orroo
11-18-2011, 02:32 PM
Hi guys,
I set up my first planted tank last week. It's a Juwel Rio 240 litre with 2x54w T5 bulbs.
I have an eheim 2217 external filter. The substrate is caribsea eco complete.
I filled the tank last monday, added a few white cloud minnows on the tuesday and left it for a few days to begin cycling. I added a few more white clouds on the friday (up to 10 now). I added a few beginner plants on Saturday morning. I'm not sure exactly what they all are, but I was assured
at the LFS that they would be ok in my tank.
Basically, after a week in the tank, the plants are all looking quite rough. I have a vallis which seems to be sticking it out, but I have some kind of ozelot and a crypt that are going dull in colour. The ozelot is getting brown spots on the leaves.
Basically, I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to why they are turning brown. My PH seems to be around 7.5, although the eco-complete packaging said that the substrate may buffer the PH for a short while and give incorrect readings. My ammonia is somewhere between 0 and 0.1 on the chart that came with the kit (I can't remember the units, but basically 0).
I don't have a CO2 setup yet - I was planning on getting a CO2 injection setup at the end of the month when I get paid (fish tanks are expensive!). I was thinking that a lack of CO2 in the tank is possibly preventing the plants from photosynthesising properly, rather than it actually being a problem with my light levels.
What I don't want to do is run out and get the CO2 setup, and it doesn't sort the problem out, or worse yet, encourages some kind of algae problem or something like that. Saying that, I think I'm right in thinking that adding CO2 shouldn't really affect algae levels...
Just wanted to see if the lack of CO2 was likely the culprit, or whether I'm overlooking something here.
A last bit of info - my lights are currently on for ten hours per day. That seemed like an average amount, given that most posts I've read, people have quoted from 8 to 12 hours.
Cheers thumbs2:
I set up my first planted tank last week. It's a Juwel Rio 240 litre with 2x54w T5 bulbs.
I have an eheim 2217 external filter. The substrate is caribsea eco complete.
I filled the tank last monday, added a few white cloud minnows on the tuesday and left it for a few days to begin cycling. I added a few more white clouds on the friday (up to 10 now). I added a few beginner plants on Saturday morning. I'm not sure exactly what they all are, but I was assured
at the LFS that they would be ok in my tank.
Basically, after a week in the tank, the plants are all looking quite rough. I have a vallis which seems to be sticking it out, but I have some kind of ozelot and a crypt that are going dull in colour. The ozelot is getting brown spots on the leaves.
Basically, I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to why they are turning brown. My PH seems to be around 7.5, although the eco-complete packaging said that the substrate may buffer the PH for a short while and give incorrect readings. My ammonia is somewhere between 0 and 0.1 on the chart that came with the kit (I can't remember the units, but basically 0).
I don't have a CO2 setup yet - I was planning on getting a CO2 injection setup at the end of the month when I get paid (fish tanks are expensive!). I was thinking that a lack of CO2 in the tank is possibly preventing the plants from photosynthesising properly, rather than it actually being a problem with my light levels.
What I don't want to do is run out and get the CO2 setup, and it doesn't sort the problem out, or worse yet, encourages some kind of algae problem or something like that. Saying that, I think I'm right in thinking that adding CO2 shouldn't really affect algae levels...
Just wanted to see if the lack of CO2 was likely the culprit, or whether I'm overlooking something here.
A last bit of info - my lights are currently on for ten hours per day. That seemed like an average amount, given that most posts I've read, people have quoted from 8 to 12 hours.
Cheers thumbs2: