Help What am I doing wrong?

[Wet Elbows]

I'm considering switching my substrate to BDBS . What size grain is best? Apparently I have a choice between medium and fine.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

I'm considering switching my substrate to BDBS. What size grain is best? Apparently I have a choice between medium and fine.

Medium for sure. If they had a "large" I'd use that! Medium is what you want.

 

[Wet Elbows]

I'm done.
I've come to the conclusion the average person can't grow aquatic plants anymore than the can flap their arms and fly.
The only solution is expensive substrate, lights, CO² reactors etc.
I guess it's back to plastic plants for me.

 

[Koan]

I'm done

Algae happens, we've all been there
here's one of my tanks today, that I've let get away and that's due for a cleaning and reset



Sometimes just backing all the way off, taking time out and letting the algae do its thing for a couple weeks, or even months, is the right way to go.

End of the day this is always about having fun

We're all here to sympathize and help out, when you feel like taking another swing

 

[Pepere]

Taking a break from it isnt the worst thing in the world…

I was at my wits end more than once as I learned how to grow healthy plants and not algae…

After a break if you feel like trying again, people will be her to help.

It is certainly possible to grow healthy plants free of visible algae without CO2, algaecides, liquid carbon, (gluteraldehyde), algae eating fish or shrimps, expensive aquasoil, root tabs….

In the past I was of the opinion it wasnt possible and then I learned how..

 

[Wet Elbows]

My tank has been set up for 11 months now. It's just algae at this point. I feel like in the next 2 months every existing plant is going to die.
I've had green water, diatoms, BBA , hair algae and now cyanobacteria.
I've changed fertilizers, lights, lighting intensity, photoperiod, added calcium and magnesium, stopped adding calcium and magnesium. The only constant is algae. All over hardscape, plants, and equipment. I don't know what else to do other than start all over.

 

[Pepere]

I don't know what else to do other than start all over.

Its ok to take a break. Toss the plants, put some silk ones, dose some erythromycin to take care of the cyanobacteria…. Clear your head, destress.

If the urge hits to try again, spend some quality time reading the 2 hr aquarist algae pages. Once I was convinced by people I trusted that it was solid information I studied it and read and re read and took notes…

Algae Control

The 2Hr Aquarist's definitive guide to algae control in the planted aquarium. Includes common causes of algae, algae types and the impact of light, fertilisers, and CO2 on algae growth.

www.2hraquarist.com

I made a whole bunch of changes all at once and then held everything as steady as I could and gave it 6 weeks without making any other changes.

I hate the mantra of change one thing at a time…if you know a dozen things are out of wack change them all at once…. With a tank without co2 you then needs about 3 weeks to see changes with new growth. The old growth may well get worse as it progresses too as the parameters changed significantly…. Prune off the infested growth.. its not likely to recover anyway…

The 1 thing at a time and wait two weeks then change something else just keeps the plants under transition stress, getting weaker and weaker..

Researxg what changes to make. Do them all at once and hold things stable…. Wait atleast 6-8 weeks in a tank without co2. Replant healthy new growth and toss out old crappy infested growth. Without co2 it takes longer, things are slower…

 

[Unexpected]

2nd place in AGA in 2023
And from 2024 to this day, I have battled the most difficult algae I've I've run into. Every single week my tank would be cleaned and by week end, the tanks look like this.



Do not quit. Let me read through and see what I can spot.

 

[Unexpected]

If you still want to try, here's what I would do. I'd increase flow and surface area for bacteria via a canister filter. Doesn't have to be expensive. Sunsun is cheap and good enough. Hell, @Burr740 uses them. Just buy one significantly over rated for your tank volume. Pull out that CO2 set-up you have, build a cheap Yugang reactor and start CO2. Buy the PPs Pro kit from greenleafaquaroums and start dosing PPS pro to 20ppm NO3 as proxy. All the mixing and numbers are readily available off of Green Leaf. I'd start a twice a week water change schedule with near 100% water changes and before each water change, remove any visible algae. Off glass, leaves and equipment. I'd bump the lights to max as 25 par at the sub is pretty low. I'd shoot for 40 PAR to start. BDBS works great, and is cheap if you want to switch. Just know when you switch, a mini cycle will most likely happen so you will have an algae phase untill the substrate can mature. Search Jujufish journal. He has an amazing non CO2 tank with just sand. You might reach out to him as well.

