Bpb Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 So we reefers are always concerned with reducing phosphates as much as we can trying different food sources tank husbandry and media to do so. My planted tank seems to have a phosphate deficiency. I'm having some wicked green spot algae and a lot of new leaves are showing phosphate deficiency symptoms. So, I would like to raise my phosphates. The Greenspot algae is usually indicative of too low of phosphates. So I am curious, what are some foods I can feed the tank super heavily with that will cause me to have an increase in phosphates. I have enough plant matter where I'm not worried about other nuisance algae. Just want healthier leaves and less green spots. I work up a sweat scraping those off with a credit card!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dustin Blevins Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 I think seachem makes a phosphorus dosing product. There are probably others as well. I'm not sure about that would do it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Do you run CO2 with this tank? I highly recommend using the estimative index dosing method for FW tanks. It allows for a controlled method of fertilizing and it's cheap. It works amazingly well in high-light, high-CO2 tanks. I don't like using more food as a method to increase P/PO4 or anything else because it's tough to control. If you think you only need P/PO4, I would dose with KH2PO4. But if you haven't tried EI dosing, it's can yield some amazing results in a short amount of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted May 20, 2013 Author Share Posted May 20, 2013 Man I would love to run co2, but unfortunately it's not in my budget. My planted tank is my "free" tank. As in everything was either diy'd for under $150 total setup or given to me. Any aquarium money that is ever spent goes to my reef. I've seen enough amazing looking no co2 supplemented tanks and had success myself to the point where I know it can be done. The day I'm able to spring for a co2 tank, regulator, and ph controller, is the day I use the gear to run a calcium reactor. Maybe not though. I've seen some well done planted tanks with co2 that are every bit as impressive as any reef I've seen. I'll probably try a cheap liquid feet and see if that helps. Who knows maybe one day I'll change my mind. 75 gallons seems a little much to effectively use DIY co2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dustin Blevins Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 I'm not sure how DIY you want the tank to be, but when I lived in Lubbock I had a friend that had a large soda bottle with a water/sugar/yeast mixture that dosed his planted tank with co2 . I think he changed it out once a week and made a new batch. I have no idea how well it works, but he seemed to think it did. Edit: I didn't see the last part of your post, His tank was a 55g though. May or may not work for something that large Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Capt. Obvious Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 dunno the size of your planted tank, but if it is small enough you could run the fluval fauna co2 setup...it is pretty cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dustin Blevins Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 dunno the size of your planted tank, but if it is small enough you could run the fluval fauna co2 setup...it is pretty cheap That is awesome. I would assume you can even refill it with CO2 cartridges from Academy or Walmart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Capt. Obvious Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 yes...or buy the fluval ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 I've seen paintball CO2 adapters as well. Without a controller you would want to go easy on a bubble rate, but it would be a cheap and reasonably safe way of doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dustin Blevins Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 But due to being for an "aquarium" the price is marked wayyy up. 3 20g fluval cartridges are $16.50 5 12g cartridges for bb guns are $2.99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted May 20, 2013 Author Share Posted May 20, 2013 Yeah those little fluval things would be too small id burn through those canisters every couple days. Paintball isn't out of the question. I'd need to refill the canisters monthly though which isn't so bad but not ideal. Maybe I'll look into it. My tank is a mineralized topsoil and I have high light (by planted tank standards). A little co2 during the daylight hours probably couldn't hurt. I have two amazingly fat Siamese algae eaters in case it caused some bba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 I have heard the DIY bottle, yeast, etc ones work well. But if you don't mix it right it can blow up and make a mess. I set up my planted tank with minimal aeration. But after reading some reef stuff on ph I'm thinking about adding a bubbler to see about raising co2. Haven't had time to play with it, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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