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Need Help!! Phosphate readings off the chart!
In addition to light and CO2, plants need nutrients to grow. Nutrients are
divided into two categories: Macro Nutrients: Nitrogen, Phosphate, & Nitrogen Micro Nutrients: Trace elements (iron, zinc, etc ..) In the presence of good light and CO2 levels, the plants will grow until one or more nutrients is expended. At that time, they will stop growing (and consuming nutrients) even though other nutrients are abundant. In your case, the limiting nutrient seems to be Nitrogen (nitrate levels are very low). It is understandable that your plants stopped growing or slowed down. Unfortunately, unlike plants, algae can fix its own nitrogen and can therefore continue to grow in the absence of nitrogen as long as the remaining nutrients are available (all in the presence of light and CO2). Therefore, what you need to do is make sure that there is ample supply of nitrogen (as nitrate), potassium and trace elements. Eventually, all of the available phosphate is consumed by the plants (and algae) and phosphate becomes the growth limiting factor. At that stage, your plants -being the dominant macro organisms- will be able to out-compete the algae for the available phosphate. The algae disappears. In summary - Add Nitrate to 5-10 ppm - raise the level slowly over a course of a week (after you have dealt with the excess phosphate) - Add Trace elements using a kit like SeaChem Flourish - Some people suggest the addition of potassium as K2S04 or KCl to make sure potassium is in ample supply - Maintain your current levels of light and CO2 Your phosphate levels should always be near zero (0). If growth becomes too hindered, you can control it using very small doses of phosphate from a source such as fish food or fleet enema In the short term, however, you need to reduce your phosphates in order to arrest the algae bloom using one of the available products on the market. And, get rid of the carbon filter, it absorbs your micro nutrients (trace elements) making them the limiting growth factor. Don't forget the weekly 25% + water changes to dilute any excess nutrients you've added to ensure they are in ample supply. |
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