Zoom's 38l Nano

Goody. I dosed the first 25ml this evening. Will carry on. Thanks....

You will "regret" advising on this thread... becaue when the next algae comes, I'm coming to you for advice on how to kill that one! It seems algae is a very good indicator as to what is short in the tank!

 

LOL.Should have seen that comming.You've got my number.

 

Lights have been on for 10 hours a day.
1 x 6,500k 8w
1 x 4,000k 12w
Both are CFL's, tube the same size as T2's, and not T5's.

This morning when I turned the lights on, I noticed the algae was HECTIC. It had COVERED the substrate in a thick carpet, as well as all the plants, glass and filter.

I have been dosing with the KNo3 as per Rudi's recommendation. I researched a bit on this algae, (BGA), and have found out that it runs rampent under 2 conditions that I KNOW I have. Lot's of ferts (I've been dosing with Prof's ferts) and low Nitrate. As there are no fish in this system, Nitrates will be low.

I did a huge water change again today. Added tank water from my community tank (which has 20ppm Nitrates). And have NOT dosed with any other ferts. The hair grass at the back seems so be growing very well. When I looked at the back of the tank, I noticed that this is because the hair grass roots have finally reached the PFP with Chemicult. So it looks like I'm getting there slowly.

I was going to start looking at putting moss in now, but I think I need to get on top of this algae first, because it can be an absolute pain to remove algae if it get's onto the moss as well.

I have also put the lights onto a timer, 7 hours!

Took out the 4,000K globe!

Holding thumbs.

 

Huge water change! What was that like 5L
Hope you get the algae under control, I sometimes think its the hairgrass because that
would be the first thing to get covered in this algae. But does not make sense.

 

Here are some picture updates.

Been dosing KNO3, but obviously OVERDOES too much, as I have an outbreak of GSA... but the BGA is still present. I am currently discussing with the Porfessor in another thread on how to handle this.

I may have to resort to putting fish in here to help with the balance.

 

What lights are you running now? Not sure how the hairgrass will do but I find that with mine if I use less W/G but for longer hours the algae is not that big a problem.

 

2 x 6.500K 12W CFL's, running on 7hrs p day.

I think my light might be too high, and thuse should either lower it, or add CO2

 

I think your lights is going high tech and the rest is staying low tech so CO2 might be your option.

 

Please go here to see the advancements I have made on my hood in order to put the CFL in the right way... i.e verticle and not horizontal.

This tank is still currently in blackout to get rid of algae. I just uncovered it for 5 minutes to put the new hood on, take the photo, and then recover it.

 

Hey. how about this for a external canister filter.
http://www.boyuaquarium.com/en_ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=257

 

I've actually seen one slightly bigger than this one in a local LPS store. It had the added benefit of a built in UV light. Was approx R450.00... so not too heavy on the pocket either! That actually might be a viable option... as soon as I know I am not going to tear this tank apart from "algae frustration".

 

Why not a small HOB like a Dolpin H100 ?

 

Could also work F-Fish.

I am however more inclined towards canisters. I just prefer them. Personal preferance. I have nothing against a HOB.

 

Yeah - I've never had a canister so not sure about he maintenance needs that they have ... how many fish are you planning on adding to the final setup? You could easily run some guppies or a Betta in that tank without filtration.

 

those boyu canisters are a waste . I have seen the small one that doesn't have uv for 200 . I was going to buy it but I first went on my phone to quickly read up on them . short story they are actually hob and will not work as a normal canister.

eheim classic is the way .
google nano canister filter . it brings up some brands we do and don't get , maybe dolphin can get you one .

I saw you had a filter what's wrong with it ? it looks similar to my via aqua, is it too powerfull?

o ye before I forget , is your light not a bit too high ?
you are using double the light of your tanks volume ie 2 watts per letre assuming your nano is 12l . don't shoot me for using a rule of thumb . but ! hair grass is not such a fast grower and thus does not absorb/utilize the nutrients as fast as you are dosing , thus excess of nutrients coupled with high light , algae will thrive . I would lower the light to 1 cfl . do daily 50 percent water changes and closely monitor ferts. my logic could be way of though!

if you want you could use some flourish exel , I know you use the profs stuff so try get happy carbo? just ideas.

cheers

cheers

 

Hi Brads,

I actually changed my lighting set up over the weekend. Go to http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=4062 to see it. It's the DIY hood reflector I did... but the hood was for this tank, so you will see the changes.

I'm down to 1 single 12 watt CFL. And the globe is about 3cm from the top of the water. I'm considering going Flourish Excel to add the CO2... just need to do a bit of research on the product.

Tank will be coming out of blackout this evening. Holding thumbs.

 

Florish excel adds carbon in a different form than c02.
There are some good threads on tasa about the product.

Tank looks good though,just take it slow is the lesson I
Have learned from my planted 2ft project.

Cheers

 

That little canister looks awesome, I'm actually looking for something more compact to replace my DIY canister that I made over a year ago.

How is the tank looking after the blackout though, any progress?

 

It's actually going VERY well. No Algae as of yet... on day 4 now since coming out of blackout. I've noticed some small shoots actually... just goes to show... put the globe in the right way, and things work out!

I can also attribute the algae not coming back possibly to the fact that I've chucked in 5 hungry guppies in there. (Feed them very little only once a day- and see them nibbling on the leaves and glass during the rest of the day).