[Wet Thumb Forum]-first timer, need your help, long message

[bfitz]

I have a 58 gal tank. first time I have tried plants. here are the parameters;
nitrate[hagen test kit] very pale color, chart says 5mg/l
phosphate is nuts, but I tried using a discus buffer/nuetral regulator that is phosphate based.I won't do that again. Anyway, hagen kit, dark blue, chart says 5 mg/l.
KH-5degree
GH-5 degree
PH- 6.4 [I keep trying to raise it, but the driftwood sucks it down], these 3 are aquarium pharmacuetical kits
light- I just bought a dual compact flourescent Coralife freshwater light, 130 watts, I use a timer to run 1 light 12hrs and the second one is on for about 7 per day.
plants are sometype of cabomba, that grows fine, anubia coffeeola, and another big anubia[I really don't know subspecies], and some corkscrew vallisneria, and java fern. the anubias, and fern are just holding their own-no growth, vallisneria is not growing, java fern not growing but has bright green plantlets forming.
Now, do my plants and water match, what changes do I need to make? I use seachem nitrogen[2ml per day] and potassium[4ml per day].
I'm curious about CO2, but I had a problem with my air pump for 1 day and 2 fish died. How can I measure CO2?
Thanks for your help.

[Kyle V]

Hello bfitz,

I can answer one of your questions easily thanks to Mr. Chuck Gadd's CO2 and fertilizer calculator; http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_aquacalc.htm. Download it when you get a chance and I'm sure you'll find it helpful. CO2 can be calculated if you know your pH and KH.

In your case, ph of 6.4 and KH of 5 = +/-59ppm. That's really high, so unless you have pressurized CO2 cranking, I worry that one of your readings might be off. If you do have pressurized CO2 and you're sure that your pH and KH are correct, you can raise your pH by decreasing the amount of CO2 (20ppm is good, some like up to 30ppm, but too much above that and it'll be bad for the fish).

Also, 130w of light for a 58g tank is about the minimum you want to be using to grow plants. I'd suggest you keep both lights on for about 12 hrs/day, and see if the plants perk up.

Good luck.

[bfitz]

thanks..I will verify my results to be sure...I'm not using any CO2 injection of any type...

[imported_russell]

without injection, most tanks stay in the 3ppm range usually.

[bfitz]

checked again...ph is between 6.7 & 6.4. I'm having trouble with the colors, but it's one of those. KH is 5.

[imported_russell]

somthing is wrong there. that would add up to 30ppm co2. which is perfect, but if you are not injecting any co2, there's no way it should be that high.

[imported_russell]

unless you are using some chemical that lowers your ph?

[bfitz]

I did use "discus buffer" & "nuetral regulator" to adjust the PH on my last water change. I read the jar and they are phosphate buffers. I'm not going to use them anymore. Could that screw up the calculation?
So you know, I change about 12 gals on fridays, and 12 gals again on sunday; I don't have time to mess with the tank during the week.

[imported_russell]

yes, they will alter your calculations. i would imagine that over the next couple weeks of water changes, it will return to a ph level of around 7.5-7.7 depending on a few things.

i guess one main question you need to ask yourself is "how far do i want to go with this" you can have a high tech tank with 3+wpg and co2 injection and lots of fertilizer dosing, or do you just want to have a regular tank with a few plants in it.

[imported_russell]

we can help you eather way i mean heck, you already have the lighting, all you really need is a little co2 and some fertilizers. co2 can be done easily with a yeast sugar mixture. the cost of this would only be around 10 bucks. or you can go pressurized and have tons of consistant co2, and it would only be about $140. if you want fertilizers, you can mix your own pretty easily. this would only cost you about 25 for materials.