New light fixture and new dry ferts....Algae bloom...advice?

[thedon986]

I recently started my dosing of dry fertilizers to my tank. All was going well, I was doing according to a chart that I found for a 29G. On Friday I upgraded my lighting from 52.5w to 110w which brought me to very high light according to the oh glorious light article. Anyways, right after I put the new 110w 10,000k light on I immediately noticed it made my aquarium look more yellow than it ever has looked. It also made my water look cloudy. This has been eating at me since I noticed it. I had a 50/50 fixture before which made everything look amazing. Could this cloudy and dull water be caused by incorrect fert. dosing, light spectrum, or too much light. My weekly dosing is as follows.

Nitrate - 10.90ppm
Phosphate - 6.68ppm
Potassium - 14.59ppm

It looks like my phophate is way high, should I cut that back. Or am I seeing a temporary algae bloom due to doubling my wattage over my tank. One more question....will a different color temperature make my aquarium look whiter? The water is cloudy to the point where I have definite shadows in the rear corners. TIA.

 

[dapellegrini]

What is the kelvin temp on the lights: ie, 3k, 5k, 6,700, 10k, 12k, etc... The lower the light's kelvin temp, the yellower things will look. I use 12k lights and am happy with them. I hated my old 6700's. I even had some 10k lights that seemed too yellow/green for my liking.

Can you post a picture of the cloudiness?

I am not a dosing expert by any stretch, but I am using the EI: http://www.barrreport.com/estimative-index/62-estimative-index-dosing-no-need-test-kits.html

Looks like your Potassium is the farthest out of whack.

 

[rich311k]

You should be dosing 1 or so phosphate not 6. If you are now high light, you may want to start dosing those amounts every other day instead of weekly. Are you adding any kind of trace mix? If you take some of the water out and put it in something white, is it yellow or green? My lighting is 10,000k and I don't find it too yellow. All personnel taste. Extra light will not make your water look cloudy.

 

[JDogg]

Re: New light fixture and new dry ferts....Algae bloom...adv

I recently started my dosing of dry fertilizers to my tank. All was going well, I was doing according to a chart that I found for a 29G. On Friday I upgraded my lighting from 52.5w to 110w which brought me to very high light according to the oh glorious light article. Anyways, right after I put the new 110w 10,000k light on I immediately noticed it made my aquarium look more yellow than it ever has looked. It also made my water look cloudy. This has been eating at me since I noticed it. I had a 50/50 fixture before which made everything look amazing. Could this cloudy and dull water be caused by incorrect fert. dosing, light spectrum, or too much light. My weekly dosing is as follows.

Nitrate - 10.90ppm
Phosphate - 6.68ppm
Potassium - 14.59ppm

It looks like my phophate is way high, should I cut that back. Or am I seeing a temporary algae bloom due to doubling my wattage over my tank. One more question....will a different color temperature make my aquarium look whiter? The water is cloudy to the point where I have definite shadows in the rear corners. TIA.

ok...
1. what kind of algae do you have?

2. nitrates are low (should shoot for ~-20ppm)
Phosphate is high (~1-2 ppm is good)
Potassium could be higher

3. how much CO2 are you running?

 

[thedon986]

*EDIT* What I meant by weekly dosing is that I am dosing three days and totalled up equals the stated ppms according to Zezmos calc. Is this to low? The lights are 10k and when not on aquarium are white as can be...so its not the lights. However the water does appear to have a yellowiish tint to it. Suggestions? I am running what I believe is 20-30ppm CO2...I'm not certain though(DIY). I am dosing every other day, and I am dosing dry into the tank....is that a problem? I am adding Plantex CSM+B as my trace on alternate days. Largest algae problem is a toss up between BBA and spot. I though that high phosphates helped to inhibit spot algae? I know the BBA is most likely due to not high enough CO2/swinging. I just did a nitrate test and it appears my nitrates have bottomed out which isn't good. Could this be the culprit?

 

[rich311k]

BBA is almost certainly CO2. You need to be consistent and high. Though staying above 20ppm is not bad, 30 ppm would be better.

If your nitrates are bottoming out that can cause real problems. I would increase your dosing of K and N and reduce the phosphate a bit. Try adding 30ppm Nitrate, 3 ppm Phosphate and 30 ppm K each week divided into 3 equal portions. Add the flourish on alternate days shooting for at least .1 ppm FE.

 

[thedon986]

I agree esp. after reading more in-depth in the guide to fertilizing. I am hoping to switch to pressurized soon, this bba is making me crazy....either that or a canister filter. Money is tight being a student.

 

[rkilling1]

seems everyone has got you squared away on your ferts.

but i am just inquiring on your 'yellow' water. Would you have by chance added any wood to your tank recently? (just wondering)

It could just be free algea in your water column that appears yellow under the lights for all I know. ( we will know if it turns green)

 

[thedon986]

i have some driftwood but that has been in for over a year and never discolored the water....i am also thinking this might be the beginning of green water....i rreally hope not