Re: Green dust algae and herbivores
If you have plenty of light, CO2, nutrients, do weekly 2x a week water changes, the plant should grow unless there is something in the tap and it cannot be copper because is selective with killing algae before it kills/hurts plants, especially crypts which tolerant very high Cu levels.
Tons of light yes, Co2 yes.
Nutrients all added after each of the 2 50% each WC of the 108 gal weekly:
NO3: 9 ppm
Additional KH2SO4 one teaspoon.
PO4 2ppm sometimes 1 ppm
Flourish 10 ml daily
DTPA iron 7% strength, 2 times per week between WC's 1/32 (sometimes 1/16) of the teaspoon in relation with yellowing.
Mg: 5ppm.
Boric acid 1/64 of the teaspoon
Mains water contains: 7,5 ppm NO3, PO4 0.76 ppm, Ca 80ppm, 0,12 ppm total Fe, Kh 8, Gh 12, Mg calculated from Edwards excel calculator, in relation to Gh 12 and Ca 80ppm, gives 0 ppm Mg in mains water.
Ok now some measurements in different days (each value separated by a comma in each fert) with our hanna meters.
NO3: 19,5, 21, 24, 23 pretty stable
PO4: 1,3, 0,9, 1,89, 2,45 always there.
Total Iron: 0,14 to 0,9 this one I have difficulty to target a higher reading.
K: from 15 to 20+ ppm
It would need to be non toxic to algae and toxic or mildly so to plants, that's going to be extremely rare. I'm doubting the tap.
Me also, just water saturated with calcium (I don't even leave in the town here not town mains, just local water, deep well with pump.
Cleaning habits: I clean each leaf of my anubias plus fluff, bottom clean every time I do WC, I always comb the hairgrass as well, I am really typical on this habits just to take out of the equation this factor as a cause of the algae.
Ok light 30 cm above water MH 3x150 10 hours single end bulbs uv coated but with no protective glass (can UV been burning the plants?).
Plants that suffer most: Hygrophilas, Alternatheras
Plants that get infected most from algae: Anubias, Hairgrass, species of Bacopa, ferns (strange enough ferns and hygrophilas seem to suffer most since I upped the ferts, CO2.
Yellowing: almost constant in various plants, darker veins as well, hairgrass, hygrophilas, townoi (condition can get really better by adding more iron but tank gets "hot" at the same time.
Growth: All bubble, grow pretty fast with few exceptions even the ones that are considered difficult are multiplying within the algae creping in problems (if ferts weren't there how all this townoi, macrandra, wallichi, stellatas aromaticas grow?)
Filtration 2500lt specified pump, 50 micron micro filters changed in every WC, huge bioball containing biofilter slow flow, UV 18 W 24/24 hours 1200 lt/h different pump (not fast for this wattage checked), additional pump just for circulation 1200 lt switches on every other hour, auto dosing off at the moment I do all by hand to be sure heating cable ready to be turned of for additional winter heating ( reckon intensifying decomposition.
Substrate fluorite, peat 2 years old (and no I am not going to remove it to wash
)
Water colour: very rarely crystal clear always some murkiness but nothing extreme, no surface film.
Can you switch a few plant species out and replace them back later
Well really difficult to stock plants here, some species have come only once, few people to exchange prolly less than 5 here, this is why I wanted plants like stellatas to grow cause few chances to find.[/quote]
My ex living room tank I am renovating so not that much space to move as well, huge lump of sinersia in this tank grows fast.
Sorry for being a pain in the a.. Tom no ill intention intended I just try to sort things, and I wonder at the same time .