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Thread: Excess Phosperous causes hair algae?

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    Excess Phosperous causes hair algae?

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    Could any bro enlighten me on the cause of hair algae?
    I have been dosing K2Po4. So I am wondering if excess P will cause hair algae?
    Or is it caused by excess iron?

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    PO4 cause hair algae... no.
    Iron cause hair algae... no.

    Poor plant growth due to lack of CO2, nutrients, etc. causing hair algae... yes!

    BC

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    I too agree with bclee after finally reading about EI or Estimative index method.

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    IME, combination of insufficient CO2 and overdose of FE and PO4 will cause hair algae

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    its not a combination problem barmby... it is precisely because of the co2 FIRST that your plants aren't doing well which leads to hair algae.. overdose of FE or Po4 has nothing to do with it.

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    due to co2 deficiency!
    Can i add that it occurs only in med to bright light conditions[near tank surface closer to light]?
    this fine long greenhair algae[staghorn] appeared recently on my moss near lights...

    been throwing clumps like the plague
    You can if you dare to fail - Stan Chung

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    A counter to this notion is that not dosing PO4/Fe/NO3/K also causes hair algae, Caldphora specifically.

    Everytime I've gone away on vacation for more than 4-5 days, I find it doing well.

    Limitation => bad.
    Excess=> fine

    How much? How little or much can we get away with?
    This is less consistent sionce many folks have wide ranges of other nutrients/CO2 etc.

    The closer you get to the edge of either of these ranges(high or low), the more the tank may get algae, do poorly etc.

    A nice middle range which is fairly wide is a better method.

    But no method works in a CO2 enriched tank without first dealing with CO2.

    Regards,
    Tom Barr

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    Hi Tom,

    Thanks for the feedback. Mind explain a little on this sentence? "The closer you get to the edge of either of these ranges(high or low), the more the tank may get algae, do poorly etc."



    Quote Originally Posted by Plantbrain
    A counter to this notion is that not dosing PO4/Fe/NO3/K also causes hair algae, Caldphora specifically.

    Everytime I've gone away on vacation for more than 4-5 days, I find it doing well.

    Limitation => bad.
    Excess=> fine

    How much? How little or much can we get away with?
    This is less consistent sionce many folks have wide ranges of other nutrients/CO2 etc.

    The closer you get to the edge of either of these ranges(high or low), the more the tank may get algae, do poorly etc.

    A nice middle range which is fairly wide is a better method.

    But no method works in a CO2 enriched tank without first dealing with CO2.

    Regards,
    Tom Barr

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    Quote Originally Posted by Plantbrain
    A counter to this notion is that not dosing PO4/Fe/NO3/K also causes hair algae, Caldphora specifically.

    Everytime I've gone away on vacation for more than 4-5 days, I find it doing well.

    Limitation => bad.
    Excess=> fine

    How much? How little or much can we get away with?
    This is less consistent sionce many folks have wide ranges of other nutrients/CO2 etc.

    The closer you get to the edge of either of these ranges(high or low), the more the tank may get algae, do poorly etc.

    A nice middle range which is fairly wide is a better method.

    But no method works in a CO2 enriched tank without first dealing with CO2.

    Regards,
    Tom Barr
    Tom,

    I always had this problem during my yearly 2 weeks holiday. Can I really overdose by 3-4 times the NPK in one shot , except I won't able to dose Fe as it clashes with P . Also, 2 weeks without water change with this overdose can it sustain ?

    Please enlighten me !

    Cheers
    Chok

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    Shaman,
    simply put.. that sentence means if you run your fertalisation amounts in your tank too close to, either too little or too much.. you may get more algae problems.

    meaning.. say for EXAMPLE No3 for your tank ranges from 10-100ppm then running your tank at 11 or 99ppm which is very close to the min and max ranges for this nutrient...you may get more algae problems than say, running it at 50ppm, which is a mid range. This of course is just numbers pulled out from the air to make and EXAMPLE..

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    Quote Originally Posted by neon
    Tom,

    I always had this problem during my yearly 2 weeks holiday. Can I really overdose by 3-4 times the NPK in one shot , except I won't able to dose Fe as it clashes with P . Also, 2 weeks without water change with this overdose can it sustain ?

    Please enlighten me !

    Cheers
    Chok
    Chok,
    Get someone to dose for you.. problem sloved..
    no one wants to dose for you.. then buy a doser.
    no money to buy doser.. then dose all at once... either way if you dont dose algae will grow.. if you do it might not... so why not just dose?

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    Thank bro ranmasatome for advice.

    I wonder how to dose Iron if it clash with P?

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    dose it on another day.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ranmasatome
    dose it on another day.
    If I overdose heavily 3-4 times due to 2 weeks holiday, on the next day I dose 3-4 times micro (Fe & others), wouldn't it cause any cloudy issue due to the clash between the P and Fe.

    Cheers

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    Lower the light intensity of the light to around 1.5-2w/g (evenly spread) will lower the nutrient demands. Dose a tad heavier than normal (traces early in the morning before lights on) and macros later in the evening before leaving.

    Regards
    Peter Gwee
    Last edited by PeterGwee; 27th Oct 2005 at 20:52.

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    Quote Originally Posted by neon
    If I overdose heavily 3-4 times due to 2 weeks holiday, on the next day I dose 3-4 times micro (Fe & others), wouldn't it cause any cloudy issue due to the clash between the P and Fe.

    Cheers
    i never had any issue with this... as long as you dont dose it simultaneously or one immediately after the other. in fact i think after 3-4 hrs also can. ON water change days..i dose both in large amounts all on the same day.. the 2nd dose prob 4 hrs after the 1st one...no issues so dont even have to say next day..

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    I am overdosing the fert and having my light On for 24 hours. I found the algae appear. Anyone can advice on how to prevent algae for 24 hour operation?

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    Simple, switch back to 12 hour operation. Plants do need to rest, and when they're resting, no growth is going on, therefore algae takes its chance since there are nutrients and light available and no one is using them.

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