Hair algae (I need help!)

That's a gorgeous aquascape! Nicely done.

Here's my fertilizer regimen for my 33g:

Solutions:
3tbsp. KNO3 in 250mL water
fleet enema for PO4 (this will change to KH2PO4 soon)
trace mix - CSM+B from www.gregwatson.com - 1tbsp. in 125mL water
CaCl2 and MgSO4 are added "dry" directly to tank

Tap water:
NO3 - 0ppm
PO4 - slight colour, maybe 0.25ppm
Ca and Mg - 5ppm of each
KH - 10ppm
GH - 10ppm

At water change I add 10-15mL KNO3 solution and about 15drops of PO4 solution (empirically determined) I also add 1tsp. of CaCl2 and about 1/4tsp. MgSO4
Day 2: 5mL trace mix
Day 3: 5mL KNO3 + ~7 drops PO4
Day 4: 5mL trace mix
and so on, water change is done on day 7.

I've had good success with this regimen as long as I keep CO2 levels up. When they fall, I get algae. Between the nutrient calculator and this template you should have healthy plants in a few weeks. The new growth should come in healthy and the old growth should stop decaying. You can prune off the really terrible looking parts next time you do maintenance. After a few prunings you probably will only have healthy looking plants remaining.
 
Do you use any Fe supplements? Also which product (from Greg Watson) would you recommmend for my case?

I am trying on my aquascape to copy the forms of the california kelp beds, really tall with channels between the plants.
Are there any ground cover plants that are easy to grow, my micro swords are doing terrible and I am thinking of replacing them.
 
I bought the CSM+B with extra Fe, in either case CSM+B has Fe in it, but I thought that since they were the same price I'd try the extra Fe product.

Since you've got lots of NO3 in your tap you probably won't need any KNO3, however the easiest way to be 100% certain is to test your NO3 level just before your weekly water change. Is it greater than 10ppm? If yes then you don't need any KNO3, if not then you'll need some. Considering that it's really not that expensive, I'd be tempted to get some anyway, just in case something changes in your source water, I don't like trusing my tap as a source of anything, if it's there, great, but I'm always suspicious, expecially where I live since there're very pronounced seasonal shifts which can result in nutrient rich water during spring thaws and fall decompositions.

Anyway, bare minimum you need a source of the following nutrients:
Traces (CSM+B, extra Fe if you like)
PO4 (KH2PO4 or K2HPO4, I can't remember which it is that he carries)
K (you already mentioned that you've got K2SO4, so it's up to you whether you need more)

For the rest, try to keep Ca:Mg in about a 4:1 with Ca at about 20ppm and Mg around 5ppm. If your tap's already rich in Ca and Mg, you won't need to supplement, if not, both CaCl2 and MgSO4 are really cheap. Your local water comission can tell you what levels to expect.

As for ground cover, you've got the setup, try glossostigma. It's not necessarily "easy" but I think that once you've got everything squared away nutrient-wise you'll be able to grow any plant you want. The micro swords will come around too. I originally had some E. tennellus in my tank, they never did much and were just small when I got them. Last summer, temperatures soared in my apartment and I lost all my java fern and most of my bacopa, they both grew back, and I figured that the swords were gonners. After the heat dropped back down I was cleaning out the tank and found two little survivors, they've grown into the left front of the tank in my sig. So I think that yours will bounce back too.
 
I ordered the fertilizers, hopefully this does the trick.

An intersesting sidenote: I have a bunch of house plants, recently I guessed that if the nutrients I was adding helped aquatic plants what could it do for my house plants? so I started using the water I removed during water changes to feed my house plants, they started growing like crazy. Within three weeks there was significant growth and a an overall sense of better health (leaves are much greener and a tremendous amount of new growth). I wish I had documented the change with some pictures as it it is hardly believable! It almost makes it look like I know what I am doing.
 
I believe you, every now and then when I'm rinsing off filter intake foams I collect the mulm that rinses out into the tank water and use it in the house plants (well, such as we have anyway) we grew a peace lily from a little plantlet to a huge plant that shooting up flowers (5 right now). Definitely a good use of excess water.
 
More of the same, only aminute amount of pearling - new growth looks OK though.

I have two questions for you:

1- what is your personal opinion on the occurence of pearling after water changes? This happens in my case everytime (and the pearling is substantial) if it is gasses in the water being released I would expect to see bubbles on the glass and things that do not produce oxygen, but it always shows on the leaves where you would expect normal pearling?

2-Is there any chemical reaction that could be taking place that would cause the PH to drop during the day? (Co2 was not on at all during the days this phenomenon occured) with no Co2 the PH fell from a controlled 7.0 to 6.6 during dayight exposure. And again I found the fish gasping on the surface.

Thanks Again
 
The pearling at water change is, I believe, just the new water degassing. I get it every time I change water, little bubbles cover all the surfaces. At first I thought that it was pearling, too, but then I saw them on the heater and filter intake as well.

One possibility that may drop pH is decarboxylation. Some plants can use bicarbonate (HCO3-) as a carbon source if CO2 is lacking. This could potentially decrease pH if it caused dissolved CO2 to convert to HCO3-. Just a guess though, nothing else comes to mind.
 
HC,
If they get good pearling after a water change and not other times......it often means poor CO2, which is the no# 1 cause of algae.

I'd suggest adding a bit more CO2 and now you KNOW what good CO2 levels and pearling looks and appears like, you can use that as your standard.

Add a bit more CO2 slowly till you get that type of effect. Be conservative here but steady. Keep adding a bit more and see what happens.

I think your plants will start growing very well and then you will have them use the nutrients you are adding effectively.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
I am really perplexed, I allowed the PH to fall to 6.2 to see if the elevated Co2 levels would trigger the plants pearling, (as they have not in some time now) and it had no effect. Even with Co2 at levels dangerous for the fish, the plants would not pearl. My Kh levels dropped a little from 120 ppm to 80 ppm as I covered over some of the crushed coral while vacuuming the tank.

Is it possible that there is too much of a nutrient, which might have negative effects? If so which might it be?

The plants are growing but they do not have really good color?
 
Could be, but it's equally possible that something's missing. Hard to tell what it is. According to your results, you've got tons of NO3, you're dosing plenty of PO4 and K now. I don't think that I've ever heard of NO3 inhibiting CO2 uptake, doesn't make sense and that's really the only thing that you've got tons of.

For the sake of an update, what do your tests show for tank water params? Also, what are you dosing, how much and how often? I'd just like an update since a lot has happened in this thread and a lot of the info is months old. Speaking of which, how's the algae situation?
 
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