Algae

[SLIM]

Sheeesh thats a heavy maintenance schedule. I only clean my fx5 once every 6 months lol

 

[Zikofski]

really how when i open up my filters even after a week the foam and stuff is clean but the amount of plant debris in the bottom is shocking i may redesign my inflow pipes to reduce the amount of plant getting in see if that will help me, smaller and more number of holes will reduce there pressure or force of the water being sucked in and also make the holes small enough to prevent stuff getting in

 

[SLIM]

really how when i open up my filters even after a week the foam and stuff is clean but the amount of plant debris in the bottom is shocking i may redesign my inflow pipes to reduce the amount of plant getting in see if that will help me, smaller and more number of holes will reduce there pressure or force of the water being sucked in and also make the holes small enough to prevent stuff getting in

Sounds like a plan batman. Keep me informed with your progress, especially on your light increasing experiment as im quite interested to know where the limit is and what the results are after youve up your photo period an hour everytime
If that makes sense lol

 

[Zikofski]

well my co2 not helping me today as my FE ran out lucky i was there and quickly changed my FE over but the output is a tag different for some reason i noticed a few leaks to with my bubble counter n stuff i sapped them over, and ye all this has altered my output so i'm back to sorting out my co2 again getting it lime green again think i have got it in one swoop i shall see over the next few days taking pictures through out the day and observing the growth some plants are growing well some are taking a little longer to grow

 

[SLIM]

well my co2 not helping me today as my FE ran out lucky i was there and quickly changed my FE over but the output is a tag different for some reason i noticed a few leaks to with my bubble counter n stuff i sapped them over, and ye all this has altered my output so i'm back to sorting out my co2 again getting it lime green again think i have got it in one swoop i shall see over the next few days taking pictures through out the day and observing the growth some plants are growing well some are taking a little longer to grow

How big is your FE out of interest? 2KG?
How long did it last on your tank? This will give me an idea of how long a 5KG FE will last on 600L.

 

[snazy]

hmm well if you have a look at this post i have 
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/417342-relation-between-plants-algae-and-phosphatesferts/page-2#entry3517986
 
then that shows how useless the Po4 test was i got, unless something in my tank is producing huge amounts of po4 and i mean huge amounts then ye but i was also get GSA yesterday wich shows a lack of po4

haha strage i followed why snazy said and yes i did get GSA as excepted and yes my bba is confusing

haha but today i have noticed since upping the lights from 6 to 20hrs, i stoped dosing ferts arund 2 to 3 days ago and started yesterday again and BOOm my plants are thriving new growth of 3 to 4 leafs and some are fully grown leafs not just the usual ah i see new growth was like WOW that wasnt there yesterday how did you grow that so quicky but ye was wired

Just gave this a read also and im not 100% convinced as theirs is a major flaw in this theory.
Snazy says..
 "hight phosphates in the tank, create demand for more nitrogen(NO3), more nitrogen creates demand for more CO2, more CO2 creates demand for more nitrogen.. more potassium creates demand for more nitrogen.....more nitrogen and CO2 creates demand for more traces...and so on". 
Altho this is true there is one major factor thats been left out..
LIGHT
Plants will only grow as fast and absorb as much nutrients as the light will allow.
So if you dose enough KPN then none of these key elements should become exhausted.
Otherwise that would b like saying K P and N all cancel each other out which totally goes against EI which people have been doing for years successfully. Infact its probably the most commonly used method.
I think all this experiment has proved is that obviously po4 kits are useless (which was an interesting discovery)
How to trigger GSA and how to cure it. Ok sure no other algae was present apparently when levels are near GSA trigger point BUT is this really true, as you conducted this experiment and your BBA didnt go.
I dunno im sure theirs method in the madness, just seems like a lot of hard work when we have EI which has already been proven to be effective by some of the worlds finest aquascapest. Imo

 
That's true about the light, very good point.  Theoretically the amount of light supplied over aquariums is not near anything that plants get in nature, so is light a limitation of plant growth in fish tanks really, or how much light is a limitation is probably the proper question, at least in relation to the rest of the nutritients like CO2 and ferts?
For example, one can have a high tech tank with the same amount of light as a low tech tank, but the plants in the high tech grow faster and the other slower. So there's more than light driving the plant growth.

