PO4 Phospate results

[Bloo]

OK, I did not really want to spend £30 on a D&D test kit, so got a Salifert one for about £7. The chart increments read as follows:
0, 0.03, 0.01, 0.25, 0.5, 1 & 3

Well my test came out at at least 3 - but possibly more as it seems off the chart
Shucks - do I add ROWAphos or something now ? This plant and algae business is doing my head in but surely it shouldn't be this hard (sigh......).

Maybe I should just rip it all out and do a African tank with stones

But I'm just fed up now

Edit: I want to cry now - I just had a good look at my tank (after I spent a considerable amount of time last night on it cleaning etc.) and look what I found. What the heck is this on my filter ? It looks like red hair it wasn't there yesterday or ever before, and I washed the filter (as I do everyweek) last night and gave it a soft brush with a dedicated fish kitchen brush.

I see the same stuff is on my wood.

 

[iggy01]

What is the phosphate level of your tap water?

Mine comes in around 4 mg/l according to my phosphate kit. My local water company says it is nearer 2 mg/l. So much for the accuracy of test kits huh!

If you do have a level of phosphate around 3 mg/l it will only cause you problems if one or more of the other nutrients are lacking. By this I mean if your nitrate, potassium, CO2 levels etc are too low.

If your tap water has a lower level of phosphate, you could try doing bigger water changes to help bring it down.

Good luck!

 

[Bloo]

What is the phosphate level of your tap water?

[snapback]860920[/snapback]​

Just checked - it's the same - off chart

 

[iggy01]

Bloozoo2, you appear to be another ideal candidate to start dosing via the Estimative Index.

Do you know what your CO2 level is?

I would give your local water company a call first, just to confirm the phosphate level. If it really is that high, at least you wouldn't have to dose any phosphate.

 

[Bloo]

Better start reading that thread then I guess

I think my CO2 is only around 13ppm - not good I know, but with a pH of 7.4 (it was 8.4 before the CO2 brought it down) and kH of 11, I'm struggling to get it any lower.

I'm still toying with the idea of going pressurized (yeah I know the outlay is high, but I'm prepared to invest if it's going to give me a beautiful planted tank and a lot less hassle) but I'm also thinking of just adding another Hagen unit. My current unit is creating approx 10 bubbles per minute.

 

[Yenko]

Read my thread about duckweed. All you need to know about the evils of phosphate, and the tiny avenger, duckweed.

 

[Nospherith]

The good news is you don't have to dose PO4 for now

if you got more plant biomass (at least 3/4 of the substrate covered in plants) then they would be able to suck up the phosphate to an acceptable level. just make sure you dose everything else ok (N, K, and traces and maybe Fe if you don't have a plant substrate). good luck with that algae.

 

[superjalami30]

bloozoo2, I use the nutrifin C02 set up and get jeeez, I dunno, 50-60 maybe more bubbles per minute.
Looking right now......approx 15 bubbles in the ladder right now!

Of course this rate slows as the mix gets used up, but since I started a new one 4 days ago its been going steady at that rate since.
I add an extra bit of yeast when I start a new batch up everytime.
usually about an 1/8 of a teaspoon.

temp may help it out as well, its quite hot here lately, however the batch does sit on the floor of my stand so the temp shouldnt be too high down there.

I dunno, maybe try adding a bit more yeast and see what that does.