Should I be dosing this tank - Now with exciting Algae Pics!

[Vmax911]

Hey all,

Tank description is in the "my info" tab. Should I be dosing ferts in this low light tank? I have gotten some Flourish comprehensive. Should I dose this weekly, biweekly? As for the amount, should I stick with the recommendation on the bottle? TIA

 

[JDogg]

Re: Should I be dosing this tank

Hey all,

Tank description is in the "my info" tab. Should I be dosing ferts in this low light tank? I have gotten some Flourish comprehensive. Should I dose this weekly, biweekly? As for the amount, should I stick with the recommendation on the bottle? TIA

are you injecting CO2?

Are you noticing a deficeny?

what are your current NO3 and PO4 reading?

 

[Purrbox]

I would recommend dosing the Flourish Comprehensive and Potassium after your water change. Dose enough of the Flourish Comprehensive to get 0.1-0.2 fe and enough Potassium to get 10-20ppm of Potassium. If you check in the Stickies, the Fert one has some nice calculators to help you figure out how much you need to dose to get the needed levels.

You shouldn't need CO2 with this amount of light, and it would only be necessary to dose Nitrate and Phosphate if they start to bottom out.

 

[dapellegrini]

How long have you had the tank and what is leading you to consider dosing ferts? I guess I am wondering what you are trying to fix, adjust or avoid.

 

[Vmax911]

Here's the current stat's of the tank (from the AP tests I have):

Ammonia and Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
pH: 7.9
GH: 3 degrees
Kh: 6.5 degrees

I am not using CO2 injection, tank has been running 5-6 weeks. I've had a few plants in since the beginning, but got in a lot more about a week and a half ago. I have several kind of algae appearing (BBA, green hair, green in general, and all present before I added the large bunch of plants). Most thing I read about algae says to either up CO2, which I don't have, or do something with dosing. However, these threads are usually referring to med-high light tank with CO2 injection, which doesn't correspond to my setup.

I don't want algae to spread (there's not a whole lot right now) and I want to make sure my plants stay healthy.

 

[JDogg]

Here's the current stat's of the tank (from the AP tests I have):

Ammonia and Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
pH: 7.9
GH: 3 degrees
Kh: 6.5 degrees

I am not using CO2 injection, tank has been running 5-6 weeks. I've had a few plants in since the beginning, but got in a lot more about a week and a half ago. I have several kind of algae appearing (BBA, green hair, green in general, and all present before I added the large bunch of plants). Most thing I read about algae says to either up CO2, which I don't have, or do something with dosing. However, these threads are usually referring to med-high light tank with CO2 injection, which doesn't correspond to my setup.

I don't want algae to spread (there's not a whole lot right now) and I want to make sure my plants stay healthy.

ok BBA suggest CO2 and if you PH and KH test are right you are not getting much CO2 (not even 3 ppm) to inhibit BBA you are going to have to get it above 30 ppm

green algae could mean a NO3 - PO4 issue

i would not trust the accuracy of you kits too my NO3 could Easily be 0
i would pick up a phosphate test kit too and post those results

try to idea the "green Algae" for us, then can better pinpoint the cause
use this link http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9


according to you info you have about 1.3 wpg light, i do not think you are running through the ferts that fast, but you may need to start dosing some... "green" algae tells me you are running low on something and BBA tells me you need more CO2 (might be as easy as adding more bottles if it is DIY, i run 6 on my 75 and am getting good co2) could probably get away with dosing excel at your light level.

anyways my suggestions...
1) pick up a phosphate Test kit and post results
2) ID "green" algae" with link above and post it
3) look into adding more CO2 to fight BBA

 

[Purrbox]

JDogg, I think you need to reread the OP's post. We're looking at a low light tank without CO2 injection, so the 3ppm of CO2 makes sense.

In this situation we need to make sure that none of the nutrients are bottoming out and ensure that there is good circulation so that the plants are all getting access to the necessary nutrients. I'd start with the current and dosing the traces and Potassium. Give it a few weeks. If you're still seeing problems then you'll need to look at Nitrates and Phosphates.

 

[JDogg]

JDogg, I think you need to reread the OP's post. We're looking at a low light tank without CO2 injection, so the 3ppm of CO2 makes sense.
.

my bad, i was not aware that 3ppm was going to be enough for fighting BBA at the light level, please disregard then

 

[Purrbox]

It's not so much that ambient levels of CO2 (3ppm) are enough to fight BBA, but rather that these levels aren't causing the BBA. It's more the low fluctuating levels of CO2 (like commonly found with DIY CO2) that often cause BBA. If the CO2 is steady and low or high and fluctuating you aren't very likely to see BBA, it's just when you combine low and fluctuating that it becomes such a problem. BBA can be caused by other deficiencies, which is what we need to look into with this situation.

 

[Vmax911]

Well, I just started dosing Flourish Comprehensive. Should I give that a couple weeks and see where it leads? Should I dose weekly, twice a week, or only after a pwc (which would make it weekly)?

 

[Purrbox]

You would only need to dose after each water change. You can start dosing more frequently if your plants start exhibiting any deficiencies. Your plants will grow slowly enough that they won't go through the nutrients very fast. With a low light tank you can get away with less frequent water changes. Many recommend once a month or even less.

