SAWALLACE PPS Feedback Forum

[Edward]

Hi
Mg of 25 ppm is almost 6 dGH. This can not be good. Some soft water plants can not grow in such conditions. I’ve been dosing 0.17 ppm Mg a day to maintain stable concentration of 3 to 5 ppm.

Thank you
Edward

[SAWALLACE]

Well, this first post took way too long, but after having to tear down the tank twice in the last two weeks (due to problems with the tank, not water params.) I didn't feel it would do any good to post.

Anyhow, here is my .xls file.

I do see pale new growth on some of my swords (almost white), and some slight "dust" looking algae on the glass. Those are the only visual signs I see.

I will be doing a 50% water change tomorrow, hopefully that will dilute my excessive PO4. I plan on doing 30-50% WCs weekly. (I will keep them consistent once I get a grasp on what's going on)



Still waiting on some stem plants, aquascape is a mess due to the tear-downs, I'm gonna replace the hairgrass with Lilaeopsis if the Lilaeopsis doesn't stay that neon green color.

[SAWALLACE]

FYI- the high phosphate is more than likely from the bags of Eco-Complete I added, not my dosing. Read about it here.

[discus]

Hi SAWALLACE

Yeah I'd agree that PO4 is way to high and CO2 on the low side.
I would suggest you dose only 5 ml PF for the time being and reduce your TE dosing to 1 or 2 ml per day. We have to get your PO4 down to a normal level. I suppose Eco is really leaking some stuff into your tank as your Ca and Mg is also rather high compared to your tap water.
Let us know what happens by next week and please include any water changes you do.

Discus

[SAWALLACE]

So you suggest Lowering the TE dose? Should I just add extra Iron? What else could be causing the near-white growth? Beside the high PO4, everything seems relatively decent. Does high PO4 limit something I'm not aware of?

The co2 reading seems suspicious. I'll check it in a few days, but I haven't changed anything and at last test it was at 36ppm. My plants are bubbling like crazy.

Thanks Discus!

[discus]

Originally Posted by SAWALLACE

So you suggest Lowering the TE dose? Should I just add extra Iron? What else could be causing the near-white growth? Beside the high PO4, everything seems relatively decent. Does high PO4 limit something I'm not aware of?

The co2 reading seems suspicious. I'll check it in a few days, but I haven't changed anything and at last test it was at 36ppm. My plants are bubbling like crazy.

Thanks Discus!

Good Question SAWALLACE
And im not sure how to answer. Generally white growth is due to Calcium deficiency however in your case it seems like your calcium is relatively OK. The other thing could be iron but that usually gives you yellowish leaves and not white.
Other than that I dont know what to tell you. I did notice that you just began using PPS perhaps we can revisit in a weeks time as the addition of potassium may help in the plants uptake of nutrients.
Im also not sure if your going to be able to control the high PO4 content in your water column but if this doesnt come down you may consider dosing PF as it does not contain any phosphates for example dose only 5 ml PF which will continue to provide you with both NO3 and Potassium but zero phospahtes, again this is dependant if youre still at a high PO4.

[SAWALLACE]

Originally Posted by SAWALLACE

FYI- the high phosphate is more than likely from the bags of Eco-Complete I added, not my dosing. Read about it here.

Read post #8 in the above thread

PO4 is more likely even higher than 20ppm. I used half the drops on my AP test to get 20ppm. I might also double the test sample to 10ml and cut the drops in half just to see what happens. The last test turned so blue that it stained the test tube!

This is the second time this has happened to me. I rinsed the eco for a good 20 mins each bag and I still have problems. It must be leaking from the eco itself. I'm not one to complain, but this situation is horrible.

[Edward]

Hi

The use of inert substrate makes everything much easier. I use inert silica sand exclusively and have no issues. Many aquariums do not need water change for years. It’s all about balanced fertilization in the water column. I hope you can resolve your substrate problem soon.

Thank you
Edward

[Edward]

Hi

Yes, the SS-Ca and PF-Ca solutions are going to be white and need shaking before dosing. The CaNO3 + K2SO4 => CaSO4 + KNO3
Remember the dry Discus Mix? I wanted people to use it? But most people couldn’t get the CaSO4 so I created easier way, get CaNO3, mix it with K2SO4 and we have it right here, CaSO4 + KNO3 in liquid.

SS-(Ca)
500 ml
16g CaNO3
33g K2SO4
6g KH2PO4

PF-(Ca)
500 ml
16g CaNO3
37g K2SO4

Use it as the SS and PF solutions, it is fully compatible. The main difference is this new Ca based solutions support so called soft water plants even in harder waters.

Thank you
Edward