Getting it right...need some help

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Rafael

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Jul 15, 2003
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I'm having some problems with my 20 gallon, and I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrong. I need some suggetions on how to change my routine to get things in order. Everything is where it is supposed to be. I have BGA that keeps coming back and plants that are showing some type of difficency. The hygrophylia, crypt crispulata and mayaca are doing quite well(maybe at the expense of the others). I trim the plants weekly so none are overtaking the tank. The crypts, stargrass, ludwigia arcuata and
hemianthus micranthemoides are showing some type of difficency. The stems are dying at the bottom of the stem plants. The stems of the crypts are dying and the leaves are yellowish with an occational hole. Since I live in NYC water is very soft, so I have to add a lot of things. Tank Specs:
20 gallon
55 watt pc
ehiem ecco
flourite
2 diy co2 bottles- one changed a week
1/2 water change weekly
ph 6.6 in the morning
kh 3 (raised by seachem alkaline buffer)
gh 3 or 4 (raised by seachem equlibrium)
nitrate 6-10ppm (raised by no3)
Dosing schedule:
5ml of Fourish at water change and middle week
2ml Flourish Iron water change and middle week
1.5ml Flourish Phosphate water change and middle week
2tsp Equlibrium at water change
1tsp of K2SO4 at water change
1tsp KNo3 at water change and middle of the week

Plants doing ok: hygrophylia, crypt crispulata, mayaca and moneywort

Plants doing poorly: crypts lucens blassi and wendii, stargrass, ludwigia arcuata and
hemianthus micranthemoides

This tank is 2 years old or so, but I pretty much started from scratch abut 2 moths ago. Any suggetions would be appriciated. Thanks!
Rafael Perez
 
Well I seem to have everything where it is supposed to be. I used erythromycin last week, but to BGA is coming back....It's really frustrating, since I don't know what else I can do. Maybe I need to dose some more flourish or flourish iron?
 
You can do a search for posts by Plantbrain but if I am not mistaken he recommends blackout for a situation like yours. Let me see if I can recall from memory.:) First do a good cleanup and a 50% water change. Dose the fertilizers up as usual but disconnect the CO2. Cover the tank entirely for three days.. Use a blanket or some such so no light at all gets in. Uncover the tank and do another good cleanup and 50% water change.. Dose back up the fertilizers and turn back on the CO2.
 
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Danggit... I tried to edit that post and goofed up somehow. I guess you are more concerned on the deficiency than the BGA?
I wonder what the phosphate level actually is with the Seachem phosphate. That doesn't seem like much phosphate compared to the large amount of nitrate you are adding.
 
I think you're dosing too much KNO3 and Iron. You say you only have 6-10ppm N, but it doesn't seem like you'd be using all that you're dosing.
If I dosed that much Iron I know I'd have algae issues in my 55's.
Plants store Iron, but they reach a point where they can't use any more. I only dose Iron if my plants tell me they need it by their appearance.
I use 7 - 9 DROPS of Fleet's Enema(KH2PO4) twice a week in larger tanks than yours and it's adequate to keep it at 1.0 ppm.
Just seems like overload on some ferts.
I would do a blackout as described above with the water changes. That should clean up the tank for you.
Then dose as follows(these are Tom Barr's recommendations):
KNO3 - 1/4 tsp per 20 - 30 gals. at water change and at mid week
PO4 - 2 - 3 drops per 20 - 30 gals. at water change and at mid week
K2SO4 - 1/4 tsp per 20 - 30 gals. at weekly water change only

Traces - 15mls. at water change and at mid week

I started out using the above dosages as a starting point. I have since tweaked the dosages to fit my tanks' needs.
Len
 
I made an error on my dosages in my original post. I dose with 1/4 tsp KNO3 and 1/4 tsp potassium sulfate. Forthe flourish phosphate 1.5 ml raises the phospate by .1mg/l...should I add more that that? Thanks for all the input.
 
The Flourish Phosphate is *really* dilute then. :) If I test my higher light tank and find less than .5 ppm, I dose it with .5 ppm.
I end up dosing two or three times a week and still end the week with a negligible amount.
 
Tempest's usage is similar to mine with regard to P.
I would test to make sure you're in the .5 - 1.0 range at all times.
I have found that when the phosphates slip for any length of time I start to experience algae issues.
When the Flourish Phosphate runs out I suggest you pick up some Fleet's Enema at your pharmacy. Works great, and is easy to dose P with(and it's cheap).:)
Try dosing 1/4 tsp. K at water change and again at mid week. It looks like, based on what you say, that you shouldn't be experiencing any deficiencies in your plants. It's very difficult to overdose K. I started with the 1/4 at water change, then another 1/4 at mid week and now I'm up to 1/2 tsp. at water change and 1/4 at mid week. As long as the plants improve with it, I'll mess with it til I find the optimum.
Do you dose any Mg SO4(magnesium sulfate)? If not it might be a good idea. It assists the plants with the uptake of some ferts.
Len
 
I'll up the phospates to 8ml twice a week and see what happens. I used to dose epsom salts but stopped when I got SeaChem Equilibrium. I thought it had some in there. Maybe should dose 1/4 a tsp a week? I wish the microcanthem and crypts would start growing again . I'd post some pictures that I've taken from my digital camera, but I don't have any hosting space. Thanks!
Rafael
 
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