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Hello everybody im opening this topic since i cant get rid of the algae and im getting a little tired of it

I have a Juwel Rio 350 liter
3x onex daytime 2x colour 1x plant
At 100% 186 par at the bottom (tank is 66cm high)
I have a 1.5 hour build up and 1.5 hour build off 5 hours full light (90% atm because of the algae)
I moved the timing a little earlier yesterday since i tought it may be on to late (22:00) and not getting enough fully darkness for the plants to recover so it goes out now at 20:00

My co2 goes on 2.5 hour before lights go on and half an hour before lights go out
Ph drop of 1.4-1.5 (dropchecker 30mg/l limegreen/yellow)

Filtration: tetra ex 1500, oase biomaster 750 thermo (both with a spraybar creating a roll over), eheim skim 350 and a marine 6000 wavemaker that goes on every hour for 5 minutes (from 12:00-20:00) to distribute loose dirt so the filters will suck it up and keep the plants more clean

Waterchange 50% a week on monday with only RO. Apt sky to a gh of 8

For fertz i use Apt E dosing 6ml a day (keeping the no3 stable trough the whole week from the strategy of Dennis)
I have tried higher dosing aiming at 20mg/l no3 to now leaner dosing.

My plants are not super healthy. The fast growing stems have healthy tops but bad old growth. Even when replanting the healthy parts they turn out the same way.

They are also not as deep red as they should be with 186 par and look like they lack light in the bottom of the tank. My theory is that the 66cm depth is filtering a lot of the spectrum especially red.

The soil is now 3 months in the tank and is 4 months matured if you include priming the soil in a big bucket for bacteries (darkstart)

I had algae before the soil change and still have it now. I tought the soil would be the cause.

I dont know what else i should try or what could be the problem

Thanks in advance for your help and reading this big text

I feel i need to do a journal so I have a internet calendar on what's happened or Ill forget lol! This is now 4 months back into the planted tank world and I'm happy to be back yet lost on true aquascapingI I have a current 29g as a farm tank for future builds going. zrdr 4l co2 bought locally full setup for 40.00, 29g free. A 20long I just bought with metal stand, hygger decent new led light.new heater. few foam bubble filters, ar a nice dual air pump. some new stratum about 16lbs , tons of good food, etc etc and 6 live plants crypts, swords, anubis about 30 stems of rotundifolia 12" tall for 85,00 it was a decent deal with what is came with , I thought!
Original plans was a 29 and 20 long. Well 3 weeks forward to 3 days ago picked up a free 36 bow front with stand, foods.heater, some dragon stone, bubbler all working freeby deal of the year for sure! The tanks pretty clean, some light hard water stains lll razor blade off very clean. Did come with about 35lbs stratum and blk rocks mix.

I threw substrate in tank after light rinse. LOL it went to pitch blk even after 2 big filters with filter floss still blk water after 36 hours later its muck now the stratum is crap imo other than deeper substrate to cover up with build. I have no clue on any age of the stratum 2 months or 5 years no info was free on side of road literally. I decided today to dump the stratum its a dam mess! may strain the stratum with my several size buckets to strain out small materials away from the blk gravel and use it with eco!? Just got 2 20lb bags of eco complete for 55 shipped my 2005 go to, easy no breakdown and same cost as bulk gravel from pet stores in the end.
I Would do the blk blasting sand its cheaper but don't want all sand and in end as I still do some gravel clean monthly oops.. The eco complete last imo forever I have 20 year old eco now in tank. Yeah its inert but still whole rocks. I"Ill be posting many pics of the my dry scapes holy hell! And more as it goes. Its been 19 years since I've done a planted tank def not a newbie just don't remember as much as I did and things have changed any help appreciated for sure! Joe burr has been help sure thanks dutchscape god!

Posted few pics of old tanks 19 years ago when I didn't know what an aquascape was lol no co2 just dry ferts, metride 14 and power compacts it worked! algae was very null. Im calling my new tanks the cheap skape 20 and now 36g the freebie. I usually try to go cheapo as I can get Im not rich rather spend 30.00 on steaks at home than 30.00 on stems lol. I'm mr diy I only buy what I cant build usually.

