Tested for P.

[jcali10]

I tested PO4 today, both tanks read approx. 1.0 - 2.0. Also tested NO3, both tanks read 10 ppm or better. Did not add any N or P today. I don't test for Fe, or K.

I'm just trying to get the dosing right. Whatever grows in my tapwater, adjusted with a little Genesis, and some CO2 is good enough for me.

[Jeff120]

Are you having any problems or just testing out of curiosity?

[RTRJR]

Ditto Rick's comments. I used to run supplemented RO for blackwater fish, tap for general use, light BW, mid-to high BW, and SW. Too much! I simplified my life.

[jcali10]

I was having algae problems in my 50, mostly a brownish colored algae. I was thinking maybe I was dosing too heavily. I recently mixed up solutions using the Fertilator and Chuck Gadds calculator. So I started testing for N and P to avoid overdosing the ferts.

[RTRJR]

Brown algae, diatoms, is likely related to your tap water, especially silicate levels. The utility will be able to tell you the levels.

The beasts need silicates for their tests.(external skeletons or cases) and they do not recycle in tanks, so populations rely on fresh dissolved silicates in the replacement water.

[jcali10]

So without fresh silicates they will die out? If it's in the water supply why did it only happen in one tank and not the other? My otos love that stuff.

[RTRJR]

In decent lighting, diatoms compete poorly with green algae - they tend to lose their place in the sun.. But they can coat vascular plants that do not grow fast. All of the algae are opportuists - you may get hit with any form in any tank, and not in the tank next to it - even in my circulating range where the water is the same in all of the tanks. The fish, lighting, etc does vary, and so do the various algae.

Diatom alga is definitely Otos' favorite food.