I screwed up.....now what?

tanksalot

Junior Poster
Mar 11, 2006
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I have a 90 gal. planted aquarium with a pH controller and a Finnex led light. There's an overflow that goes into a wet/dry filter. CO2 goes into the (sealed) wet/dry right at the top. I've been trying to overcome an algae issue with higher CO2 and additional nutrients using a PPS pro formula. To determine the nutrient level, I've checked nitrates ONLY. Since it's been on the low side (5PPM) I boosted both components of the PPS pro system. Just today I checked phosphates, which were HORRIBLE (10 PPM). Nitrates were 10 - 20 ppm. I'm doing a large water change tommorrow and eliminating phosphate addition until things get straightened out. The fish have appeared sluggish, and now I realize its' probably very low O2 levels.


I've been adding the CO2 to the top of the wet/dry in order to use the wet/dry as a CO2 reactor. I suspect this contributed to the low O2 levels. Trying to combat the algae issue, I've been lowering the pH until I saw signs of distress in the fish. Right now pH is at 6.0, with a kH of 3-4. The tank is planted primarily with crypt's, with an amazon sword and a Madagascar lace plant.


What should my priorities be in straightening out my mess?


Thanks in advance!


Tanksalot


 

UDGags

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  • Oxygen and CO2 are independent of each other in terms of concentration in an aquarium. Oxygen is based on your water temperature.
  • I would not stop dosing phosphates. You want healthy plants to combat algae.
  • How often do you clean your wet/dry?
  • How far is the light from the substrate?
  • I suspect your CO2 is way too high for the lower light plants you have. You probably want to aim for a pH of 6.4ish.
  • I second the more pictures.
 

tanksalot

Junior Poster
Mar 11, 2006
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Thanks for the responses. Distance from light to substrate is 22 inches. Photoperiod is 7-8 hours. Substrate is Turface. I took more pictures. Wet/dry was cleaned a month ago (we travel a lot and I returned from a 2-month trip to find an algae swamp). Gravel is very dirty. (Before I logged in I didn't see the overflow photo in my original post, so I put it in again.)


Should I continue with the CO2 going into the top of a tightly-sealed wet/dry? The water temp. is 75. That dirty-brown crud in the overflow grows everywhere.
 

tanksalot

Junior Poster
Mar 11, 2006
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I had been trying to create a system that would be minimal-care since we travel a lot. I use a digital 2-channel pump to dose a PPS-pro solution, 10 mL daily. Part A consists of, in 1500 mL of water, 88 gms K2SO4, 98 gms of KNO3, 9 gms KH2PO4 and 61 gms MgSO4. Part 2 is 120 gms CSM+B iin 1500 mL water. When I returned from our most recent trip, I cleaned the tank and the wet-dry, changed 80% of the water. Testing the water kept showing nitrates low (5ppm) so I cranked up the total dose to get the nitrates up. Didn't check phosphates until yesterday. Deep aqua color test 10 ppm phosphates.


Thanks again for your help. I've been at this quite a while, but feel quite stupid right now.
 

Mooner

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Jun 9, 2006
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tanksalot said:
Thanks for the responses. Distance from light to substrate is 22 inches. Photoperiod is 7-8 hours. Substrate is Turface. I took more pictures. Wet/dry was cleaned a month ago (we travel a lot and I returned from a 2-month trip to find an algae swamp). Gravel is very dirty. (Before I logged in I didn't see the overflow photo in my original post, so I put it in again.)
Should I continue with the CO2 going into the top of a tightly-sealed wet/dry? The water temp. is 75. That dirty-brown crud in the overflow grows everywhere.


IMO, 2 months without regular WC's?, this a problem on a high/medium tech CO2 tank. This WC method is more conducive to a low tech, non-CO2 tank. I agree with UDGags, the plants are slow growing, these plants are better suited to non-CO2.


IMO, here are some options


CO2 (I currently run one tank)


1. Add fast growing stem plants, which will help shade slow growers, and use up nutrients better


2. Weekly 50% WC's with EI dosing(not sure what the PPS Pro conversion is)


3. Use a KH/PH chart to get rough idea of CO2 concentrations, adjust slowly there after watching fauna and flora.


4. Increase water movement at water surface for O2 issues, wet/dry return


5. Clean wet/dry pre filter every 1-2 weeks


6. Lightly vacuum substrate surface during weekly WC's, common issue this wet/dry's due to lack of lower intake(I've used both wet/dry and canister)


7. Skip water testing for nutrients, learn to read the plants, rely on the EI method as a starting point, adjust as you learn


or


Non-CO2 (I currently run three tanks)


1. Raise the light to reduce PAR


2. Scrap the CO2, go non-CO2 with appropriate dosing with extended WC's


Good luck
 

Pikez

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May 12, 2013
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tanksalot said:
Just today I checked phosphates, which were HORRIBLE (10 PPM).

I keep choking on this.


I've regularly added up to 14 ppm phosphates with absolutely no issues. I usually target 5 to 10 ppm. There is nothing horrible about this. It's a lot more than your plants need, but if your tank has algae, it is not because of the 10 ppm phosphates. Look elsewhere for root cause - my guess is lack of maintenance, cleaning, water changes, inadequate or unbalanced CO2 and ferts. Clean filter and do a few big water changes. Then start from scratch.


If you're gone a long time, then PPS + automatic dosing is a fair compromise. But it's still a compromise. You cant expect it to look as nice as a tank pampered over daily with EI and close CO2 monitoring.