Hi, I've posted before, but got a ton of mixed advice with no one really reading my entire problem. (Please read bold items--I am desperate for the answers to these questions). So, i believe I've solved the problem on my own, but at the same time have no solution. My 20gallon tank has been overproducing algae. It has killed the plants and now 1 fish has died. another may be sick. I have run every test out there. Every level is normal except two. Please don't ask what that means, just trust me that if there is a test, I've got it and everything from ammonia to water hardness is fine. I've been to three stores and our results are always the same.
So, our pH in the St. Louis area is high. A lot of people here have fish and do not import water. Our aqua store uses Neutral Regulator for this issue. It is used for chlorine removal. We've been using it for a year. Then, in late summer we got some weird orange spots on tank and plants. Plants became stunted. Fish were fine. We cleaned the tank, changed the water frequently and added some Phosguard. Well, that orange stuff disappeared and was replaced with black algae a few weeks later. It doesn't grow on the glass, but on every plant,the thermometer and filter are covered. days after cleaning it returns.
So, I tested the phosphates. They are as high as the test allows for. Water turns navy. Well, the neutral regulator is the cause. It contains phosphates. So, I've been normalizing the pH due to extra water changes and as a result, I caused this problem. I asked several times here and no one knew about it. So, I tested tap water plus neutral regulator=dark blue. Our tap water does not have high phosphate content. So, all store people here in St. Louis have been telling me to lower pH and phosphate, but I cannot do one without raising the other.
Is there a way to lower my pH without something that uses Phosphate buffers? This product is great because it wouldn't take the pH lower than 7--it simply adjusted it whether it was low or high.
Also, I now need a different dechlorinator. I will not use a cheap, crappy one. When I was using those I had ammonia problems. Maybe it was coincidence but who knows. Neutral regulator also neutralizes ammonia if it becomes problematic, plus it helps lower it. Great product but not if you have an algae problem. so, it cured our ammonia problem, helps with nitrates, nitrites and is killing my tank.
Please, there must be a simple solution to this. It explains everything.
So, our pH in the St. Louis area is high. A lot of people here have fish and do not import water. Our aqua store uses Neutral Regulator for this issue. It is used for chlorine removal. We've been using it for a year. Then, in late summer we got some weird orange spots on tank and plants. Plants became stunted. Fish were fine. We cleaned the tank, changed the water frequently and added some Phosguard. Well, that orange stuff disappeared and was replaced with black algae a few weeks later. It doesn't grow on the glass, but on every plant,the thermometer and filter are covered. days after cleaning it returns.
So, I tested the phosphates. They are as high as the test allows for. Water turns navy. Well, the neutral regulator is the cause. It contains phosphates. So, I've been normalizing the pH due to extra water changes and as a result, I caused this problem. I asked several times here and no one knew about it. So, I tested tap water plus neutral regulator=dark blue. Our tap water does not have high phosphate content. So, all store people here in St. Louis have been telling me to lower pH and phosphate, but I cannot do one without raising the other.
Is there a way to lower my pH without something that uses Phosphate buffers? This product is great because it wouldn't take the pH lower than 7--it simply adjusted it whether it was low or high.
Also, I now need a different dechlorinator. I will not use a cheap, crappy one. When I was using those I had ammonia problems. Maybe it was coincidence but who knows. Neutral regulator also neutralizes ammonia if it becomes problematic, plus it helps lower it. Great product but not if you have an algae problem. so, it cured our ammonia problem, helps with nitrates, nitrites and is killing my tank.
Please, there must be a simple solution to this. It explains everything.