Can't stop GSA - quite annoying

Re: Can't stop GSA - quite annoying

It has to be from CO2 or the PO4 or both.

Something else is going on and you are not catching it.
Rehash these two and make sure the other bases are covered.

I'd really focus on these two parameters.

I almost never get any GSA and I have supposedly the same ranges you do.........

Are you relying solely on the tap water for the PO4 source?

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Can't stop GSA - quite annoying

Tom, I've heard this for over a decade, many folks have said there is a relationship between high traces and thread and about 1/2 dozen other algae but I've routinely been adding huge amounts of traces for many years as have many aquarist here with any such algae, it's present, but it does not grow.

This is the same argument that folks said high PO4 caused algae, yet when I address the other parameters, I do not have any issue when I add lots.
The same is true for sfbapps group, we have been adding lots of traces since 1997 at both Claus and my suggestion.

Copper will knock it back, but not eliminate it over the long term.
Some plants are copper sensitive so getting the right amount by adding more ppm slowly will be the best(only) approach and watching. Copper demand and plant health per individual tank is different as well as hardness(copper is much more effective/toxic with soft water).

But you can scrub the algae off and use a UV/Diatom, mechanical fine filter etc to remove it or a large water change right afterwards etc.

But back to this.
The GSA is curable.

As far as hardness etc, I recently moved to Davis which has good old rock hard water from Fair Oaks which has super soft Sierra run off.
Plants, all of them, are doing fine.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Can't stop GSA - quite annoying

In some tap waters folks seemed to have some issues. I've only had 2-3 squirrlely species do poorly due to what I presumed to be the tap.

I've been doing the CO2 misting and I now have that high GH/KH tap water here and am still growing all these wimpy plants very well.

In harder water, the metals should be less available, meaning you should need more, not less to get good plant growth.

This is a well known issue with metals and water hardness.

UV's are good after a good scrub!
I'd like to make a nice little 500gph variable flow Micron filter + UV that takes the 9 3/4" cartiage filters that I can take tank to tank. Lifegaurd makes a large one and you have to use their cartiages etc but they cost a lot and the 900gph is too much for many tanks as well as being very large.

I could get all the mulm and algae out, then do the large water change.

A good micro filter cartiage will do this, 5 micron sizing works very well(it clogs up fast and gets even smaller particles(green water-2-3 micron sizing)).

If you have Oedogonioum, that would be a sign of CO2 issues as well as some nutrient problems.

That is likely from your move and should/has go/ne away.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Can't stop GSA - quite annoying

Spar:

The plant biomass should be the only thing to worry about.

Lotuses are weeds, Val is also.

It sounds like the CO2 and PO4.
Go a head and add the extra PO4, it's not going hurt anything.
Bump the CO2 up a tad also.

W- yes, we still have Elephants and mice livging together, but do you have massive mice infestations? Environmental and biological constraints place limits on their growth and fecundancity. The same is true for the slower growing/reproducing elephants.

If you limited food resources, which would be the first to die off? Elephants have more reserves, but they would die and take a very long time to recover.
Mice will die rapidly, then bounce back at whatever resource level is provided way way down to near zero. As soon as any resource became available once again, the mice would rapidly bounce back and become well established.

Meanwhile there are no elephants left(or they are hurting and not able to down much).

Algae need far less than plants do the live and grow.
But algae are not dumb, they wait till things are going sour(increases in NH4, variations in O2/CO2, low CO2 levels, high light, low NO3, sudden increases in organic matter etc).

They respond much faster than plants do to these variations.
The focus should be on what helps the plants grow.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Can't stop GSA - quite annoying

I'd worry more about the look of the tank with CO2 rather than the measurement. Turn it off at night also, adds a margin of safety.

PO4 consumption is rapid.
It's not 25ppm of NO3.

That much I can tell you.

Something else is wrong in the methods.
Especially given poor PO4 uptake..........

Try the CO2/PO4 and see.

I'd stick with 30-40ppm or so of NO3, not 55.
Fed fish etc

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

Re: Can't stop GSA - quite annoying

NO3 test kit issues.
There's something going on, what brands are speaking of for NO3?

Most are poor at the higher ranges beyond the narrow range types resolution of 15ppm-20ppm or so.

You might want to make a several series of NO3 to test it against.
8-15 ppm per day is not going to happen.
3-4 ppm is a lot. That's the max as far as plants will take up, unless starved and some luxury consumption is factored in.

P04 will not cause any issues to 4-8ppm or so.
Certainly far more than we need to worry unless trying to control pH in a large way with pH buffers.

I still think you need to rule out PO4 then work on CO2.

GH, NO3/K/Traces are all that is left..........

Regards,
Tom Barr