[trenac]

Welcome to APC

Looks like that may be staghorn algae, which is usually caused by ammonia and/or low C02. So increasing your C02 injection, if not then start C02 injection or add a carbon source such as Seachem Excel. Make sure you have a fertilization routine, keeping N03 at 10ppm & P04 at 1ppm. It should also pull off easily by hand.

Giving more details on your setup such as gallons, wattage, fertilization routine, mantenance & light schedule will also help us with helping you.

 

[trenac]

Thanks for the help yall!

I haven't been adding nitrates directly because there are so many fish. Hard to say how many but at least 25 maybe 30, and 4 amano's and 4 ghosts. BTW even with so many fish my nitrates regulate very close to 0, maybe 1-3ppm but not even close to 10. Phosphates are high in our tap water around here.

As far as a complete fertilizer, is there anything "all in 1" that would be a better option than the stuff i'm using currently? Maybe PMDD does it even retail? Also, with 4wpg should I up the levels of my ferts compared to what's on the bottle? How important is Potassium?

I can see green spot algae on the glass. It's not overwhelming though. Does that tell you anything?

If your nitrates are only 1-3ppm then you need to add nitrogen, your fish are not producing enough to keep up with your plants uptake. You say your phosphates are high, how high? Test them and keep your N03/P04 levels at a 10 to 1 ratio. I would suspect that the phosphates are a lot lower in the tank then in your tap.

There is not an all in one fertilizer. You will need: micros, nitrates, pottassium, phosphates (depends on high they are) & maybe extra iron. You can either buy already made brands like Seachem or Pfertz or go with bulk ferts you mix yourself.

GSA is usually caused by low phosphates (P04).

How important is potassium..."Along with nitrogen, plants require large amounts of potassium to grow well. Also a major component of photosynthesis, potassium is crucial in a plant's ability to absorb and convert light energy into growth". (taken from the Pfertz website)

 

[trenac]

Congrats!... That's great news