phosphate absorbtion media

[chooks]

Hi Folks,
I've been reading around the newsgroups, and finally decided to remove the activated carbon from my filter(they supposedly remove plant fertilizers from the water).  I was wondering about phosphate absorbtion products, do they remove valuable nutrients too? Specifically, I'm thinking about using "green-x" from Hagen.  Thanks much..

[arcab4]

hi there and welcome!

i don't know about the product you are talking about specifically, but in my tank, i use phosguard. it works great for me.

[chooks]

Thanks for the reply,
Do you have a planted tank?  Have you noticed any slowing of growth since you began using the product?

[dattack]

I am currently using phosguard also because my tap water contains phosphate.  I seem to always get hair algae after a huge water change.  It's much cheaper to buy this product online like petwarehouse or bigals because my LFS charge 2-3x as much.  And there has been no slowing of growth.

[Matt Nace]

Chooks, you dont want to completely eliminate the phosphate. Target range is 0.2ppm to 0.5ppm.

It is a macronutrient the plant needs. Did you test for what level you have?

Everyone seams to get hair algae, and instantly think phosphate. It's not always the case. Proper nutrient levels is the key. Each person's tank uses a differnt amount do to different circumstances. You must find what dose is good.

Chooks, tell us about your tank.

Full planted?
Gallons?
Lighting?
nitrAtes?
ferts used?
tabs in substrate?
what is your substrate?
What are some of your plants?
do you dose daily or weekly?
Co2?
how much co2?
filter?
hour light is on per day?
how long is it setup?
Do you measure Iron and phosphate?

Can find out why you have hair algae with some of these answers.

[chooks]

Thanks for your replies!

Here Goes:
Full planted? yes
Gallons? 25
Lighting? 80
nitrAtes? trace
ferts used? tropica liquid, ~3ml/day
tabs in substrate? sea chem root tabs
what is your substrate? plain gravel
What are some of your plants? dwarf anubias, camboba caroliniana, Cardamine lyrata, onion plant, a cryptocoryn species,tiger lotus, java moss, java fern, Echinodorus, limnophila, Myriophyllum tuberculatum...that's about it!
do you dose daily or weekly? daily(I didn't until quite recently because of algae probs and low light)
Co2? yes, diy
how much co2? 1-3 bps
filter? Aquaclear 200, just removed the Carbon the other day..
hour light is on per day? 10-12
how long is it setup? > 4 months
Do you measure Iron and phosphate? no, no

I began worrying about algae near the end of the cycle period, when my tank became covered in beard algae and brown algae.  Increasing my lighting from 1.5 wpg seemed to take care of the beard algae.  Some of the more delicate specimens were (and are to a lesser extent) getting choked with brown algae.  I figured that removing any phosphate would make the rest of the algae disappear.  Hopefully this info will help solve the algae mystery.

Thanks for your help and I appreciate any future posts!

[chooks]

sorry, I just realized that I have ~90 watts after I hit post.
35 watt 4,300k light
55 watt 10,000k light
Both are VHO and have really good reflectors

[Matt Nace]

So you just upgraded your lighting recently?

When did you start DIY Co2?

It seams that you need to give your plants time now to start to grow, thus using more nutrients, and Co2.The brown algae should go away with the nice lighting.Algae eaters can help(ottos, SAE).

If the algae is real bad on some of the plants, you may have to remove those leaves, or the plants if they are dieing. What fish do you have, any algae eaters?

Watch how much Iron you give, too much Iron can cause algae..not brown however, that is from your lower light levels, or duration of lighting from before.

Make sure your aquaclear is providing current throughout the tank. Take a look at the farthest plants from the filter, are they getting current?

How is your DIY getting to every plant..through your filter? I see little bubbles of Co2 at every inch of my tank(29 gallon)

My other 29 has the DIY in through a powerhead. If your current isn't strong, you may think to add a small power head oppisite of your filter.

[chooks]

Thanks RubyBarb, your a great help.  It sounds like I need to give my tank some time with the new lighting, nutrient, co2 mix.  I upgraded my lighting a little over a month ago.  I've been using c02 for about 2 mos., but it wasn't working that well(first I let it bubble right out of the tube, then I tried airstones..these methods didn't dissolve much into the water).  I actually put a ceramic co2 diffuser in my tank last week and it dissolves tons more of the co2.  I have little beads literally covering the bottoms of ALL of my leaves, so I think I'm getting good circulation.  Perhaps this is the solution to my algae, since the plants are growing about 2-3 times faster now..I also have OTOS, SIA's and Amano shrimps..