The KH change will not matter, you are measuring CO2, not KH.
If you need more CO2, have a different target pH etc, you use the CO2, not the pH/KH to do this, adding more KH will not add more CO2, nor will a lower pH directly.
If you need more CO2, or stable CO2, you use only CO2 to do that.
Seems obvious, but many folks try to monkey with KH etc to change the pH/KH relationship for measuring CO2.
Still, pH/KH are only use to
measure, not to
change CO2.
To change the CO2, you add more/less CO2
Don't worry, many go through that.
It can take time for algae to go away and for it to appear.
Many assume it's an instant rapid response.
This is also a lesson, often a hard one for many, to realize.
Nutrients alone are not the sole cure for many cases, sometimes they can be..........so folks automatically
assume that should be the case for
every algae issue if they had one such experience.
That's very naive!
Bad assumptions, still , many, some often good planted aquarist make this assumption!!!
If I have 4 w/gal and another tank has 2 w/gal and the same algae, the response to fixing the issue will be a lot different.
I might have GSA, and low CO2 in the high light tank and low PO4 and good CO2 in the other.
I may have to work a lot harder for the high light tank
Still, you should look at each parameter, watch the plant's response, and then once they are growing well, you can assume things are doing better.
Algae can be attacked and eradicated as you fix the plant growth issue, and that is always the case.................poor plant growth => algae.
So the focus is really on plant growth, not algae control and plants are easy to stunt if you run too low or make assumptions like this plant is best grown at low NO3 and high light and my tesdt kits are good and do not need any calibration or only test once in a great while.
These are just some general areas/examples where folks can and do go wrong.
Patience goes a long way for getting rid of BBa and several other species of algae, but most can be beaten back in a few weeks, 1-3 typically.
I cured a number of tanks of BBA, but there where some signs of BBA left for several weeks after, but.........no new growth. I removed the last little bits here and there.
Then you are done and no new growth, no signs in the tank, then you just keep up on things and the next time you see it, you get to work before it gets out of hand! CO2!!
If someone has another way to induce BBA other than CO2, I'm all ears. I've never been able to induce it any other way.
We have added rocks, plants w/ healthy BBA and purees of the healthy alga as well as just sit and wait for the spores present to inoculate.
High NO3, PO4, Fe, KH, GH, pH, tannins low/absent/immeasurable.
Nothing worked even after months.
CO2 did.
Many things influence CO2.
It's perhaps the most complicated issue in the hobby.
So hopefully this will help you.
Regards,
Tom Barr
