lighting for 29 gallon tank?

[MargieS]

We recently (7 weeks ago) established a freshwater planted aquarium tank - 29 gallons. We currently have 6 Rasboras & 2 Corys. We intend to add some tetras as well. We have a few live plants. The fish are doing great. We are getting brown/rust colored algae with some short hairs which I heard is from too little light. We currently have a basic hood with 1 florescent light.

The substrate is regular gravel with laterite. We are adding Aqueon Aquarium Plant Food regularly according to package directions. We do about a 25% water change every 2 weeks. The plants we have are as follows:

• 1 melon sword - doing okay, some new leaf sprouts
• some mondo grass - I have learned it is not meant to be submerged, so it may die soon
• something that I think is umbrella plant - most of it died early on, but two tiny peices that are left are starting to sprout new roots now,
• and what I think is called Biovinianus - it is a bulb plant with large leaves. Most of the original leaves are brown/clear/dying , but there are 3-4 new leaf sprouts that are not growing very large.

First of all, will the brighter light fix the algae problem?

I've looked into buying a brighter light, but I'm a little confused on how much we need since the watts per gallon don't apply to the new technology. We don't want so much light that we need to supplement CO2, so we want to stick to the lower light plants. I was looking at either the Nova Extreme HO with 2x24W, or the Aqualight T5 with 2x18W. I think either would be close to fitting on my existing hood. Am I on the right track for what we intend to grow? Again, I don't want to add CO2.

Are the T-5 & T-5HO interchangeable between fixtures & bulbs? or are they 2 completely different fixtures/bulbs?

[Jay]

Hey Margie...Welcome to the forum.

We are getting brown/rust colored algae with some short hairs which I heard is from too little light. We currently have a basic hood with 1 florescent light.

On the Plants or Glass or both? Brown algae is really diatoms, which are very common in a new aquarium. The rust colored with short hairs is probably a true algae, also very common.

First of all, will the brighter light fix the algae problem?

No . The two algae you have can exist under very little light, increasing the light will only help them out. The diatoms (so the theory goes) are using silicates and Nitrates in the water column to form their shells. The silicates are probably leaching form the silicone seals and new glass in the aquarium. They will go away shortly...water changes help. The other algae exists in nature and probably came in with the plants.

I've looked into buying a brighter light, but I'm a little confused on how much we need since the watts per gallon don't apply to the new technology.

Do not be too quick to abandon old rules of thumb. Yes the new fluorescent tubes are more efficient and produce about twice the photosynthetic energy of old T-12 tubes. I think the 2 x 24 HO will work just fine on your 29. I run a CF 65 watt over my 20 high, but I am a high light user.

Am I on the right track for what we intend to grow? Again, I don't want to add CO2

The relationship between light, nutrients Including CO2, photosynthesis, and algae is confusing for beginners. You need much more information than I can give you in this first post.

For example:

If you are going to grow plants, they need a Carbon Source. Plants are 60 - 70% carbon. The amount of CO2 available in any aquarium, due to gas exchange with the atmosphere is 4 - 5 parts per million. Plants under sufficient light for photosynthesis need up to 30 ppm in the aquarium. Seachem makes a product called "Excel" it is a chemical that a plant cells can convert to CO2. Excel is very cost effective in small aquariums.

Plants need Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Potassium constantly available, plus all of the micro nutrents and iron. I would rethink the use of your "plant food" additive .

To cure algae problems in a planted aquarium the primary goal is a healthy, thriving, robust plant mass. This is achieved by Sufficient Light, Sufficient Nutrients including Carbon, Care and Pruning.

Think of it like this...

A herd of Elephants in their Space and a colony of mice in the same space. They both eat the same food and need the same light. If the herd of Elephants is robust, active, and flourishing the colony of mice withdraws to wait for a better day. If the herd of Elephants is sluggish, sickly, and inactive the colony of mice can be opportunistic and thrive. This is exactly the dynamic between plants and algae in the aquarium.

Jay

[MargieS]

Great, thanks for clerifying things. I think I will try a brighter light plus some Excel to get our plants growing healthier, and possibly more plants also. The brown algae is on everything - plants, glass, gravel & artifical wood/stump. Maybe we can get things going the other direction soon.

This aquarium was a gift for my 11 year old son which he had been asking for. This is a learning experience for both of us. He is doing a great job taking care of things, but I just want it to not look too icky since it's in our family room :-)

[Jay]

The brown algae is on everything - plants, glass, gravel & artificial wood/stump. Maybe we can get things going the other direction soon.

It sure sounds like diatoms. I would not add any more plants at this point.

You can...but have your son be careful. Use a solution of 19:1 (19 water 1 part household bleach). Scrape your glass with a blade, change out your filter media, and wipe the parts with the 19:1 solution. You can dip you decorations and other equipment (30 seconds will do it). Rinse well before returning them to the tank.

Your plants may be a loss happens to most newbie plant growers. Up your water changes to 50% once a week, this will help deplete the silica. The diatoms should start to disappear. Dipping the plants is a risky thing to do, it would probably kill them along with the diatoms.

Don't worry it sounds like a normal start up to me .

Do you have a test kit for NO2, NO3, Ammonia, GH, KH, and pH? If not...you should get one, they are not very expensive.

The next questions you are going to get are "What are your Tank Parameters?" See...Do you have a test kit? above.

OH! and...as brown diatoms disappear they will be replaced by green algae...I know I know, but this is a good thing, green algae is easy to deal with.

Jay

[miketyson986]

Nice approach margies