Need Help with Determing Ferts!

[LindaC]

I have a 29 gallon planted tank with DIYCO2. My tank has been up and running since the end of September. Occupants of this tank are 2 Blue Rams, 2 Wild Blue Rams, 2 Lemon Tetras, 2 Apistogramma Red Tails, 2 Ottos and 1 SAE. The 2 wild rams will be leaving within the next month of two, I am shipping them to a friend of mine.

My tank will go along looking very nice, plants growing well and then all of a sudden some of my plants will come down with algae and is so bad that I usually have to be removed. I keep doing this and I'm getting very tired of it; especially since I just had to toss my Gayii away and I loved that plant. So I'm now under the impression that I must need to dose fertilizers but wanted to check with those who are doing so, to find out just how to begin doing this. I was trying to keep on top on the algae by doing water changes - 50% on Saturday's and 20% on Wednesdays, but that doesn't seem to be working.

My water parameters are ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10, PH 6.4 and KH 8. Can anyone tell me how I would go about determining just what ferts I need to add to my tank to prevent that algae? I would like to get my tank stablized once and for all.

Thanks!

Linda

 

[rich311k]

How much lighting do you have? Do you know your PO4 levels? Do you fertilize with anything currently?

 

[LindaC]

No I do not fertilize now. Twice I added Plant Gro with Iron and my tank broke out with a very bad case of algae, I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. My lighting is 1-55 Watt Bright Kit from AH Supply with 6700K, which I believe brings me to just under 2 WPG. Hope this helps. I'm not sure at all about PO4 levels.

Some of the plants that are growing nicely in my tanks are Narrow Leaf Ludwigia, although I have had to cut it do to algae but it grows nicely, also Creeping Jenny does wonderful and also my Red Tiger Lotus is growing like crazy. I just ordered some Hygro and a new type of Anubias, not sure of the name. I'm constantly looking for plants that will grow well in my tank.

Thanks!

 

[rich311k]

PO4 is phosphate. Is you CO2 consistant or does the PH go up as the yeast mix disolves? I had problems with inconsistant levels until I switched to 2 1 gallon jugs. One of which gets changed every Friday. My bba dissappear shortly after the switch and has stayed away.

 

[malkore]

Kh 8, pH 6.4? that's 89ppm of CO2.

What is the kh and pH of your tap water, if left out overnight before testing?

 

[czcz]

Also, you should treat your tank as medium+ light when applying the fertilization and CO2 stickies. Hold on to a bit of the plants you like -- you can always grow them back out, and there's no need to keep tossing them if they are growing. Investing in a PO4 kit and fertilizers will be much cheaper than constantly replacing your plants, and is likely necessary to acheive algae-free growth.

 

[LindaC]

Malkore, I have soft water, my PH and KH have been the same since I started injecting CO2 back in November, PH is always 6.4-6.8 and KH is always 8-12. Funny but the water parmaters in my 10 gallon tank are pretty much the same and there's no CO2 in that tank.

I try very hard to keep my plants, I tossed the Gayii, which I loved, because it was very sickly looking and I didn't think I could revive it. It was growing so well and then within the last week or so, it really declined. Other plants have grown very well, like my Cabomba. I purchased some of this about a week and half ago and it's now almost to the top of tank, in fact I cut it back just last night.

I do want to invest in a kit, but not sure where to purchase one. I've looked in the LFS but they don't seem to have this type of kit. Where would I find one?

 

[rich311k]

Here you go: http://bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19603;category_id=3095

What are the numbers for your tap water? If you ten is close to the same without CO2, you may not be getting much CO2 at all which maybe causing the problems.

 

[LindaC]

Well it's a 29 gallon tank, does a 1-liter bottle pump in enough CO2 or would I need 2-1 liter bottles? I can't see how you can get CO2 to pump any more than it's going to produce with a DIY hook up. You know I've come this far but if my tank isn't getting enough CO2, I'm looking into a pressurized system before I hook up another bottle, just think it's a real pain in the butt and you can't regulate it, or can you?

I just got home from work and the tank looks nice now, no algae to be found, but I did a 50% water change last night and one Monday night. Another thing I forgot to mention is my subtrate is 90% Fluorite, isn't that supposed to contain iron, wouldn't that be enough? I'm going to look into dosing ferts but before I do, will a kit tell me which ferts I need? If I'm going to do this, I want to get it right. I need to get my tank balanced, this is no fun.

 

[BlazerFRS]

One one-liter bottle is not enough for a 29 gallon. One one-liter bottle was not enough for my 10gal. I have a gallon jug on there right now...

The 2x one gallon is prolly your best DIY bet. That or pressurized

 

[LindaC]

Is that why I'm getting algae? Can I use a gallon jug on my 29 gallon, would that work? I'm not very good at hooking up the tubing, trust me, it took me quite a while to get the hook up I have on there now. It would be so much easier if I could just add one bottle to the tubing I already have on there, but if I can't, I'm thinking of pressurized.

Can I get a decent pressurized system for $150-$175? Only thing is I don't know a thing about hooking it up or what kind to get or what parts come with the system! Any help in this area would be greatly appreciated.

Rich - thanks for that link "Big Al's Online", I just purchased the Phosphate Test Kit. Now is this kit enough? Will it tell me all the ferts my tank is in need of, or just the phosphates? How do I test for the others, I know there's no test kit for iron. Shouldn't I have enough iron with my subtrate? It's about 90% flourite, if not more.

Thank you, at least now I'm off in the right direction!

Linda

 

[Hoovercat]

Linda, your algae problems are not going to be solved by a single solution because your missing more than one essential nutrient. Plants need light, CO2, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and trace elements to grow and out-compete algae. Please read ALL the stickys at the top of the forum, get some dry ferts from Greg Watson and your CO2 up to speed and we'll help you get your tank into amazing shape.

 

[LindaC]

Thank you, I do realize that it's more than one problem and I'm in the process of trying to resolve them, I'm just a little confused about the fertilizers my tank will need. I have read the stickies and learned a lot so far, but I do still have a couple of questions. I will try to resolve them on my own.