Need Help Please

Hi guys,

I am new to aquaria and immediately fell in love with planted tanks!

I have a Juwel rio 180 (40 uk gallons) and since frequenting forums and scouring the web for articles relating to plant care I have come across the ei system and of course the legend of tom barr.

Now then, I have recently purchased some pmdd which were magnesium sulphate, iron sulphate, potassium nitrate and trace elements mix, I also purchased some seachem flourish potassium.

The plants I have are riccia, water lettuce, hygrophilia deformis, hygrophilia polysperma, java fern, java moss, amazon sword, cabomba caroliniana, bacopa, and a tiger lotus.

I initially had a problem with hazy water (it was'nt green) and I suspected it to be algae, so I purchased a uv steriliser which cleared the water up beautifully, (Phosphates where very high at 5ppm).

Today I decided to do a 50% water change and dose with the dry ferts, however, I think something has gone wrong as the water is extremely milky since the ferts have been added (1 hour ago) I have put on the uv again, but I dont think it will sort it out as the problem, I think, is the ferts)

I added, 1/4 teaspoon of magnesium sulphate

1/2 teaspoon of kno3

1/8 of iron and 1/8 teaspoon of trace mix and the 5ml of flourish K

The ph is 6.8 with very soft water running at around 3 degrees KH

Please could someone tell me where I have gone wrong and how best to dose my tank?

I have heard that most people make up a stock solution but I am also unsure as to whether people mix all their ferts in one solution or use a different bottle for each dry ingredient?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

forgot to add, I have added some rowaphos to the internal filter (in a womens stocking to keep it together) in an attempt to lower the phosphate level also, I dont know if this has any bearing but I thought I would mention it!

Sorry, I also forgot to mention I have upgraded the lights to 2x 39watt t5's to run alongside the juwel t8's giving me a total of 130 watts

I also have 2 diy hagen co2 units running into the tank and a silica sand substrate
Thanks

 

Re: Need Help Please

Hi Tom,

Thanks very much for replying!

Yeah, thats where I bought the ferts from, very good site for the u.k. (apparently certain ferts are hard to get hold of over here)

As for the po4, I didnt buy any as my water had 5ppm of phosphates (which of course is too high) so I didnt want to add any on top of that? I have just added the rowaphos today so havent tested yet, but this is something I will look into. Thanks

tap? do you mean the tap water, with ph and kh values? or does tap refer to something else?
Use the tmg to replace the iron, or all the dry fertilisers?

Is the only way now to get rid of the cloudiness, either water changes without the iron, or simply waiting for the plants to utilise the iron and thus reduce the cloudyness?

Ok thanks, Ill stick to seperate mixtures for each component

Thanks a lot Tom, I really appreciate the help you've given me.

Sorry for asking what must be really basic and obvious questions but I have difficulty with anything remotely scientific

 

Re: Need Help Please

Just thought id include a pic to show you what the tank looked prior to the water change and pruning.

I will post a pic of the tank once my camera batteries have charged to show the milkyness etc




Thanks

 

Re: Need Help Please

Thanks a lot for the reply and suggestions for dosing etc. I will include a pic from last night showing the cloudyness, it has cleared up now thankfully!




I think the calcium and phosphate are going to be added to the next order, the calcium is very low and I also need to raise the kh.

Thanks again Tom much appreciated