polyphosphate blue-green algae

Add nitrate. BGA cannot grow in the presense of enough nitrate (30 ppm).

Thanks! I've tried adding potassium nitrate, getting the level as high
as 10 ppm on one occasion. Normally nitrate is close to zero.

Some of the rainbowfish appear stressed for the next day or two after a
nitrate addition, and I only add a little at a time. Should I very
slowly ramp up the nitrate over a month, using potassium nitrate
solution? Do you or others find that this stresses the fish? I have:

I once screwed up and put 200ppm of nitrate in a tank. I took me a week
to notice and about 3-4 weeks for the plants to eat it all up. No fish
snail or any of the shrimp in that tank was affected. I keep my tanks at
30-45 ppm nitrate.

Ammonia stresses fish, not nitrate.

--
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Richard Sexton wrote:

I once screwed up and put 200ppm of nitrate in a tank. I took me a week
to notice and about 3-4 weeks for the plants to eat it all up. No fish
snail or any of the shrimp in that tank was affected. I keep my tanks at
30-45 ppm nitrate.

Ammonia stresses fish, not nitrate.


120ppm killed about 1/2 of the shrimp I had for a 3 day exposure.

Regards,

Tom Barr

www.BarrReport.com

Ammonia stresses fish, not nitrate.


120ppm killed about 1/2 of the shrimp I had for a 3 day exposure.

Regards,

Tom Barr

Your shrimp are pussies, what can I say?

Rememeber also I was using an, um, "suboptimal" *cough*hobby*cough*
nitrate test kit so who knows if was 20, 200 or 2000.

The reagent didn't react at all the first 3 times I tested it
then 5 minutes later it turned very red, as in glow in the dark
red, and thta was only when I opened the cap to the #2 reagent vial,
when I actually put a drop in hot pink sparks began shooting out of
the test tube. I understand this to mean nitrates are "high".

By my math it was around 200ppm. I left it for 3 weeks then change
it mostly all out, an Echinoduris was getting weird. I've got pics
of these should be lethally exposed Ammano shrimp someplace. (Looks
around the room at pieces of computers) Yeah it's on that one
over there. Hmm...

I wouldn't say nitrates are good for freshwater algae eating
shrimp, but I'm not convinced high nitrates will kill all shrimp
all the time.

But I am also convinced also that as soon as you can measure any ammonia
then by that time you already have a dead pink shrimp someplace
in that tank. They are deathly sensitive to ammonia and ammonium.

--
Need Mercedes parts ? - http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home page: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net