 

[Zikofski]

yes i think light is the most keep ingredient even with just light a plant will grow many not grow fast or healthy but it will still grow, with the everything being in balance then they should grow healthy but as you say only take in what they need 
 
another question i would like cleating up on ferts, say my tank with everything correct aka light + co2 my plants consume say 40ppm no4 for example, would i dose that day 40ppm say by the end of the day there is 0ppm in the water so to speak or do i need to keep constant 40ppm over the whole day?


oh and @SLIM i added the last co2 bottle on the 2nd of February so almost 4 month's but at some point i was running high and my old diffuser was not efficient enough this new one i have is VERY efficient i think i maybe able to get another month out of it

we shall see
 
and almost forgot yes it is 2kg

 

[SLIM]

hmm well if you have a look at this post i have 
 http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/417342-relation-between-plants-algae-and-phosphatesferts/page-2#entry3517986
 
then that shows how useless the Po4 test was i got, unless something in my tank is producing huge amounts of po4 and i mean huge amounts then ye but i was also get GSA yesterday wich shows a lack of po4 haha strage i followed why snazy said and yes i did get GSA as excepted and yes my bba is confusing haha but today i have noticed since upping the lights from 6 to 20hrs, i stoped dosing ferts arund 2 to 3 days ago and started yesterday again and BOOm my plants are thriving new growth of 3 to 4 leafs and some are fully grown leafs not just the usual ah i see new growth was like WOW that wasnt there yesterday how did you grow that so quicky but ye was wired

Just gave this a read also and im not 100% convinced as theirs is a major flaw in this theory.
Snazy says..
 "hight phosphates in the tank, create demand for more nitrogen(NO3), more nitrogen creates demand for more CO2, more CO2 creates demand for more nitrogen.. more potassium creates demand for more nitrogen.....more nitrogen and CO2 creates demand for more traces...and so on". 
Altho this is true there is one major factor thats been left out..
LIGHT
Plants will only grow as fast and absorb as much nutrients as the light will allow.
So if you dose enough KPN then none of these key elements should become exhausted.
Otherwise that would b like saying K P and N all cancel each other out which totally goes against EI which people have been doing for years successfully. Infact its probably the most commonly used method.
I think all this experiment has proved is that obviously po4 kits are useless (which was an interesting discovery)
How to trigger GSA and how to cure it. Ok sure no other algae was present apparently when levels are near GSA trigger point BUT is this really true, as you conducted this experiment and your BBA didnt go.
I dunno im sure theirs method in the madness, just seems like a lot of hard work when we have EI which has already been proven to be effective by some of the worlds finest aquascapest. Imo

 
That's true about the light, very good point.  Theoretically the amount of light supplied over aquariums is not near anything that plants get in nature, so is light a limitation of plant growth in fish tanks really, or how much light is a limitation is probably the proper question, at least in relation to the rest of the nutritients like CO2 and ferts?
For example, one can have a high tech tank with the same amount of light as a low tech tank, but the plants in the high tech grow faster and the other slower. So there's more than light driving the plant growth. Yes, in this case, in a high tech with low light like you said the reason is co2. I totally agree with what your saying but there is always a limiting factor ie light, co2, that will prevent macros and micros from becoming exhausted. IF dosed in high enough doses like EI


@ZIK
"another question i would like cleating up on ferts, say my tank with everything correct aka light + co2 my plants consume say 40ppm no4 for example, would i dose that day 40ppm say by the end of the day there is 0ppm in the water so to speak or do i need to keep constant 40ppm over the whole day?"

Mate your totally missing the point of EI. EI is about overdosing and NOT testing the ppm levels on everything.

 

[Zikofski]

haha and no don't get me wrong i know ei is about dosing over kinda why i like it so you know there is not gonna be a limitation just my weird brain going weird again last night thinking of stuff

 

[SLIM]

Lol trust me once you start doing it, its the easiest thing in the world lol

 

[Zikofski]

yep just need to get rid of my current neutro+ now haha i ordered some flourish excel and some flourish root tabs as well so il do that when i can get those
 
i think my neutro+ has around another 2 or 3 months left

 

[SLIM]

Why not just stick it to one side as a "back up fert" or sell it and just jump on dry salts? Lol
You wont regret it.

 

[levahe]

A good starting point to getting rid of algae is reducing your photoperiod to 6 hours to start with. I don't know what lights you have but reducing the intensity will help too. Like removing reflectors or moving the lights higher if possible. Once algae is under control you can then increase your photoperiod slowly.
Keep your tank and Filter very clean at all times, and carry out large and frequent water changes until the problem subsides. Also nutrient dosing is very important and I highly recommend using EI along with your co2 injection.

Less light
More cleaning and waterchanges, at least 50% per week and more while you have algae issues
Change to EI dosing
Add more plants if you only have a small amount
Time. Changes wont happen over night but keep up the cleaning and dosing you will be rewarded


Edit - I forgot to add as well make sure you have good flow too! At least 10 times turnover for the volume of your tank

 

[Zikofski]

i did that but have increased light because its not the cause and i want more plant growth, i will be dosing EI once i run out of this ferts
 
@SLIM no point selling it wont be worth much and im selling everything in a few months time anyway so i may just ride out these ferts saves me having to sell salts later on if i can but i will defo be doing ei on my new tank
 
and i am adding more plants and my plants are growing rapid at moment so i hope they will out grow the algae at some point

oh and slim im not gona just jump in on dry salts as these ferts seem to be working anyway my plants are growing strong and good
 
i am sure my algae is caused by other means not by lack of fert

 

[levahe]

 
i am sure my algae is caused by other means not by lack of fert

What do you think is causing it?