PMDD and more

[fins at dkarmona_mailshell.com]

APD> I think you may want to add more CO2 till you have pearling presente.
APD> pH and KH test kits would be very helpful if you can get them.

I monitor the PH, tap water is 7-7.2, currently the aquarium has a PH
aprox 6.6-6.8 so i slow down a bit the little the CO2 injection
because it seems a lot, but who knows i have no clue about the
hardness. It is pearling but not much, but some plants seem happy, so
i guess it is an improvement. It does not look like champagne but the
leaves get a lot of bubbles a some get that constant flow of really
small bubbles (very nice). The champagne efect did happen especially
when the yeast CO2 had a fresh batch.

APD> It's difficult to give you something like pearling as an indicator for enough
APD> CO2 since the other elements, NO3, K, PO4 etc also determine pearling to a
APD> lesser degree than CO2, but I think you may be alright in trying the pearling
APD> method.

I guess since there are a lot of plants i will have to begin
experimenting, now i can take of the list co2, since trace elements
shouldnīt be the problem, then i will have to find out what i am
missing N or P.

APD> I think if you turn the CO2 off at night when the lights go off, that will
APD> reduce any long term CO2 build up.

Long  term  build up, that thought didnīt cross my mind, I was leaving
it   24/7   so   i   guess   i  will  connect  the  OTTO  co2  reactor
(powerhead+thing that goes round and round) to the timer that controls
the lights.

APD> Your tank is certainly CO2 limited from what you've said so far.
APD> You can replant and add iron etc to the gravel later and remove the UFG if you
APD> want. It's a big job. But you will be pleased later.

Yes, i bought the tank maybe 4 months ago, but since my experience
with plants back in the 90s was bad i was afraid to expend a lot of
money in additional plants and gravel and stuff, so that is why i
leaved the 10 gallon tank to experiment with the plants, bought some
books, joined the list and read a lot of stuff from the internet. The
10 gallon experiment was great, plants grew like mad, and i began to
put some in the big aquarium, and since they were doing great the big
aquarium is now a big forest of some easy plants, but i enjoy it a
lot, and the small one that didnīt have no fish everything stopped
growing.

That is why i began to see the need to complete the N-P-K equation,
and a small aquarium is easier to work with, if it looks ugly is
doesnīt matter people always see the big one. Once i put a big
table of house fertilizer 46-0-0, the plants turned greener and the
ammonia test turned of the scale. Fortunately there were no fish. And
the only algae that appear is one that is a large filament with small
green things that look like leaves, but nothing else. The ammonia
disappear later but everything is pretty much the same, nothing grows.
So this is a nice laboratory to experiment.

APD> You'll need to get some KNO3 and K2SO4. I know you can likely get this locally
APD> somewhere. Check farmacia's for enemas for PO4, KNO3(saltpeter) and maybe some
APD> agricultural/fertilizer companies for K2SO4 or the KNO3.    

Yes, yesterday i tried some chemical suppliers but they were all
closed, everybody is having fun, drinking, eating, dancing,
etc, etc, etc. So i will have to wait. :(

APD> I think you'll be okay with it.

APD> Well in the USA, LFS don't know much as a rule about CO2 and plants either, do
APD> not feel bad.  

that is certainly a big surprise.

APD> Don't worry about that.
APD> You can order some KNO3 or K2SO4 from the USA or other places, many will ship
APD> there.

APD> Do you have yeast CO2 for the source of CO2 gas or bottled/compressed CO2?
I recently bought small bottle ($100), valve and co2 reactor 100
aprox. That was maybe three days ago. Not a good valve it shows the
pressure of the bottle, small bottle, donīt know the lbs, i had a hard
time ajusting the flow, but it works.

APD> For the 65 gallon tank:
APD> Add the following ....

Thanks for the formula, i should have no trouble getting this after
everybody gets back to work.

APD> Now this does not tell what is in the tank itself, but at least you know the
APD> plants have enough NO3, K etc.

I will try it first with the small tank then with the big one, is nice
to have this setup. Anyway the small one has the nicer plants since
the substrate is better, the light is 30 W that isnīt a lot but plants
liked it at the beginning, with the added N-P-K everything should turn
back to normal. I canīt wait to see my plants growing like mad.

APD> Adding algae eaters will always help also.
I have a chinese algae eater, but i had algae the first month in the
big thank but as the vallisnera and the water sprite began to take
over the tank everything disappeared, latter i added more fish and now
i have been seeing a litte green spot algae, so there is a little
excess of something.

APD> I believe there will be an article coming in Spanish of mine in Hydraplanta
APD> and perhaps another Spanish/latin plant specific publication shortly.

Well i donīt know Hydraplanta, most of the stuff i find is in english.
But what is Hydraplanta, a magazine or a web site?

I  want  to  get  a digital camera since i want to take pictures of my
tank,  is  it like a big forest, i like a lot but it isnīt a show tank
but  i  find  it amazing, seeing all those plants grow. The only thing
that  i  donīt  like  is  the water sprite has a lot of roots along is
leaves, roots are not as nice as leaves :)

Thanks for all the info. :)

Long post, i think PMDD doesnīt cover everything. But because i donīt
usually post, i think an overdose once in a while doesnīt hurt. :)

Hasta luego y feliz aņo.

Diego Carmona