# Green Spot Questions



## Aeropars (16 Sep 2008)

Hi Guys,

I've recently upped the dosing of PO4 in an attempt to stop the gsa that I have on my anubias.

I've doubled the amount of PO4 from the recipie on James' website but it looks like it could be getting worse. Do you think I am lacking in some other area or do i need to add even more PO4?

Secondly, with green spot which is already there, will it die back or is it a case of removing any infected leafs and starting over?

Lee


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## JamesC (16 Sep 2008)

Hiya,

Which recipe are you using? If it's the PMDD+PO4 one then yes adding more PO4 does seem to increase GSA problems. The only real way to rid GSA off the leaves is to cut them off. But, if when you do a water change these leaves are exposed then you can mix 1:1 excel:water and use a sprayer to spray directly on to affect areas. Leave a few minutes then refill with water. Does sometimes work.

James


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## Aeropars (16 Sep 2008)

Thanks for that James.

Yes, its the PPMD + PO4. Is there any theory as to why this happens? I thought that GSA was caused by low phosphate so I'm slightly confused now. 

I couldnt really spot clean the algae as some is exposed when doing a water change and others are not. Its mainly my anubias and E. Tennellius which are the worst affected.


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## JamesC (16 Sep 2008)

Aeropars said:
			
		

> Yes, its the PPMD + PO4. Is there any theory as to why this happens? I thought that GSA was caused by low phosphate so I'm slightly confused now.



Dosing EI and adding more PO4 does usually work against GSA. But if you are dosing leaner levels then adding more seems to make GSA worse. Not sure why but I'm not the only one to notice it. Plants require very small amounts of PO4 so as long as you provide enough to keep them happy there is no need to have loads in excess in the water. My PO4 levels are almost undetectable and I have almost no GSA or any other algae.

James


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## ceg4048 (16 Sep 2008)

Could be CO2 as well. Try adding more CO2 along with the additional PO4. If you are dosing on the lean side then you could have various successive limitations whereas in EI you normally have high enough values that it's likely that you would only have a limitation in a single nutrient. That makes it easier to diagnose. I recall Tom saying that uptake of CO2 and the powders are coupled something like CO2->NO3<->PO4 

I'm not sure but I interpreted that to mean if you were CO2 limited to begin with that could drive shortages in the other two. Adding more PO4 won't solve the problem in that case until CO2 is repaired. The PO4 just feeds the GSA.

Cheers,


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## Aeropars (17 Sep 2008)

Right'o. I'll have a fiddle with the CO2 then. Its a real pain to adjust because the needle valve is so sensative!


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## a1Matt (18 Sep 2008)

I noticed what I believe to be the same thing 

lean phosphates with no spot algae > increased phosphates > fantastic growth surge, closely followed signs of CO2 deficiency and the appearance of spot algae.

I then increased the CO2 which has helped me


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