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Re: RO water and algae
Matt wrote:
<big snip>
>I fertilize with CO2 (about 15 mg/l), have a pH of 7.0, GH 9, KH 5,
>Fe 0.5 mg/l, Phosphate 0.2, and Nitrate 0.
<big snip>
Matt, your iron concentration shouldn't be any more than 0.1 mg/L,
and some of us think that even this is too high. Your big problem
however, is your nitrate level. Zero nitrates is not a good situation in
a planted tank. You must have some nitrate residual or the algae
will exploit the nitrate-limited conditions in your tank to the detriment
of your plants. I used reconstituted DI water for a while and had
lousy results because I ended up with 0 nitrates as well. Since then
I've switched back to tap water or a combination of tap and DI.
Since there is about a 5 - 10 mg/L nitrate residual in my tap water
the plants flourish and the algae has been kept in check. To remedy
the situation you can either increase your fish population or add a
nitrate supplement such as KNO3.
Jonathan, in Maryland where we are about to receive some sorely-
needed rain and where the deer ate all of my tomatoes this
weekend!
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