Hi All
One of my problems in life is I don't ask for help often enough - I just try and get on with it without necessarily admitting my (numerous) failings. Well I'm struggling now and doubting my ability to read, understand and make decisions. I seem to have "over read" several topics and have just ended up confusing myself again and effectively going around in circles. I've just purchased a second aquarium which is 200l - seemed like a good idea at the time - its not setup yet but I need to correct any failings in approach before I set that one up .....
To briefly outline my setup:-
- 340 litre tank (Maidenhead Aquatics Oak double doors)
- no CO2 injection
- 3 TMC Aquaray tiles 6500k - all tiles set to 2 hour ramp up (14:00-16:00) max level of 45% and 2 hour ramp down (20:00-22:00)
- Two Eheim 350 external filters (one is the thermal variant 350T) - both fitted with prefilters
- substrate is JBL Pro Flora AquaBasis Plus topped off with JBL Mando - this has been in place since 2018 - I'm thinking is this could now be exhausted or are any nutrients in it being "topped up" with the liquid ferts???
- weekly 50% water change with Seachem Prime added upon refilling
- see below for latest water parameter testing
A couple of weeks ago I noticed the following (see image) on the stem plant leaves (cant remember name sorry) - it appeared seemingly almost overnight!! - it was only evident on the "new growth" of the stem plant leaves - the Tiger Lotus has gone crazy and there are now several independent seats of growth from the original 1 bulb which I trim regularly especially the leaves heading to surface. The other plant in the shot similar to a hydrocotyle (again cant remember the name sorry) is unaffected.
I trimmed the stem plants and removed a lot of them. I blindly added one capful of Seachem potassium and Seachem iron as my "research" could not definitively identify the deficiency (naïve I know). I feel a right prat for not realising I was acting blindly....but things seemed to have improved.........
I was an early participant/user in this thread - I use the Solufeed 2:1:4 and Solufeed Sodium free TEC solutions and following early advise dose 30ml of each into my 340litre (75gallon) tank every other day with 1 day of rest. The image below was kindly calculated by either Zeus or Happi I cant remember sorry.......the only thing I haven't done up until yesterday is to use the ascorbic acid and potassium sorbate in the original mixes - I have used tap water - see below for update on mix method.
I have been battling against BBA for years - its not taken over completely but is at/ was at nuisance/unsightly levels to me as I knew it was there!!. I have read numerous threads on here and tried different remedies - the latest I have tried is directing the flow from the spray bars to the front of the tank as a member (Zeus?) commented in another thread it was more likely down to flow. This has increased flow from front to back where the prefilters are installed but the problem persisted. Again, I have read in further readings that BBA maybe caused by excess phosphates. I purchased the API phosphate kit (I know some members views that all of the kits have problems and can be unreliable). To my "surprise"/horror I found that the phosphate was showing at 5ppm and thought I had managed to identify the more likely cause. This was done on the 30th December 2024 with the following additional parameters Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrates 10 and pH 6.8 (all API)
I purchased Seachem PhosOut and placed the 85ml (slightly over for my size tank I recognise) into a filter bag between two filter pads in the upper tray of the Eheim 350. Concentrations of PO4 gradually declined in subsequent days as I was testing all above parameters daily - the PO4 declined to 2ppm but then stayed steady at 1ppm the next day or so, so I renewed the SeaChem PhosGuard in the filter (Im trying to get to 0.25ppm). Ammonia and Nitrite remained at zero during this testing with nitrates reaching 10 prior to the weekly water changes. The thing I have noticed is that the pH has dropped from 6.8 to 6.6 and now has been sat at 6.4 for several days. Yesterday I undertook the routine weekly 50% water change.
Yesterday was also the first day of dosing using the following mixing instructions as I have purchased the potassium sorbate, distilled water and white vinegar - I read the comments in the post above from
@dw1305 explaining why they were a necessary consideration and I made an all in one mix (not separate dosing of micros/macros as before) - I had found previously these instructions in this thread....
I dosed 30ml of this all in one mix yesterday - I recall prior advice to dose separately which is the approach I took but the latest mentioned above seemed to imply an "all in" mix - have I misunderstood the instructions? Will the usage of low levels of white vinegar in the mix depress pH levels further? Was my previous use of tap water in the mix affecting calcium levels as mentioned in dw1305's post above.
This morning when I have gone to the 340l tank to take the daily water samples (primarily to monitor the PO4 levels) and I have found that the stem plants that had regrown perfectly over the last couple of weeks are now looking identical to the photo above. This has happened overnight as they were not like this yesterday when I undertook the 50% water change. Todays water parameters are - PO4 1, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 , Nitrates 5 and pH 6.4. I'm thinking about renewing the Seachem PhosGuard on a regular basis as my thought is (probably dangerous) that phosphate is "leaching" out of the now old (7 years) substrate - is this possible? Also I'm concerned that the pH has dropped to 6.4.....what additional problems (if any) may this present? . At the same time have noticed a subtle reduction in BBA on the Crypts and in the corners of the aquarium along the sealant and it has gone from the dragon stone hardscape since starting using the PhosOut. Also the level of algae on the glass has decreased significantly - this has always been easy to remove with a cloth but is almost not noticeable now.
What deficiency is causing the stem plant to react like it is? Is my change in approach purely co-incidental? Have I completely missed the obvious as I have no chemistry knowledge whatsoever after being confused in school in the 1970's about calculating moles.... I think that's where the chemistry mental block was set in stone..
Please ask any additional questions - I'm obviously missing something "obvious" or omitted to mention something of relevance - I'm not blessed with a lot of patience in trying something and thinking that it hasn't worked, and then trying something else. I have outlined my actions above just in case someone much more knowledgeable than myself can spot my mistake(s) - sorry for ramblings which may, or may not help to adequately (and not probably eloquently) explain my concerns.
Phil
