To Or Not To Fertilizer

[apollo]

Hi Guys

My tank is already 2 mths old. Consist of java ferns, ludwigia, rotala, japonica and mm.

On the 1st mth, i did add Aqua-Lush and since then, have to do WC often cos spot algae keeps appearing very fast.

Now my Q is it becos i have added liquid fert before the tank is more stable?

My water conditions are

PH 7 kh 4

50 tetras, 4 oto, 3 rummy,10 yamatoes and 1 sae.
[]

[Simon]

apollo, look at it this way, if u aint giving nutrients to the plants, how is it that the plants gonna compete with algae? u shld always add fertilizer to supplement/replace wat yr plants has taken in... during intial setup, we dun normally add fertilizer till ard 2wks old above

[zmzfam]

Apollo,

do u have CO2 injected into your tank? My tank used to have spot algae until I've changed my electronic CO2 to canister CO2 - more reliable. The spot algae disappears by itself. Of course, this has to do with proper fertilisation, lighting and CO2.

[PeterGwee]

Apollo, are you using DIY CO2? If you are, try to add another bottle of it to lower the pH down to 6.6 - 6.8(Max...no more than that or else you are on the low side) for your current KH value. CO2 is the big thing as what zmzfam has said....get that fixed and stable for the entire light period and you can think about dosing N,P,K and traces.

[zackdelatoonz]

As what Peter had said, get the co2 fixed to 20-30ppm stable for the entire light period and then you can think about dosing N,P,K (macro nutrients) and traces (micro nutrients).

Lush-Gro Aqua is a macro nutrients, so u need to dose Lush-Gro Micro for Traces. I have the same problem before but after I get my co2 to 20 to 30 ppm and the right amount of light and fert...the spot algae juz dissappear.
Also a weekly water changes does help.

By the way wats ur tank size?

[David]

Hey Peter

for KH4, he can affort to lower his PH to 6.4 to 6.5.....currently his tank is CO2 starved...alternatively he can raise his KH to about 8 if he wants to keep PH7

[PeterGwee]

David, thats provided he doesn't have any wimpy fishes...

[David]

Huh?...what wimpy fish?[]

[zmzfam]

----------------
On 6/2/2003 11:45:41 PM

Hey Peter

for KH4, he can affort to lower his PH to 6.4 to 6.5.....currently his tank is CO2 starved...alternatively he can raise his KH to about 8 if he wants to keep PH7
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David,
not sure whether Apollo yamatoes are able to take that low pH??

[geoffrey]

LushGro Aqua does not have P. You may want to check if PO4 is there before doing anything. PO4 is another macro you cannot do without if you do not want to have spot algae.

Secondly, what are you using for buffering? Baking soda or coral. LushGro Aqua does not have Ca too. But Ca is unlikely if you do regular water change.

[apollo]

Hi Guys

Sorry to reply this late and thanks for the attention.

Am not using DIY co2. Used to have a solenoid from Chan but its faulty after abt 9 mths. Since co2 is on all the time, therefore didnt want to increase it at the moment cos afraid my tetras will suffer when the lights are off.

Was considering of getting a new solenoid but remember that Timebomb quoted tht he didnt replace his spoilt solenoid and his tank is doing fine.

Do you think i shud increase the co2 24 hrs or increase it after i replace the solenoid?

Is there a place where i can just replace the electrical component of the solenoid which will be cheaper??

Thanks

[sherchoo]

IMO, the dossage recomended by Lushgro-Aqua is a bit high esp. iron. May want to reconsider your dossage or changing your fert altogether.

[geoffrey]

Sherchoo, Aqua's actual Fe is 13% of what is specified. That makes 25ml into 50L about 0.1ppm only. Not very high IMO.

[PeterGwee]

Lushgro Aqua's iron as EDTA is 1.683g/l

25ml of Lushgro Aqua would yield 42.075mg of Fe
Dosed to 50l of tank water = 42.075/50 mg/l = 0.8415ppm or mg/l of Fe

[wks]

Hi apollo, I have been turning on the CO2 supply for 24 hrs since my solenoid broke down months ago. The plants and fishes are doing fine, however the only problem is the yamato shrimps and they don't survive long in my aquarium. If you like shrimps, perhaps you can try malayan shrimps as they are coping well in my tank so far.

[geoffrey]

Gwee, in case you do not know, 1.683g/L is EDTA Fe, actual Fe is only 13% of 1.683g/L, hence only 0.21879g/L.