Nitrate Levels

[scotty]

my nitrate levels have always sat between 5-10 ever since my tank has cycled,would this cause any problems as i seem to be having a staghorn algae problem at the moment
cheers
scott

 

[Twinklecaz]

No I'm pretty sure that's fine. It's quite low

Don't know about the algae though sorry.

 

[waterdrop]

scotty,

Here's the text from Jamse's planted tank algae guide (TFF planted member):

Staghorn:
Description: Grows in strands that branches out. Looks a bit like deer antler. Black to grey/green in colour and sometimes has a red tint.

Cause: Low CO2 and/or poor water circulation. A tank with overfed fish and accumulated mulm. Dirty filter. Also disturbing dirty substrates without doing water change afterwards.

Removal: Check CO2 levels and make sure you have good water circulation. Reduce feeding, vacuum the substrate and remove mulm. Overdosing Flourish Excel usually helps.

Algae, of course, is one of the very hardest problems in tanks because it takes such subtle balances to keep it away. Its kind of like the problem of weeds that behave just like regular grass in lawns if you've ever experienced that.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[scotty]

can only be the co2 levels,the flourish excel seems to be killing it of

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, you sound like you're having some of the same problems that I do. While Excel is great for plants, its not CO2 and does not help as much making a balance of "CO2 stable" environment that helps most in avoiding certain algae problems. Instead, Excel can help but is kind of different. It can be "topically" to be even more effective I believe. I have plastic throw-away pipettes that can be used to dose the Excel directly at the algae areas, giving them a short but direct hit of high concentration. That is supposed to increase the effectiveness by targeting your worst areas.

~~waterdrop~~