Quote:
Originally Posted by Buck
Have you tried cutting way back on the micro's?
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No I haven't Buck. Thanks for the suggestion.
But I think my reason is solid... I've had this GDA problem since before my micros were at this current level. And as I increased them I saw improvements in my plants, but no real change in the GDA. So my immediate response is to assume the micros are not the problem.
That said, I believe it was Travis that indicated that he saw a GDA decrease upon reduction of Fe and/or micros. I've backed off on my Fe, and it seems to be helping... nothing dramatic, nor conclusive enough that I'm willing to take a stand on. But it SEEMS to have helped. Maybe backing off on micros in general will help too.
As for the water changes... I'm doing several small water changes automatically every day. The net effect is a 50% w/c every three days (if my Excel spreadsheet calcs are correct.
). So I don't think that's it.
I'm just guessing here... I'm no expert. But IMO I think my lights present the tank a challenge - the halogens are wicked bright to those plants close by, and not bright enough to those at a distance.
Florescents do a much better job of spreading light evenly. So these are either making plants too close prone to algae, and those far away suffering from too little light.
And all that is complicated by a tank that has WAY too high a fish load, that I'm trying to over compensate by doing the equivalent of a 50% w/c every three days, except for the fact that my tap water is loaded with nitrates and phosphate to begin with.
And oh, did I forget to mention the silicates that my sand substrate kick up to feed those algaes that love silica so much?
But that sounds like whining. Sorry. I made my bed, now I have to figure out how to sleep in it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyt
Btw, did you test all you peristaltic pumps, or just the ones you are using from AutomatedAquariums.com?
We fellows from “the other side” might not be able to get the same stuff that all of you are using 
/Jens |
Jens, I wish I could say that I tested them all. Good question. I only tested the AutomatedAquarium.com product that I linked too earlier. IMO the Aquamedic pump - which I know IS available on your side of the pond - is garbage frankly, and not even worth wasting time with. I need 2 more pumps and I'm not even considering using my Aquamedics... they'll stay in the spare parts pile in case of an emergency.
The big Aquaticecosystems.com pump that I also did not test was because it is frankly WAY overbuilt for the home enthusiast. If you look in their catalogue and see their prices, you can see that much of their stuff is industrial strength. That's why I didn't test this one. If you could see it yourself, you would see that this expensive monster could pump glass marble through rock. It's powerful.
So no, I only tested the one product. But that is because there was one I won't even use, and the other is so clearly superior. I tested the weakest link that I was willing to install in my stand.