Alternanthera cardinalis algae and holes

[Aquarium_scape_n_fish]

I recently added the alternanthera cardinalis to my tank and now seem to struggle with a layer of algae and lots of leaves with holes. Growth has been good otherwise
I have co2 in the lime green, dose ferts daily/weekly - TNC lite 20ml at weekly 30% water change and 3ml daily dose of TNC complete plus 5ml flourish excel at water change. Tank has fluval 206 and sponge filter, fluval fresh & plant 2.0 on for 12hrs a day. Im not sure if i'm under dosing or have too much light etc tank is heavily planted and fairly heavily stocked too. Any ideas?

 

[Zeus.]

What size is your tank?
It could be inadequate flow the fluval 206 has an output of 780LPH
How often do you clean your filter?
Could be CO2 OFC but that could be inadequate flow related which in turn may be related to a filter that needs a clean. Also is heavy planted so the mass of plants will be affecting the flow too. Just trimmed some of my trident back just to improve the flow.

 

[Aquarium_scape_n_fish]

The tank is a roma 90 (about 70l of acutal water volume). I clean the filter every 2 weeks & it is pretty clean each time
The co2 diffuses right under the filter output and fills the tank with bubbles (which i hate! Looking to get a reactor soon)
I hacked back my limnophila sessiliflora 2 weeks ago and just trimmed back the pogo erectus too hoping to give the plants aroubd them a boost of nutrient and light. I suspected a nutrient deficiency or too much light but these are just guesses

 

[Zeus.]

roma 90 (about 70l of acutal water volume)

so with filter output you should be good.

When you clean the filter do you clean the pump itself ? complete dismantle toothbrush and earbuds job, just done Filter and dont normally do the pump, did it today and glad I did the output increase it noticeable to say the least.

 

[Aquarium_scape_n_fish]

I'm pretty OCD in general life so when I clean my filter, everything is done . I used to run a U2 before the 206 and that had to be dismantled every week to keep a half decent flow
I'm convinced that co2 levels and filtration are ok & something else is the culprit

 

[ceg4048]

something else is the culprit

No it's not.
Holes in leaves always = poor CO2

The co2 diffuses right under the filter output and fills the tank with bubbles (which i hate! Looking to get a reactor soon)

You can always put the diffuse under the intake of the filter and use the filter as your reactor. This works fine and is free.

Cheers,

 

[Aquarium_scape_n_fish]

No it's not.
Holes in leaves always = poor CO2

So have I been wasting co2 all this time? There is so much in the water that it looks fizzy & the drop checker (opposite side to the diffuser) shows good colour.

You can always put the diffuse under the intake of the filter and use the filter as your reactor. This works fine and is free

Dammit, that's a good idea but i just ordered a reactor

 

[ceg4048]

So have I been wasting co2 all this time? There is so much in the water that it looks fizzy & the drop checker (opposite side to the diffuser) shows good colour.

Yes, I understand that it is disheartening to be pumping CO2 into the tank and to still have CO2 deficiency, but this is how it goes everyone suffers this. About 95% of all the problems in all CO2 injected tanks is actually due to poor CO2.

If you have just added the plant then this could easily be due to the fact that new plants are typically grown emmersed and so they have difficulty adjusting to being thrown under water. The new leaves that grow will be submersed and may not suffer this issue.

What kind of algae are the leaves covered with? I assume that the other plants in the tank are doing OK and do not have the same symptoms? If so then this is good news and may indicate that it is only a problem for the new plant which will take some time to adjust.

The fact that you are adding Excel is good as it will help with the CO2 issue, however, you can try adding it on a daily basis and see if that helps the plant to adjust.
Many times it's just a matter of getting the plant to survive long enough to adjust and once they do then they are OK. Yes, turning down the light for a few weeks will always help new plants transition.

Dammit, that's a good idea but i just ordered a reactor

One thing you want to be sure to check is that the inside diameter of the reactor is NOT smaller than the inside diameter of your filter output spud because if you choke that flow it will really cause more problems than it solves.

Cheers,

 

[Aquarium_scape_n_fish]

Thanks for the info. I've increased the co2 rate, started adding florish excel daily and upped the ferts doses to try and elimimate the issue. You're right that the plant is new to the tank & it is the only one with holes. The algae is not exclusive to that plant & appears on a few of my slow growing leaves. I also get a film of green algae on the glass a day or two before water change. Do you think the increase in everything will kill off the algae? Added some pics if it helps
Thanks

 

[Konsa]

Hi
Your main aim should be balansing the tank and improving plant growth.Removing the damaged leaves and good wc regime will keep the organics in check.The algae will sort itself out ince U get the balance.There is a option that the light is a bit too bright if U have green deposits on glass.Try not too change too many things at once and give time for the aquarium to adjust
Regards Konsa

 

[Cactusface]

Hi,
take a look here: https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/algae-issue-from-empty-co2-bottle.50909/#post-501642
It might help.
Regards
Mel.

 

[ceg4048]

Thanks for the info. I've increased the co2 rate, started adding florish excel daily and upped the ferts doses to try and elimimate the issue. You're right that the plant is new to the tank & it is the only one with holes. The algae is not exclusive to that plant & appears on a few of my slow growing leaves. I also get a film of green algae on the glass a day or two before water change. Do you think the increase in everything will kill off the algae? Added some pics if it helps

Hi,
I realize this might seem like just philosophy, but really, the best way to think about this problem is in terms of plant health, as noted by Konsa's post above.
It's much less about killing algae and more about getting your plants healthy.

For reasons we still need to determine the plants suffered, started to die and their tissues disintegrated. Algae appeared simply to mop up the mess.
What you really want to do now is to get the plants healthy again. When their health returns the algal blooms will abate.

The photos I'm able to see show Green Spot Algae (GSA) on the leaves, which is typically caused by some combination of poor CO2 and poor PO4.
Those leaves will never recover and they do add to the problem, so you really need to remove as many infected leaves as possible.

With widespread effects such as what you show in the photo the root cause is likely to be your distribution method.
Hopefully, your new reactor will help.

Cheers,