Official BurrAqua.com Plant List

Here youll find premium, submerged-grown aquarium plants in pristine condition. Grown in my own personal aquariums just like yours. All grown fully submerged. The plants you get will look just like the pictures

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FREE SHIPPING with $75+ orders! (after sale price)
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To place an order:

• ScapeCrunch members just shoot me a PM with what you want, and how many. I'll give you the total and pymt details
• If youre here from Facebook or other social site, just continue to mssg me where our original conversation is.
• Lurking visitors or anybody else feel free to hit me up on Facebook @Joe Harvey or shoot me an email at jphrv@att.net

Important Info:
● Red X after the price means temporarily sold out. No red X means its available
● This list is always current with whats available. Sold out stuff is usually back in 2-4 weeks
● All plants are grown fully submerged and will look just like the pics. Minor algae is possible and I do keep snails
● Plants with * after the name do not require co2


SHIPPING

• $13 via USPS Priority or UPS (whichever shows fastest delivery time)
• Shipping is FREE when you buy $85+
• FREE cold pack and thermal insulation if temps are 80+ here in North AL

DOA Policy

• Your complete satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. If there's ever a problem, send me a pic within 1 hour of delivery. It is critical the pkg gets brought inside soon as its delivered. Even a few minutes outside in extreme temps can be fatal. The trip itself is generally ok
• Not responsible for lost or delays, but if it happens we'll try to work something out to help

PAYMENT
● Paypal, Venmo, Zelle, Cash App. Paypal is assumed, if you prefer another method jlmk me know in your mssg

** Tap the 'spoiler' button under each category to show the list
______________________
STEM PLANTS:




ROSETTES/OTHER:




MOSSES:

FLOATERS:

100% Guarantee[/B]

• If there is any problem send me a pic within 2 hours of delivery and we’ll make it right. Not responsible for lost or delayed packages, but if it happens we’ll try to work something out to help
• If temps are extreme please make arrangements to bring the package inside as soon as it’s delivered. The biggest risk in extreme temps isnt the trip, its sitting outside after delivery!
• Free cold pack and extra insulation during the summer months, any time its mid-80s+ down here in north AL. They last about 24-30 hours and will help protect for the first half of the trip. However it is still critical to get the package inside as soon as its delivered
• We dont use heat packs. Plants dont need them and they actually cause stress. Cold temp is good, it slows and preserves - as long as the plants dont actually freeze. Typically that doesnt happen even with extreme temps. Most of the journey is on a truck or plane. Even unheated plants dont get THAT cold during the trip. *However! It is still CRITICAL to bring the package inside as soon as its delivered. Even an hour on a 19 degree porch can be a killer

Sold out / Back in Stock

• Plants come in and out of stock fast. The list can change every day as things sell out and others become ready.
• The quantities listed are usually all thats available. But if you’d like more of something just ask and I may have it

STAY TUNED!!

• Our website grand opening is just around the corner! If you're not already on the email list, go to Burraqua.com now and sign up to get notified. This list will know before the public and get first dibs on never before seen items! PLUS! You'll get a fat discount code to use for big savings!

OK, we may have a few borderline OCD folks here, but I'm not sure if anyone can top this.

Aquarium Stand Organization On Steroids

Ive reorganized the order of my tanks so I can better keep track of them ie. Tank 2 moss tank is now tank 3. This helps in any confusion I had when tracking tanks they are in a sort of order now. Rather than taking time editing my old journal id rather create a new thread. Pics will be current (for the most part) as they are posted. I am not aquascaping. I am just farming.

Well... thats it! Im tired of watching you guys have all the fun so figured it was time to start my own journal to document this new scape Im working on, and also to talk about other plant happenings. So here goes

For this year's AGA Id been planning on using the 75P again. Love the dimensions, 30"x18"18" about 37 gal. Its in the living room along with the 75 gal ex-Dutch.

I try to keep these two a little more display-worthy than the back room back tanks but it doesnt always happen. Here's the 75p currently. Plants closed up its the middle of the night, I just flipped two bulbs on to take a quick pic

Ive been tossing some ideas around but it nothing has really inspired me lately



So I decided to try a couple things in the 75 gal and see if the almighty elusive muse will show up

I rarely have a plan going in, usually just an idea or two like maybe a street or focal points, and from there I just start sticking things around and see how it looks. Usually with just whatever plants I have enough of, even stuff that I know I wont end up using just to plot out general areas and color

So here we go starting about two months ago, with basically two streets and a focal point. Pics are 3-4 weeks apart. I'll spare you the details of every little plant move, basically just adding/moving stuff around between then and now

*ignore the weird color filter on these first few pics




Couple weeks later



Trying to find a place to use this dynamite Blyxa sp Red. Not to be confused with the "sp Red" currently being offered by a couple larger retailers. Those are likely to be other aubertii variants that may or may not actually turn red. A good rule of thumb for blyxa (since most cant grow emersed) is if it aint red when you buy it, dont count on it turning red. This one is like a tall Novoguineensis, tops out around 12"-14" with good vertical leaf formation, and stays red under most light



Added Ludwigia white to the front right corner



Dont like the Blyxa in the focal spot either. It'd need a bright green behind it, which would make all the other background groups need repositioning based on color. Plus the Blyxa is too tall for what Im trying to do here, I want this focal spot low in the tank, not high


**Continued next post, image limit reached

Made a massively stupid late night mistake. I needed to reset the soil in my buce collection tank and tapped the edge of the tank with a glass pyrex measuring cup (I'm getting a plastic one today).

