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Hello everyone!
I need a help to eliminate green fuzz algae.
My tank s 1250l + 250l sump. (250cm x 70cm x 70cm)
My filration is 10000l/h pump and 2x maxspect XF330. Inside sump KOI filter mats.
My weekly fers 15ppm NO3, 2ppm PO4, 8ppm K, 0.3ppm FE, 0.1ppm Mn I dose daily.
Last 2 months, weekly water change 50%, before that once in 2 weeks.
CO2 start 3 hours before lights go on.
My lights 4x chihiros universal wrgb 1200, 24x Daytime Matirx Sun Pro modules. Light runs around 65%. Par at substrate at average 90-100 umol
My problem is I had blooming of fuzz algae on all leaves, probably baceuse I had lean dosing, since I increased ferts, trimmed and replaced infected plants, it became better.
But still i see fuzz algae on a lot of leaves, I`1m feeling that I will need to restart tank from 0.
Will appreciate all your advises!
Thank you in advance.

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

It finally happened!

I've been away for work for a few months, during which I got really into the idea of getting a nice aquarium. While I'd already begun planning out a 125 L / ~30 gal tank, expectations had to be tempered because I'll be gone again for a while soon, and my partner would have to take care of the tank alone during that time. So we chose to settle for a 45 L / 12 gal shrimp tank first to test the waters, with me getting to take care of the 125 L tank after returning from my last long trip some time next year. We already got some of the equipment for the larger tank, which is why some of the things here are somewhat oversized.

Things then happened quite quickly when I found a great deal on our shrimp-tank-to-be in a local group. Initially, we'd planned a dark start and to use that time to settle on a plant list, but this used tank came with some plants already, so I'd appreciate any help with plant IDs and input on how to go forward from here.

This tank is intended to be a medium energy setup that allows for some flexibility in care, such as reducing water changes to every two or three weeks when needed. We're looking at slow and medium speed growers, with only very few if any fast growers. We really like bucephalandra and want a few nice ones!

---

Equipment, flora, fauna
Tank: SuperFish Scaper 45 (45x32x32 cm)
Light: SuperFish Scaper LED 64 (24 W, 16100 Lux, 269 PAR) (I also have a Week Aqua Z400 Pro lying about...), 8 hours a day
Filter: Tetra Ex 1000 Plus (1150 L/h canister filter with 30 ppi foam and some filter wool), surfrace scimmer on intake


Substrate: Tropica Aquarium Soil
Fertilizer: APT 3/Complete, APTe and DIY micros/macros,. Currently dosing 15 mL APT 3 after 50% weekly water change, this should stabilize to 20 ppm NO3 without accounting for uptake
CO2: Injection from 2 kg bottle with JBL Proflora CO2 Taifun Spiral 5 (though this will likely become an in-line diffuser) and an Fzone regulator, starts 2 hours before lights

Hardscape: Mangrove roots and millenium stone, not set up yet

Parameters

• RO/DI remineralized to 6 dGH (4:1 Ca:Mg using CaSO4 and MgSO4), 0 dKH
• pH: 6.2
• CO2: To be measured, 1 bubble every 4 s for now, fair amount of surface agitation (gentle, visible waves)
• NH4: undetectable
• NO2: undetectable
• NO3: 20 ppm

Flora:
There are 10 species in here right now (I think), as well as some Amazon Frogbit and Salvinia minima on top. I think they might be:

• 1 - ???
• 2 - Limnophila sessiliflora
• 3 - Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus)
• 4 - Echinodorus ?
• 5 - Rotala ?
• 6 - Ludwigia repens
• 7 - Anubias nana
• 8 - Anubias mini coin
• 9 - Hygrophila salicifolia
• 10 - Dwarf Hairgrass
• Hopefully no Duckweed

Fauna (planned):

• Red Rili Blue Body Neocaridina
• Possibly a school of nano fish

---

Looking for advice

I really wanted this to be a journal about planning and setting up a tank and how well we eventually managed to translate our plan into reality, but thought it best to ask for advice on how to proceed from here first. Yesterday evening (it's now ~24 hours later), we got home with the aquarium and after a good cleaning, I filled it with aquasoil and water and planted the healthiest plants before heading to bed.

As you can see, these plants aren't doing too great, and some have quite a bit of algae on them. With live plants on our hands, we're skipping the originally planned dark start. I got the filter from the previous owner (asked him to not rinse it), and even though it's only a tiny HOB, we at least have some beneficial bacteria there. I'm running both filters right now in hopes of seeding the canister filter quickly.

I'd appreciate any help with plant IDs and care tips for the different species to help them grow in more healthy. Any recommended treatments to get rid of the algae? Especially the anubias have some small, black spots on them. The Amazon Sword has some pretty torn up leaves with brown and thin spots.

I'm considering hanging the Z400 Pro (rated at 120 W) quite high up, as it blinds surprisingly little for such a powerful light. Though I have noticed that its hue at the same RGB ratio changes quite drastically as you go down in power. Still, this would give me more control over the lighting, as the current light is fixed at 8 cm above the water surface and can't be adjusted.

