Starting to dose...will the algae die?

[Tiggs]

As suspected.......wacked the lights up by an extra 110W and the hair alage has gone a bit mad!

Nitrate and phosphate are 0 so i start dosing today.

Once my levels are up to where they should be and the plants get a grip again will the algae die or should i remove effected leaves (thats a lots of leaves) now?

Also...my nitrate and phosphate testing needs to be spot on so which is the best kit...and what else should i check for? (already do amonia, nitirite, ph, kh)

i dose leaf zone as well if that helps.

T

 

[Aussie_Star]

yea your plants should be good when the levels are right, but then you have to maintain it at them. im not sure where u are so cant suggest a test kit seeing they are all different mostly around the world with different brands and stuff. i use a sera test kit it is for marine but givs me my readings i need for my planted tank. i chech:
gh
ph
kh
no3 and no4
po4 aswell.
HTH Aussie

 

[kenneth_kpe]

try reading up on tom barrs EI im using it right now and its keeping my plants healthy and the algae in check

 

[Tiggs]

i think im ok on how to dose....jsut wondering if the algae needs removing or will it die?

 

[George Farmer]

I use Nutrafin Nitrate and Phosphate kits. They're not the most accurate available but provide a good balance of value/reliabilty IME. I have had no problems with them, just ensure the kit you buy is well in date. "Super" accuracy isn't really an issue as the recommended levels of dosing are quite a broad range i.e.

NO3 - 5 to 30ppm
PO4 - 0.2 to 2ppm
K - 20ppm (don't know how to test for this)
micros (normally iron (Fe) as a proxy) - 1ppm

Your Leaf Zone should provide enough Fe and K for you not to bother with testing or dosing extra.

Once you have dosed for a while you will get a feel for how much your plants need and what dosing levels/frequency you can get by with. The plant's health are the biggest indicator. Eventually you may not even need to test at all - I don't now and have only done so recently as I have been experimenting with different light and dosing levels (see my journal).

One tip is to get to your required levels gradually i.e. 1ppm NO3 per day, 0.1 ppm PO4 per day.

As suggested read up on Tom Barr's article on EI for a more in depth look at dosing.

Your algae should clear up once your plants show good growth. It may be worthwhile removing the worst affected leaves - depends on how bad they are really i.e. so much algae it blocks plant's photosynthesis ability.