"Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message
...
In article cynbc.161653$1p.2053529@attbi_s54,
"Alex R" wrote:
I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start
doing
some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when
you
have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4.
They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general,
but
they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of
it.
You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like
way
too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and
macronutrients
separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing
that
already.
__
Alex
pcalex (at) hotpop.com


Can you make a starting recommendation for how to mix the macro and
micro nutrients and where you would start dosing?

Thanks


I actually dose the macronutrients in dry form. I used to make solutions of
them, but figured it was more work than necessary. I never mixed the traces
with the macros, though. For my 30-gal. tank with 3.2 W/g of lighting, I
dose about 1/4 tsp of KNO3, 1/4 tsp of K2SO4 and 3 pinches of KH2PO4 twice a
week. I also add 3 mL of Flourish per day. So I'd recommend starting with
roughly twice those amounts for your tank, or slightly less than twice, with
the PMDD trace mix corresponding to Flourish in concentration.

You can probably get away without testing if you dose the nutrients in the
quantities I mentioned and make at least a 50% water change per week. That's
what Tom Barr recommends. It would prevent your nutrient levels from
becoming excessive and any dosing mistakes from accumulating, while ensuring
your plants have enough nutrients. I only make 25% water changes, but I
don't mind testing. Also, your CO2 should be more than 20 ppm at all times.
15-20 ppm is not enough for this much lighting. I'm guessing there is some
kind of algae in your tank resulting from poor plant growth.
__
Alex
pcalex (at) hotpop.com