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RE: [APD] RE: Green water




-----Original Message-----
From: aquatic-plants-bounces+rick703=mts_net at actwin.com
[mailto:aquatic-plants-bounces+rick703=mts_net at actwin.com]On Behalf Of
Thomas Barr
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 11:37 AM
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com
Subject: [APD] RE: Green water


> Magnum filter with diatom powder and it helps however does not come close
to
> removing the green which seems to be getting worse on a daily basis. I
have
> been doing regular water changes etc. I dose 1/2 tsp KN03 3 x week, 1/8th
> tsp KH2P04  3x week 15-20 mls of trace 3 or 4 x week. I'm not sure if I
> should try increasing my ferts. , reducing or stopping them all together.

Fert's is not the issue, eg plant health. I suspect your plants are
thriving, but CO2?
Check that. If that does not do it, then add some more biological media to
your filter, add more foam etc to the filter section.

Blackout will not work in your case. It's something that is still
overloading the NH4.
Low CO2 can do this at high light and so can too much NH4 fromfish etc. But
if you have little biomedia OR low CO2, that will not remove as much NH4.

Bacteria should be your back up.

I
> am considering ordering a U.V sterilizer or trying a 4 day total black out
> as the next step.

UV alone will do the trick but you'll still get haze unless you use it
frequently.
Try running the diatom filter for a few days, not just a few hours also.

Buy the UV only after you try the CO2, the biomedia and running the diatom
for a few days.

> Plants in the tank are growing well. Even though I dose
> KN03 3 x weekly my Hagen test kit still shows no reading of nitrate. I
have
> tried the kit with a stronger solution and did get a dark pink reading so
it
> seems to work. Would adding more KN03 help this situation?. Anyone who has
> overcome this type of problem, please advise. Thx. in advance.

How big is the tank?
I think you do not need more KNO3, although I do not think it'll hurt, it's
more an issue with bioload or CO2. If with bioload, it means there's either
not enough CO2 to drive the NH4 uptake completely with plants. Or simply
too many fish which I think is unlikely if your case.

Work these things:
CO2
Biomedia and then run that diatom/UV etc a few days , at least 1-2 for good
measure after everything is gone. HOT mag's with diatom do not seem to work
that well IMO.

Regards,
Tom Barr


http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/aquatic-plants



Tom

The tank is a 77g, reasonably heavily planted and although I have some
curling of the leaves on my crypts most of the plants are thriving and need
regular pruning. I run a Fluval 404 with this tank and have in addition to
the 4 large side sponges that come with the unit, 3 more sponges that I cut
to fit the bio containers. The other 5 small media holders contain ceramic
rings or Bio Max media. Adding more sponge is no problem. I try to keep my
CO2 at 30PPM with a PH of 6.6 and KH around 70 PPM. I have 192 watts of T8 ,
6500 K daylight bulbs on for 10 hours a day. One interesting side note is
that when this bloom first started I could scrub the algae off the glass 2
or 3 times a day. You advised to shut off my filter, scrub the glass, vacuum
the gravel etc which I did. Now the algae does not seem to attach itself
much to the glass at all , simply makes very green water.The fish load IMO
is not too heavy consisting of 2 adult Angels, 3 large Rainbow Fish, one 6"
pleco, 5 Clown Loaches, average about 3", and a 3 Cardinal Tetras. Thx. to
everyone for the advice. I will continue the battle.

Rick


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