# Growth Problems, and Algae



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

Hello everyone, I've come to notice that my plants are growing new leaves that are bent and wavy in other words. I was wondering if this was a sign of nutrient deficiency.
I have 2 live plants in my aquarium, but im planning to increase that number. I currently have a hygrophila polysperma rosanervig (sunset hygro) and a baby tears plant.
Also there are dark spots on my baby tears that look like algae, theyre sort of brownish green. How can i get rid of them?
Here are some pictures of the bent leaves and the algae spots:


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

How big is your tank, how much light do you have? What about CO2 and fertilization?


----------



## jrs (Mar 18, 2006)

That is a tell tale sign of Ca and/or Mg deficiency. My guess is that your water is very soft or that you are not changing it often


----------



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

Hm i was thinking Calcium as well, i do regular water changes (30% each week) or is that not enough?
I do not use fertilizers in my tank right now, but i am about to (I've heard good things about flourish fertilizers)
No CO2 either
I have a 55 gallon aquarium, i also have 2 strips of F15T8 bulbs setup with it.


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

How many bulbs are in each light strip? Your response was somewhat ambiguous; I'm not sure whether you have two T8 bulbs (each 15 watts) for a total of 30 watts, or if you have more bulbs, etc.

Regardless, you probably have a low light setup, so CO2 and fertilization is probably not too important. However, the Ca and Mg deficiency, as mentioned, may be as a result of soft water. 

30% water changes each week are good, but if your water is soft in the first place, then changing the water will not provide the plants with any Ca or Mg. As for fertilizers, to each his/her own, but I personally prefer dry chemicals (bulk chemicals) because they're much cheaper (especially for larger tanks, like yours).


----------



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

Yes i do have a low light setup, simply because the light fixtures that came with my tank only allow me to do so much. I have two 18" 15 watt lamps lined up after each other and they are compact fluorescent lamps. so basically each side of the tank has a 15watt lamp on it. Which element do you think i should try first Ca or Mg ? or should i try both.
thank you very much for your replies by the way.


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

With 30 watts of lighting over a 55 gallon tank, you have 30/55 = 0.54 WPG (Watts per gallon); definitely quite low, especially for growing plants. Certainly, your plants would benefit with a little more light (about 1 WPG would be a better starting point).

You can try adding both Ca and Mg first, but before you go about adding things, you might want to check the gH of your tank water and tap water first.


----------



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

Im not very good at the lighting parts, but ill get the hang of it.
Currently i have the original light fixtures that my tank came with, theyre two fixtures 18" long that only take 1 bulb each (compacts). If i want to increase the light intensity what should i do? are there stronger compact lights than the ones i have? or do i have to change the whole light fixture?

Oh you mentioned its low for growing plants, I donno if thats entirely true because my rosanervig has grown to, I'd say 3 times its original size.


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

game_killer said:


> Currently i have the original light fixtures that my tank came with, theyre two fixtures 18" long that only take 1 bulb each (compacts).


I just want to make sure that your light fixture uses power compact fluorescent bulbs, rather than normal fluorescent bulbs. It seems to me that you may have the terms confused.



game_killer said:


> If i want to increase the light intensity what should i do? are there stronger compact lights than the ones i have? or do i have to change the whole light fixture?


For each type of bulb and length of bulb, there is a specific wattage that they have. If you want to increase the light intensity, you'd either have to switch the type of bulbs you have (i.e. from normal fluorescent to power compact, or to high output fluorescent, etc). Likely though, you will have to change the light fixture; the stock fixtures that come with tanks are often ill suited for the planted tank.



game_killer said:


> Oh you mentioned its low for growing plants, I donno if thats entirely true because my rosanervig has grown to, I'd say 3 times its original size.


I'm glad that your plants are growing; a word of caution though, Hygrophila is a genus that I find to be low light tolerant, so its growth may not be an indicator of how adequate your lighting situation is.


----------



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

Hm, Im not sure what the technical term is for the lamp, but it says f15t8 on it and its 18" long. It says T8 at the end of it, so im guessing its a T8 light?
Its not like those ultra thin ones.


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

game_killer said:


> Hm, Im not sure what the technical term is for the lamp, but it says f15t8 on it and its 18" long. It says T8 at the end of it, so im guessing its a T8 light?
> Its not like those ultra thin ones.


