Ongoing tank trouble

I few weeks ago I had problems with water quality when my filter packed in. That has settled now, and the water is fine, but I still think there is a problem with something.

My plants - that had been growuing really well, have stopped growing and are tuning brown. They are looking 'weedy'. I feed them with plant food, they have their roots in gravel, and I have given them Seachem CO2 liquid, although I have run out of that over the past few weeks.

The only othetr thing that might be a factor is that my air pump, which drives the bubble stone has packed in, and I have ordered a new one.

Could it be that they tank isnt getting the extra oxygen from the bubbles that is affecting the plants. I have a filter that is making the surface ripple. Do you think the fish are getting enough oxygen?

Could it be the Oxygen that isnt enough any more? Or the CO2 that is missing? It would be good to know what is the problem.

For the plants chances are it will be the CO2 as that is one of the things they need to really flourish. You can make DIY CO2. There may be an article in the plants section if not I'll try and dig one up from somewhere tomorrow.

If your fish are not gasping then chances are they have enough oxygen just keep an eye on them until the new pump arrives.

hi indi, thanks for the help. I dont really understand all the oxygen/co2 transfer stuff so its great to get a bit of advice on it. I'll have a look in the articles and see if theres something there.

Do you think a diy co2 set up would be better than the liquid stuff then?

I think so, I'm no plant expert but I think most people with lovely green and flourishing tanks use CO2 in gaseous form diffused into the tank. From what I can gather DIY setup will cost very little - a pop bottle, valve, airline and a diffuser plus sugar, water and yeast.

This link might be useful, its a fairly straightforward explaination of how to make a CO2 set up. It's a bit like a Blue Peter thing, but they seem to be really effective

What link Diana

Jeez........ . Hang on I'll go and find it..........................

http://www.fishforever.co.uk/carbondioxide.html

There you go!! :lol:

LMAO thanks

I'd say that CO2 deficiency is the culprit too. I've been away for the past couple of weeks and the plants got no ferts./CO2 but, while they would derive a certain amount of food from detritus/decaying food/faeces, the lack of CO2 has seriously affected the Salvinia natans which is looking terribly sad...

OK, if youve had filter issues that meant you did alot of water changes, you have probably upset the plants ie there favoured water chemistry.

Adding air to a tank drives off co2, so IF you use a diyCO2 infuser, turn off your air pump i the day, it is fine at night tho.

The Liquid co2 does work, but works out very costly.

I USED to have a 'Hi-tec' plant setup with all the fancy lights, pressurised co2 etc... but frankly, it detracted from my enjoyment as its lots of workm so now I let my plants get what theyre given, and tbh, whilst i lose a few more plants than before the survivors still flourish and thats with 2 hours of tank lighting per day and no ferts or co2 or fancy substrate

Buy strong plants and research what will live in your water and dont fall for the money trap of hitec planting gear is my advice

Plants require a fine balancing act of light, food, co2, micro/macro nutrients and many things beside, get one wrong and say hello to a massive outbreak of somekind of algae

None of the advice on this topic is wrong btw, but plants are a very complicated topic in their own right, so becareful of what you wish for and think about how much time, energy, money and agro you are willing to invest before getting too deep

I now have a mix of plastic(silk) and real plants, I once swore to no plastic plants but plecs like to break plants just out of spite

Sword plants are tough customers, grow well in most water types and reasonably plec proof and you dont need many to make most tanks look well planted, and they make great hiding spots for most fish too

hope this helps otherwise i got wrist strain for nothing

Rich wrote:

Sword plants are tough customers, grow well in most water types and reasonably plec proof and you dont need many to make most tanks look well planted, and they make great hiding spots for most fish too

Unless you have gouramis who like to eat them...

Just add a cool compress Rich and you will be ok! My plants looked a bit sorry after my week away too, but now I have restarted the bubbles and Seachem Excel, they seem to be picking up.

I think Richj is right - unless you are really, really into aquatic plants - and there are some people that think fish come second to the planting - kjeep things simple, and just enjoy it.

Diana wrote:

unless you are really, really into aquatic plants - and there are some people that think fish come second to the planting - keep things simple, and just enjoy it.

I agree. IME You can either have low fish stock and perfect plants or a nice community tank of fish and a mixture of healthy and not-so-healthy plants. You can't however have both a lot of fish and a lot of healthy plants so I vote for the fish everytime. :lol:

i think real plats are a pain in the backside. I have tried a few times to grow the but they always die. The current batch is starting to go real brown, and it used to be growing really well. I feed them twice a week (as instructions), add Excel, have the bubbles on for a couple of hours in the evening but they still always die off.

i think after this lot die i will just stick to fake.