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GSA with PPS-Pro

7K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  Greg Stephens 
#1 ·
I started a thread in the algea forum but haven't gotten much feedback. Here is what I wrote.

I recently started up a new tank. It's a 20gal high with black fluorite substrate. I have a 65W 10K/6.5K light on it. I've been dosing PPS pro per the thread there for a 20gal and have DIY CO2 and recently started using some excell to help even it out. I would call it medium planted, I'm waiting on a few more plants to finish it up. I used some mulm from an old tank and an filter from the old tank as well.

It's been set up for 3 weeks or so and I've got algea all over the glass. I'm not sure if it green dust or green spot. The spots are smaller then what i think green spot is but it sticks to the glass so I'm not sure if it green dust.

I don't mind a little algae but this stuff is all over the glass and starting to build up on my anubias. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

After some further reading and comments I think it is GSA but am not sure how much KH2PO4 I should add to my solution to help.

Can any of you PPS-Pro gurus help me out.

link to other thread: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/algae/54819-green-dust-spot-help.html
 
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#4 ·
As far as changing the light to 4.5k i don't think that would do much. from everything I have read it seems that 10k is still a usable spectrum and so is 6.5K. I got the mix because I like the colors it brings out.

Over the weekend I did scrub down the whole tank to remove most of the GSA. I also decided that I should reduce how long the lights on on. Edward your comment seems to make me think i had the right idea. So right now I'm on for 4 hours then a 2 hour off period then on for 4 more.

The GSA doesn't seem to be coming back as quickly this time but I am noticing some thread type of algae. I may try to get a SAE for it since it doesn't seem like my ottos or MTS are eating it.

Thanks for your guys help so far.
 
#9 ·
I really started using a split lighting period because of a bad algae bloom and then left it because I wasn't home during the day to see the tank. Electricity is expensive here in orlando (bad months are $160+ in a 2 bedroom apartment). I'm home during the day more now so I switched back to just a continuous lighting period.
Giving the lighting a break in the middle of the day didn't seem to do much for the algae problem but phosphate absorber did help quite a bit. Phosphate absorber is out now though since I'm dosing phosphate as part of pps.
 
#13 ·
Intersting, I have been dosing pps pro for 6 to 7 weeks and was previously using the seachem products.
Anyway, I have noticed once my no3 drops to 5ppm or less, and I am assuming my po4 is also bottomed out.
I get a little bit of GDA, GSA, and BGA.

I was just testing the no3 and dry dosing to balance the tank in the 15 to 20 ppm range where the
above mentioned melt away in a day or two.
I was also dry dosing phosphate to balance in the 1 to 5 ppm range.

While this was working I would prefer to not test and dry dose the tank.

I am trying to instead dose the PPS -pro solutions at a higher volume per day.
This is working OK for the GSA and GDA, but the BGA seems to just be holding steady.
Meaning the BGA is not a problem but always present in a single location.
I am also now seeing Stag horn algae which is again very light in growth but still visible.

I think I am going to go back to dry dosing the po4 and no3 as needed until my current mixed solutions are gone. My next batch I plan on mixing with an elevated po4 and no3 vs what is listed
on the excel spread sheet for my bottle size.
 
#11 ·
Hi jdigiorgio,

I don't know why it is so prevalent, but try increasing your KH2PO4.
 
#12 ·
I'm not an expert, but I'll try to help the best that I can.

I am using PPS pro as well, but have radically changed the recipe. You can read here to see what I've been doing if you are interested.

After reading many various threads on APC, I came across the Method of Controlled Imbalances one by Christian Rubilar. Although I haven't actually done any of the protocols that he mentions, I have used the information to try and help me determine what changes to make to my fertilizing method.

Depending on how much light, CO2, substrate, and the types of plants that your tank has (as well as other factors, but these are usually the most important), will determine how much fertilizer and in what ratio you will need to add. My guess is that your nitrate to phosphate ratio is off. Specifically, the PO4 has probably gotten too low, or the NO3 has gone too high.

In my situation, the NO3 had gone way too high. The highest my Seachem test kit would read was 50 ppm, and my test results were way darker than that. After lots of experimentation, my current macro recipe compared to the original one provided by Edward has only 23% of the K2SO4, 23% of the KNO3, 23% of the MgSO4, and 200% of the KH2PO4. In all reality, I will probably drop the K2SO4 and MgSO4 some more eventually, but I have been using up a big batch of the regular recipe and mixing with another batch that only has KH2PO4 just so I can use it all up. I still think that the potassium and magnesium are too high for my particular tank, but it's doing okay at the moment. For my micro mix, I am only dosing 17% of the CSM+B that Edward called for, and am still getting between .15 and .2 ppm iron when I test, and the plants seem to be doing fine as well.

If you have a nitrate test kit, I would check and see how much you have. I have been aiming for between 15-20 ppm recently. If yours is higher than that, then drop the KNO3 in your PPS pro mix. If you have a phosphate test kit, then check it as well. I have been trying to keep it between 2-3 ppm. If you don't have test kits, you can try to just add more KH2PO4 as Seattle_Aquarist suggested. Like I said before, it would probably help you a lot to read the two threads that I linked to above for a better understanding as to what's going on in your particular tank.

Good luck!

Andy
 
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