MatPat PPS Feedback Forum - PPS Analysis and Feedback

MatPat · 05-04-2005, 05:02 PM

PPS Feedback Forum
MatPat

When did you begin using PPS?
will begin tomorrow

Do you find the PPS system easy to use? Haven't actually started yet.

How often do you do a water change?
Once a week

Do you use CO2?
yes
presurized, 5lb cylinder

What is your aquarium's water volume?
75g, 66 actual

What type of lighting do you use?
110w CF, 96w NO

How many watts of lighting do you have?
206

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Please describe the condition of your plants.

For the most part plants have been growing well. When I was using RO/DI water (KH and GH of 3) due to a whole house water softener Pogostemon stellata 'broadleaf' was stunted continuously. Since switching back to tap water (the softened water is not at the kitchen sink) it is now growing better but not great. Nesea pedicellata is doing wonderfully for the first time ever. I do have the occasional stunting on the regular P. stellata but usually only one stem at a time.

Not really a plant related problem (yet) but it seems that I don't have any Mg in the water column according to my test kits. I'm using a Hanna pH/TDs meter and Lamotte kits for everything except GH (AP kit). In looking at my tank the TDS is much higher than my tap. I'm guessing this is due to 3x weekly dosing of 15ml of CSM+B (2tbsp in 500ml).

I have all of the solutions mixed and I'm ready to begin tomorrow. According to my spreadsheet and test results should I do a water change or just dose the Mg solution tomorrow.

Thanks

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discus · 05-08-2005, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatPat

PPS Feedback Forum
MatPat

When did you begin using PPS?
will begin tomorrow

Do you find the PPS system easy to use? Haven't actually started yet.

How often do you do a water change?
Once a week

Do you use CO2?
yes
presurized, 5lb cylinder

What is your aquarium's water volume?
75g, 66 actual

What type of lighting do you use?
110w CF, 96w NO

How many watts of lighting do you have?
206

-----------------------------------------------------
Please describe the condition of your plants.

For the most part plants have been growing well. When I was using RO/DI water (KH and GH of 3) due to a whole house water softener Pogostemon stellata 'broadleaf' was stunted continuously. Since switching back to tap water (the softened water is not at the kitchen sink) it is now growing better but not great. Nesea pedicellata is doing wonderfully for the first time ever. I do have the occasional stunting on the regular P. stellata but usually only one stem at a time.

Not really a plant related problem (yet) but it seems that I don't have any Mg in the water column according to my test kits. I'm using a Hanna pH/TDs meter and Lamotte kits for everything except GH (AP kit). In looking at my tank the TDS is much higher than my tap. I'm guessing this is due to 3x weekly dosing of 15ml of CSM+B (2tbsp in 500ml).

I have all of the solutions mixed and I'm ready to begin tomorrow. According to my spreadsheet and test results should I do a water change or just dose the Mg solution tomorrow.

Thanks

------------------------------------------------------

Hi Mat and welcome to PPS
Looking over your spreadsheet your NO3 and PO4 appear to be doing ok although your PO4 is slightly high but nothing to worry about yet. I suggest beginning dosing Mg at 2 ml per day and see where we end up at the end of next week. You are dosing way too much CSM+B in my opinion, I would cut this back to about 1 to 2 ml per day.
Once the week passes lets see what happens to your water so we can see what to dose.
By the way how did your tank water get to 13 NO3 and 2 PO4 without any dosing? Is that just from the tank? Let us know as this will help determine what is producing it whether its from bio load or from dosing.

Keep us posted

MatPat · 05-09-2005, 07:05 PM

Hey Discus, thanks for responding. The tank has been up and running in it's currrent location for 6 months. It was up a year or so prior to that. I have always used EI for dosing so that explains the the NO3, PO4, and CSM+B levels

I didn't put my dosing routine in the post since I have been adding about 1.5 ppm of KNO3 daily, 0.92 ppm of PO4 every other day and the 15ml of CSM+B on days opposite the PO4. Always had good results with EI just looking to reduce the amount of water changes or eliminate them all together! No water changes would be very nice

I have enjoyed not having green spot on the glass or anubias while keeping my PO4 levels around 2ppm. Since beginning PPS I have already had to clean the glass this week! It has been months prior to this cleaning. All of my P. stellata has also stunted since beginning PPS. Not sure why, CO2 levels are good (maybe too high but the fish don't seem to be complaining), ferts should be good, and traces are there, though in much smaller quantities. Maybe the P. stellata is reacting to the lesser amount of traces or the increased amount of Mg. I did add 6ppm of Mg on May5th so I have been following the suggested dosing for a 75g with 3wpg. I will post my results again in a few days after a full week of following PPS dosing.

