Well hello all. I just want to get some opinions. I have 2 tanks i am writing about. One is a 56 column which will soon have a BML Led on it and the other is a 55l that has 3 t8 32Watt 6700K bulbs on it. Lights are on for 9 hours. I dose a pps classic technique and have pressurized co2. I recently did a major trim and rescape on both tanks which left things fairly sparse but have been dosing and monitoring my nutrient levels. I was having a hard time with co2 dosing as well. I would aim to turn it on 2 hours before and it would barely get to 30ppm before lights on but then about 4 hours through cycle it would still climb. So adjusted again and then would not get to the 30 before lights on. So tried a 24 hour and would get roughly 30 at night and would go to about 20 in day. Upon measuring my nutrients i have a steady
10-15ppm NO3
.5ppm PO4
25ppm Ca
10ppm Mg
240TDS
4.5Dkh
9Dgh
74deg F
So with all the parameters in line with what they should be, is it still necessary to do water changes. I am still getting BGA and like a brown diatom. I have nano240's in both and running a fluval 406 with spraybar on both. The reason i tried to set things up with out a water change is i don't have the necessary setup on my shrimp ro system to do 25 gallon water changes with ro, so i use tap. One problem. Tap is at 8.8 ph with 4dkh. where as my tanks will stay steady at 7.3ph with the co2 off at night. So i feel like it is a huge shock to tank and may be the cause of the BBA i am also seeing
I really am looking for anyone's opinions or thoughts as i am to the point of giving up. I can not even begin to explain all the reading i have done in the last 4-5 years. All the things i have tried. All the money i have spent on better lights, pumps, co2 systems, ferts, filters, etc. Somebody please help.
10-15ppm NO3
.5ppm PO4
25ppm Ca
10ppm Mg
240TDS
4.5Dkh
9Dgh
74deg F
So with all the parameters in line with what they should be, is it still necessary to do water changes. I am still getting BGA and like a brown diatom. I have nano240's in both and running a fluval 406 with spraybar on both. The reason i tried to set things up with out a water change is i don't have the necessary setup on my shrimp ro system to do 25 gallon water changes with ro, so i use tap. One problem. Tap is at 8.8 ph with 4dkh. where as my tanks will stay steady at 7.3ph with the co2 off at night. So i feel like it is a huge shock to tank and may be the cause of the BBA i am also seeing
I really am looking for anyone's opinions or thoughts as i am to the point of giving up. I can not even begin to explain all the reading i have done in the last 4-5 years. All the things i have tried. All the money i have spent on better lights, pumps, co2 systems, ferts, filters, etc. Somebody please help.