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Well, I'm finally back...and boy has some crazy stuff been going on here, which I don't really feel like talking about...I'll just say it hasn't been good.

Since I've been preoccupied with all this craziness, I've sorta started to let my tank go, as I had no time to keep it up. Basically I've just been changing the water once a week, and dosing when I manage to remember to. Before things went haywire here, you all know I had 10 Rasbora's...well, now I'm down to 5, I know it's sad, but it happened, and I know it was probably due to lack of maintenence or something along those lines

Current stock, is 5 Harlies, 3 ottos, and 1 angelfish, which I added just before things started up around here.

I have been dosing Flourish Excel for about 2 weeks now, and as you may know, I had a problem with staghorn before. Well, the problem still persists, and I am thinking that it may be my Po4...which was almost 5 ppm last time I measured it. I cannot seem to get it down, and havn't dosed my KH2PO4 since I started dosing flourish.

Now, I seem to be getting some sort of other algae on my Ludwigia Repens, and Anubias Nana, which I think is Green Spot Algae.

The ludwigia got really tall, so I trimmed it, and it hasn't really been growing like normal, which is probably why it's started to get the algae.

Things are starting to fill in nicely...sort of. The Java Moss is starting to show a little green, instead of looking like a big brown glob on top of the driftwood, and I'd have to say my Crypt Wendti is probably doing the best in there...It takes up a lot of room and is just starting to hang over the Hairgrass which hasn't really done much of anything since I planted it.

Well here is a picture just after a water change, and a little trimming on the Ludwigia and Staghorn algae. I try to cut away as much as I can of the algae, but can't get it all.

Angelfish
Tank after WC...Kinda Cloudy

Sorry to hear you've had a rough time as of late.

I've let the tanks maintenance slide also, although sneaking Excel in here and there, and picked up some phosphate since that was the one thing missing when I think to dose hydro ferts.

Crank some tunes and plug into that tank while the mood hits ya. You'll prob lose yourself in it and a couple hours will go by like nothing.. You'll then feel a bit better too. Cool angelfish ! Once I finish organizing (joke?) my apartment I'll be hittin the tanks in a big way. I'm looking forward to it

The Amazon Nut...

Thnx...yea thats what I did today...got some stuff done, and decided that it wasn't fair to the fish to let it go like I was.

Haha, lately its been all about relieving stress by going "balls out" on my YZ 250 (dirt bike for those who don't know)

lookin_around,

Hi again

I think the tank doesn't look all that bad. I found that Excel doesn't do anything for Staghorn or thread algae, it works better for BBA and Brush. One thing you will have to do soon is to trim the moss. I had thread algae issues that became better once I balanced the nutrients and trimmed my moss. Once the moss gets too thick the bottom starts to rot to the point where it doesn't hold the moss on the wood anymore. By keeping it short you can avoid this from happening.

I also blamed my thread/staghorn on high phosphates as my tab has 2ppm and I added quite a bit on the daily fert routine (at some point, phosphates were over 10ppm). Now I am adding it only twice a week and things seem to be better.

What is your current fert routine?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thnx, I'll have to trim my Moss sometime in the near future.

I am guessing my staghorn is from phosphates as well

Currently, I dose 1 ml of plantex on one day and then on the other I dose 1-3 ppm KNO3 depending on how much is already in the tank, and continue this for the week.

My plantex solution is 4tbs in 1000ml of water

lookin_around,

4 tablespoons are 12 teaspoons

12 teaspoons in 1 liter of water, divided by 1000 to get your dosage of 1ml gives you 0.012 teaspoons per dosage, less than a 64th of a teaspoon. Is that intentional?

Next question: I found that Plantex dissolves badly, and I would imagine that 12 teaspoons in only 1 liter of water will not dissolve very well at all. Can it be that you are not getting a good mixture of micros from your solution when taking out only 1000th of the content?

Also: How do you evaluate that you need 1-3ppm of KNO3?

Last question for now: Where would the 5ppm Phosphate come from?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

12 teaspoons in 1 liter of water, divided by 1000 to get your dosage of 1ml gives you 0.012 teaspoons per dosage, less than a 64th of a teaspoon. Is that intentional?

The reason I am dosing so little, is because it was suggested to me on another site. I would dose it dry, but the smallest measurement I can get is 1/4 teaspoon. Should I start dosing more than I am now?

Next question: I found that Plantex dissolves badly, and I would imagine that 12 teaspoons in only 1 liter of water will not dissolve very well at all. Can it be that you are not getting a good mixture of micros from your solution when taking out only 1000th of the content?

I found that it dissolved fine with hot water. I have not noticed any on the bottom of the container. The only thing, is there is this sort of skin that collects around the top near the edges.

How do you evaluate that you need 1-3ppm of KNO3?

I measure my No3, and its always around 15 ppm....when it seems higher than that, I dose less....lower, I'll dose a little more.

EDIT- Forgot to answer last question.
I am not really sure where the phosphates are coming from. From the tap, it was about 2ppm last time I measured it. I am guessing it could be from my fish food, but I only feed once a day, and just enough for the fish to eat.

Doesn't sound like enough plantex to me, although I have to say that I probably overdosed my 125G with 1/2 tsp 3 x a week. You barely add 1/32tsp per week. I think you could try to double your dosage, or even more (but gradually).

The skin on the Plantex mix, sounds like a high concentration of goodies to me. What else could it be?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Alright, I'll try 2 ml every other day. Today I just added excel, and 3ppm of nitrates.

Haha, goin riding today, lets hope I don't break somethin