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BryceM · 01-08-2009, 07:57 AM

So, I've doubled my KNO3 and KH2PO4 dosing and turned down the pH controller a bit. So far, the fish seem quite a bit happier.

I've removed about half of of the affected foliage, being limited in my efforts by time constraints. Sadly, my large mature Crinum calamistratum was too badly affected to salvage. It had just flowered again too. OTOH, it had again produced three fairly large daughter plants which I was able to save.

There's still a fair bit of thread algae in the upper portions of the stemmies, but overall, I'd say the plants are looking better. BBA is still far too prevalent, especially in lower regions around the substrate.

When I carefully examined the plants, many of them showed signs of N deficiency, especially in their lower regions which had melted away in some instances. I can only assume that over time I had managed to lean my macro dosing to the point of sustainability, but just barely so. I probably got lazy for a few days and forgot to dose. As I recall, this coincided with a rather large trim (which took more than 6 hours) which opened up extra light to previously shaded areas. There was probably an uptick in N consumption precisely when I had neglected to keep up on macro dosing. If all of this does indeed prove to be the point, at least I will have established the actual N and P needs of the tank, which is certainly something worth knowing.

I added 75 ml of Flourish Excel today. I'll do this for a few days and watch the BBA for signs of turning pink. My intent here is to try to speed the recovery along. The real key will be getting back to a more stable condition for the long run. Yes, it's a form of cheating, but manual removal of thread and BBA in a monster tank of this size simply requires more diligence and effort than I have time for at the moment. I don't really suppose that adding a bit more of the macros will have any downside. It's still quite lean compared to what many people are doing. If I keep to the current schedule, I'll still only be adding 9 ppm of NO3 and 3 ppm of PO4 per week.

When I get a few minutes, I plan to vacuum out the left half of the tank. That chore might have to wait for the weekend.

01-08-2009, 07:57 AM	#6 (permalink)
BryceM Administrator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: South Central Idaho, USA Posts: 4,262 iTrader Ratings: 42 iTrader Positive Rating: 100% Plant Points: 178534	Re: Old tank syndrome? So, I've doubled my KNO3 and KH2PO4 dosing and turned down the pH controller a bit. So far, the fish seem quite a bit happier. I've removed about half of of the affected foliage, being limited in my efforts by time constraints. Sadly, my large mature Crinum calamistratum was too badly affected to salvage. It had just flowered again too. OTOH, it had again produced three fairly large daughter plants which I was able to save. There's still a fair bit of thread algae in the upper portions of the stemmies, but overall, I'd say the plants are looking better. BBA is still far too prevalent, especially in lower regions around the substrate. When I carefully examined the plants, many of them showed signs of N deficiency, especially in their lower regions which had melted away in some instances. I can only assume that over time I had managed to lean my macro dosing to the point of sustainability, but just barely so. I probably got lazy for a few days and forgot to dose. As I recall, this coincided with a rather large trim (which took more than 6 hours) which opened up extra light to previously shaded areas. There was probably an uptick in N consumption precisely when I had neglected to keep up on macro dosing. If all of this does indeed prove to be the point, at least I will have established the actual N and P needs of the tank, which is certainly something worth knowing. I added 75 ml of Flourish Excel today. I'll do this for a few days and watch the BBA for signs of turning pink. My intent here is to try to speed the recovery along. The real key will be getting back to a more stable condition for the long run. Yes, it's a form of cheating, but manual removal of thread and BBA in a monster tank of this size simply requires more diligence and effort than I have time for at the moment. I don't really suppose that adding a bit more of the macros will have any downside. It's still quite lean compared to what many people are doing. If I keep to the current schedule, I'll still only be adding 9 ppm of NO3 and 3 ppm of PO4 per week. When I get a few minutes, I plan to vacuum out the left half of the tank. That chore might have to wait for the weekend.