On Tuesday this week, I initiated a large water change to reduce out of control Phosphate levels. I also experimented to reduce PH. Additionally, I introduced two new chemicals: PhosGuard, to help further reduce Phosphate and EasyBalance to help keep the PH on the slightly acidic side.
One critical problem was the first-time appearance of green algae on the aquarium glass. It had popped up overnight seemingly. None of it one day and then a patch or two on the front and back the next day. Let's see what the water parameters look like this morning...
PH: 6.94 (Rising from 6.8 yesterday morning)
GH: 8 dkh (Stable)
KH: 7 dkh (Last time tested was 6 dkh)
Chelated Iron: 0.5 + mg/l
Nitrate: 10 mg/l
Phosphate: 0.7 mg/l (Falling from very high 4.0 mg/l two days ago)
Redifield Ratio: 10 (Excellent)
Copper: 0 mg/l
Calcium: 40 mg/l (Rising from 20 mg/l)
Temperature: 76F
Remarks: These are excellent readings in my opinion. The most critical one was Phosphate because it had risen to 4.0 + mg/l a couple of days ago. I believe this was due to the addition of a solid fertilizer or possibly the addition of sulfuric acid to reduce PH. I won't try the fertilizer again, but will be using the Sulfuric acid again. I should be able to prove or eliminate this as a possible problem. 0.7 mg/l Phosphate is not too high. There's PhosGuard in the filter pad, which will continue to clean it up. Plants do need a little Phosphate as a nutrient, but since my tap water is already high with it, I am not worried. I always add a bit of tap water during water changes to keep the buffering capacity from falling too low.
PH is rising slightly. I would rather keep it at around 6.7. It seems my CO2 mix helps reduce PH. I'm interested in the continued use of PH Down (Sulfuric acid) when water changes are not necessary. I've ordered some which should arrive today or tomorrow. I'll have to see how PH it fluctuates on its own during the day. I presume it will, as plants photosynthesize, releasing oxygen and taking up CO2.
The Redfield Ratio is still within normal range. Chance of blue-green algae if Phosphates rise, but Redfield will rise to a better level if Phosphates continue to fall, which is what I assume will happen with PhosGuard.
Nitrate at 10 mg/l is excellent and manageable. I can easily estimate the Redfield Ratio with these Phosphate and Nitrate levels. The goal with a normal Redfield is to keep the aquarium free of algae.
Perhaps Calcium went up after the addition of well water? I used it to buffer as my PH fluctuated to 6.1 with my PH experiments. By the way, I think that low PH killed the Riccia plants. Can't tell for sure if that's it. Will have to purchase more and experiment.
GH and KH are stable. Water is slightly soft as desired. Very nice.
No discernible Copper. That's a surprise. There was always a bit in the water and the Flourish Trace product contains Copper so I wonder why it's so low? Could PhosGuard be sucking it out? Otherwise, iron levels are ok and I remember dosing with trace elements right after the water change. I'm not going to re-dose today. I usually have a tendency to dose fertilizers way too much anyway.
Temperature is lower than usual because I didn't connect the heater after my last water change. My water temp has a tendency to rise because of the intense light on such a small aquarium. I've installed a large fan in the home-made light fixture and whenever temperatures rise, I leave the fan running during the night as well, even when the lights are off, otherwise the water temperature gravitates around 82F.
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