Thank you Tom & Shrimps

["Greger Lindstrand" <greglind at algonet_se>]

Re: Shrimp Still Dying
<snip>
> NaH2CO3 and 2 tsp.s of CaCO3 with 50% water changes.
* Since I started to add 1tbls / week of CACO3, no shrimps have died.
I used to have about the same problem as you but (touch wood) it seems to be OK now.
I conclude that the shrimps and snails need it for their shells (as stated here earlier).

Thank you Tom!

<Snip>
> Well, some NO2 and no PO4.
> Do you have a good size filter on the tank?
> Adding PO4 would help.
> Seeing what the pH does over the course of a whole day cycle might help
> also.
* NO2 and PO4 values never change in my tank. Can you advice on PO4 sources?
I've been unable to find any KH2PO4 here in Sweden. I do have a bottle of "H3PO4 phosphoric acid (30%) ml".
Can it be used? I know that 1 ml of the stuff lowers the pH level by 0,1.
pH is controlled with a probe. The unit handles the CO2 automatically. (Dupla equipment) Wherefore it is stable both day and night.

Filter is Fluval 404 which should be sufficient for a 540 L tank (216 gallons?).

<snip>
> All are relatively easy to deal with and get rid off if good water
> parameters are kept up on and you are actively removing the algae or using
> herbivores. Green water requires other methods, blackout etc although
> herbivores can easily wipe out GW if given some time.
* Shall I interpret this as; Blackout is useless against these algea and is better suited for GW cases?

<Snip>
> You are doing a lot of water changes daily. You'll need to add nutrients
> back after each change.
* The system is automated, doing nightly changes. Nutrients are added when I wake up, each morgning (yet to be automated)

<Snip>
> Daily water changes will not do much for Discus. Folks recommend it to keep
> MH4/NO3 levels down. Plant tanks have low NO3 (absent NH4) generally
> already. 
* Reason was to keep NO3 in place. I feed a lot of daphniae and red mosquito larve. Since it's automated, it's not a chore :-)

<Snip>
> Java ferns do very well in my tanks, I keep the CO2 high(20-30ppm),
> NO3(2-10ppm), PO4-(0.5ppm -1.0ppm), K-(20-40ppm), 
* How do you measure K ?
Is it calculated or a test kit?

Greateful thanks & regards!
Greger (Still in T-shirt)