My tank.....

[hobbit6003]

Hi all,

I've just taken some measurements on my water in my 430L tank, just before a 50% waterchange,and it goes like this:

NO3- aprrox. 10mg/L
PO4 - approx. 1mg/L
Fe - < 0.1mg/L
kH - 3-4
pH- 6.5-7
Temp - 27-28 degrees Celcius

It is a planted tank with a 15 inches arowana, with about 20 panda corys, 6 ottocinclus, some yamato shrimps, 10 mosquito fishes and a distichodus sexfasciatus. The tank is abt 4 yrs old now, while the arowana was introduced in at 5.5 inches in February this year. The tank is also moderately infested with black brush algae, and some hairy algae, which I think without the distichodus, would have gone haywire. The arowana is fed with live or meaty food (worms, prawns, crickets).

As you can see, PO4 is quite high, and I strongly suspect that I can do with a bit more of K dosing, in the presence of an excess in NO3 as well. I also raised my Fe to 0.25mg/L after the waterchange, using E15. The other fertislier used is S7.

The tank is heavily carpeted with E. tenellus, with some unknown cheapo echis, E. Oriental, Nuphar japonica and a small colony of heterazanthera zosterfolia, and water lettuce which covers 1/6 of the water surface.

I've not inserted any fertiliser into the substrate for 2 yrs, last time I did was to insert root monsters. I can see that my echi leaves are shrinking in size.

Now, got a few questions to ask you guys:

1. What would be an ideal concentration of K to maintain in the tank, to make N and P the limiting nutrient? Or is there no formula other than measuring N and P everyday to come to the right K dosing?

2. With algae growth still active, would it be alright to put in root monster/ laterite balls to selective plants?

Things certainly looked better now, with the feeder goldfishes removed after they've wreaked havoc in the tank for months, eating plants and excreting a hell lot.

What do you guys think, any comments? I don't know how to post a pic here, but a series of them can be seen at [utl=http://www.arofanatics.com/members/hobbit6003]http://www.arofanatics.com/members/hobbit6003[/url]

Cheers,

Kenny

I'm planning to get some SAEs in there

[juggler]

I think your water condition pretty good. And that's a nice planted tank for Aro.
If you just add 20ppm K per week, it shd be enough.
Should be no problem adding root fertiliser. Try on one or two plants first if you are afraid of algae bloom.

Check out this article: A List of Recommended Levels and Parameters by Tom Barr

[hobbit6003]

Hi Juggler,

Thanks for your kind comment about my tank. Haha...pictures sure can fool, the algae problem all masked over![]

Pardon my maths, which has gone back to school abt 17 yrs ago, but is 1mg/L similar to that of 1ppm?

About my algae, just realised that my filter hadn't been cleansed for a good 2 yrs perhaps, and the outlet is actually blowing out dust that get trap onto the leaves of the plants, and from these, there's hairy and velvety green algae growing on the surfaces of the leaves, as well as black brush growing on the edges of the old leaves. The dust is what you get when you haven't clean your table top of weeks, that kinda effect.

I'm also gotten magnesium sulphate heptahydrate (Mg2SO4.7H20) from Dr Mallick's. Question is, how much to dose?

Well, I know I'm lacking fast growing stem plants. I used to have, but as the aro grows, I removed them to make space. Well, I think I'll be doing some pruning and replanting this weekend, and getting some stem plants in there. Probably gonna rescape the tank abit with the stem plants, but has to be more hardworking in preventing them from growing to tall. I've yet to decide what plants, but guess that my tank can do with a bit of red leave ones.

The nuphar japonica, it seems, has new leaves which has shrunken in size, after flowering. Hmm...anyone with this experience?

Cheers,

Kenny

[Allen_1971]

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On 12/5/2002 12:21:10 AM
Pardon my maths, which has gone back to school abt 17 yrs ago, but is 1mg/L similar to that of 1ppm?
----------------

yes. 1mg/L is 1ppm...

[hobbit6003]

Thanks Allen for the enlightenment!

I've just measured my water parmeters again, and it sure is looking better:

NO3 - approx. 5mg/L
PO4 - <0.1mg/L, almost unreadable using the charts
Fe - approx. 0.25mg/L

This is just 2 days after adding K through Seachem's. I've also started dosing my tank with MgSO4 which I bought from Dr Mallick's. At the same time, I've cleansed my cannister filter after nearly 2 yrs last night. It has been dirty and has thrown up dirt back into the tank, and i suspect the dirt that covers the plants acted as a retentive media for those hairy algae and BBA.

Will start adding in some stem plants these few days!

Cheers,

Kenny

[eggz]

Hi Kenny,

According to Chucks site, Mg should be about 5-10ppm

Try this link:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_p...osage_calc.htm



eggz

----------------
On 12/5/2002 12:21:10 AM

I'm also gotten magnesium sulphate heptahydrate (Mg2SO4.7H20) from Dr Mallick's. Question is, how much to dose?
----------------

[hobbit6003]

Thanks eggz!

I actually found the site through a search here after I asked the questions, and have concocted a 500ml bottle, which I used distilled water and 250g of MgSO4. For my 430L tank, I actually need 50ml of the solution (1 ml gives me 0.12ppm) I prepared! Thought that was quite alot, so I've only dosed 10ml tonight, and I shall look out for signs and symptoms, plus measuring the NO3 and PO4 level eveyday, till I get it right.

I do see an increase in the pearling rate, plus a significant decrease in NO3 and PO4 level, so I presume that it is working, Anyway, with the current situation that the tank is in, I guess it'll take me a good 1.5-2 mths before I can get the algae under control.

Cheers,

Kenny