Need to add GH boosters for planted tank with Singapore water?

[Filet-O-Fish]

Hi

My tank is 300 Ltr / 4 feet planted tank - 6 months old.

I want to know if I need to add any GH boosters due to soft water in Singapore. My tank water Ph is avg 6.8

Now I'm dosing EI ( for both micro & macro )

Macro:
165 ml liquid potassium nitrate from Dr. Mallik
1 teaspoon postassium posphate
6 teaspoon magnesium sulfate
mixed in 500 ml water
Dosing 60ml 3 times a week

Micro:
Dosing 60ml 3 times a week

water change:
50% once a week

Lights
AquaZonic brand. 54 watts 12000K T5 - 2 pieces.
Lights on 6 hours

Co2 on 3 hours before lights on.

I'm having problem with the DC to turn lime green. So I need to dose GH booster for Co2?
Thank you.

[Urban Aquaria]

Since you are doing EI dosing with both ample macro and micro nutrients, then it's not necessary to add GH boosters, the fertilizers will supply the nutrients and minerals for the plants.

Make sure the drop checker solution is mixed with 4dkh water (not aquarium water), or use those pre-mixed indicator solutions, otherwise the color will be incorrect.

Due to the larger water volume of your tank, you may need to increase the injection rate to achieve the lime green color on the drop checker. Just have to adjust and see.

[Filet-O-Fish]

Since you are doing EI dosing with both ample macro and micro nutrients, then it's not necessary to add GH boosters, the fertilizers will supply the nutrients and minerals for the plants.

Make sure the drop checker solution is mixed with 4dkh water (not aquarium water), or use those pre-mixed indicator solutions, otherwise the color will be incorrect.

Due to the larger water volume of your tank, you may need to increase the injection rate to achieve the lime green color on the drop checker. Just have to adjust and see.

Thanks for your reply. BTW I checked out your blog. Fantastic work.

For the DC's 4dkh, I'm using borneowild brand premixed. I change it every 2 to 3 weeks.

Can I ask you one more thing. I bought AquaZonic brand 4 feet LED IP3. The main LEDs ( about 4 pieces ) started to dim ( die out) after only 4 months. I have return the light set to the LFS to get it repaired and he has loaned to me a AquaZonic brand T5. The set has 4 pieces of T5 54watts each / 12000K. I've been using it for the past 14 days on only 2 pieces of T5s as I'm afraid too much light can cause algae. Is this OK?
Is the T5 a normal T5 or T5HO. Also can 12000K cause algae in a planted tank?

For the past few days, my tank is having a very big BBA outbreak. I have used EasyLife AlgExit for the past 5 weeks. Dosing 30ml after every 50% water change. But no improvement at all.

Thank you.

[Pork Life]

Bba is caused by insufficient co2. You will require good water circulation to ensure nutrients and co2 are transported to all corners.
And I would suggest you dose some calcium, i.e. Replace KNO3 with CaNO3, since you are dosing MgSO4 so as to balance ratio of Ca to Mg at 5:1 (if i remember the ratio correctly)


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[Filet-O-Fish]

Bba is caused by insufficient co2. You will require good water circulation to ensure nutrients and co2 are transported to all corners.
And I would suggest you dose some calcium, i.e. Replace KNO3 with CaNO3, since you are dosing MgSO4 so as to balance ratio of Ca to Mg at 5:1 (if i remember the ratio correctly)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes you're right. I think my flow is good now but the main problem seems to the most efficient way to inject Co2, I use Intense brand inline diffuser but after 1 month I notice the bubble are not tiny size any more. It get bigger.
I tried using bleach and hydrogen peroxide treatment but the bubble are still big. I also tried with a Sera reactor but the flow was slowed down and also the DC won't change to lime green so fast.

I'm still on the lookout for a more easier or efficient method.

As for adding CaNo3, I did try that but I don't why the tank get messed up more. I stopped it after 2 months.

[Pork Life]

I use the ista external co2 reactor for my 2 ft shrimp tank at 1 bubble every 3 seconds. I think its a good product. If you are ok with using an external reactor you can consider getting one.

