Low tech to High tech = more algae

[Superman]

thanks

i found a small spot (size of end of a fingertip) of BGA this afternoon! I removed it with my fingers

the eheim aquaball came and i've directed the flow towards that spot

co2 is cranked up - drop checker at furthest point in tank from output showing green / yellow ish

dosed TPN+ yesterday (used weekly dose divided by 7 as intend to dose daily), measure nitrates after lights off tonight and got 20ppm (API kit) so have not dosed tonight - intend to wait until nitrates drop to 10ppm then dose - sound sensible?

thanks again for all the help

I don't understand why you'd wait for Nitrate to drop to 10ppm before dosing again. You'll never know if any of the other nutrients from TPN+ have been used up? Just keep dosing to the schedule, each day, how ever much mls. If you don't have enough ferts in there algae will come back.

Oh, and ditch the test kits, they're unreliable. Read what's going on in your tank as a sign of nutrient levels. Algae = something's not right.

 

[plantbrain]

Adding to what Clark mentions.........healthy plants, fish etc..........something right. So so lack luster plant growth, something not quite right...so look, water changes, adjust CO2 etc...........algae, something definitiely not right.

Plants and algae are very useful "test kits".
They are far more relevant and accurate to our issues and our questions.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[ceg4048]

thanks

i found a small spot (size of end of a fingertip) of BGA this afternoon! I removed it with my fingers

the eheim aquaball came and i've directed the flow towards that spot

co2 is cranked up - drop checker at furthest point in tank from output showing green / yellow ish

dosed TPN+ yesterday (used weekly dose divided by 7 as intend to dose daily), measure nitrates after lights off tonight and got 20ppm (API kit) so have not dosed tonight - intend to wait until nitrates drop to 10ppm then dose - sound sensible?

thanks again for all the help

You definitely need to stop testing and to simply dose regularly. Waiting for test kit results is handcuffing you. Dose daily and forget about testing and you will see immediate improvements. Why the paranoia about nitrates? The BGA is telling you that you aren't dosing enough nitrates.

Cheers,

 

[nickmcmechan]

great advice again, i'm glad i'm here!

thanks - i'm off to chuck more nutrients in!