# My anubias are making me jealous



## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

first of all...why do they get a beard????
well anyways, now that i've caught your attention here's my problem. well not my problem but my tanks problem
i'm having GSA and BBA
i've upped my phosphates
here are params
i have a marineland 150 on a 20 long
56 watts 6 hours a day (cfl)
dose mono potassium 2 times a week
dose excel and flourish comp 2 times a week. do water change every other week
nitrates: 0ppm
nitrites: 0ppm
ammonia: 0ppm
phosphates: 8ppm
im going to buy some calcium nitrates...
i have 2 bn plecos, 11 pygmy cories, 20+ yellow shrimp
don't know why gsa isn't going away but i think its linked with the nitrates...
any suggestions?
the anubias aren't covered in bba, just an occasional sprout.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

A couple of items jump out at you: nitrates 0ppm, phosphates 8ppm. That should read nitrates 5-10ppm, phosphates 1-2ppm. 

Excel is meant to be dosed daily, not 2x week. 

Suggestions - dose Excel daily (possibly overdose it until you get algae more under control), and consider switching to pressurized CO2. Add nitrates, but don't get CaNO3, get K(potassium)NO3. Get your phosphates lower.

Good luck.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Bert H said:


> A couple of items jump out at you: nitrates 0ppm, phosphates 8ppm. That should read nitrates 5-10ppm, phosphates 1-2ppm.
> 
> Excel is meant to be dosed daily, not 2x week.
> 
> ...


Just out of curiosity, what are you using to measure these? I have NPTs and have never measured for anything, but am becoming more and more curious as to what is in each tank as I watch the tanks mature (I want to get the 1 not-so-happy tank to look like the 2 super-happy tanks).


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

shade them


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

well i bought a baby SAE to trim their beards, bought potassium nitrate, and did water changes. I will start dosing excel more often but my drop checker is green... well i know excel is an algaecide so :/ ill dose it anyways. I'll also buy a gallon of metricide 14 otherwise it won't be cost efficient.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

mudboots said:


> Just out of curiosity, what are you using to measure these? I have NPTs and have never measured for anything, but am becoming more and more curious as to what is in each tank as I watch the tanks mature (I want to get the 1 not-so-happy tank to look like the 2 super-happy tanks).


I have both the NO3 and PO4 test kits. Way back when, I used to use them fairly regularly, now only when something weird's going on. With time, you start to notice when things are going south with the tanks, and then adjust accordingly.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

its my co2 level... my DC was made with fault solution so i thought it was green.


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## darkoon (Jun 7, 2010)

did your GSA go away too after you upped CO2?


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

its slowly going away after i upped co2 and nitrates... the bba seems to stop growing with the above and also daily excel doses. waiting for staghorn to go away... been doing lots of water changes and vacuuming.


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