[Urban Aquaria]

AlgExit does help in slowing down the growth of the algae, but on its own it has limited effectiveness if the tank conditions constantly favor certain types of algae growth. I've found that its one of the more "mild" algae treatments and has to be used in conjunction with a team/army of algae eaters to be effective, along with active tank maintenance (ie. manual algae removal and clean up).

If the BBA is really persistent, you could go for more aggressive techniques to get rid of it, maybe do spot treatment with excel or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)... or even tank-wide "chemical warfare" with H2O2 (if you can shift the livestock to another tank temporarily during the treatment), its drastic though so more of a last resort.

Not too sure about the overall effectiveness of 12,000K lights, but they should still be able to grow plants too, just that the blue spectrum is higher. I guess there might be a chance different spectrums may encourage certain types of algae more than others, but there doesn't seem to be much solid research evidence of that though (its mostly anecdotal accounts/experiences posted online). Previously with your other LED lights, did the BBA grow as rampantly?

[Filet-O-Fish]

AlgExit does help in slowing down the growth of the algae, but on its own it has limited effectiveness if the tank conditions constantly favor certain types of algae growth. I've found that its one of the more "mild" algae treatments and has to be used in conjunction with a team/army of algae eaters to be effective, along with active tank maintenance (ie. manual algae removal and clean up).

If the BBA is really persistent, you could go for more aggressive techniques to get rid of it, maybe do spot treatment with excel or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)... or even tank-wide "chemical warfare" with H2O2 (if you can shift the livestock to another tank temporarily during the treatment), its drastic though so more of a last resort.

Not too sure about the overall effectiveness of 12,000K lights, but they should still be able to grow plants too, just that the blue spectrum is higher. I guess there might be a chance different spectrums may encourage certain types of algae more than others, but there doesn't seem to be much solid research evidence of that though (its mostly anecdotal accounts/experiences posted online). Previously with your other LED lights, did the BBA grow as rampantly?

When you say even tank-wide "chemical warfare" with H2O2 (if you can shift the livestock to another tank temporarily during the treatment), its drastic though so more of a last resort., How long is the process? I have not heard this method.

With the old AquaZonic IP3 LED, I used to have the lights on at 50% for 3 hours and the last 3 hours the lights are at 100%. There was BBA but in small patches then. But now BBA is on all rock and wood. Currently I do only spot treatment with H2O2 only. It does help but the BBA comes back in a few days after.
I'm not experienced as some members here so I'm not able to say if the 12000K T5 has caused more BBA. That's why I'm asking for members' experience.

[Urban Aquaria]

When you say even tank-wide "chemical warfare" with H2O2 (if you can shift the livestock to another tank temporarily during the treatment), its drastic though so more of a last resort., How long is the process? I have not heard this method.

This link contains a great example of tank-wide H202 treatment for a really tough case of BBA:

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/showthread.php/85633-My-2ft-Rescape-Journal?p=773028#post773028

In the later posts, the thread starter mentions that adding yamato shrimps helped to clear up the rest of the weakened BBA. Efficient algae eaters really make a big difference when used in conjunction with algae treatments.

With the old AquaZonic IP3 LED, I used to have the lights on at 50% for 3 hours and the last 3 hours the lights are at 100%. There was BBA but in small patches then. But now BBA is on all rock and wood. Currently I do only spot treatment with H2O2 only. It does help but the BBA comes back in a few days after.
I'm not experienced as some members here so I'm not able to say if the 12000K T5 has caused more BBA. That's why I'm asking for members' experience.

Sounds like the BBA was already establishing itself in the tank previously... i guess perhaps the new light intensity/photoperiod or accumulation of nutrients or fluctuating Co2 levels probably triggered the increased BBA growth.

[milk_vanilla]

Bba is mostly occured with combination between high light and inconsistent/co2 level swing during the light period. If you have ph meter ( preferably digital) you could measure the ph movement, during co2 kick out, light period on, every hours, till light off.