# Dont ever go on vacation!



## Lousyweather (Mar 25, 2016)

Ok, so I went on an 8 day vacation. Cleaned and trimmed the 75 just prior, and my son stayed home, but did nothing to the tank, such as maintenance or feeding. There aren't much fish in there.....some otos and pygmy cories. Now, some pics!
The first pic is what I saw when the light went on....ouch.
The second pic is a more closeup of the algae in the foreground...the nerite is ok, he just fell.
The 3rd pic is the java fern with the algae trailer....
4th pic is the stauro dieing for some reason
5th pic is after I cleaned, trimmed the heck out of the sprite, and did a water change....also added the gh booster.

So, some parameters:
Lighting is 2 Ecoexotic e-120, 6 hours per day, 85% capacity. I just now moved them 3" off of the tank surface to spread the light a bit, and decrease it somewhat.
I dose Nilocg's liquid EI system, 7 ml/day of both micros and macros
CO2 injection, only while lights are on, resting pH is 6.8-7.0, controller set to come on at 6.3, shut off at 6.18.....no gasping at these levels.
temp is 78 degrees, no A/C here
dkH=4
dgH=6
Cu=<.25mg/l, with the replacement water being 0 (no idea where the Cu is coming from, unless its food or ferts
NH4= 0
NO2=0
NO3= 40ppm
Just started adding gH booster (1/4 tsp/10gals, 1x/week....that's the white stuff you see on the right of the last pic)....I am concerned my calcium is low. My water is well water, and while to kH LOOKS ok, my geology is primarily granites and gneiss....known for Mg, but not Ca....I am guessing that my kH is loaded with Mg and not Ca

I do 50% water changes every week.

So, I basically come home to pandemonium in my tank! A dead shrimp! loooong hair algae on the substrate, and in some plants, like the Java fern roots.
Stauro seems to be losing its leaves from the bottom up. 
The water sprite is happy as can be. Lily doing ok, the poor sag is smothered in algae, red root floaters ok, Balansae good too.

I think I am deficient in Ca, so adding the gH booster. I think I might have too much light, so, raised them up.

I would love to hear from you guys who actually know what they are doing.......fix me, please!


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

That's not too bad. Next time you go on vacation, just turn the lights & CO2 off.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Or at least reduce lighting/co2 to maybe 2 hrs per day.


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## dukydaf (Dec 27, 2004)

Agree with mistergreen, it does not look like something that will not be recovered from with adequate care and dosing. Take care of it and in 2 weeks' time you should not see a trace of your holiday 

What I do when I go holiday : 
- big trim to give plants place to grow
- lower light duration and intensity 5-6h is alright. 
- dose in one dose all the macros for that week
- add some strongly chelated iron and don't worry about micros as most plants have enough stored resources for one week. 


Now that worked form my setup with ADA AS for one week. The plants were pretty crowded and some minor GSA on the wood. If you go away for a month the strategy should change .

A short note, 
GH= general hardness Ca+Mg
KH = carbonate hardness CO3 ( mostly)


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## Lousyweather (Mar 25, 2016)

dukydaf said:


> Agree with mistergreen, it does not look like something that will not be recovered from with adequate care and dosing. Take care of it and in 2 weeks' time you should not see a trace of your holiday
> 
> What I do when I go holiday :
> - big trim to give plants place to grow
> ...


Thanks on the correction, Duky! I think I am going to try reducing the light somewhat anyhow, by raising it like I did....I have no par meter. 
I still feel I am low in....something. Why I chose to add the gH booster by Nilocg. Give it a shot, see what happens. I havent had the greatest luck with some things....stargrass, stauro, DBT, mosses (except Java moss)....pulled them as they just didnt grow, or seemed to be a constant source of angst with the algae they grew.
I also stepped back dosing of the ferts to 5 ml/day....see what happens.
Id like to try another new plant.....I like my one stem of Lud. Cuba, and its growing, but weirdly, my fave is probably the Balansae. I am afraid to try real slow growers because no I am gun-shy with this algae issue. Any suggestions?
At some point, I would like to restock more shrimp, and maybe try some Celestial Pearl Danios......

Bump:


mistergreen said:


> That's not too bad. Next time you go on vacation, just turn the lights & CO2 off.


yea, yea, yea....I know that now! lol....but thanks for the input!

Bump: why would the stauro be losing leaves though?


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