how to remove N03 and P04 effectively

[michaelmah]

TRy daily change 5% WC

[newtank]

Hi all,

Currently i have a CRS tank, but face algae problem, then test the water and found that N03 is 10ppm and P04 is 5ppm. water change is 10% per week. Still the same, is that any other ways to remove them effectively.

rgds
wsw

Actually 10 ppm for NO3 is quite alright, any concentration below 40ppm , your plants should not be affected, however 5 ppm for PO4 is way too high. There are probably 2 school of thought here, achieve balance , or make sure none of the nutrient bottoms up. Unless the plants talk to you, I guess the second option would be easier.

Anyway, what is your dosing regime?

[Plantbrain]

Yeah, Phosphate is nasty, once they acculmulate in high amount, all sort of algae starts to appear.

Will you consider to DIY this:
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...114#post378114
to grow algae off tank to remove Phosphate and Nitrate?

Well, then where is my algae as I add 3ppm of PO4 per week and 30ppm of NO3?

You claim it causes algae, so how can that be??
What evdience can you offer that verified your claim whereas I KNOW I added these concentrations every week in several tanks over many years?

Your claim has been falsified with a simple test. So you need to find another reason for algae blooms.



Full of fish, heavy feeding etc.



Same deal





So, where is my algae you claim should be there and is the cause?
If I suggest something is the cause, I'll test it and see.
I have and it's clearly not.
Where are your methods and results?

My plant filter looks better than any algae filter and has a higher rate of NO3/P4 removal than algae.
Planted tanks are not just about removing NO3/PO4, it's about growing the plants and giving them enough nutrients, this includes things like CO2 and NO3/PO4/Fe etc.

I have to add a fair amount of NO3/K/PO4/Traces weekly, I'm not interested in export for a Reef tank. They are good for a reef tank and easy to manage, but this case is different, it has plants, so that should be the focius, since they define the system when grown right.




Regards,
Tom Barr

[Plantbrain]

waste is NH4, fert we dose is NO3, very different. If you happen to read Tom Barr estimate index, NO3 does not cause algae but little bit of NH4 will cause algae boom. That goes for PO4, if I remember corectly it does not cause algae but it will kill the fauna if overdose too much.

In some cases excess NH4 can trigger a bloom, generally with high light. Otherwise, CO2 seems to be at about 95% of most algae issues.

When folks add non limiting nutrients, the CO2 demand goes up, so they thnk it must be the higher nutrients, not..............the CO2.

If you adjust the CO2, you do not see this issue much if at all.

This suggest that CO2 is more to blame for many folk's issues. Most non CO2 planted tanks well set up have few if any algae issues.
Trade off is slower growth and more patience required, very hard to do when CO2 gas is so common

I wish there was a simple solution to CO2, but eyeballing it is likely most of the issue for many. I can tell based on algae and plant health, I suspect anyone good at algae control and growing plants is the same.

pH/KH/C2 tables, Drop Checkers, very pricy CO2 dissolved meters, nothing is that good really and eyeballing has issues as well.

I think good attention and prevention are the most helpful things, but many have trouble with those two

So we balme other things, hehe.
That is the human part, haha.

Regards,
Tom Barr