Phosphate reduction, and plant growth?
 

I started using rowaphos a while back to try to control the algae in
my aquarium.

the tap water were I live is 2.5ppm and I have read that even levels of
0.5ppm can cause problems. so when I first tried using rowaphos I put a bag
filled with it in my filter and left it there, and it reduced the phosphate
level to 0 within day or two. it did have an effect on the blue green algae
that was in my aquarium at the time as it started to grow much more slowly
than it had been. but all my plants seemed to stop growing as well.

after that I stopped using the rowaphos and my aquariums phosphate level
started to rise to 2.5ppm with each water change. so couple of months back I
started adding it to the
filter for 24hrs after each water change and have kept the level at between
0.25ppm and 0.5PPM. since then my plants have all kept growing, but I'm
not shore if it is having any real effect on the algae growth. its also
annoying to have to keep dismantling my filter to place the rowaphos in it,
and also again when I remove it.

I have thought about just leaving it in the filter so that it zeros the
phosphate again and definitely slows the algae growth, In case the plants
stopped growing for some other reason. but the plants needed to be pruned
heavily to get them growing again last time and also took and long time to
start growing quickly again.

so what I would like to no is, does lowering the phosphate to zero stop
plant growth. and if it does will plant food that does not contain phosphate
correct the problem.

cheers,
Scott

In article ,
Scott wrote:
I started using rowaphos a while back to try to control the algae in
my aquarium.

What kind of algae?

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My understanding, (mostly from Tom Barr's vast knowledge he's shared),
is that phosphate by itself does not cause algae. A lack of phosphate
will retard plant growth.

To simplify, here's the formula for planted and non-planted tanks.

Non planted:
Use very low amounts of light for short durations during the day.
Change water with enough frequency to limit nitrates to no more than
20ppm.
If your water supply is high in phosphates, the absorber can't hurt.

Planted tanks:
Cover the bottom of the tank with plants.
2wpg or more for 10-12 hours a day.
Add C02 at 20-30ppm
Monitor nitrate levels. Dose a small amount of trace elements and
potassium when nitrates are present from fish food.
Begin dosing KNO3 along with K and traces when the plants start using
all the fish food induced nitrates. At this time phosphates will also
be used up, so start dosing them in small amounts too. With 40-50%
weekly water changes, try to maintain NPK in this ratio of ppm: 8:1:16

steve