---

Future plans

I'm really happy about finally getting into this hobby. We're already super excited and don't even have the shrimps in yet!

For now, I think we'll let the plants recuperate a bit and adjust to the new environment. I think they came from harder water and no CO2. Since we're gone in the weekend, we'll set up the hardscape next week and do a short replant, hopefully that won't bother the plants too much.

Then we'll finalize our personal plant list and begin assembling those, replacing some of the current plants. If you have any favorite plants that would suit this type of environment, I'd love to hear about them!

And last, when we have some nice biofilm developing, we'll add the tiny little shrimps!

---

Updates
Update 2026/07/09
Added some (slightly) nicer pictures of the plants before heading out for work. Have a camera, might as well use it! Hopefully I can post pictures of good looking plants soon. Update update: Well they were nice until the webp compression got to them. Good thing to learn about early on!

I came into some Hygrophila polysperma "white" by Tropica recently. Grew it out and it seems to be able to be shaped into good midground bushes so I decided to create a layout to showcase it. Contemplated whether to use it as the only white plant in the tank, but decided to use some Anubias white petite as well so that the white polysperma doesn't stand out awkwardly.

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

The adventure begins...again. After a substantial absence from the hobby, I dunked my toe back in last fall with a small 60F shrimp tank, a Chihiros WRGB slim, and a Chihiros CO2 (citric/baking soda) system. A lot has changed since I started this hobby in the 90s, and it's been about 20 years since I tore my last tank down. 'Aquascaping' per se wasn't as much a thing back then. I didn't know anyone running CO2, and LED lights didn't really exist. The 60F was fun, and the shrimp seem happy, but I have been itching to get to building something with more elbow room.

I did happen to find a pic of my old 75 gallon bowfront tank a few weeks ago that was taken just before I tore it down prior to a big move. It ran great for 7 years. Was a simple low tech setup, with one hunk of driftwood, no rocks, plain gravel (no soil) a lot of simple plants (the sword plants did great), and some peaceful fish. Algae wasn't an issue, filtration was pretty subpar by current standards, but the tank did well despite that, and algae wasn't really an issue. Aesthetically blah by today's standards, and certainly not my goal for this build, but I remember being proud of how well this tank ran back then, and wasn't too demanding. Important as my life was very hectic back then.



So, the tech plan so far for the new 150U:


I ordered the tank and stand from UNS, and to my amazement, despite the worst mid-January winter storm we had in some years here, it was delivered on time by the freight company. I do not recommend trying to move a 5ft wide 400+lb tank and stand across snow and ice, down a slope, into to basement. Very thankful to have a tractor with forks, but still was a bit stressful getting this into the house. Miraculously we got it in the house in one piece, and I seriously questioned ever getting a tank larger than this in the future!



It did require disassembly outside the basement door to actually get it into the house around a berm of snow, along with some extra muscle from a few friends. (This was originally meant to be a 120P, until I realized the hardscape plan I had wouldn't quite fit. What's a another foot in length? )



Just getting the tank through the snow and ice was enough, and the base cabinet and tank just sort of landed in the room, and stayed there for a few days while devising a strategy for the next step. After recruiting a tall and strong friend, and sourcing some of those giant suction cup handles you use for moving shower glass walls, a few days later the tank was finally hoisted up onto the base.

As there is a dropped ceiling in the basement my plan was to hang the lights directly above the tank from the ceiling, rather than using a light stand. A few tiles were removed to investigate the structure above, and with some 2x4 extra bracing for the anchors, as none of the joists were in quite the right spot, two Chihiros Vivid 3 lights were installed directly above the tank. At this point I discovered that none of the electrical circuits in the basement were GFCI protected, so obviously that was immediately remedied. Too much gear and too much water to mess around with unprotected circuits.




With the ceiling open, I decided to run the lighting cables over the top of the wall to the left of the tank, and down into the mechanicals room there. The advantage being that the power cords are hidden from view after going through the ceiling tiles, and it's two less large power sources cluttering up the cabinet under the tank. Had to add an outlet in that closet, but I like how it turned out.

With the tank in position and leveled, and the lights finally installed, the next big issue is water. The well water here is liquid limestone. That was the initial mistake I made with the shrimp tank. Sure, neocaridina like hard water, but not THAT hard, and I quickly had to shift to remineralized distilled. I knew before even getting serious about planning this tank that the only reasonable option, for any future tanks here, is RO. The well water might be fine for Malawi Cichlids, but that's not my plan for this tank, but it will be great to have flexibility going forward. It's a big glass box, at just over 140 gallons, and it won't be the only one here (I hope), so the water part I want to get right from the start, and to make it easy to do water changes. The basement is a walkout, so draining water during water changes will be easy, and I would like to make filling it just as easy. I sourced two 70 gallon storage tanks for the RO water from Northern Tool, and ordered a Vectra S2 pump which will help with transfering water between tanks, as well as pumping it out through a hose to the aquarium(s) during water changes. Forgot to take a pic when I was done, but the pvc is all glued up now. I will finish installing the RO unit this weekend.



