nitrates vs phosphates

[scang7]

Hi,

just a thought and not managed to find any reading in forum or articles. I rescape my tank recently and gave away all my fish. New tank with no fish was doing well in initial week with no algae. Did add PO4 in my tank.

Within the last 2 weeks, got 15 espei rasbora, 20 shrimps, 5 otos and 5 pencil fish in my 2 ft tank. Algae starts to appear. I belive there's an increase in my nitrate level due to the intro of the fish. so to battle it do i add more phosphate? i am changing 50% water once a week and feeding fish once a day.

[PeterGwee]

Look at the CO2 first..make sure it is good before blaming the nutrients.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[naturetan]

Sounds like your tank is new. If so, it's probably still undergoing cycling, so take extra care on your lighting period and intensity.

[superman]

Just wondering how long does a new 3 ft x 1.5 ft x1.5 ft tank take for
the cycling to work? When 50% water is changed and with new external filter, does the cycling period take just as long as a new tank?
With Seachem Florist Trace, KN03 and P04 added, does the cycling
take place faster?

[PeterGwee]

A normal planted tank if done properly goes through a silent nitrogen cycle instead of one that last 2-4 weeks or so with a normal critters only tank. The point is to seed the filter and substrate floor with mulm aka dirt from a established tank when setting up and plant the tank very heavily from the start. Doing more water changes like 50% 2x a week for the first few weeks and will not affect anything if things are done right from the start and does help to clear things up a bit.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[scang7]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. checked on my co2, it's in the 20-30ppm range throughout the photosynthesis period. Lighting is about 7 hours a day. will increase gradually to about 9 hours a day. Powered by 72W lights.

it's actually an old tank that went thru a major rescaping and new residents.. so do u consider it new?

this should be in the 4th week of the restart? Should i take on the advice of changing the water twice a week?

[juggler]

Algae appearing at the start of a new tank is not uncommon.

Do you have a heavily planted tank?

If your NO3 and PO4 levels are high, can lower the dosing of those nutrients. Add some really fast growing plants like Hornwort, FrogBits and Salvinia to help soak up the nutrients.

[scang7]

I guess it should be considered as heavy planted if most blank space i can find is covered by one plant or the other. perhaps i will consider putting in some frogbits..

The post that i had initially actually deals with the idea that if we have high nitrate level in the tank and let's say it is due to the bioload and feeding and we have taken the neccessary steps to reduce it like water change... can adding more phosphate be a solution.. seemed like a stpid question. But wanna be sure. Since there is some connection between nitrate and phosphate

Can i also ask another...

If the current dosage works okie for a lighting period of 7 hours.. if i were to increase it to 10 hours. Do i need to increase the fert dosage? On a personal thought, i would but i will like to hear a second opinion.

Thanks

[PeterGwee]

If the CO2 is good, nutrients can be added in excess for K,P,GH, traces and controlled amount of N. The point is not to let the nutrients run out (food for plants)...if they starve, they will slow down or die. Once that happens, algae will come in for dinner.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[scang7]

Thanks for the prompt reply...

always have that impression that algae growth is due to an excess or imbalance of fert. Just looks like an excess is okie if the amount of CO2 is good and the plants are pink in health.....

[superman]

Just woundering why it take 4 hrs b4 the plant starts to give out
oxygen.
My lightings turn on at 5pm everyday. Same goes to my CO2.
But the bubbles from the plant will only starts to come out after 9pm.
Im using 2w/g lighting at 3bps of CO2 for a 3x1.5x1.5 tank.
Expert out there, is the water lack of something or the light is
not enought?

[naturetan]

[quote:138bf74cf9="superman"]Just wondering how long does a new 3 ft x 1.5 ft x1.5 ft tank take for the cycling to work? When 50% water is changed and with new external filter, does the cycling period take just as long as a new tank?With Seachem Florist Trace, KN03 and P04 added, does the cycling take place faster?[/quote:138bf74cf9]Cycling is the natural process of nitrifying bacteria colonising every surface of your filter media, substrate, etc. This process is gradual and will take weeks or even months to built, if you're not using any old stuff.

During this period, water will tend to be cloudy, and filter does not have the ability to turn harmful compound like ammonium into nitrate, making outbreak of algae easy if not properly controlled. Mortality rate can also be high, so avoid too many fishes. Changing water too often will kill those bacteria easily if not declorinated. Putting in too much fertiliser will not help in cycling either, and might cause more problem.

At this period, CO2 supply usually need to be higher then cycled tank, as there's no organic matter to provide it as a buffer.

[naturetan]

[quote:d3cc569962="superman"]Just woundering why it take 4 hrs b4 the plant starts to give out oxygen. My lightings turn on at 5pm everyday. Same goes to my CO2. But the bubbles from the plant will only starts to come out after 9pm. Im using 2w/g lighting at 3bps of CO2 for a 3x1.5x1.5 tank.
Expert out there, is the water lack of something or the light is not enough?[/quote:d3cc569962] No expert but beginner here. There's nothing wrong but normal.
Bubbling does not mean the time where plants start. It take time for the water to reach its saturation point of concentration before bubbling is sighted.

[juggler]

[quote:8b3b8f0440="naturetan"][quote:8b3b8f0440="superman"]Just woundering why it take 4 hrs b4 the plant starts to give out oxygen. My lightings turn on at 5pm everyday. Same goes to my CO2. But the bubbles from the plant will only starts to come out after 9pm. Im using 2w/g lighting at 3bps of CO2 for a 3x1.5x1.5 tank.
Expert out there, is the water lack of something or the light is not enough?[/quote:8b3b8f0440] No expert but beginner here. There's nothing wrong but normal.
Bubbling does not mean the time where plants start. It take time for the water to reach its saturation point of concentration before bubbling is sighted.[/quote:8b3b8f0440]
Yes, that's what I heard before. Only when the water is saturated with O2 that O2 bubbles out. I can think of 2 factors slowing down the bubbling:
1) insufficient nutrients (including light, CO2) slowing the photosynthesis process.
2) you may have more fish utilising the dissolved O2.