 

[Wet Elbows]

I'm formulating a plan to reset this aquarium.
1. Replace existing gravel substrate with BDBS . I like the look of the BDBS better than gravel anyway. I plan to let the substrate mature for 2 months before moving to step 2.
2. Replace my existing HOBs with 2 Tidal 55. I believe my current filters can handle the bioload, but clearly they aren't putting out enough flow to prevent BGA. I could also maybe add a couple of wavemakers strategically placed for increased flow and not Replace the filters.
3. Replant. With the fish I currently have I'm strongly considering doing a Rio Paraguay biotope tank. I would get rid of the large pieces of driftwood and use something smaller like spiderwood. Less wood to block flow. Plants for the Rio Paraguay biotope are pretty basic and easy, and readily available, and obviously appropriate for the region.
Bacopa australis, Cabomba aquatica, Hydrocotyle leucocephala, Ceratophyllum demersum (floating), Mayaca fluvitalis, Echinodorus amazonicus (probably too big, may have to substitute), Ludwiga inclination Pantanal (possibly too demanding), Eloda najas.
4. Start lights at 100% to make sure of adequate light at substrate level. Use GLA PPS Pro fertilizer and dose daily.

Any thoughts?

 

[Kwyet]

Maybe there’ll be some other reasoning, but I wouldn’t replace the entire substrate at the same time. I would change out maybe 1/3-1/2 each week, because so much bacteria lives in the substrate. BDBS is cheap, so if you lose some because of intermixing it’s not a big deal. I’m actually switching out the front substrate in my 125 gallon, just 10 lbs at a time. I could do more, but this makes it easy and lets the dust clear quickly. I rinse the sand a few times, but it never gets it all out.

If you aren’t adding CO2, some of those plants may not work, and then you’ll be struggling with algae again.

 

[techman81]

Have you considered switching from HOBs to a canister filter. There always seem to be used Fluvals on FB Marketplace. In fact, I have a couple I plan to put on marketplace.

 

[Wet Elbows]

Have you considered switching from HOBs to a canister filter. There always seem to be used Fluvals on FB Marketplace. In fact, I have a couple I plan to put on marketplace.

To be honest I haven't thought about it much. Just because of whee the tank is situated in the house. I would have to put a canister filternon thr floor next to the stand and have about 4 ft of tubing to and from the canister.
But the other thing to consider is I'm in Appalachia. These hillbillies don't buy Fluvals lol

 

[Koan]

I'm formulating a plan to reset this aquarium...
2. Replace my existing HOBs with 2 Tidal 55... maybe add a couple of wavemakers strategically placed for increased flow

A Tidal puts out lots of flow I have one. You could also experiment with placing a couple inexpensive surface skimmers to direct flow around your tank, before you invest in new filters.

3. Replant...
Bacopa australis, Cabomba aquatica, Hydrocotyle leucocephala, Ceratophyllum demersum (floating), Mayaca fluvitalis, Echinodorus amazonicus (probably too big, may have to substitute), Ludwiga inclination Pantanal (possibly too demanding), Eloda najas.

If you want to do this without co2, I would hold off on floating plants to start. Shading your substrate is not going to do you any favors. You're going to want to use modest light while your plants are getting established, so as to not light the fire under any algae that gets started.

Algae Control 101: How to prevent algae in an aquarium?

Key steps in preventing algae in an aquarium. Discussion of the role of CO2, light, nutrients and biological filtration in managing algae in a planted tank.

www.2hraquarist.com

4. Start lights at 100% to make sure of adequate light at substrate level

Algae loves high light! If you have plant stress with high light, you get algae. Worse, the algae explodes fast.

Remember that these plants you just bought were grown with CO2 supplementation. So just moving them to a non-CO2 tank causes plant stress, they have to adjust their internal machinery to cope with the new limit on this resource.

This restructuring will cause them to eject substances from their leaves, that will provoke and feed algae.

If you want to do this without co2, start out with modest light, densely plant large quantities of healthy fresh plants, covering at least 75% of the floor of your tank. Watch the plants carefully and trim off leaves that aren't doing well. Change the water a lot, to flush those ejected plant substances away before they can feed algae.

All this being said, you can set yourself up for CO2 for $200: a decent basic CO2Art regulator for 150 bucks, and a shiny new 5 lb gas cylinder for $50. Your sanity might be cheap at the price, just saying. Also, Black Friday is coming!

