March 22, 2007
Well, as Avalon predicted (see BV's thread in the planted forum), I've got a little outbreak of green algae. I decided to test my levels, and I've really been overdoing it from a phosphate perspective.
Here's what I saw:
pH - I have more trouble reading my pH test - the color it turns out looks grey, not blue or green. It's closest to around 7.9-8.0, though (which means I'm not getting that much CO2 in)
Ammonia - 0.0 ppm
Nitrite - 0.0 ppm
Nitrate - 8.0 ppm (likely overdosing this as well)
KH - 100 ppm
GH - 140 ppm
Phosphate - 5.0 ppm
I'm going to do a decently-sized water change tomorrow, adding RO water, to try to bring down both the phosphates and the pH. I also think I'm beginning to trust my CO2 regulator (again, I think I identified the problem and that I've fixed it), so I might head to the LFS tomorrow to pick up a few new tank denizens...
