Flourish Excel

[mikeyboy123]

I'd put some egeria densa and/or hornwort in there. Both can be grown either floating or pushed into the substrate - these are good; just gather together half a dozen or so stems and push them all through the cylinder. trim off the excess flush with the bottom of the cylinder and then you can pus the cylinder into your substrate a bit.

You could also try some vallis.

As for red plants, ludwigia palustris super red is probably one of the easiest red plants to grow.

TNC lite for liquid ferts and you'll need some root tabs for the vallis and ludwigia.

[fr499y]

Ludwugia repens would be a good 'red' plant as well.

[Martinspuddle]

@Martinspuddle, yes we have and I apologise. I'm just impatient lol!

Sorry for reposting!

What ferts would you recommend and what other fast growing stems? Are there any reds that are fast growing or are all reds considered harder to keep?

I use Easy-Life Ferro for extra iron for the red lilies I have (dosed 2.5 ml once a week) but my main fertilizer Easy Life PROFITO Complete dosed daily at 4.5 ml per day.

Any of the aquatic fertilizers from retailers do the job, APi, JBL, Seachem, Tetra and Tropica to name a few.

How are your water parameters now?

[fluxtor]

I'd put some egeria densa and/or hornwort in there. Both can be grown either floating or pushed into the substrate - these are good; just gather together half a dozen or so stems and push them all through the cylinder. trim off the excess flush with the bottom of the cylinder and then you can pus the cylinder into your substrate a bit.

You could also try some vallis.

As for red plants, ludwigia palustris super red is probably one of the easiest red plants to grow.

TNC lite for liquid ferts and you'll need some root tabs for the vallis and ludwigia.

Do You need root tabs with a substrate like Fluval Stratum? I thought it had plenty of nutrients?

[fluxtor]

@Martinspuddle, yes we have and I apologise. I'm just impatient lol!

Sorry for reposting!

What ferts would you recommend and what other fast growing stems? Are there any reds that are fast growing or are all reds considered harder to keep?

I use Easy-Life Ferro for extra iron for the red lilies I have (dosed 2.5 ml once a week) but my main fertilizer Easy Life PROFITO Complete dosed daily at 4.5 ml per day.

Any of the aquatic fertilizers from retailers do the job, APi, JBL, Seachem, Tetra and Tropica to name a few.

How are your water parameters now?

Thanks for advice!

Water params are stable now and even the ph and kh have risen slightly due to more consistent water changes. pH is around 7.5 and kH at 5.

[fluxtor]

FYI here is where the tank is situated. Excuse the dog towel on the radiator!

[Staffylover]

Personally I would black out the short end of the tank that is facing your glass doors, you can get aquarium backgrounds from a shop for this which you Sellotape or stick on, or you could just use a piece of black cardboard, if you like to view fish from this side of the tank then just use something propped up that you can remove in the evenings, in my experience sunlight will fuel algae especially green hair algae, this will not solve all your problem but it will help,
As other members have said more plants is the answer, make use of that lovely substrate you have

[mikeyboy123]

I'd put some egeria densa and/or hornwort in there. Both can be grown either floating or pushed into the substrate - these are good; just gather together half a dozen or so stems and push them all through the cylinder. trim off the excess flush with the bottom of the cylinder and then you can pus the cylinder into your substrate a bit.

You could also try some vallis.

As for red plants, ludwigia palustris super red is probably one of the easiest red plants to grow.

TNC lite for liquid ferts and you'll need some root tabs for the vallis and ludwigia.

Do You need root tabs with a substrate like Fluval Stratum? I thought it had plenty of nutrients?

No, you won't need root tabs. My bad.

An amano or two and a nerite or two would help with the algae.

[fluxtor]

No, you won't need root tabs. My bad.

An amano or two and a nerite or two would help with the algae.

Thought not and yeah I was thinking of shrimps or snails at some point but was told to wait for tank to be well settled for shrimp?

[fr499y]

Amano are hardy enough to chuck in when ever, it’s cherries that are more sensitive to changes, and crystals are a whole other ball game.

Oto’s also need a mature tank which is why they aren’t recommended very often.