on the water in Ottawa, most of the fish you find here are from the aquarium trade and not wild caught so they are somewhat acclimated to the water here by the time you get them...and as others have said the water quality here is conducive to excellent plant growth.

[exv152]

I agree the intensity of fluval is quite bright but at the same time the fluorescent bulb was also not good.
So I made the lighting period short and am observing the result.
I am not going to introduce any discus soon in the tank until I will not 100% confidence on my water condition...

Just a quick note on this point, light "intensity" and "duration" are not the same thing.  All plants need a min intensity to grow, but high intensity even for a small duration can still cause algae. In my experience it's a lot more affective to keep a normal light duration (say 8 hrs) but decrease the intensity to get control of the algae. Just my two cents.