This 30 gallon long has been set up for 2 months. I started the tank with lots of plants, 2 powerglo HO t5 rated at 18K kelvin, and new eco-complete substrate. 10 hour timer cycle with a red sea pro co2 injection kit including the solenoid. The co2 turns off about half an hour before the lights do. I waited until about 3-4 weeks after set up before dosing with flourish. I was dosing with half a cap per week as per the instructions.
Everything was growing like mad but ph was in the 8.5 range. Water from the tap is about 7.6-7.8. I read up on the eco-complete and found that some users experienced the same thing. So I cranked the c02 in order to drop the ph. The ph did not drop much despite the co2 and 50% weekly changes. I had one algae bloom (water started to look like pea soup) so I turned off the lights for 4 days and turned off the co2. I started up the lights and co2 again but didn't dose with flourish. A few days a suspended algae bloom started again. I ran a UV sterilizer for 3 days and that cleared up the tank.
I brought the light cycle down to 8 hours hoping that solves the problem but I'm not so sure. I read of guys running 12 hour cycles. Is it the bulbs I'm using? I can't believe it's because of the co2 since co2 is supposed to discourage algae growth or am I wrong on that? Is it because it's a new set up? As I said the plants do great. I recently took out a bunch of micro-chain swords to make room for HC in the front.
I have a dozen threadfin rainbows and a bunch of cherry shrimp and I know i'm not overfeeding so it's not the amount of food I put in.
Everything was growing like mad but ph was in the 8.5 range. Water from the tap is about 7.6-7.8. I read up on the eco-complete and found that some users experienced the same thing. So I cranked the c02 in order to drop the ph. The ph did not drop much despite the co2 and 50% weekly changes. I had one algae bloom (water started to look like pea soup) so I turned off the lights for 4 days and turned off the co2. I started up the lights and co2 again but didn't dose with flourish. A few days a suspended algae bloom started again. I ran a UV sterilizer for 3 days and that cleared up the tank.
I brought the light cycle down to 8 hours hoping that solves the problem but I'm not so sure. I read of guys running 12 hour cycles. Is it the bulbs I'm using? I can't believe it's because of the co2 since co2 is supposed to discourage algae growth or am I wrong on that? Is it because it's a new set up? As I said the plants do great. I recently took out a bunch of micro-chain swords to make room for HC in the front.
I have a dozen threadfin rainbows and a bunch of cherry shrimp and I know i'm not overfeeding so it's not the amount of food I put in.
