diatoms?

[eklikewhoa]

I've always had potassium and nitrogen low when I had gsa.

[aquabee]

Hey guys. Sorry it took me so long to respond. It's been kinda hectic, with the folks in town from California.

It might be coming from your water source

How long do you have the photo-period set at?

Photoperiod is at 8 hours, sometimes 9. Don't have it on a timer because my CO2 setup isn't fancy enough for a timer as well.

[aquabee]

I'd overdose phosphates (3-4ppm), see if it clears.

What's your fertilizing schedule? How much c02 are you pumping through? seems to be a lot of c02 even for 2 CF lights, I imagine they are the fluval CFs?

Yes, they're the Fluval lights that come with the Flora. It only comes with one 13W, so I added another. I'm doing about 1 bubble/second of CO2 starting 30 minutes before lights come on and stopping 30 minutes before lights go off, total 8ish hours a day. I use Seachem root tabs, Excel once a week, Seachem nitrogen/potassium/phosphorus once a week dosed in the middle of the photoperiod.

[aquabee]

I wouldn't mess with nutrients. Phosphates promote algae growth if it's more than the plants can take in. Only things I would mess is carbon, water changes, and getting algae eaters.

Thanks Brian. I do have otos in the tank, and yellow shrimp. I do small water changes every couple weeks only because the bioload is so small that I end up having to dose nitrogen just so the plants don't get stunted or yellow out. I'm adding more fish slowly over the next few weeks.

The other thing is that I only have a sponge Fluval filter running on the tank. Could that contribute?

[SunnyHouTX]

Btw, from what I've read on the subject, nerites seem to be the best option against GSP because of its tough consistency.

[aquabee]

Btw, from what I've read on the subject, nerites seem to be the best option against GSP because of its tough consistency.

Won't my assassins eat 'em?

[SunnyHouTX]

Not sure they would

[aquabee]

Not sure they would

They do from what I've been reading, esp if they're hungry and there aren't any ramshorn or MTS in the tank. I'd love to have some nerites though.

[SunnyHouTX]

So increasing PO4 and CO2 dosing and your assasins should do the trick. Nerites are cool.

[aquabee]

So increasing PO4 and CO2 dosing and your assasins should do the trick. Nerites are cool.

Yeah man. I doubled my CO2 and my phos dosing today and kept the nitrogen and potassium and excel the same. We shall see! As far as what's already on the plant leaves, I don't think I'll be able to be rid of it but if I can prevent more growth, I'd be very happy!

[eklikewhoa]

I was mistaken... use to dose EI so the P04 threw me off a bit.. what is your dosing routine btw?

[eklikewhoa]

Overfeeding would take up the slack for that though, still confusing, been soo long since I've had to deal with dosing.

[eklikewhoa]

I kept nerites in my troph tank with assassins and didn't have a single mts since the start and have not seen any empty nerite shells. Their trapdoor protects them.

[aquabee]

Update: I doubled my CO2 and phosphate dosing and feeding since earlier in the week, and already the GSA is at bay. Thanks guys!! It looks much better. Q, since your nerites have been ok with the assassins, I'll give 'em a shot to take care of the GSA that's already on the plant leaves.

[SunnyHouTX]

Yay!