Phosphates?

A

amd

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Aug 4, 2006
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i just got a phosphate kit and tested my aquarium, i got 10ppm of phosphate!
no @#$%^&*(#$%^&* wonder i had bga. err enywho, whats the best wat to deal with this? im dosing
1/8tsp kh2po4
1/8tsp k2so4
1/2tsp kno3

my tap water however is around 1-2. the color was knda in between, so...
i am assuming i need to stop phosphate dosing with kh2po4 and i read the sticky as saying that k2s04 is unnessesary, and i have found a good way to dose kno3 to get and maintain nitrates at ~ 10ppm any sugesstions are appericiated, and sorry in my last thread i kinda get heated when all i find is the same thing over and over, then i find the perfect article on what i was looking for a,d guess what :confused: ITS IN DUTCH :Angel: that sucked. anyway guys just wanted to appologize, and try figuring out each thing individually than try to soak it all in at once, patience i guess :shark:
 
High phosphates don't cause BGA. Yes, at 10ppm you are definitely in the high range so you're dosing more than your setup is handling. Overfeeding is another way to add plenty PO4.

To get rid of the BGA, do a 50% water change. During the change, syphon out all the BGA. Try and get as much as you can. Next comes the three day blackout. Wrap your tank in black towels or anything to completely block out any ambient light in the room. Don't let any light in or it won't work. Turn off CO2 if you inject it. After the blackout. Do another 50% water change and give your filters a good clean.

For dosing, try and keep nitrates and phosphates at around a 10:1 ratio. Your tapwater is great for phosphate so what you want to do is get a grip on how much NO3 and PO4 is being consumed by your plants. Test every other day and dose accordingly until you get familiar with the uptake. So if your tapwater is coming into the tank with 2ppm PO4, getting NO3 to 20ppm will keep you in check. For potassium, you may or may not get enough from KNO3 or KH2PO4. Overdosing is difficult and K does not give you algae.

Watch out for deficiencies such as yellowing or pinholes forming on leaves. They will indicate something is missing such as Fe, Mg or K.
 
so 10 parts nitrate to 1 part phosphate? just making sure. now is there a balance of k to n&p? and basicly u mean... i can dose only kno3, unless i start getting a deficency then add k2so4 for k and i am guessing leave of the mono potass. phosphate right?

do i need to be adding anything like calcium carbonate or magnesium sulfate? i got these but didnt know if i needed em but figured gett them while im getting everything else and eliminate the need to ship 2 boxes, escpecially greg has thoe like 10$ flat rate boxes

also i have already won with the bga, i used maryacin, i have heard warnings but, i didnt have a prob :clap:
 
Yes, 10 parts nitrate to phosphate.

K is a flexible one. Between 20-40ppm is fine. Higher won't cause any harm at all, unless you go silly with it. Pinholes on leaves is a classic sign of a deficiency.

Calcium carbonate will increase GH and KH. Do you know your GH and KH reading?s This will give you a clue on if you need Ca or Mg. Adding a 1/4 tsp MgSO4 a few times a week will address any issues for magnesium. Calcium is usually not needed but twisted leaves and snails with whitening shells are a sign of it lacking. CaSO4 is a good calcium source. I use it myself.

Keep an eye out on your filter. Antibiotics can play havoc with your biofilter bacteria.
 
great.... im finally catchingthis i think, yay!
ive come to a conclusion, and this will take a little time on a nutrient calulator and som testing water, but i may have figured a solution and dosng regimen, although i dont know yet how much my dosing will be i will get a scale and and start weighing in stead of spooning, ok that sounded bad hehehe.
dose ing my kno3 will be based on the level of phosphates i can getr my tank stable at after noticing how high they were, which im doing some wc's to help. i hope to get my po4 to 1.5 as this is what tap comes out around. so when i achive this i want to get my nitrates to about 15ppm, and using a calculator , figure about hoe much k im getting from kno3 and then add to that if not sufficent with k2so4 to supplement k, and now comletly disbanding kh2po4, also keeping by estimate K around 30 since 20-40 is good, this gives me a 10ppm saftey zone either way. I THINK IM GETTING IT!

as for my kh 7dkh and GH is{crap test} ~3-5dgh
i added some MgSO4 to my csm+b trace mix.
as for calcium, do i need to add how much for what effect if i get deficencies, or should i dose as to not let that happen? or is this another test kit to buy, i dont mind to have one for reference, even tho not always NESESSARY. what the level im looking for?
this is a 55g tank with 4 40watt t12 shop lights with ge 6500k daylight, and yes i have been keeping an eye out for any sighns of a cycle
 
sry i ment 4 40wat bulbs total, soon to be 2x55pc if i can grow $ on a tree
 
If your plants are looking good then you probably have enough Ca/Mg. Ca:Mg at 4:1 is a good starting point. Adding them will increase your GH so do it slowly if you go this route. I'd go with CaSO4 rather than calcium carbonate.

One thing I forgot to mention is that a 50% water change each week prevents nutrient build up and resets your tank for the next weeks dosing. This becomes more important when you start raising light levels.
 
If you do 50% weekly water changes, this will add most of ther PO4 you may need if, the tap really has 1-2ppm.

You likely do not need to add any KH2PO4.
You can add a tad just in case, but maybe a rice grain worth 2x a week.

I'd add about 1/2 teaspoon 3x a week of KNO3.
10-15mls of Tropica Master Grow(they just came out witha new name/label)

Maybe 1-2 degrees of GH(See www.Gregwatson.com for the GH booster) after the water change

That's it.

The rest is due to CO2(95%)....and and maintenance of the filters, pruning etc

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
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