7 replies to this topic

[Alex1110]

Hey people,

I got a tank that i put 60W into for 11 hours a day, then 156W for a further 1 hour a day. Dont have CO2. Just wondering what fertiliser you recommend? At the moment i use Aquatic Plant Vitiliser by AQUA MASTER - its meant to be for ponds but it was recommended to me. I dont have any issues with this stuff, just never used anything else so im not sure if there is something else better out there.

And im not sure if there is an answer to this, but is there a specific nutrient that black bearded algae uses more of that i can avoid? Since i reduced the time my 96W light is on for (from 6 hours a day) i get less of it, but its still there. I did get a couple of siamese algae eaters to get rid of the it, but they didnt work. I know thhye can be confused with chinese algae eaters and flying fox, and I am 99% sure they were the right fish. I found articles and pictures on the internet, and i posted pics of my fish on some forums (maybe this one?) and got confirmation. I got rid of them after 9 months coz they wernt working and were getting pretty big.

Thanks.

[dazzabozza]

This could be of use - http://www.perthcich...?showtopic=4077

Dazza

[Alex1110]

Thanks.

That thread seems to be a mitigative measure - my BBA problem is only very minor, and im looking more for prevention. At the moment its mostly on the driftwood, but also on the outer edges of some leaves, mainly annubius'.

Interestingly, i had a similar result on my plants as the double dose excel experiement when i used the suggested dosage of an algae clear product given to me by the LFS - it killed all my plants, except annubius and some swords (first to go was the vallis) however it didnt clear my BBA, which was the only algae problem i had. Manually cleaning was the only way i could get rid of it, and hacking at my annubius (about 12 leaves to 2!) cut down the quantity. Reducing my light kept it low, but its still slowly growing.

[Krystal]

BBA readily spreads in the presence of phosphates in the aquarium. It would be worth getting your phosphates checked at your LFS or buying a kit yourself to monitor the levels.

Here is a thread which was started earlier this year, might explain your situation a bit better to you

http://www.perthcich...=Phosphates BBA

[Jezza]

here is a copy/paste from aquariumlife.com.au (i recommend this forum to anyone with a planted tank)
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Dry Fertilisers - Source and Recipe
This is a subject that comes up time and time again and various bits of information are contained in several posts scattered around this site.
I thought it might be helpful to pull it together into a single post and place here.

PMDD (Poor Mans Dosing Drops or Poor Mans Dupla Drops)

PMDD was originally developed by the Canadians Conlin and Sears. Their aim was twofold, or come up with a solution to common algae problems and develop a fertiliser that was cheaper and more readily available than commercial brews from Aquarium shops.

At the time, it was common belief that excess Phosphates were the key cause of algae in aquariums and by limiting the uptake of Phosphates, algae growth could be reduced.

Plant nutricients are largely categorized into two categories, or Macro nutricients and Micro nutricients.

Macro nutricients (often referred to as NPK) include Nitrate, Phosphate and Potassium while Micro Nutricients are commonly referred to as Traces or Trace Elements and include minerals such as Iron (Fe), Boron, Molybdenum, Copper, Manganese, Zink and others.
Micro nutricients are normally sourced pre-mixed while the Macros are usually sourced in pure or almost pure form.

The main Macros are Nitrate, Phosphate, Potassium, Calcium and Sulphur
The main Micros are Iron, Copper, Boron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Zinc, Chloride and Nickel.

PMDD is based on the theory that if you supply plants with sufficient and well balanced amount of nutricients but leave out the Phosphate, Phosphate becomes the "limiting factor" and therefore algae growth is kept under control.

Because of this theory, PMDD doesn't contain any Phosphate but is rich in Potassium and Magnesium.

Recipe
The recipe below is quite close to the original Conlin / Sears formula and is still valid as a good start for most planted aquariums:

15g Chelated Trace Element Mix
25g K2SO4 (potassium sulfate)
10g KNO3 (potassium nitrate)
55g MgSO4.7H2O (epsom salts)
500mL filtered or distilled water

Warm up in a saucepan 500mL filtered water or distilled water and mix in the dry ingredients. Stir well until all is dissolved. Leave to cool and pour into a 500mL bottle. Store refrigerated.

