# confused and cant figure out why.



## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

Ok 55gallon tank lighted a by a coralife 48" 4x 65w (2 bulbs  and 2 bulbs ) the first two are on a photo period of about 9hrs and the second two are turned on rarely if at all).

Tank inhabitants are
3x Boesmani rainbows
2x Red Rainbows
1x Synodontis unk. sp.
1x Synodontis Ocellifer 
3x Keyhole Cichlid
1x loach
2x Flagfish

Fish are all happy and not appearing to be stressed at all.

Plant wise
large amount of Val both spiral and nana and rotala pink and an unknown moss.

Substrate is Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil

weekly 30% water changes using Amquel+ or Prime to Dechloramine.

Problem is this.

The tank parameters are fine, I keep testing them to track down the issue and nothing is out of wack BUT the ENTIRE tank has been taken over by what is best described as brown slime algae. Any new growth on the tank will be fine for a bit but eventually it too will be covered by a brown slime. The plants are all still growing (everything but the moss started out at approx 6-8" tall and was just trimmed back due to it laying over), but the tank looks like crap because everything is an unhealthy appearing brown.

There is no pressurized or DIY Co2 on the tank as I would like to get the problems fixed somewhat before I start trying to dump Co2 in to "fix" the problem. I dont add ferts and do nothing different to this tank as I do to the 15h or 20 and both of them are doing great (if a bit overgrown).

The 55 has always had issues in some form or another. I have NEVER been able to get it to look decent but what is confusing me is that the 20 and 15(the 15 has anubias flowering) are doing ok if not great but the 55 just looks like I threw muddy plants into a tank.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

You have about 2 watts per gallon, so you are near the high light category where the plants will try to grow rapidly, but you don't provide them with nutrients to allow them to grow. That usually results in unhealthy plants, and unhealthy plants usually lead to algae. If your 15 and 20 gallon tanks have similarly high light, with no nutrients, you have been very fortunate to be able to keep them looking so good. Rather than wait for the problems to be fixed before adding CO2 it would be much better to add CO2 and fertilizers to fix the problems.


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

Both the 15 and 20 are ignored mostly (Excel and flourish randomly if I think about it and remember to get it when I walk by), the 20 has about 4wpg and the 15 has closer to 5-6wpg.

The 55 may well be getting totally redone/dumped anyways, it has always had issues and I have never been truly happy with it. I have debated changing over to a few smaller tanks instead. It MIGHT be more work with smaller tanks but I seem to have better luck once they get going.


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## Carissa1 (Aug 25, 2007)

I agree with hoppy, start doing ei with the 50% water changes. If this doesn't fix it you can try co2 or cut down your lighting. Also I'm not sure what Amquel does to the nitrates....supposedly it detoxifies them, but maybe that's causing an issue? I've never used it and I don't know how it's supposed to work. I wouldn't use Amquel in an established tank, there's no need for it. If the tank is still cycling, use zeolite in the filter instead.


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

The amquel is for water changes to remove the Chlorine/Chloramine.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

If that brown slime algae is diatoms in its early stages, then you likely have too little light. Be careful when upgrading light though, a sudden burst of more intense light when switching over could make problems worse. You would need to gradually increase intensity and reduce duration if you upgrade to higher watts per gallon. I made the mistake introducing high intensity when I upgraded lighting without a gradual adaption for my 40 gallon and the algae(all kinds) jumped all over that mistake. I am still trying to recover from that mess.

You could always get a couple of otos and see if they try and feed off that brown slime algae. If they do, then it is a given that you have diatoms. As for ferts, I would go the PPS Pro route http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/pps-analysis-feedback/39491-newbie-guide-pps-pro.html rather than E.I only because given your plant mass and lighting PPS may be more suited. You could use E.I but it would require more tweaking, testing and fine tuning to adapt to your tank. If you don't mind doing that, I guess it is okay.

As far as C02 injection goes, that could never hurt and may help in your situation. Many people even use c02 injection in low tech, low light tanks without issues. Your plants will always benefit from any c02 injection. The only downside to c02 injection is that you have to ensure consistent c02 levels and may want to get a C02 drop checker for this purpose. Once you introduce c02, allowing c02 levels to greatly fluctuate can do more harm than good.


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## Carissa1 (Aug 25, 2007)

Adragontattoo said:


> The amquel is for water changes to remove the Chlorine/Chloramine.


It's probably better to use something that only removes chlorine/chloramine and doesn't mess around with anything else in the water chemistry.


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

Well the 50% (approx) water changes seem to be having a two fold effect.

The brown slime is going away but other kinds of algae are making an appearence instead.

The tank looks like it is starting to stabilize and turn the corner though.

From everything I can find it seems like my biggest issue now is the lack of ferts and needing Co2 on the tank (like others have said here). I will try to post a pic of it tonight or so and then as I keep working on it for anyone that is curious/interested.


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