CLOUDY because of CO2????

[obet_07304]

Yesterday, i shook the bottle of my Red Sea CO2 Bio System alot because it wasn't pumping CO2 continuously and my indicator and test for CO2 came out at 1ppm. Today, when i arrived my tank is cloudy :eek: , look at the Red Sea CO2 indicator its on green (good), test KH 5 & GH 7 w/c i think is about right, CO2 test w/ Red Sea test kit and 12PPM. The only discrepency i have is the PH my test strip came out 6.8 but my AP regeant test came out 7.6 :eek: what gives? which is right? And another shocker is when i test the Nitrate it came out "0". How can this be? Is this ok? Should i be concern. The fish are all acting normal and feeding well. I also have the CO2 on timer so it shuts off at 10:30PM and my Bubble Disc and Bubble Wands kicks in.

[Buddha_Red]

You may have caused the mixture to enter the tank which causes a cloudy condition. This is just a guess, the co2 buffers the PH.

[obet_07304]

So w/c PH you think is correct the regeant one or the test strip? And is the coudiness bad?

[Buddha_Red]

When i did it, i went ahead and did a waterchange just in case. I favor the reagent tests, but really they should be close. I would go with the larger number, test it again and see what you get.

[obet_07304]

Did a test again. My bad its color is closest to 7.2 not 7.6 even the 2nd test came up the same. But how about the NITRATE how come its "0" w/c is the 1st time this happen. What should i do? Is it ok to leave the NITRATE at "0".

[AngelMom]

What was your nitrate at before you added the CO2? If it was low (10ppm or less) then the addition of the CO2 would explain the drop to zero.......the plants may have appreciated the CO2 so much that they are using the other nutrients up faster.

If you started with low NO3 and intend to keep up with the CO2, you may need to start adding nitrogen to the water. I know, seems contrary to what we want, but it is necessary sometimes.

[obet_07304]

My nitrate is always 20PPM. I always do waterchange & vac everyweek. Right now my tank is crystal clear again :D , did nitrate test "0" again. Maybe i'll try adding Nitrogen if these keeps up. I will do a water change tonight & will see if the tap water (de clorinated of course) add some nitrate. I ll probably add colder water my temp right now is 84F. But my oxygen test came up ok. By the way should i continue running just 2 light (130W) or should i use all 4 now (260W). Will running all 4 benifit my plants or will these make my BBA worse? Thanks.

[AngelMom]

I'm just guessing here, but I suspect that your plants "ate" all your nitrate. Don't let it sit too long at zero or you'll be elbow deep in algae again. I've been able to get rid of BBA in one of my tanks just by adding extra nitrogen and Excell. Go figure.....guess that plants didn't get enough!

On the lights....that's really your call. I don't like that much light in my tanks, so I tend to stay closer to the 2 WPG as a max, but you could try it and see how the plants respond. Just make sure to test for what you can so you don't get a shortage or imbalance on the ferts.

HTH

[obet_07304]

Im just wondering if i cut like 75% of leaves of my Amazon because of yellowing, rotting and scraped off layer & 90% leaves of my Brazilian because of the BBA, will they still survive nad grow new leaves? Thanks.

[AngelMom]

I don't see why not. It's better to trim off the dead/dying leaves anyway because they are using nutrients to stay alive that rob the rest of the plant from all it may need......I think the "injured" leaves may be trying to draw more than their share (so to speak) to try and stay alive.

Just my 2 cents though.

[metal-head]

Definatly do not use all four lights because your plants will start to have abnormal growths even if you add the extra nutrients so i can keep up it will just die. 2 watts per gallon is good and 3 is pushing it because only a certain amount of plants and fish can tolerate that much light but 2.5 you can grow most any plant that requires a moderate amount of light and higher amounts of light you could even stick low light plants in there if you have a shady spot

[obet_07304]

I don't see why not. It's better to trim off the dead/dying leaves anyway because they are using nutrients to stay alive that rob the rest of the plant from all it may need......I think the "injured" leaves may be trying to draw more than their share (so to speak) to try and stay alive.

Just my 2 cents though.

OK, mom. I will start doing that tonight. Thnaks again. :FS

[obet_07304]

Just to update, i just cut of majority of the leaves that are dead/ dying from my Amazon & some leaves of mt Brazilian that are mostly good but covered by BBA :CY . Im really getting frustrated w/ this BBA :mad: and my plants not having healthy leaves, im almost to the point of just putting fake plants. I know this will not stop the BBA, i tried everything from srubbing them off really good and putting Algaefix but to no avail. The only other thing i haven't tried is dipping them in BLEACH, too afraid that after the Bleach bath that some of them resedue might get to my tank even after washing them of w/ water really good. Still reading "0" on both PO4, Nitrate & Iron (even after putting Plant- Grow w/ Iron & Flourish Iron). CO2 reading is still low maybe i have to save up & get those CO2 regulators to even have a chance of getting healthy plants. AHHHHHHHHH, im really mad.

[AngelMom]

You need to start adding nitrogen and a good general fertilizer (if you aren't already). Keep the nitrates near 10 and the PO4 near 1 or 2 and you should see the BBA start to die off.

[obet_07304]

The fertilizer im now adding are Plant-Grow (1cap per 10G) almost every other day, 2 capfull Flourish Excel every other day (the Red Sea Turbo CO2 isn't sufficient enough for my tank), Flourish everyweek, Flourish Iron (2x a week). Did the Nitrate test came out 10ppm but PO4 still showing 0 make no sense if i have 0 PO4 BBA shouldn't be surviving right? Maybe i got a faulty Test (hagen)? Thanks. :FS

[AngelMom]

Sounds like you've got it covered. Just give it a little time.....it takes a few weeks to get all the algae to die off.

[obet_07304]

Mom, i just bought a CO2 regulator w/ solenoid on EBAY (can't resist good deal :D ). If i go w/ the CO2 Tank route instead of the set up i have now (Turbo CO2, Excel every other day) will it accelerate the growth of my plants & finally get rid of those pesky BBA much faster? Im just wondering can i still use the tubings & Diffusion Pump from the Turbo CO2 w/ the CO2 Regulator & tank? Thanks again. :FS

[AngelMom]

I have no clue hon.....I don't use CO2 so I'm not the one to ask. Maybe someone who uses CO2 will answer. :D