neilanh
Sliced Bread
So my planted tank has been up and running for about a month now. I started originally with DIY CO2, and that just wasn't cutting it, so 10 days ago I made the switch to pressurized and have been running between 30 and 35ppm since.
My question is nutrient uptake. I've been dosing EI with greg watson ferts. But my plants are not taking in any NO3 or PO4. What am I missing? I mix ferts, not dry dose.
Tank specs:
20g high tank
Eco substrate
Pressurized CO2
XP2
temp 76.5° constant
65W dual daylight (6700k/10000k bulb)
kH 5°
gH 5-6°
Saturdays I do 50-60% PWC, afterwards I dose KNO3, KH2PO4, and K2SO4. On Sunday, Tues, Thurs I dose traces (CSM+B)
I've stopped dosing nitrAte and Phosphate at the realization of my levels - however I don't have any faith in my API PO4 test kit honestly. It read 4-5ppm PO4 last night (Mon night, 2 days after PWC and dosing). My Tap water reads 2ppm, and I dosed 1.5ppm on Saturday after the PWC. Before I got the PO4 test kit, I did a week of double dose on the PO4, as I read somewhere a PO4 deficiency could be why NO3 wasn't being consumed. No difference when I did that.
While I'm not convinced on the PO4 levels, I am still concerned with the 0 consumption of nitrAtes. I get 5 from the tap and I dose in 20ppm after PWC. After a week without any additional NO3 dosings, I still read over 20ppm.
Plants:
Bacapa, Microsword, Anubias Nana, Crypts, Wysteria, Hygro, and one or 2 others I forget what they are.
There's no fish in the tank, just snails atm.
I was/am battling a bit of algae. Mainly GSA and hair/thread, although I think the hair/thread is gone. The GSA isn't coming back as much since I went pressurized, but it is still growing slowly.
Lighting is 8 hours a day.
Thoughts?
My question is nutrient uptake. I've been dosing EI with greg watson ferts. But my plants are not taking in any NO3 or PO4. What am I missing? I mix ferts, not dry dose.
Tank specs:
20g high tank
Eco substrate
Pressurized CO2
XP2
temp 76.5° constant
65W dual daylight (6700k/10000k bulb)
kH 5°
gH 5-6°
Saturdays I do 50-60% PWC, afterwards I dose KNO3, KH2PO4, and K2SO4. On Sunday, Tues, Thurs I dose traces (CSM+B)
I've stopped dosing nitrAte and Phosphate at the realization of my levels - however I don't have any faith in my API PO4 test kit honestly. It read 4-5ppm PO4 last night (Mon night, 2 days after PWC and dosing). My Tap water reads 2ppm, and I dosed 1.5ppm on Saturday after the PWC. Before I got the PO4 test kit, I did a week of double dose on the PO4, as I read somewhere a PO4 deficiency could be why NO3 wasn't being consumed. No difference when I did that.
While I'm not convinced on the PO4 levels, I am still concerned with the 0 consumption of nitrAtes. I get 5 from the tap and I dose in 20ppm after PWC. After a week without any additional NO3 dosings, I still read over 20ppm.
Plants:
Bacapa, Microsword, Anubias Nana, Crypts, Wysteria, Hygro, and one or 2 others I forget what they are.
There's no fish in the tank, just snails atm.
I was/am battling a bit of algae. Mainly GSA and hair/thread, although I think the hair/thread is gone. The GSA isn't coming back as much since I went pressurized, but it is still growing slowly.
Lighting is 8 hours a day.
Thoughts?