Kilgore
Aquarium Advice Activist
Hello,
I have been dealing with 3 types of algae in my tank, and I finally have the brown algae beat, and the thread algae is likewise a goner, but the green fuzzy "carpet" algae just won't die!
My setup is as follows: 25 gallon, 65 watt CF = 2.6 wpg, densely planted. I don't have a phosphate test kit, but nitrogen is 15 ppm. I concluded that my algae problem was due to a combiation of high light and lack of CO2.
So, I finally got my KH up to 3 with the help of baking soda, and felt comfortable starting up my Nutrafin CO2 system. It has been running for over a week now, and I can see the bubbles forming and following the diffuser path, so it is working properly. Since then, however, my pH has not changed one bit, which I assume means neither has my CO2 level! According to Chuck's CO2 calculator, the CO2 level is "low" at 9ppm, since the pH is 7 and KH is 3. But obviously this hasn't changed since before I even started using the CO2. I am considering adding a 2nd canister, but I am not sure if that would help, or just be a waste of money. I have $30 to spend on another Nutrafin canister, but not $100 on a whole CO2 system. Plus I'd have to add shipping, and buying a container locally. Not to mention that I am terrible at DIY stuff.
Shouldn't the Nutrafin be doing better than 9 ppm!? Isn't my target like 30? I can't see even getting close to that. Maybe the CO2 calc is wrong, but the algae says my CO2 level is not high enough, either way. What do I do?
I have been dealing with 3 types of algae in my tank, and I finally have the brown algae beat, and the thread algae is likewise a goner, but the green fuzzy "carpet" algae just won't die!
My setup is as follows: 25 gallon, 65 watt CF = 2.6 wpg, densely planted. I don't have a phosphate test kit, but nitrogen is 15 ppm. I concluded that my algae problem was due to a combiation of high light and lack of CO2.
So, I finally got my KH up to 3 with the help of baking soda, and felt comfortable starting up my Nutrafin CO2 system. It has been running for over a week now, and I can see the bubbles forming and following the diffuser path, so it is working properly. Since then, however, my pH has not changed one bit, which I assume means neither has my CO2 level! According to Chuck's CO2 calculator, the CO2 level is "low" at 9ppm, since the pH is 7 and KH is 3. But obviously this hasn't changed since before I even started using the CO2. I am considering adding a 2nd canister, but I am not sure if that would help, or just be a waste of money. I have $30 to spend on another Nutrafin canister, but not $100 on a whole CO2 system. Plus I'd have to add shipping, and buying a container locally. Not to mention that I am terrible at DIY stuff.
Shouldn't the Nutrafin be doing better than 9 ppm!? Isn't my target like 30? I can't see even getting close to that. Maybe the CO2 calc is wrong, but the algae says my CO2 level is not high enough, either way. What do I do?