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Old 30-05-2003, 08:57 PM
James Ervin
 
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Default Algae Bloom




I have a heavily planted tank with 3.5 wpg and pressurized CO2 around
25 to 30 ppm depending on pH (ranges from 6.85 to 7:00) with a kH of
8-10. 7 days ago I noticed a spike in my Nitrate to 24 ppm (the
previous weeks had been 8, 8, 4 and 15). When the spike in nitrate
happened, I stopped using the pmdd with KNO3 added and stopped feeding
the few fish in the tank. Four days after the nitrate spike I had a
big algae bloom (globs of hair algae and whitish stag horn algae).
The tank really looks bad. Today I have Nitrate of 0 Phosphate of 0,
pH of 7 kH of 9, gH of 6. Note this is a real 0 measure with the high
end Hach kit that will read .1 ppm (the dual range color wheel kit
that can read .1 to 1 ppm or 1 to 10 ppm).

So:

1. Did the bloom occur because of the high nitrate and laying off of
the nitrate will cause it to abate?

or

2. Did the bloom occur because of the nitrate bottoming out which
caused my plants to stop growing?

I think it is probably number one and I plan on letting the nitrate
sit at zero for a while whilst I just dose with my Nitrate free pmdd.

Hair grass and baby tears grow like mad in this tank.

Other ideas?


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Old 30-05-2003, 10:08 PM
LeighMo
 
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Default Algae Bloom

Other ideas?

You have a high-light tank with a ton of CO2, and I suspect what happened is
that you ran out of some nutrient. That's what caused the nitrate spike:
suddenly, your previously fast-growing plants could no longer use the nitrate
because they were short of some other nutrient. It's like an assembly line
that ran out of one part. The other parts start piling up, unused.

You say phosphate is zero; that might be the problem. Plants need phosphate as
much as they need nitrate, and PMDD doesn't provide it. And you say you don't
have many fish; the primary source of phosphate in an aquarium is fish
food/fish waste.

Most people with high-light tanks eventually have to supplement phosphate, at
least occasionally. Sounds like your time has come.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/
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Old 31-05-2003, 01:44 AM
LeighMo
 
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Default Algae Bloom

So, should I shoot for 2ppm of Phosphate using one of the liquid types
that my LFS has?


I'm probably the wrong one to ask. I never have to supplement phosphate,
because my tap water has tons of phosphate in it. (Some hobbyists would
consider that a nightmare, but I consider myself lucky.)

Seachem has a new phosphate supplement for planted tanks that's supposed to be
very good. It's probably expensive, though. A lot of people recommend using
Fleet Enemas, from the drugstore. Really!

As for dosage...most people go for "barely detectible" rather than trying for a
specific number. A lot of people are scared of adding phosphate, because they
think it causes algae. I have to say, though, that it hasn't been my
experience. Despite the 40 ppm of orthophosphate in my tap water, I've never
had serious algae problems, in planted or unplanted tanks.

Still, keep in mind that any changes should be gradual, so you don't shock the
fish. Add a little at a time.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/
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Old 31-05-2003, 05:08 PM
James Ervin
 
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Default Algae Bloom

My largest Oscar tank (a 120) has pH 7, GH 5, KH 4, KNO3 13 and P 5
(I can not measure over 5ppm with my Hach low range kit.

I am thinking of moving 5 gallons to the 55 once a week to supplement
P and KNO3. That would be cheap....free.

Any reason this would not be plausible?



On 30 May 2003 23:39:25 GMT, tose (LeighMo) wrote:


I'm probably the wrong one to ask. I never have to supplement phosphate,
because my tap water has tons of phosphate in it. (Some hobbyists would
consider that a nightmare, but I consider myself lucky.)


Take the stick in the eye out to reply.


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Old 31-05-2003, 09:44 PM
 
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Default Algae Bloom

James Ervin wrote in message . ..
On 30 May 2003 20:03:23 GMT, tose (LeighMo) wrote:

Most people with high-light tanks eventually have to supplement phosphate, at
least occasionally. Sounds like your time has come.


Thanks for the info:

It is a 55 tank with 7 Otto's, 6 guppies, 14 molly fry (sort of
fry/fish about 1/2 inch long...the parents jumped ship, literally), 4
guppy fry and a bristle nosed Pleco. There may be some shrimp
left.....but I can't see any now. This seems like a low load to me
(my other tanks have cichlids and have "pounds" of fish in them....big
oscars and Jack's).

