# What Is The Problem With My Plants ?



## tat (Apr 10, 2011)

Hi,

I have a 300L tank running for one month now.
It's a planted tank, with aquasoil amazonia, 150W light and CO2.

All my plants are struggling, poor growth, and covered with a dark dust.

What do you think is the problem?
Thanks!

Tenellus:









Bleheri:









Anubia:









Anubia









Hydrocotyle:


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

That is diatom algae. It's indicative that your tank has not yet fully cycled. Once the tank matures a bit more this should disappear. It is also readily eaten by snails, ottos and plecos.


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## tat (Apr 10, 2011)

AaronT said:


> That is diatom algae. It's indicative that your tank has not yet fully cycled. Once the tank matures a bit more this should disappear. It is also readily eaten by snails, ottos and plecos.


What do you recommend?
Should I increase WCs? Add some sera nitrivec (liquid bacteria)? Just wait?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I second aarons comments and add that it can also appear in lowlight tanks as well which can happen if your metal halide light has a poor reflector.

You can do water changes and wait if it is due to being newly setup.


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## tat (Apr 10, 2011)

Zapins said:


> I second aarons comments and add that it can also appear in lowlight tanks as well which can happen if your metal halide light has a poor reflector.
> 
> You can do water changes and wait if it is due to being newly setup.


Hi Zapins,

I already have this algae, for 2 weeks now.
I also suspect of poor light, but since is a new setup, I am not sure.

I have 3x54W T5HO Jebo lights. In my opinion this chinese thing sucks, the light seems weak to my eyes, lots of shadows. I think they put some poor ballasts on this lightning systems.

Not sure what to do now. I guess is better to wait 2 weeks more, do WCs, and if diatoms do not go away think about switching the lights.

What you think?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

About time someone suggests to you that you need to increase the CO2 to the maximum tolerable level, increase your light to about 500 watts (5.5 watts per gallon), and add all the fertilizers that we know of in "good starting levels" so your plants have no choice but grow big and healthy. That is known as Estimative Index (EI). Many people use it and I hope someone will chime in with a cheerful suggestion.

I won't suggest that to you because I don't believe in it. 

Other than that - it'd be nice if you added water movement and filtration to your tank. From your description I see that you do not have any. Another nice thing would be to share the secret depth of your tank. The depth tends to have a mystic effect on the light penetration. "300L" reveals only that the tank is 300 liters. It could be 10 cm wide, 10 cm long, and 3 meters tall. Or it could be 3 meters long, 10 cm tall and 10 cm wide.

In short: Give some more information.


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## tat (Apr 10, 2011)

niko said:


> About time someone suggests to you that you need to increase the CO2 to the maximum tolerable level, increase your light to about 500 watts (5.5 watts per gallon), and add all the fertilizers that we know of in "good starting levels" so your plants have no choice but grow big and healthy. That is known as Estimative Index (EI). Many people use it and I hope someone will chime in with a cheerful suggestion.
> 
> I won't suggest that to you because I don't believe in it.
> 
> ...


Hello,

I have a JBL1501.
The tank has 120cmx50cmx50cm .
You don't believe in EI method? I know tons of people using this method with great success. In general I am big fan of tom barr, he has a great attitude on this hobby, breaking lots of myths and making our life easier


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

How many liters / hour does your filter put out?


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## tat (Apr 10, 2011)

AaronT said:


> How many liters / hour does your filter put out?


1400 l/h , but i don't have it on full power.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I would try it on full power.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

There are many ways of setting up a successful planted tank. I've used soil in many of mine with great success but I have also used ei and pps pro. It really just depends on your preference at the time. In all setups you must ensure that the plants get adequate light and nutrients. It seems that you have chosen ei as your method. For best results with any method you must stick to it and fix the problems as recommend.

Ad for the jebo lights, I used to buy jebo products but they are very low quality and break or burn out easily. Especially the lights. I have read of several people who bought jebo lights and they burst into flame or smoked while in use. Also, their reflectors are not very good. You should look for individual reflectors for t5 bulbs. When you look at the bulbs they should be so bright that they hurt your eyes to look right at them. 

You may be able to use the jebo lights though, you might have to swap out some plants to ones that need less light. Can we see more pictures of the full tank and lights and plants

One last thing, the brown algae is not an algae, it is a dinoflagellate. A single cell creature that does not carry out photosynthesis. It actively eats debris in your tank and if you wipe it off the glass it will swim back and reattach.


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## tat (Apr 10, 2011)

Thanks alot for your opinion.
I am not sure what is root problem of my tank, but I almost sure this Jebo lighs is part of the problem.

I can see that the light intensity is weak. And more strange each pair of bulbs consumes 80W, instead of 2x54W = 108W. This is a clear sign to me that something is not right with these ****** lights.

In your opinion, I might solve my problems, solely changing the lights? The brown algae might be related with low light environment?

Best Regards!


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Plants need a certain amount of light to grow, so if you don't think they are receiving enough light then you should upgrade the lighting or they won't be able to grow. 

It is hard for me to tell exactly if they have enough light or not, but judging by the darkness of your pictures and the condition of the plants it seems this might be the case. I've got a coralife fixture that is very dim by my eyes and it can't grow plants at all, so it isn't limited to Jebo products, although Jebo stuff is truly crap.

If you are looking for recommendations on lighting I have used AhSupply.com lights which are really good quality power compact lights (though they are not part of big a fixture). Their bulbs are pricey though so maybe look on ebay for those. Alternatively you can search for T5 HO lights on ebay. I bought a 4x54w fixture for about $100-130 a few years back and its extremely bright. Just make sure they have individual reflectors for each bulb and that the auction includes bulbs.

Brown algae, for whatever reason, seems to hate bright light. I'm not sure if the light kills it or forces it to hide in the substrate where you can't see it, but bright lights definitely seem to negatively affect it.


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