Source
All of the above are available from Aquagreen and Aquagrow at quite a reasonable price.

Chelated Trace Element Mix (Simplegrow Traces, Yates Trace Elements, - Bunnings, Nurseries)
K2SO4 (potassium sulfate) (Aquagreen, Aquagrow, Yates Sulphate of Potash - Bunnings, Nurseries)
KNO3 (potassium nitrate) (Aquagreen, Aquagrow, Chemists, Chemical Supplies)
MgSO4.7H2O (epsom salts) (Aquagreen, Aquagrow, Bunnings, BigW, Nurseries)

Dosing
For an average, medium light tank (1.5 - 2.5W/Gal) with medium plant mass, start with a daily dose of 2mL per 100L of tank water.

I hope this is of some help to the ones who are trying to get their head around the use of PMDD.

If you are interested in knowing about symptoms of the various nutricient deficiencies , check out this link:
http://www.finostrom....lizers/map.htm

For target volumes and dosing, you can't go wrong with Chuck Gadd's calculator:
http://www.csd.net/~....osage_calc.htm
Or download an offline copy:
http://www.csd.net/~...nt_aquacalc.htm
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i use this recipe to make my own ferts, but i do tweak it a bit (like a bit extra KNO3 and a bit of chelated iron.)

as for the BBA, if can be controlled by increasing the CO2 in the tank (or in your case, adding CO2)
you could also spot dose with dino spit (from aquagreen.com.au ) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
i use these on my BBA and it does work.

HTH
jeremy

[azthefish]

I can also say from experience that high phosphorous (it was 10x over) led to a severe outbreak of BBA in my 250L only last week.

for manual removal I used a clear, plastic tube and literally sucked it all off my HC and it worked really well. Better than snipping of plant bits with BBA on them i reckon. I then did a 80% water change and planted some more plants.

I also heard from the guys at Seaview Aquariums that our tap water contains small amounts of P. So getting a P test kit is almost essential. And I just like to know whats in my tank water

[temptazn]

The October PCS meeting which was about planted tanks was very useful and we talked a great deal about algae control.

Algae competes with plants in the tank. If you make the tank more favourable for the plants then they will outcompete the algae. the more plants you have, the less algae you should have since plants will suck the nutirents out of the water.

Also, light, CO2 and fertiliser needs to be in balance. then plants will thrive and (hopefully) the algae will disappear. Dont know if BBA will ever completely disappear.

i reckon remove all u can by hand, and up the Co2. I think the seachem flourish excel has carbon-type-stuff in it (???) so it is a good substitute if u dont have bottled co2.

obviously dont dose at night when u turn the lights off cos then the fish and plants will suffocate and ph will go right down. maybe reason y ur plants died after double dose. im doing the double dose at the moment and everything is fine. algae is being controlled for now... hasnt quite disappeared entirely.

hope this helps.

[keleherr]

i reckon remove all u can by hand, and up the Co2. I think the seachem flourish excel has carbon-type-stuff in it (???) so it is a good substitute if u dont have bottled co2.

that would be gluteraldehyde nasty stuff when concentrated, initially used as a preservative. try dino spit it is alot cheaper then excel.
for bba you can give the plants a 5-10min bath in a weak solution of hypochlorite aka bleach or H2O2 aka peroxide.iv used this method when iv had an algae bloom.
also try pond care algaefix. i use a slightly higher dose and turn the lights off for 2-3 days and this seems to keep it in check.
also if you have alot of fish in the tank dont dose P and N as the fish poop has more then enough.
people talk about finding a balance with dosing ferts ect but its like trying to balance a pencil on ur nose. there are so many factors that come into play such as plant types, your tap water and constant changes in water chemistry. its a matter of trial and error,start out with the basic dino pee formula and then modify it to suit you, it worked well for me