Then it's a T8 bulb that is 15 watts. It is not a "compact fluorescent" as that would imply it's another type of bulb.


----------



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

oh ok, are the compact fluorescent ones the ones that have two bulbs parallel to each other?
btw, what should i get for a well lighted environment in my tank? do you have any suggestions?


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Indeed, compact fluorescents look different from your standard fluorescent bulbs (their pin configuration is also different).

The first question is what you want to do with your tank. Do you want a low light tank? A high light tank? At the very least, you should have 1 WPG over your 55 gallon tank (so try to get at least 55 watts of lighting). 

I believe a 55g is 3 feet long, correct? You could always go to the hardware store and pick up a standard 3 foot light fixture; if it has two T8 bulbs, that's already 50 watts over your tank (each 3 foot T8 bulb is 25 watts). That's definitely an improvement over your current lighting situation.


----------



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

its 48" wide


----------



## coryp (May 28, 2008)

game_killer said:


> its 48" wide


go to home depot/ canadian tire and get a 48 inch fixture with 4 bulbs i think there on for 34.99 or less right now at canadian tire. if you want more light then also pick up a replacement ballest and researh over driving you lights


----------



## Sameer (Sep 30, 2007)

coryp said:


> go to home depot/ canadian tire and get a 48 inch fixture with 4 bulbs i think there on for 34.99 or less right now at canadian tire. if you want more light then also pick up a replacement ballest and researh over driving you lights


I have a 45 thats the same length and this is the same thing I did. Do remember that with more light comes more responsibilities(CO2 and ferts are the main ones). If not taken care of youl get killer algae attacks.


----------



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

I was thinking of adding HC Cuba plants to my aquarium foreground, what kind of lighting do they need,
also, if i make the lighting of my tank 1wpg would i still have an algae problem? and would it be enough for the HC Cuba?


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

game_killer said:


> I was thinking of adding HC Cuba plants to my aquarium foreground, what kind of lighting do they need,
> also, if i make the lighting of my tank 1wpg would i still have an algae problem? and would it be enough for the HC Cuba?


HC needs high light, good fertilization and good CO2 levels. 1 WPG would definitely not be enough for HC. You should not have algae problems at 1 WPG, provided the other things are in balance (i.e. algae usually only attacks when the triangle of balance is disturbed).

Four 48" T8 bulbs would give you 96 watts over a 55 gallon, which is a much bigger improvement over your current lighting situation.


----------



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

what about the t-5 bulbs?


----------



## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

The problem with a 55 Gallon which measures 48 1/4" x 12 3/4" x 21" is that the width of the tank is only 12 3/4". There isn't very much room for lighting width wise if you consider that the above measurements are outside glass to glass measurements.
For instance I have 2-48" long fixtures with 2-T8 tubes in each and in all that with reflectors their width comes to 9 1/4" wide. That leaves less than 2 1/2" clearance for an opening at the top. Also consider the room for a filter and heater it gets even smaller.
One dual T8 tube fixture at 48" would give you 2 tubes at 32 watts. So over 1 w/gal. You should also consider buying a hinged glass top for the tank as well.
If you go T5 then you will get more light but the light fixtures will cost a lot more and as mentioned before that over 2w/gal. you will need co2 added to the tank. 
Check this website out and see what you like in plants and what light level.
http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_cat.php?category=1


----------



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

does this look good?
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...7/cl0/coralifefwt5aqualightdoublestriplight48


----------



## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

That seems to be good at 28x2=56watts. Being T5's that are 35% more efficient you probably have 75.6w. If the fixture is narrow enough then later down the road you may be able to add a second fixture to get the medium light range.


----------



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

great! thank you


----------



## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Your welcome


----------



## game_killer (Dec 11, 2008)

well, i got the lighting fixtures with the bulbs, 
wow, the whole thing just looks wonderful now, so much more vibrant and brighter !! 
im guessing the plants would be happy now, i also got fertilizers for em


----------



## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

game_killer said:


> well, i got the lighting fixtures with the bulbs,
> wow, the whole thing just looks wonderful now, so much more vibrant and brighter !!
> im guessing the plants would be happy now, i also got fertilizers for em


It's nice to see another smiling face. 
Hopefully the plants will thrive and the algae will stay away. Enjoy!


----------

