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Re: Suggestions (Betsy's tank)

Betsy wrote:

>I have recently (three or four weeks ago) added CO2 to my planted
>55 gallon tank and I am seeing a slight, but not impressive
>increase in plant growth.  There is a persistent growth of blue-green
>algae on the gravel, which I am combating by stirring the very top
>layer of the gravel each morning.   I am currently using the Dupla
>fertilizers with DuplaRit K in a gravel substrate.  I am adding 1 drop
>of Duplaplant 24 drops per day.

>I am using the Red Sea test kit to measure iron levels in the tank
>and I have seen that both my tap water and the tank test at about
>0.1 ppm of total iron ( doesn't distinguish chelated).  In addition, I
>have noted that my green Crypt wendtii leaves are turning brown
>from the base of the leaf to the tip.   From what I have read, this
>seems to indicate that there may be an overabundance of iron in
>the tank (?).

<snip>

>Water conditions:	ammonia 0    (Aquarium Pharm test)
			nitrite 0	         ( " )
			nitrate - approximately 13 ppm (LaMotte)
			phosphorous - 0.1 ppm (SeaChem)
			pH - 6.8-7.2 (Aquarium Pharm)
			KH - 6.0 degrees (Tetra)
			GH - 250 ppm	
>	tap water- iron 0.1 ppm
		   pH - 8.4
		   KH - 6.0 degrees
>Lighting:	4- 40 watt flourescent bulbs - full spectrum from
>Home Depot
>Filtration: built-in wet/dry in back of tank
>CO2 - manual system aimed at centering around pH 7.0, KH 6.0

>I am not sure what to expect in terms of "good" plant growth, but
>the growth since I have added CO2 does not seem that much
>better than before I added it.

>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Other folks may want to weigh in on this, but I can think of a couple
of things that you may want to verify.  The first thing is not to rely on
the Red Sea kit for your iron numbers (I prefer the LaMotte).  If your
tap water is from a municipal water company, call them and get an
analysis data sheet so that you can have some confidence in your
baseline data.  You may find some surprises, such as excess copper
or phosphates.   If you are using well water, maybe your county
government provides a testing service.  Personally, I feel that
adding a drop a day of Duplaplant 24 is too much, however, since
you haven't seen any green thread algae up at the top of the plants,
near your lights, perhaps you're in bounds

The other thing to verify is your nitrates. Remember, with the
LaMotte kit you have to multiply your test results by 4.4 to get the
actual nitrate value.  The presence of blue greens generally
indicates a nitrate limited tank, which doesn't seem to be the case
here, although they also may have been stimulated by your
excessively high pH before you started injecting CO2.  Also, check
the age of your flourescent tubes and replace any that are more than
6 months old.  You may also want to think about diluting your tap
water with R.O. or deionized water to bring that KH down a couple of
degrees.

Jonathan in Maryland, where we sorely need rain
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