Water Readings and Algae Help

[Sime]

Hi,

I've had my tank running for a few years now fine with plants in it, but about 2 weeks ago i decided to completely re-do it with lots of plants. I've just bought a test kit and tested my water. My results are as follows:

Nitrate NO3 - 100
Nirtate NO2 - 0
Hardness GH - 16
Carbon KH - 4 or 5 (between the two)
pH - 7.6

I've been getting a bit of whispy type hair algae, well quite a lot actualy, and was wondering whether these readings would anyone what may be causing it? The plants seem to be doing ok - not blossoming as well as the first week but still looking healthy.

Any advice welcomed! Many thanks,
Simon.

 

[simonbrown403]

You dont say whats size is yr tank is, or what fish u have in it.

 

[Sime]

sorry, im relitavly new to forums!

tank is a Rekord 60 - about 12 gallons. fish in there are 6 neon tetras, 2 albino corys, 2 gold rams and 1 betta.

Simon.

 

[simonbrown403]

Nitrate might be your problen, 100ppm is quite a lot for s small tank, try more frequent water changes, every week or every 4 days, if your doing them weekly already, both your fish and your plants should benafit.

 

[Sime]

ill try that then,

i used to use a phospate tea bag to get rid of it when i had fewer plants - would you recomend putting that back in? that got rid of all my BBA last time.

is there anything else which will lower the nitrite?

 

[simonbrown403]

Aquaclear, hagen greenaway, rowaphos, carbon to a lesser exstent, juwel do a sponge to pop in your filter supose to be good.
i use aquaclear, but i'm changing to rowaphos, read some good reports on it.
water changes is cheapest, and best.

 

[George Farmer]

Welcome to the Forum Sime.

Your nitrates are way too high, not just for algae but for your fish health. Fish do acclimatise to high nitrates but if you added a new fish that was kept in low nitrates i.e. your local fish shop then it certainly wouldn't do so well.

Try to keep NO3 down to less than 20 mg/l. This will help limit algae and benefit your fish. Regular water changes are the key i.e 25% weekly.

I have had excellent results with RowaPhos. 250ml lasted me 12 months in my 34g and kept my phosphates (PO4) <0.25mg/l. It is the best PO4 removal product on the market. You could test you PO4 levels in your tank and tap water. I would guess that your tank would contain high PO4 - as you have high nitrates it is likely that the PO4 will have crept up too. If your tap has low PO4 then just stick to water changes and it will come down naturally.

Good luck.

 

[Sime]

Thats very helpful gf225. I'll test my tap water and see what that has then. if that has high nitrates what do you recomend for lowering them? or does the RowaPhos help with that too?

Simon.

 

[George Farmer]

RowaPhos will not lower nitrates. Hopefully your tap will have low nitrate - if not then there are a few options. You could use RO water - I mix 60:40 RO/tap to get softer water for my fish and plants. There's a product called a Nitragon.
http/www.fishathome.co.uk/resinfilters_nitragon.htm
Or you could plant more heavily with fast-growers including floating plants. The growth will suck up nitrates and other nutrients. I have to ADD nitrates to my water to keep the plants growing well. Here's some species;

Ceratophyllum - Tropical Hornwort
Ceratopteris - Indian Fern
Egeria densa - Waterweed
Hydrocotyle leucocephala - Brazilian Water Ivy
Hygrophila polysperma
Ludwigia species
Shinnersia species - Mexican Oak Leaf
Vallisneria species - Vallis
Limnophila sessisflora - Small Ambulia

and floating plants;

Ceratophyllum species - Hornwort (can also be planted in the substrate)
Ceratopteris species - Indian fern (substrate too)
Hydroza aristata - Floating grass
Lemna minor - Duckweed
Eichhornia crassipes - Water hyacinth
Limnobium laevigatum - Amazon frogbit
Trapa natans - Water chestnut
Pistia stratiodes - Water lettuce
Riccia fluitans - Crystalwort (can be submerged but needs good light and CO2 to do well)
Salvinia auriculuta - Butterfly fern

 

[Sime]

Hi,
Thats very helpful - thanks.

I've got a produc called Nitra-Zorb -which was recommended from a very trustworthy fish shop. Ill see how that goes.

I'm also going to order some faster growing plants like you said - I thought HYGROPHILA ROSANERVIS and HYGROPHILA POLYSPERMA - these are said to be fast growing and seem to like the light I have - can you see any problems with these?

thanks a lot,
Simon.

 

[George Farmer]

Can't go wrong with most Hygrophila species if you have enough light. Good luck.

 

[Sime]

just a quick thought - ive put my nitrate removal into my filter, how long would you leave it before you test the water again?

im aiming to get it to around 20 mg/l (its currently 100) - this is ok isnt it?

 

[Nospherith]

it's odd that your nitrates are so high if you've planted heavily. perhaps add even more plants and give them a few weeks to get completely established and they should be better than any alternative nitrate removal system, (if you have enough light and CO2). for instance, my tap is at ~10ppm, a couple days later it's untestable. to think that I actually dose the stuff... additional plantage may help with the phosphate problems as well.