That is because you've added a nutrient that was <"limiting plant growth"> before the fertiliser addition. Algae can show a <"rapid response to nutrients">, because the ions will diffuse into each cell through the cell wall.
Ah that makes sense. So now that I have increased the dose of fertiliser should I expect a jump in algae initially but then it will plateau and hopefully eventually die off?
I’d also add the dose before your photo period, not afterwards. Your drop checker in the first set of photos appeared to be green. It ought to be yellow at lights on.
Yes, keep on adding the fertiliser, let the tank grow-in and manually remove any algae that bothers you.
www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk
Okay thanks i'm going to manually remove the algae now as it looks likes it's slightly worse than yesterday. i would say all of my soil is covered in plants now. Unfortunately my P helferi or the majority of them did not make it hence why there is a bit of empty space on the right of the aquascape. It just all melted when I put it in the tank and only 1/6 of the planted area came back strong and healthy.Hi all,
Yes, keep on adding the fertiliser, let the tank grow-in and manually remove any algae that bothers you.
The first thing to say is that we don't actually know <"what triggers, or sustains, algal growth">. I only keep low tech. tanks, and there definitely seems to be a relationship between high plant mass and less algae, but I don't know what comes first the chicken or the egg.
I also have snails and ~<"shrimps"> in all the tanks to perform <"janitorial duties"> and I'm pretty sure they are an important factor as well.
The main issue with the "Green Algae" is that they are in the same taxonomic grouping (<"Clade">) as all the higher plants and have the <"same basic physiology and photosystems">.
If you like they are all "plants" and conditions that favour one, also favour the others.
cheers Darrel
This table (courtesy of @Zeus. ) shows you the comparative contents of TSN vs full EI dosing.
You can see that the standard dose is less than 1/6th of the EI dose for most of the nutrients (less than 1/20th for Mg and K), so even doubling the standard Tropica dose doesn't really get you close to EI dosing for most of the nutrients. It really is just expensive slightly salted water. Even to get the NO3 to EI levels you'd have to do a 4x dose (9 pumps per day), and even then you'd still be under dosing the other elements at less than half EI dosing.
Long and short, its not really surprising that your plants might be struggling at half the recommended Tropica dose.
You are really best advised going for a dry salt starter pack on a tank your size, for best value longer term:
Ei Starter 1 Kit with Bottles - Starter Kits - Dry Chemicals - Fertilisers
If you're wanting to start Ei dosing or PMDD and not sure where to start, this is the right package for you. You get all you need, all you need to do, is pop them in the bottle and mix, whatever mixture you are creating, you will get plenty of dry salts
Thanks! I have seen the link but has been out of stock the last few times I checked. All in all does look very easy and so much cheaper!
tropica.com
I wonder if the Tropica bottle label is simply telling you how long the bottle will last if you pump 5 pumps a week rather than a dosing recommendation, because the recommendation on the Tropica website is different from the bottle?
Tropica Specialised fertiliser - liquid fertiliser for planted tanks - Tropica Aquarium Plants
Tropica Specialised fertiliser - liquid fertiliser for heavily planted tanks.
And for those who actually measure such things, my tropica pump dispenses about 2.3ml per push if I push it fully down 😛
Boiling will drive the chlorine out.
Not sure if this was already suggested, but distilled water is the easiest approach (and cheap) and you don't have to add any conditioner (prime) to it... around where I live you can buy distilled water at every grocery or drug store.
