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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #1237
Ed Street <br at ldl_net> Wrote..............Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999
07:44:08 -0400 (EDT)
|Subject: Re: Beating back bluegreen algae
|
|Congrats!!
|
|This is one of the few post that i've read recently regarding a natural
|solution (non-medicated) approach to a 'nasty' issue in tanks. I
|encourage others to seek similar methods when presented with issues like
|this. So far in my experience there is not much that can happen in a tank
|that alittle ingenuity can't cure in no time. It's sad to see all the
|medications being dumped into the tank blindly (mosty not the end users
|fault but the local pet shop's fault for pushing there products)
I could'nt agree with you more. Stop listening to the 17 year-old summer
help at your local PetWhoreHouse. In fact 90% of all 'nasy' issues can be
resolved with consistant water changes/maintenace, especially planted tank
imbalances and most diseases. If I see some algae cropping up or what looks
like a nutrient deficiency/excess, I just stop additions of fertilizers, do
50% water changes every other day for a week or for 2-3 days straight, then
half-dose for a week or two, then slowly work back into regular doses,
measuring for Fe/N/P/ and adjust to reach .1ppm Fe (actually just a hint of
purple) using the SeaChem Fe kit. During this time I am making sure gH/kH
are adaquate, Co2 is between 20-30ppm and I an usually adding additional K
to drive N down below 10ppm (if this is the issue and it rarely is), or I
add a smidgeon of N and more K if N is low and P is high (is my technical
terminology and prowess getting you aroused yet?) Within a month or so,
algae is completely gone and things settle back in to my regular PMDD
dosages.
BTW a question - One of my tanks is a very heavily planted 125g discuss
tank with 2 adult and 2 juvey discus with a moderate algae brigade
SAE/Ottos, 1 brisel nose cat, 2 farowellas and 25+ neons. 2x175W MH/6500k,
UGH, injected Co2/controller. I dose about 6ml of PMDD per day, about half
the recommended 3ml/100l or 12ml/day. I figure I have about 100g or 375 to
400l of water after substrate, d-wood, plants etc. What are your dosing
experiences using PMDD? (I am currently using HomeGrown Hydroponics trace
mix). I know doseing is really is a function of Fe/N/P but was just
wondering where other PMDD users have ended up for daily doses? . I am
still trying to find the optimal PMDD dosage for my tank given somewhat
regular, like 50% once or twice a week water changes (remember I have
discus/beefheart - extra N/P!).
|
|One thing that I would really like to see is something like the
|sears-collins experiment but with algaes i.e. adding X causes this
|reaction in algae Y. All in all I would like to state a better
|understanding of algaes and other 'phenomena' in aquatics is in order.
Well that is pretty close to what Sears and Colin did...did'nt they? With a
certain amount of deductive reasoning and some assumptions? I think they
have taken us out of the relm of caos into something that we can work from.
PMDD works for me. If you are asking for a better understanding of algae
and other 'phenomena' it is really a matter of knowldge, learning by
experience and observing the subtle changes and reactions and reaching the
"balance" in one's own tank. In most cases I'll bet we don't even know when
we have reach the "balance" and do something to screw things up. To many
paremeters, constantly in change effect a tank's conditions to say X cuases
this to happen to Y algae. It would be nice to build a Knowledge base
system from all of the experences of the Planted Tank Masters. Ok, who's
got a good AI compiler and some free time?
|Ed
Tom in VA
"where beer nuts are $1.29 and deer nuts are under a buck!"