So, aquarium set up, lights in, and RO system with storage in progress. Next up? The exciting part. Hardscape! I have been hoarding Manzanita, Hakkai stone, and substrate for several months, so I'm excited to move on to the next step! Tank so far pictured below (although I have already removed the privacy film on the back in favor of adding the ARC RGB light screen in part due to the stair rail being visible and distracting. First screen was damaged in transit, so waiting on a replacement).

Hey Everyone,

I have just received my Aqualabs dual stage mini and surprised-not-surprised to see the solenoid is powered via USB. Of course it is because then it can be distributed worldwide and just ship the appropriate power adapter for outlet types.


However, it might be an opportunity.
If it had been a standard plug - I would have run it to a WIFI smart plug and just set to coincide with lighting on the new Chihiros fixture.
Why not buy one of these discontinued controllers that I could sync with the my chihiros app and wire this in?





I can’t find much about them but basically I think it’s an inline Bluetooth controller that would work with the app?
Thoughts please!!

I’m not at all useful with electronics but can wire up a trailer or job of that kind so love any tips.

Edit: the solenoid on my new setup is 12v 3W. So if the Chihiros solenoid is the same…. Technically this could just be wired in?

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

This tank was a Dutch-ish tank before we moved 2 months ago. This was one of its last pictures, very overgrown I know.



This time I want to make it a true Dutch, so anyone can chime in and help me.

After we moved, it ran low-tech with just a few tissue cultures until this week when I finally had time and materials to finish setting it up. This is what it looks like now:



I know there’s some bubbles showing in the vinyl cling. I’m having trouble reaching back there to smooth it out. I’ll have to think about how to fix that, although when the plants grow in it may not be visible anyway. I did read that you can have 1 rock in a Dutch scape, so I kept one. I may put Monte Carlo on it again, I haven’t decided.

So, details…

Tank: UNS 90U, 68 gallons

Light: Week Aqua P900 Pro, current settings R 40%, G 51%, B 20%, UV 0, Fan 100, Power 51%.
8 hours of light with 30 min ramp up/down
Par—no idea

Filtration: Fluval Fx4, currently running at 75%. Any higher blows the fish around. I expect to be able to increase it when the plants are grown in.

CO2: Yugang stainless steel reactor, 370 mm long, working really well. I had to turn down the CO2 a bit today because the drop was more than I expected (from degassed 7.4 to 5.9). I’ve already changed the end cap to the medium setting, but I think I’m just going to make further adjustments with the regulator. Call it laziness, but since there aren’t any double taps available for the Fx4 tubing that’s going to be easier for me. Anyway, I really like it. It’s completely silent and does its job well.

Substrate: Aqua Natural Galaxy sand, with a few Aquarium Coop root tabs.

Other: Oase CrystalSkim 350 skimmer, Kactoily 6-in-1 water quality monitor

Fertilizer: Until today I’ve just been using Easy Green. Today I installed the Chihiro’s dosing system with PPS-Pro, 6 ml macros and 3 ml micros daily. On water change day, I’ll add another 2 ml macros. I’m currently changing 20% of the water once a week. I’ll increase if necessary.

Parameters: Ammonia and Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10 ppm, gH 6, kH 2, TDS 222, 70-74 F

Plants (mostly from @Burr740 thanks!):

Leopard Val
Echinodorus Aflame
Hydrocotyle Tripartita (coming)
Penthorum Sedioides
Crypt Wendtii Sindoor
Lobelia cardinalis mini
Bacopa colorata
Rotala (? back left corner)
Limnophila wilsonii
Nymphae Peru Puerto Maldonade
Rotala macrandra Kochi
Nymphoides Taiwan

I’m not sure I like the Leopard Val in there. Should I put it in my 125 gallon instead, and move the Limnophila wilsonii to that spot?

Fish:

1 Honey Flame Gourami
4 Ember tetras
8 Otos
2 Pygmy sunfish
4 Red neon blue-eyed rainbowfish
9 Pygmy Cory catfish
9 male Lime Green Endlers
1 Leopard Danio (last of a group)
A few random Amano and Neocaridina shrimp and snails

The fish list will change as I get more tanks set up. I would like to end up with just the gourami, Otos, Rainbowfish (but more of them), and Pygmy Cories.

Well, that’s a start. Thanks for reading!

BurrAqua.com Plant List

Premium, submerged-grown aquarium plants in pristine condition. A red X means temporarily sold out. No red X means its available!

This list is updated in real time so save the link! Sold out stuff will be back in 2-3 weeks. Whatever it shows available at any given time is right!!

** 4th of July Sale until Fri the 10th!! 10% off up to $60, 20% off $61+. Free shipping with $10% off up to 60$, 20% off 61$+. Free shipping with $75+ after sale price. Free cold pack and insulation as always **

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:
● Plants with * after the name do not require co2
● Red X after the price means temporarily sold out
● All plants are grown fully submerged and will look just like the pics. Minor algae is possible and I do keep snails

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

The Future is Bright!

• 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!