I started working around 11pm after my mom duties were done for the evening, and work continued well into the early morning so I was pulling an all-nighter to get this done. In the heat of my exhaustion, I was absentmindedly going through the motions of refilling the tank when it happened.

Now I have a pretty sizeable scallop chip in the top front panel of a tank that is only a few months old. This is the first time I've ever chipped one of my tanks. Thankfully it's smack dab in the middle of the panel, so i'm not terribly worried as scallop chips rarely splinter or spread into a crack. I have the water level an inch below it to reduce any pressure stress, and am going to buy a windshield repair kit and attempt to fix it since the shard came off in a mostly solid piece that I was able to recover.

Once I get the kit and free time, I'll post pictures of the repair process to document here. I know this is probably a somewhat controversial idea, but luckily this tank is in my tiled floor basement which has an adjacent unfinished room with a floor drain. Of course I would rather not have the tank spontaneously spring a leak, but taking that into consideration and the fact that the glass is 10mm thick for 40 gallons of water, it's not worth the money or hassle to replace right now.

This thread is for the general discussion of the link IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator. Please add to the discussion here.

How to use: When opening the file everything should be self-explanatory. You will land on the 'Home' sheet. Follow from there. We highly suggest you read the quick Guide (a link is provided in the Home sheet when you open the file) so you understand the purpose of each of the sheets in the file. Once you have done that, and before you start playing the mad scientist, we suggest that you go through the CoreSetting sheet as it will allow you fine tune the backend to your specific situation/needs. This is not per-say a requirement and you can always do this anytime but it will allow you to get better acquainted with things. Once you have done that, you can go to the Tank&Dosing sheet. That's where you will start your journey in creating your fertilizer.

All sheets will have the following icons on the top left. Some will have less, some will have more depending on which sheet you are on.


These are simply shortcuts to other sheets for your convenience. However you can also go from one sheet to another using the traditional Excel tabs at the bottom of Excel as shown below.


Please read the following important technical notes:

• The calculator is Excel-based and there is no MACRO/VBA involved. This was done on purpose to minimize any potential security risks.
• Compatible with Excel 365 for Windows and Mac. Should also work fine with Excel 2016 and Excel 2019. For Excel 2010 and 2013 our initial tests show it works fine but we did not fully test under those versions. In terms of visuals, things might also slightly differ from the intended look. Below those versions (i.e Excel 2007 or lower), the calculator will definitely not work as intended and we will not support if run under those versions).
• File will definitely not work as intended with free and open-source office suite like LibreOffice or under Linux and Co.
• Under Excel Online things don't look as intended. Some people report that calculations are fine but I never really took the time to fully debug it under Excel Online. Maybe one day I will.
• If you feel you screwed up something with the file or your Excel crashed unexpectedly it might be worth making a fresh download.
• Although the user has the option to select between metric and imperial units in the CoreSettings sheet, all user input NEEDS to be done in metric units. Why? Because the imperial units are only there to provide visual guidance.
• Finally, we provide the ability to chose between several currencies. However all prices currently in the calculator are expressed in British Pound sterling (GBP). If you want to change to another currency you will need to convert the prices yourself in the CoreSettings sheet where all the chemical compound prices can be updated at will.

Enjoy.

@Zeus. & @Hanuman

Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @keny!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?

Growth keeps stalling in my 150, with intermittent algae issues, and the dosing pumps appear to be a large part of the problem. I have a 4-head Chihiros dosing pump on this tank. All four channels are currently set to dose daily. I have repeatedly re-calibrated all four channels, and the calibration runs fine. When I recalibrated the APT 3 pump on Saturday it was clogged, but the level was also low in the bottle. I cleared the clog, refilled all four dosing bottles to their 450 ml marks, and updated those volumes in the app. I recalibrated all four channels as I am leaving town next weekend. Manual dosing via the app, for each channel, works. The volume is dispensed, and the level in the dosing bottle decreases accordingly. However, pumps 1 and 2 (APT1 and APT3 respectively, as I am transitioning...or trying to...from 1 to 3 in this tank now it is mature enough), are repeatedly failing to daily dose via the app with the set programmed schedule. I am at the point of just binning these pumps, and maybe trying the Aqua Vitro Sentia pumps. Has anyone had issues with the Chihiros dosing pump scheduling, and resolved it? I can't tell if this is an app issue, or a pump head problem. Channels 3 and 4 are running fine, but 1 and 2 are failing to dose at all unless I dose manually (both still have 450 ml in the bottle, the app says the volume was dosed, but volume hasn't changed all week in the bottle, and it's Thursday...so no ferts in the tank all week AGAIN!). I cleaned the inflow hose, and dosing pump adapter this weekend during a tank deep clean. Is this a pump head failure to recognize the scheduled app command? Not really sure how to trouble-shoot this further.