[APD] Re: Aquatic-Plants Digest, Vol 18, Issue 37

[Thomas Barr <tcbiii at earthlink_net>]

>Message: 2
>Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 02:32:23 -0400
>From: "Benjamin Hong" <bkhong at rogers_com>
>Subject: [APD] Re: Odd light greyish-green algae - not in the list
>Nope, it's not there.  It has a texture kinda like...felt, maybe?  I did
>pull out a bit of wire algae, though.
>I'd like to know what I'm doing wrong. Algae seems to love me.  And the blue
>green is back.  I test regularly for nitrates and all that...and today for
>the first time I'm noticing the slightest elavation, so subtle that it may
>be only from the light that's illuminating the colour of the test tube.
>Maybe it's not showing up cuz the algae are consuming it all.

>slow grow tank, so adding nutrients I have not been doing...for the record.

>B.

BH, 
NOT adding nutrients will cause algae, if the algae appears to be small paint brushes, you have BBA. This is virtually alwayts a CO2 issue, you have not added enough.

Algae really will like you till you get a handle on your CO2.
25-30ppm durin gthe light cycle.

So now you know what you are doing wrong, CO2 and then not enough nutrients.
Excess nutrients(NO3, PO4 etc) are not going to cause any issues unless you do not have enough.........

You don't have NO3 because either 1#, poor test kit(a very large likelyhood) or your plants used it up, and now are starving, the algae will never be NO3 limited in a  fish tank. They do not become limited till you get down into the 0.1ppm NO3 range, no hobby test can measure this nor get that accurate and plants will be severely limited.

When plants are not growing well, they get algae.

So focus on the plants, not the algae.
Add more CO2 and KNO3.

Adding enough of these are about 99% of all algae problems on the list, forums etc.
So now you know, and can go about fixing that.

Regards, 
Tom Barr












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