So, should I shoot for 2ppm of Phosphate using one of the liquid types
that my LFS has?


2ppm is rather high. If you plan on dosing once every 7-10dyas, this
might be okay.

But it's better to dose perhaps 0.5ppm to 1.0 ppm range. But it's okay
if you run down to .2ppm to 0.0ppm even but not for more than a day or
or so.
You can play around as it has a wide range for effective results.
Also know this about adding PO4: when you start adding this to PO$
limited tank with good CO2, K and traces, your NO3 uptake will
increase a fair amount, 2-4X even.
Also you will be able to dose more traces and may need to increase
both the KNO3 and the Traces when you do this.

But be sure to keep the CO2 at 20-30ppm range, that's a key.

Regards,
Tom Barr






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Old 01-06-2003, 02:08 AM
LeighMo
 
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Default Algae Bloom

My largest Oscar tank (a 120) has pH 7, GH 5, KH 4, KNO3 13 and P 5
(I can not measure over 5ppm with my Hach low range kit.

I am thinking of moving 5 gallons to the 55 once a week to supplement
P and KNO3. That would be cheap....free.

Any reason this would not be plausible?


I think someone else here was planning to do this. Maybe they'll de-lurk and
tell us how it worked.

As long as the oscar tank is healthy, I see no reason not to try it.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/
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Old 05-06-2003, 11:08 AM
Cam
 
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Default Algae Bloom

Hey Leigh

*DeLurk mode* on. Yip that was me!!!....It worked just fine actually.
Although i didn't use gallons i just used a few cups of water. I dont use
test kits so will not be able to give you the correct ppm but everything
seems just fine and dandy.

While I'm here *Rant Mode*. Leigh, you informed me that I had a low light
tank (10 gallon tank with 1x 10w flourescent tube, and 1 x 50w 300 lumens
desklamp). And told me that i should just remove the incandescent as it will
not really be doing any good. I did remove the lamp about a month or so ago
and only had the 10watt going in the meantime. All was fine but plant growth
basically halted in its tracks. They looked healthy but were not thriving.
Last weekend I added 4 Threadfins to the tank (the only inhabitants). I did
a small water change before they were added and while examining the tank I
decided that the plants were definitely lacking something. I put the
incandescent light back on the tank and hey viola....Instant Pearling. That
was the first time I have actually seen plants putting out a constant stream
of bubbles from certain parts on the leaves. It was raining bubbles.
Hyahya...The rainbows must have thought they were in heaven! The
incandescents may not be the ideal lighting for the tank but they sure are
helping while I save to buy some decent lights. COOL BANANAS hey?

Sometimes you have to experiment a tad to see what works best for you.
Improvise JA?
Thanks alot to all whos invaluable advice has been used and abused

Regards
Cam


"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
My largest Oscar tank (a 120) has pH 7, GH 5, KH 4, KNO3 13 and P 5
(I can not measure over 5ppm with my Hach low range kit.

I am thinking of moving 5 gallons to the 55 once a week to supplement
P and KNO3. That would be cheap....free.

Any reason this would not be plausible?


I think someone else here was planning to do this. Maybe they'll de-lurk

and
tell us how it worked.

As long as the oscar tank is healthy, I see no reason not to try it.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/



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Old 05-06-2003, 07:08 PM
Dave Millman
 
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Default Algae Bloom

Cam wrote:

Leigh, you informed me that I had a low light
tank (10 gallon tank with 1x 10w flourescent tube, and 1 x 50w 300 lumens
desklamp). And told me that i should just remove the incandescent as it will
not really be doing any good. I did remove the lamp about a month or so ago
and only had the 10watt going in the meantime. All was fine but plant growth
basically halted in its tracks. They looked healthy but were not thriving.
Last weekend I added 4 Threadfins to the tank (the only inhabitants). I did
a small water change before they were added and while examining the tank I
decided that the plants were definitely lacking something. I put the
incandescent light back on the tank and hey viola....Instant Pearling.


A couple of other things to consider:

* How old is the flourescent tube? The cheap bulbs that come with
some fixtures really drop in output after 6 months or so. An old
10 W flourescent with poor reflectors won't put out much light.

* What is the position of the two lights? If the desk lamp is shining
directly on the plants, it's going to have an effect.

So Leigh's advice may have been spot on, in the general case, but your specific
case may be different enough that you had a different experience.


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