Thanks again

discus · 05-09-2005, 08:08 PM

Hi Matt
Not sure i understand. You started PPS a day ago and you have algea? and your plants have stunted? All this within a day?
Also I wouldnt cause any dramatic changes to levels adding 6ppm of Mg to your tank in one shot is dramatic.
In either case keep me posted to exactly what your dosing so we can see how much of what you are adding and how much your plants are consuming and we will come up with a dose.

MatPat · 05-10-2005, 05:32 AM

I did tests on my tank May 4th in preparation for beginning PPS. I wanted to get a set of reference readings before I canged my dosing schedule.

I began PPS dosing on Thursday, May 5th. The Green Spot Algae began appearing on the glass on May 7th (3rd day of dosing) and the P. stellata (10-12 stems) was stunted the morning of May 8th (4th day of dosing). So no, this did not happen within 1 day of starting PPS but after several days.

My dosing and notes are in my spreadsheet and will be uploaded either tomorrow or Thursday since this would complete my first week of using PPS. I will include another round of tests also.

MatPat · 05-12-2005, 06:36 AM

Here is the updated spreadsheet after a week's worth of dosing. CO2 levels are through the roof. Funny, none of the fish seem stressed! I think I will adjust the controller a bit since the KH is a bit higher then it was. I re-calibrated both the Hanna meter and my Milwaukee probe and retested with the same results. Lights are not on in the tank yet.

The TDS has really went up this week! I suppose I will need to do a water change next week to get them back down a bit!

If I figured correctly, I am adding:

1.2ppm of NO3/day
0.12ppm of PO4/day
0.68ppm of K/day
0.13ppm of Mg/day

This is based on a 75g tank with a 66g actual volume.

MatPat · 05-19-2005, 06:17 PM

Here is the latest spreadsheet from me.

I am still experienceing problems with the P. stellata. I skipped the SS an PF solutions over the weekend and added NF solution instead, along with the traces and Mg. I figure since the stellata was stunted already, it wouldn't hurt to try and drop the NO3 a bit. I was hoping to bring my nitrates down a bit. It seems to have worked, though I find it hard to believe two days would make that much of a difference.

The tank has not been pearling as much as usual either. pH is staying in the 40-60ppm range so I don't think it is CO2. I re-did the NO3 test and re-calibrated my meter and probe again just to be sure. What type of N do the Lamotte kits test for (organic/inorganic or both)? Maybe my NO3 readings have been off more than I think.

Do you think I should do a water change or let the tank go for another week. On the good side, the TDS did not climb much this week!

Edward · 05-22-2005, 11:55 AM

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MatPat · 05-31-2005, 09:16 PM

Here is yet another updated spreadsheet. I decided not to change the dosing schedule do to a major prune job on the tank. Did not test Wednesday, May 25th do to busy schedule.

TDS has climbed nearly 100ppm in the past two weeks, possibly due to removing plant mass.

Green Spot has definately increased and Staghorn algae is now present on various parts of the substrate, mainly on the Eco Complete. pH was tested 2 hours after lights out (CO2 off). P stellata is still stunted and tops of Lobelia cardinalis have melted off. Lobelia may have been getting shaded.

Slight climb in the NO3 and PO4 over the past two weeks but all other parameters have remained stable with the exception of the TDS.

I am really getting frustrated. The tank has been algae free since December. The Green Spot needs to be wiped down daily! The staghorn could have hitch-hiked in on some new plants though. Doesn't make sense since the water parameters are pretty much the same as they were before starting PPS. The only thing that has changed is the magnesium levels and the lack of water changes.

Any ideas?

discus · 06-01-2005, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatPat

Here is yet another updated spreadsheet. I decided not to change the dosing schedule do to a major prune job on the tank. Did not test Wednesday, May 25th do to busy schedule.

TDS has climbed nearly 100ppm in the past two weeks, possibly due to removing plant mass.

Green Spot has definately increased and Staghorn algae is now present on various parts of the substrate, mainly on the Eco Complete. pH was tested 2 hours after lights out (CO2 off). P stellata is still stunted and tops of Lobelia cardinalis have melted off. Lobelia may have been getting shaded.

Slight climb in the NO3 and PO4 over the past two weeks but all other parameters have remained stable with the exception of the TDS.

I am really getting frustrated. The tank has been algae free since December. The Green Spot needs to be wiped down daily! The staghorn could have hitch-hiked in on some new plants though. Doesn't make sense since the water parameters are pretty much the same as they were before starting PPS. The only thing that has changed is the magnesium levels and the lack of water changes.

Any ideas?

Hi Matt
Sorry to hear about your frustrations but hopefully it will work out. In the meantime I still dont see any Mg in your testing so perhaps youd like to increase this till you see something. As your TDS has risen I would in fact do a water change as this is a significant change from your parameters when you were algea free so it may be do to the increased TDS. Keep us posted.
Discus