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Re: Sodium
> First, let me apologize for not changing the subject of my last post. Happy
> trigger finger....
Well, yer from Texas so we'll let it go this time:)
> I have Gomberg CO2 systems on both tanks (10-gallon and 30-gallon). Medium
> fish load.
>
> Nitrate 10ppm
> pH 6.9 - 7.0
> Phosphates 1-2ppm, sometimes higher. Why? Dunno.
> GH 5-6 degrees
> KH 4-5 degrees
> PMDD, dosing KNO3 and K2SO4 separately.
>
> Iron levels right now are at about 1-2ppm. I have fertilized very little in
> the past few weeks because the levels just aren't dropping. I also have Jobes
> Sticks for Palms & Ferns in the substrate, which is half Fluorite and half
> gravel.
Semi rich except for one thing. CO2. Your going to need a bit more to pull
that P and Fe out.
You can lower the Fe as well using the flourite and see how things do. I'd
suspect you'll be fine trying this.
>
> The medium-heavily planted 30-gallon tank has green water that even the
> diatom filter won't remove without a flocculant. There is 80 watts of light
> over this tank, on 9 hours per day.
Black out for 3-4 days, Micro filtration is not working so you might try UV
sterilizer say a 5 watt Tetra or a 4 or 8 watt Aquanetics which will be
cheaper and just hook up a powerhead to the input side. Do a 50% water
change prior to adding this. Hook up the Diatom(is it a Magnum cartiage? If
so let it clog up a bit or stir some mulm up into the filter before letting
it work on the GW. Leave it on in addition to what your doing.)
Check archives. There are a number of ways to cure GW. Don't feel bad, it's
not BBA or nasty hair algae. It doesn't hurt the plants and after you get
rid of it your tank will look very nice.
> I suspect high light levels are causing
> the green water, but if set the CO2 any higher I kill fish. This has happened
> twice. The plants are not using the CO2 fast enough. Why? Something is
> missing....
Your CO2 is too low and I suspect your filtration is too slow/no surface
turnover/movement etc. For your 30 all you'd need to do is use a Hagen 150
or something. That would mix your CO2 better/more consistent without gasping
fish. Some slight CO2 loss is okay. When your CO2 goes south (down) or water
movement slows, you get GW. It's okay to have surface movement. Let your
filter move the surface some.
Get a needle valve also. It makes precise control of CO2 much easier and
then you can chain out CO2 from one single tank and regulator very easily by
adding a brass "T" and another 19$ Monolith needle valve each time you want
another tank with CO2. It will make your life much simpler and you'll find
it much easier to set your CO2 also. Clean the disc once a month or at least
check it.
>
> The heavily-planted 10-gallon tank has some BGA, and too little light at 15
> watts, on 12 hours per day. I have another fixture on order but am having
> customer service problems with getting my merchandise. I suspect the high
> phosphate levels in this tank are causing the BGA. But with plenty of
> nitrates, the plants should be sucking those phosphates up. Why aren't they?
CO2
> What's missing? I have used erythromycin a couple of times, but it always
> comes back.
Don't even try to kill BGA. It's every where and on everything. Every single
algae sample I've ever looked at has it. You can't always see it but it's
there waiting for the right conditions to happen. Most algae for that
matter. It's kind of like your immune system really, the flu etc is there
all the time but when you get run down only then will it come in and make
you sick. A very similar thing happens with the tanks. Low CO2 is the big
sickness in most cases.
Some of these ideas cost more than others. You can try what you have first.
CO2 and circulation seem like the big issues. Most problems are a CO2
issue...
A needle valve and more flow will not cost much though and make life easy so
it's worth it.
Regards,
Tom Barr