[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[APD] BGA and green water



Tom, et al, 

Thanks as always for your very helpful suggestions. Fortunately I did
buy some potassium phosphate from Greg Watson along with the PMDD
ingredients, I just hadn't used it yet. You mentioned .1 mg/l was too
low for the phosphate, but what should I shoot for? 

I added 1 tbsp of KNO3 and 1/4 tsp of KH2PO4 yesterday and turned down
the pH to 6.5 or so. I also removed a fair amount of the BGA from the
leaves of my big rubin sword. I was not able to remove it from all of
the plants, there are just too many areas that are infested. And things
like the Rotala indica bush I have would be impossible to clear up that
way because the stems are so delicate, and the BGA is all over them.
Like Rick said, it seems to be more prevalent in areas like that bush
that get less water flow. 

Anyway, this morning I noticed that the water seems a bit less green.
There doesn't seem to be any new BGA growth, which is at least a step in
the right direction. Also, I'm noticing more healthy new growth on the
indica and macrandra, as well as the temple Hygros. The ends of these
plants look like the textbook examples of beautiful plant growth. Too
bad the bottom 80% of the stems look terrible. I guess I will need to
progressively replace all these stem plants, or maybe I can get away
with clipping off the top, planting it, and tossing out the bottom part.

I do have one question before I try the 3 days of dark and no CO2 to get
rid of the BGA. My tap water has a pH of around 8. Am I going to affect
the fish if the pH goes up to 8 for three days without the CO2?

Someone else was asking if I use city or well water, and dechlor. I have
just started using a GE whole house filter (with the carbon insert,
FXWTC I think) based on a suggestion here on the list. I built a
u-shaped PVC contraption with an intake screen, ball valve, and hose
connector that makes water changes really easy. I just attach a garden
hose to it, run it outside, and drain. Then I close the ball valve, hook
up another hose to the tap, connect the inline filter between the two
hoses, turn on the tap, open the ball valve, and let the tank refill. It
takes about 20 minutes to drain and another 20 to refill. Fortunately
the temperature variation is very small between the tank and the tap
water. I wouldn't do this in New England!

I had been using Aquarium Pharmaceutical's tap water conditioner before,
but I have had a funny feeling that perhaps it was contributing to some
of the problems I'm having. Is it really enough to only use the inline
filter without any dechlor? Especially if I do a 50%+ water change? We
got a notice from the local water company a while back that they were
temporarily changing the chlorination of the water, and for about three
weeks I could really smell the chlorine in the tap water. That seems to
have stopped now. 

Thanks,

Kurt

PS: I'm glad there doesn't seem to be any truth to the $10,000 fine for
carrying around a CO2 tank. I would have a hard time explaining that one
to my wife! On the other hand, I'll make a point of not parking in the
sun in my black car on a 95' Florida day with the tank in the trunk... 


_______________________________________________
Aquatic-Plants mailing list
Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/aquatic-plants