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danski

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well i didnt wanna call it a journal because i dont know if i can keep it up to date but i checked 3 parameters today on day 3
ph-6.8
po4-1.0 double checked
no3-10 double checked
i checked twice because its been only 3 days.
my kh is almost always 8-9
nitrite-0
ammo-0
i only wanted to see if there was any activity on what i was dosing and i guess so since i normally have 0-no3
and last i checked 3 days ago my po4 was .25
 
Looks good to me.

Your KH should always remain stable - especially as yours if fairly high. I don't bother testing KH anymore - just pH to measure CO2.

Try not to let your NO3 go below 10ppm.
 
WHAT......you have only dosed 6ppm of nitrates over the 3 days so how is the tank reading over 10ppm if you started at 0 ?
 
yah zig thats why i posted those stats. i will check it again today before dosing (wed) . i double checked both stats . maybe it was the in between 5 and 10 color but it was definately over 5ppm on no3. i even had my wife check the colors again to my choices. well at least i know its building up since those parameters were normally at 0.
 
Just dose as normal today and that should definatly get you to 10ppm nitrate and check it tomorrow, maybe your uptake rate is quite slow, how many WPG have you on the tank? if it registers 10 or over tomorrow just stop dosing, and check it again in a couple of days, maybe you are not going to have to dose that much at all, it is possible. Things can change though if you add more plants to the tank this may increase the uptake rate. Ow yeah and dont add any more PO4 if you are registering 1 ppm on the testkit again just check it in a couple of days.
 
thanks zig. im starting to think i might not have to dose too much also. today i noticed the plants are rapidly repairing themselves and the pearling bubbles are starting to rise and show up in alot of places today. no dosing of po4 only dosed no3 of 4 ml or 4 ppm.
zig i am running a 65watt 6500k compact flourescent aqualight by coralife. bout two wpg
 
well todays readings show
ph-7.0
po4(phos)-1.0
nitrate-5
im starting to notice alot of algae forming on the plant edges now. what i thought was growth was actually algae pearling.tommorrows day seven (9-11-05) and im due for a reset water change. do i dose straight to 10ppm on my no3 after my water change? and my po4?
thanks
 
Hi danski,

yes...now that you have reached your 'target levels' and your fish are used to the raised level of NO3 and PO4 you can add whatever is necessary to bring your water back up to your target levels straight after you have done your 'reset' water change.

For example...my reset goes something like this:

1. Prune plants
2. Remove 50% water
3. Add fresh (dechlorinated) water
4. Take NO3 and PO4 readings
5. Top up NO3 to 15ppm (your target is 10ppm so top up to 10ppm)
6. Top up PO4 to 1.5ppm (you will be topping up to 1ppm)

It is also worth noting that you may not need to top up at all...your tapwater might already have the required levels...hence taking readings before dosing!

Hope this helps!
 
Nd is correct danski in his dosing advice, just one thing i would add is to try and avoid letting the no3 level get as low as 5ppm, from 5 to 0 is not that far and you dont want to hit 0.

Just keep an eye on it during the week, i would probably dose 10ppm no3 into the tank tomorrow and if you add whats in there allready it will probably bring your no3 level up to 12-13ppm, but this is fine, keep it topped up nearer 10ppm, over is a lot better than under.
 
okay reset my tank added 10ppm no3 added 1ppm po4 today(that is what my tank measures after testing). do i keep adding more no3 since im already at 10ppm or do i stop and maintain 10ppm. i know target is 10 to 30ppm no3. thanks
p.s does the algae stop growing and the plants start soon? i seem to have lots of pearling but only algae forming on the plant leave edges.
 
danski said:
okay reset my tank added 10ppm no3 added 1ppm po4 today(that is what my tank measures after testing). do i keep adding more no3 since im already at 10ppm or do i stop and maintain 10ppm. i know target is 10 to 30ppm no3. thanks
p.s does the algae stop growing and the plants start soon? i seem to have lots of pearling but only algae forming on the plant leave edges.
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Try and maintain the no3 above 10ppm, somewhere between 10-15ppm would be a good level.

What type of algae is it?
 
i think it might be hair algae. its growing rather fast its like its growing before my eyes and seems to stretch for a long way off my plant leave edges. i just retested and my po4 was at 1ppm my no3 was definately closer to 10ppm yet not completely the same darkness as 10ppm. im thinking close though. should i maintain 15ppm? and should i dose straight to that tommorrow after readings? it will also be micro day(seachem flourish).
 

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