(SLEngst) wrote in message ...
A 30 gal. heavily planted, moderately fishy tank has been going quite cloudy.
I changed water - 50%, its fine for 24 hrs than becomes cloudy, again. Double
Finally got around to testing all parameters. Ammonia, zero, NO3 below
measurable with the spendy NO3 test kit, PO4 about 0.3 ppm (or is that 0.3 *
4.4?) K - 2.3ppm. Other parameters - KH - 16 deg.; GH 20, pH about 8.1 reduced
to 7.3 with the DYI-CO2 system. So I added some Seachem Nitrogen - halfway
between beginner dose and final dose I will need and water immediately cleared
up. 2 days later its cloudy, again. More NO3 its clear. Mind, I removed all
the easily accessible fish during this phase of trying to resolve the problem.
Strangely, the other 30 gal. tank that now has a fish overload does not have
those problems. I expect there's a DUH! in there somewhere as I don't overfeed.


The question is, what is the cause of the cloudiness? PO4 - NO3 ratio
imbalance, alone? Or something else I need to chase? Possible fungus or yeast
(suspects of past problems)? In this tank, there is excessive "pearling" in the
evening and it would appear that it is the algae pearling. Is this O2 or CO2
bubbles?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Now that you have added N, see what the PO4 is.
Plants need NO3 and PO4 to grow actively and produce good O2 levels.
Keeping the CO2 up when the lights are on during the entire light
cycle, not just in the morning will also help.

K seems low. I'd add some KNO3, you'll get both the K and NO3 added.
If the PO4 stays at 0.3ppm, get a new kit. It(the level) should move
at least .1ppm a day minimum in the tank. If not, either the kit is
wacky, or you don't have enough CO2, NO3, traces or K.
If you eliminate the CO2,NO3,K and traces from that, then you are left
with only one thing left.........then you can add that etc.

For K: use K2SO4, potash of sulfur
For K and NO3 use Stump remover, like Grant's brand
For PO4 you can use KH2PO4, monosodium potassium phosphate or A Fleet
enema.
For traces, most commercial brands are fine, Plantex and other dry
mixes are more economical.
You can order this or buy it locally.
www.litemanu.com

By doing a good sized weekly water change, and having a know size of
aquarium, you can add a 1/4 teaspoon say to a 20 gallon tank of KNO3,
this will give you about 11-12ppm of NO3 extra to the tank and 7ppm of
K.
Even if there's a little left in the 50% you did niot change, there's
enough no matter what for the plants. If you over/underdose, then the
next week's water change will correct for that.
Most folks only need to dose 1-3x a week. Depends on how much plant
mass and hgow much lighting you have.
Dosages are the same, the frequency of the dosages changes though.



Regards,
Tom Barr