Yeaulman Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 Hi everyone. I'm from Saskatoon and thought I should join since we dont really have a good forum in Saskatchewan. Anyhoo... I have a 45g tank with plants, discus and tetras. I have 130w power compact lighting with 6700k range. I also have pressurized CO2 and have it at about 18ppm right now. I have been fertilizing with Hagen Plant gro and Hagen Plant Gro iron enriched fertilizers. I was also using Flourish Trace for the micros. Things are going great, but I find that I have a lot of black hair algae. I have read that to get rid of the algae is to manually remove it and increase the co2 to 30ppm. I just bought some fertilizers from Greg Watson; mono potassium phosphate (KH2PO4), potassium nitrate (KNO3), and some CSM+B for traces. I will be bringing my NO3 and K to about 10-20ppm, my PO4 to 0.5-2.0 ppm, and my Fe to about 0.1ppm. How does everyone get their CO2 to disolve in the water properly? Please help before I rip my tank down and start from scratch..... again.... :boom: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milan Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 (edited) Welcome aboard! This is what I've built. I am getting 100% dilution. This is what I used: 1. Gravel Vacum from WalMart (~$7) 2. Elite mini submersible pump from Pet Land (~$12) 3. Bio Ball from the above LFS (free) 4. Check valve 5. Air stone 6. Foam filter (Aqua Clear, ~$4) 6. Some tubing CO2 is injected thru air stone under the bio ball. Some bubbles get trapped in the ball, some in the thin layer of gravel, and if anything gets above this, gets beaten up by the water coming into the reactor from the top. If anything gets carried bellow the air stone by the current (never happens) , gets trapped in the foam at the bottom. Bio ball also supports the gravel, so that the air stone is visible (kind of a bubble counter). Literally, there are no bubbles escaping the reactor. Hope it helps ... Edited July 18, 2005 by Milan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garhan Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 Once beard algae has taken a firm grip on your tank it is difficult to get rid of.The commonly recommended treatments for beard algae which is 1 of 2500 to 6000 species of red algae are: 1) Removal of contaminated leaves/stones/substrate. 2) Disinfectant dip for contaminated plants/objects. Two to three minute bath in a solution of 1 part bleach to 19 parts water. Follow with a rinse in freshwater. 3) Ensure appropriate fertilizer levels for healthy plant growth. 4) Increase carbon dioxide levels to upper limit of safety (around 30 ppm). 5) Introduce Siamese Algae-Eaters (SAEs). Algae-eating shrimp have also been reported to eat red algae. I also have used a light timing system to get rid of it a couple of times. This means to run the lights for 4-5 hours, then 2-3 hours off and then again 4-5 hours on before turning off for a 14 hour period at night. This has worked for me on several other forms of microphytes as well. [/i just bought some fertilizers from Greg Watson; mono potassium phosphate (KH2PO4), potassium nitrate (KNO3), and some CSM+B for traces. I will be bringing my NO3 and K to about 10-20ppm, my PO4 to 0.5-2.0 ppm, and my Fe to about 0.1ppm. How does everyone get their CO2 to disolve in the water properly? QUOTE] I am not familiar with the Hagen Product and therefore do not know the percentage of K, N, or P in mg/liter. I would recommend to keep the P04 (to much P04 in your tank will cause algae blooms as you probably know) definitely below 1.0 ppm and boost the K and N03 to 20-30 ppm rather than the lower end of 10 ppm. It is difficult to overdose K and N as neither will likely induce an algae out break. Most algae out breaks are caused by a shortage of a nutrient and as a result the macrophytes are not at maximum growth capacity allowing the microphytes to get established. What does your tap water measure out at, can you go to your city water supply website to get dailey or monthly analysis to compare and identify target increases to suit your plant needs. This is especially important for when you do your water changes. C02 diffuser in my experience has best been in a DIY Powerhead as shown in the treatise that is pinned to this forum. I recieve from 90 - 100% absorbtion. Garhan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garhan Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 And welcome to the board, we need more plant people anyways. Garhan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milan Posted July 19, 2005 Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 (edited) I am not familiar with the Hagen Product and therefore do not know the percentage of K, N, or P in mg/liter I think I just bought the same one. It's called "Plant GRO - NPK" (correct me if I'm wrong Yeaulman) and it's 0.6-0.3-2.4 (n-p-k). In other words, 5ml/10g of this stuff adds 3.5 ppm of NO3, 0.5 ppm of PO4, and 2.5 ppm of K. To my knowledge, no flexibility of altering the components ratio. Edited July 19, 2005 by Milan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeaulman Posted July 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 That is correct about the Plant Gro. But do my numbers sound right for the right ppm? NO3 and K to about 10-20ppm, my PO4 to 0.5-2.0 ppm, and Fe to about 0.1ppm? I have also made an inline CO2 reactor hooked up to my Fluval 304 and its breaking up the bubbles quite nicely. Do you suggest doing it that way or making it the reactor with a powerhead like above? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milan Posted July 19, 2005 Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 (edited) But do my numbers sound right for the right ppm? I think they are in the same ball park. Except, you have a larger bottle with 10ml cap, as opposed to 5 ml on the smaller. The numbers are stated on the bottle. I have also made an inline CO2 reactor hooked up to my Fluval 304 and its breaking up the bubbles quite nicely. Do you suggest doing it that way or making it the reactor with a powerhead like above? In my opinion, as long as you don't see any CO2 bubbles "surviving" breaking up, and an adequate CO2 production, you are OK. I would watch the reactor outlet for undissolved CO2. If there is none, you may want to try to increase the production, untill you reach the ppm target, without compromising diffusion. Otherwise, it's hard to tell this system, or the other is better. Edited July 19, 2005 by Milan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeaulman Posted July 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 I think they are in the same ball park. Except, you have a larger bottle with 10ml cap, as opposed to 5 ml on the smaller. The numbers are stated on the bottle. I am not using the hagen products for fertilizer anymore. I am using products from Greg Watson. KH2PO4 KNO3 Traces Those are the products I am using now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garhan Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Your targets are fine. Garhan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeaulman Posted July 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 The reason I am asking about all this is cause I have a 45g tank that is starting to get hair algae in. Someone said by raising the CO2 to 30ppm and all the other fertilizers what I stated above, and trim the affected leaves, it should go away on its own. Has anyone eles ever had this problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milan Posted July 26, 2005 Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 Yeaulman, you may have missed Garhan's reply, which in my mind completely covers your question. See above @ Garhan Posted: Jul 18 2005, 04:14 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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