I read over the comments at the beginning of your original post here, there's a lot of good advice there for both CO2 and non CO2 approaches If you haven't already, go back through what people have said

 

[Wet Elbows]

A Tidal puts out lots of flow I have one. You could also experiment with placing a couple inexpensive surface skimmers to direct flow around your tank, before you invest in new filters.



If you want to do this without co2, I would hold off on floating plants to start. Shading your substrate is not going to do you any favors. You're going to want to use modest light while your plants are getting established, so as to not light the fire under any algae that gets started.

Algae Control 101: How to prevent algae in an aquarium?

Key steps in preventing algae in an aquarium. Discussion of the role of CO2, light, nutrients and biological filtration in managing algae in a planted tank.

www.2hraquarist.com

Algae loves high light! If you have plant stress with high light, you get algae. Worse, the algae explodes fast.

Remember that these plants you just bought were grown with CO2 supplementation. So just moving them to a non-CO2 tank causes plant stress, they have to adjust their internal machinery to cope with the new limit on this resource.

This restructuring will cause them to eject substances from their leaves, that will provoke and feed algae.

If you want to do this without co2, start out with modest light, densely plant large quantities of healthy fresh plants, covering at least 75% of the floor of your tank. Watch the plants carefully and trim off leaves that aren't doing well. Change the water a lot, to flush those ejected plant substances away before they can feed algae.

All this being said, you can set yourself up for CO2 for $200: a decent basic CO2Art regulator for 150 bucks, and a shiny new 5 lb gas cylinder for $50. Your sanity might be cheap at the price, just saying. Also, Black Friday is coming!

I read over the comments at the beginning of your original post here, there's a lot of good advice there for both CO2 and non CO2 approaches If you haven't already, go back through what people have said

I definitely need to go back and re-read the entire thread.
Perhaps I should go back to CO2. I already have the equipment, I just have to get my 5lb tank recertified.

 

[Sulla]

Can some more people elaborate on the water change/algae relationship? Everything I’ve read and seen say that water changes are your best friend when dealing with an algae outbreak, but the above Tom Barr quote says the opposite. I would like more info…

I am not 100% sure and it seems that Tom has some potentially confusing quotes. But in a recent interview he did mention that when water changing, if the water change is enough to expose the leaves of the plant to the air, then those plants will basically get a massive co2 boost - which he was touting as a good thing - because air has so much co2 vs water. He even suggested letting them sit there 10-20min or so I think so they can get a nice dose. What the quote seems to suggest though (as opposed to the interview I saw) is that exactly this co2 boost leads to unstable co2 levels - which I guess is true? - and it is said that fluctuating co2 levels encourage bba .

As others have said, there is also an expectation issue too - it's going to be tough to have 0 algae. I get occasional leaves/hardscape that have a bit of bba , or my Anubias sometimes gets gsa. But nothing that a bit of patience, trimming, or spot dosing of excel or apt fix cant fix. its when its starts to go insane and overtake the plants/tank that its an issue. From the photos I'd say you're doing pretty damn well

I notice that you dont seem to have any "clean up" crew - shrimp, snails, ottos, loaches etc. I would definitely look into those. A couple of nerite snails will do wonders, same with a few shrimp. Look into it. My tanks wouldnt be the same without them honestly. Also shrimp/snails etc add very little bio load so....just dont get a pleco

 

[Wet Elbows]

I'm progressing towards the reset on this tank. I washed 50 lbs of BDBS today and realized I have to get another bag tomorrow.

I'm leaning towards keeping the existing HOBs and adding a Fluval 207 or 307. The idea would be move the HOBs toward the corners of the tank where it is narrowest, and run the Fluval spray bar along the back between the HOBs.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Wash the BDBS really really thoroughly!

Once it's washed, wash it again

 

[GreggZ]

Wash the BDBS really really thoroughly!

Once it's washed, wash it again

I am not saying it's right or wrong but I have never rinsed/washed BDBS. I have always just opened the bag and dumped it in.

Any film on surface of water goes away in hours. Fish have always done fine.

For me no issues at all (yes small sample size! ).

I would be curious to see if anyone out there has had issues/problems that were related to not rinsing it??

 

[BenB]

Sorry, I'm late to the game here. I'll read thoroughly later. The busy season approaches.
I just wanted to say, if I can bounce back from this below, you can too. Keep plugging at it!
And as far as hillbillies not having Fluval , I was born in Appalacia, and when I lived there I even had bougie Eheim.