You'll want to give most changes a good 2-3 weeks to get a firm idea on how they are working. While bad things can happen overnight in an aquarium, it takes a few weeks for you to see the results of positive changes.

 

[Vmax911]

Thanks to everyone for all the great advice.

Purrbox: I guess I will slow down on the pwc, and just top off with tap water and Prime. I do have some type of root tab (called substrate gold, came with my plants from FreshWaterAquariumPlants.com), so I should only dose Flourish Comprehensive after the PWC?

JDogg: I believe the algae types I have are blue-green, fuzz, and BBA. I will attach pics that hopefully won't get jumbled up in the posting process.

Also, according to the lighting sticky, my 4ft 32W T8's give the equivalent of 2wpg of normal T12 light. Does that change anything? Light are running 10hr/day. 3hrs in the morning, and 7 hours in the afternoon/evening.

 

[JDogg]

JDogg: I believe the algae types I have are blue-green, fuzz, and BBA. I will attach pics that hopefully won't get jumbled up in the posting process.

Also, according to the lighting sticky, my 4ft 32W T8's give the equivalent of 2wpg of normal T12 light. Does that change anything? Light are running 10hr/day. 3hrs in the morning, and 7 hours in the afternoon/evening.

yes, 2 wpg is kind of the boarder between low light and medium light, yes that will definatly affect how much you will need to dose, and i still think you should up the co2, IMO

 

[7Enigma]

That BGA is definately indicative of a bottoming out of nitrAtes. If tank circulation is not an issue (BGA will grow in low flow areas), then I would highly recommend getting some nitrogen ferts...You don't want to play around with a tank with no nitrAtes. In the meantime you can increase feedings to increase the amount of nitrAte produced by the bacteria...

 

[Purrbox]

The first pic may or may not be BBA. Doesn't look quite right to me, but there are several varieties that fall under the title BBA. The real test is whether or not it pulls off easily. If it's nearly impossible to remove, then definately BBA otherwise it's something else.

I'm not entirely sure what the second pic would be classified as. Definately one of several of the green algaes.

The third pic is classic BGA and is the one that should be of the most concern at the moment. Check your current to insure that the spot where it's showing up is get good flow. If it is then you'll need to start dosing Nitrates.

As far as your light goes, I'd put you more at Medium Low light than Medium light. You still don't strictly need CO2, but if you were to decide to start using it you would see some very nice growth out of your plants. If you add CO2, you're almost guarenteed to need to start dosing other ferts.

Here's an article that gives more detail on sucessful low light tanks without CO2. I think that it will answer some of your questions reguarding water changes and dosing. It goes even further than my current recommendations.

 

[Vmax911]

The BGA is in a high current area, that dwarf sag is usually waving at me. Any suggestions on what product to dose, or just anything that says it has nitrates?

I guess the good news is that my tank isn't overstocked!

 

[rich311k]

Your best bet is to go to Gregwatson.com. You will want potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate and photassium phosphate. Get a pound of each it will last you a good long time. if you look on the stickys you will find links to dosing calculators to help figure out how much of what to add. With your tank once a week after a water change may well be enough. Your plants will let you know how you are doing.

 

[Vmax911]

Part of me would rather stick to some type of "Nitrate in a bottle" at the LFS solution. Is anything like this available? My original plan was to have a low maintenance tank, like the ones described in the article Purrbox linked to.

However, if I do need to go the Gregwatson route, what types of test kits do I need? Is there a kit available for each nutrient (ie potassium, phosphate, etc.)? Anything else I should pick up while there (I've heard a lot mention CSM+B). Also, would the pre-mix PMDD be good for my situation? Again, most of what I see in other threads and calculators are geared toward highlight tanks with CO2 injection. So from what I understand, the target values (ppm of nutrients) is not the same for me. Geez, after writing all that, I would still rather go with option #1!

 

[Zezmo]

Seachem make "nitrogen in a bottle". Problem is, by the time you have bough a months supply of that one fert, you could have went to Greg Watson and bought a years worrth of every fert.

You can also always go to the hardware store and buy "Stump Remover" which is potasium nitrate (KNO3).

 

[Purrbox]

Since you will probably be dosing fairly infrequently, I'd recommend just picking up a bottle of Seachem's Flourish Nitrogen (Seachem also makes Flourish Phosphorus for Phosphates and Flourish Potassium for Potassium). It's a great way to get your feet wet. If you find yourself going through it fairly fast, you can always make the switch to Greg Watson ferts and use the Flourish bottle to mix your KNO3 solution. This is how I started with ferts and I haven't regretted it one bit.

The only test kits for ferts are Nitrates and Phosphates. Potassium is nearly impossible to overdose, so you can just use your plants as guide on whether you need to add more. Seachem makes a test kit for Phosphates that is supposed to be nearly as good as the LaMotte kit.

The CSM+B is basically the same as your Flourish Comprehensive. If you're going to order from GregWatson, you might as well get some of it too so that you've got it on hand for when the Flourish runs out. I'd skip the PMDD as it is a set ratio of nutrients and can't be adjusted if you need more of one nutrient but less of another. You're really better off just going ahead and ordering the individual nutrients so that you can taylor them to your tank's needs.