P04 testkit

[Dreamgarden]

Hi everyone,
I'm planning to get a P04 testkit, any good brand to recommend in the market?
Easy to read and ease of use.
Is Aquarium Pharmeauticals Ok?

Regards

[PeterGwee]

Don't bother. Dose it base off max uptake rate and do water changes to reset.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[Dreamgarden]

Hi Peter,
I'm trying to convert to Dr Mallick fert regime, need your advise on the below:

1)If I add KH2PO4 does it addresses the lacking of K and P04 issues?

2) If spot algae start to form up on the glass wall, does it means lacking of P04? under 3WPG, NO3 and CO2 in good range

3) Will over dose of K and P04 cause problem?

4) Lacking of P04 does it affect the plant in-take of N03?


Thanks in advance for the advices.


Regards

[|squee|]

1) It addresses more of PO4 issues since PO4 is typically in the 1-5ppm range (very low) More K is from KNO3, and that's already enough.

2) I don't think so. Additional PO4 retards spot algae, but it doesn't necessarily mean your plants are lacking in phosphorus.

3) Nope. It's the lack of plant growth and presence of ammonia that causes problems. For BBA, it's fluctuating CO2 levels.

4) I've no idea

[PeterGwee]

Hi Peter,
I'm trying to convert to Dr Mallick fert regime, need your advise on the below:

1)If I add KH2PO4 does it addresses the lacking of K and P04 issues?

2) If spot algae start to form up on the glass wall, does it means lacking of P04? under 3WPG, NO3 and CO2 in good range

3) Will over dose of K and P04 cause problem?

4) Lacking of P04 does it affect the plant in-take of N03?

Regards

1)Like |squee| has mentioned, K from KNO3 will cover things pretty much unless more than 50% of your NO3 comes from fish load in which you might be better off using K2SO4.
2)If you covering the nutrients well, the only thing variable is CO2.
3)Unlikely till you get very very high perharps but then you get critter and CO2 measurement issues from non-bicarbonate buffers.
4)Yes, it will slow down the uptake.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[barmby]

Hi Peter,
I'm trying to convert to Dr Mallick fert regime, need your advise on the below:

1)If I add KH2PO4 does it addresses the lacking of K and P04 issues?

4) Lacking of P04 does it affect the plant in-take of N03?


Thanks in advance for the advices.


Regards

Personally I will dose K2SO4. I guess most people tanks are packed with fishes and shrimp. Thus, NH and NO3 content are high. You need that extra punch from K through K2SO4. Furthermore, excess of K do not result in algae. No reason not to dose it.

Yes. PO4 is important. Please note that any one of the element (NPK) is missing. Uptake by plants will be limited. Do remember that plants need NPK to make food while algae only need either of them or any other "condition"....various types of algae will appear after they have capitalise the shortage be it CO2 or NPK.

[Dreamgarden]

Hi Terence and Peter,
Thanks for the input.

I'm also struggling with high NO3 but can't find the root cause.

Got a Aquarium Pharmaceuticals testkit 2 months back and was shocked to see my tank with NO3 in the region of 30-40ppm.
Immediately stop all fert dosing and after 50% water change, NO3 still around 30ppm

Tank spec:
3ft tank ~ 225L (matured around 1.5years)
PH 6.4
KH 3
temp 26-27
lighting 3WPG
moderate bioload ~ 40 cardinals and 15 cherry shrimps
Feeding : only once a day, very light feeding
running to 2 filters; 1 drives though a chiller, 1 drives the external C02 reactor
filter media clean every 6 months.


Aware testkit are not very accurate and thought maybe have expired, I have further test it with tap water, testkit seems functional. Have been monitoring N03 for 2 months(weekly), just after water change 20-30ppm, end of the week reaches 30-40ppm.


Do you think the 2 filters are overkill in converting the ammonia and NO2 into N03?

Or I suspect base fert leakage.
1.5"-2" base fert, sloping with 2" lapis sand(front) and 4" lapis sand(back)


Thanks again for your time.


Regards

[|squee|]

I've read that 40ppm of NO3 just starts to result in shrimp deaths. You limit NO3 for the sake of your livestock only. 30ppm imho its allright. I add 15ppm of NO3 on alternate days.

What's your water change frequency and amount? If you're doing the EI's 50% weekly water change, you need not worry about NO3 building up. Your plant mass is also a factor, as well as presence of NPK and traces.

[mordrake]

Hi Terence and Peter,
Thanks for the input.

I'm also struggling with high NO3 but can't find the root cause.

Got a Aquarium Pharmaceuticals testkit 2 months back and was shocked to see my tank with NO3 in the region of 30-40ppm.
Immediately stop all fert dosing and after 50% water change, NO3 still around 30ppm

Tank spec:
3ft tank ~ 225L (matured around 1.5years)
PH 6.4
KH 3
temp 26-27
lighting 3WPG
moderate bioload ~ 40 cardinals and 15 cherry shrimps
Feeding : only once a day, very light feeding
running to 2 filters; 1 drives though a chiller, 1 drives the external C02 reactor
filter media clean every 6 months.


Aware testkit are not very accurate and thought maybe have expired, I have further test it with tap water, testkit seems functional. Have been monitoring N03 for 2 months(weekly), just after water change 20-30ppm, end of the week reaches 30-40ppm.


Do you think the 2 filters are overkill in converting the ammonia and NO2 into N03?

Or I suspect base fert leakage.
1.5"-2" base fert, sloping with 2" lapis sand(front) and 4" lapis sand(back)


Thanks again for your time.


Regards

how's your plant mass like? if the tank is not densely planted, uptake of no3 will be limited.
you may want to check whether anything is rotting away (plants/fish, etc) that may be contributing to ammonia levels. from there, your mature filter converts ammonia to no3. dead spots in the tank?

[Dreamgarden]

It's a heavily planted tank with 30% water change per week.
Plant mass 40% slow grower(gu jing, crypt....) and 60% fast grower(japonica, rotala, app...) Plant are doing OK except for slow grow.
mmm... deadspot I'll check again, but quite sure most area are well circulated.
Seldom got any rotting stuffs/dead fish.

Algae(only spot algae on glass wall and BBA) always start to form up after 2-3 weeks of though cleaning of tank and filter piping.


Really puzzled me where does all the NO3 comes from? since I don't dose fert.
Should I clean my filter more often?


Regards

[PeterGwee]

It's a heavily planted tank with 30% water change per week.
Plant mass 40% slow grower(gu jing, crypt....) and 60% fast grower(japonica, rotala, app...) Plant are doing OK except for slow grow.
mmm... deadspot I'll check again, but quite sure most area are well circulated.
Seldom got any rotting stuffs/dead fish.
Regards

Look at the plant mass of matured tanks. Plant that way...you will have lesser/no issues if you do that and cover the nutrients and CO2 well.

Algae(only spot algae on glass wall and BBA) always start to form up after 2-3 weeks of though cleaning of tank and filter piping.

Regards

Add more CO2. BBA is a good indicator of poor CO2.

Really puzzled me where does all the NO3 comes from? since I don't dose fert.
Should I clean my filter more often?

Regards

Substrate leeching, critter waste or simply bad test kit. You would need to calibrate the test kit against stock solutions to make sure it is working well. I'll ignore the kit and add the nutrients back. Large water changes will help to prevent possible buildups. Main thing is CO2 for you. Target 30ppm throughout the photoperiod and shut it off at night. Have some slight surface movement but not a lot.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[Dreamgarden]

Thanks everyone, for your time and advises.