macro and micro fertilizers

[nemo14]

Hello everyone !

I just got a question to ask

Should i dose macro and micro fertilizers  at the same time or should i dose them on different days? Right now i'm doseing them at the same time with all slow growing plants and i think this is why i seem to be getting algae i also do pressurized co2 25 to 30 ppm with T5ho 4x45 watts on 7 hours a day.

Thanks for any help on this subject

[charlie]

The short answer is yes you can dose them on the same day ( I do), the trick is not to does them at the same time, the reasons why it`s not recommended is that there is a theory that says if you does them together the phosphates will cause the iron to precipitate out of the water column & settle in the substrate.
Regarding to your concern that it may be causing your algae issues, I highly doubt that is the source of your problem. It will help if you give more details on the algae issues , including the dosing method & qty, water parameters, substrate etc.
Regards

[nemo14]

Ok thanks charlie i will put all this info together and post and see what you think.

[nemo14]

Good morning Charlie!

Well this is what i did to the tank i took everything out and cleaned it and replaced with new gravel (had too many dead trumpet snails shells in gravel) as of this morning tank was cycled with (nutrafin cycle) for 15 hours fish are in and doing well. P.H is 7.2, k.h 40,G.H 160,PO4 (4.0),NO3 (0),FE 0.25 . Now with the parameters all in new i can start to fertilize.

This is what is was doing before. Water change 40% every Friday , no dosing of fertilizer. Saturday before co2 and lights start dosing active 3.5 ml, synthesis 3.5ml, potassium 10ml, flourish 10ml, Iron 14ml, Excel 15ml.  (Sunday nothing) (Monday same as /Saturday) (Tuesday nothing) (Wednesday same as /Saturday) (Thursday nothing) Friday water change and start the week again.

Now to keep in mind i was dosing both macro and micro fertilizers at the same time not sure if this is a good idea or not on the net from what i read is kind of 50/50.

Pressurized Co2 is running around 24/30 ppm lighting are T5HO 4 bulbs Coralife colormax,coralife 6700k,aquatic life 10000k,aquatic life 420/460 running at 7 hours a day. Light canopy is 30 inches from the gravel bed (tank has a glass cover that the light needs to penetrate)  (The tank size is 150 U.S gallon) 

  Plants in tank are anubias nana,Anubias barteri, java ferns, Java Fern Windelov, mellon swords,Ozelot - Red and Amazon Swords, Cryptocoryne wendtii.

Any help or recommendation would be welcomed.

Thanks in advance. 

[nemo14]

Lights are 54 watts each i forgot to mention that in my  post before this one.

[charlie]

Good morning Charlie!

Well this is what i did to the tank i took everything out and cleaned it and replaced with new gravel (had too many dead trumpet snails shells in gravel) fish are in and doing well. P.H is 7.2, k.h 40,G.H 160,PO4 (4.0),NO3 (0),FE 0.25 . Now with the parameters all in new i can start to fertilize.
as of this morning tank was cycled with (nutrafin cycle) for 15 hours
This is what is was doing before. Water change 40% every Friday , no dosing of fertilizer. Saturday before co2 and lights start dosing active 3.5 ml, synthesis 3.5ml, potassium 10ml, flourish 10ml, Iron 14ml, Excel 15ml.  (Sunday nothing) (Monday same as /Saturday) (Tuesday nothing) (Wednesday same as /Saturday) (Thursday nothing) Friday water change and start the week again.

Now to keep in mind i was dosing both macro and micro fertilizers at the same time not sure if this is a good idea or not on the net from what i read is kind of 50/50.

Pressurized Co2 is running around 24/30 ppm lighting are T5HO 4 bulbs Coralife colormax,coralife 6700k,aquatic life 10000k,aquatic life 420/460 running at 7 hours a day. Light canopy is 30 inches from the gravel bed (tank has a glass cover that the light needs to penetrate)  (The tank size is 150 U.S gallon) 

  Plants in tank are anubias nana,Anubias barteri, java ferns, Java Fern Windelov, mellon swords,Ozelot - Red and Amazon Swords, Cryptocoryne wendtii.

Any help or recommendation would be welcomed.

Thanks in advance. 

A few observations, Nutrafin cycle will not cycle your tank in 15 hours. If your filter media was kept intact & not left out of circulation for more than a few hours the bio filter should have being intact & alive.
Can`t comment on your new gravel , since it`s unknown what you used.
I`m not sure how you determine your co2 saturation, I always advocate the PH/KH chart is probably the worst method, since there too much variances that can be leading to false calculations, others swear by it, but here is my take
(a) for the PH/KH chart to be accurate you first need to verify that your carbonate readings  is being influenced by only carbonate buffers, in aquariums & even water sources they can be Phosphate buffers which will skew your KH readings
(b) if you are measuring PH by the common chemical test kits, colour interpretation is commonly false from one person to the other since the colour pallet is very difficult to ID.
(c)If you are using a PH meter, you need to make sure you meter is properly calibrated & the membrane is good, bad membrane & the meter will drift right after calibration
Take a look at the PH/KH chart & you will observe how much a few point of PH can relate  to large differences in CO 2 measurements.
Personally I prefer the Drop checker method, less possible erroneous influences to worry about, example the 4 DKH reference solution is pure carbonate buffers - bicarbonate & distilled water, the con with this system is the readings are not in real time, meaning when you observe the colour reference in the drop checker the co2 saturation was at that point some 2 hours before .
I use that to get me in the ball park & tweak via observation, I agree this may not be the best for a newbie.

Another  observation from your info. , is all of your plants are low to medium light & slow growers, with the bulk of them being root feeders, this can possibly be another source of your issues.

Your lights should be good for that set up & may even be a bit too much in relation to the plants you keep( even with a 30 inch deep tank, substrate height can play a part here).
My suggestion given the info you provided & no knowledge of what type of algae you are encountering, is to review you dosing strategy & probably cut back on the amount you are dosing, stagger your lighting = 7 hour light cycle, with2 tubes on for 7 hours & the other 2 on a 3 hour blast with the option to increase as the plants respond eg; first bank of lights on @ 1.00 PM off @ 8.00 PM.
Second bank of lights on @ 3.00 PM off @ 6.00 or 7 PM.
Keep in mind this is just blanket suggestions that may or may not work.
Regards

[nemo14]

Ok thanks Charlie for your thoughts on the set up.

My two canister filters where never touched so it does have live bacteria this is why i think the cycle went faster than normal.
 
I'm also using a american marine pinpoint P.H meter with a brand new probe and it was calibrated with 4.0 and 7.0 calibration fluid that is dead on. plus i use two drop checkers one at each end of the tank with dkh 4 solution i agree with you i use the P.H/KH chart but the drop checker is more accurate and right now it's a light green so i know i'm in the ballpark of 25 to 30 ppm.

How much do you think i should cut back on the fertilization 1/2 of what i normally give? because you are right the plants are slow growers. and i will try your suggestion on the lighting schedule so there not getting all the light for 7 hours straight. 

As far as algae i was getting spot algae on my anubias plants because they grow slower than most plants. and at the end i was getting dust algae i did my 40% water changes every week but did not wash the glass for 3 weeks to wait out the cycle of the dust algae on the 4th week i cleaned the glass and still had it thats when i decided to take the tank apart and restart all in new.

The gravel is regular gravel (river creek gravel) i took out the under gravel filter when i did the new set up i forgot to mention that it was in my first set up. And now i'm going to get some root tab for my root feeders.

If theres anything else you can think of please drop me a line with the info.

Thanks again Charlie.