New Drop1.2x scrubbers installed: progress report

[amwassil]

Weekly update Jan02/15 (gourami tank)

1. pH: 7.6
2. Ammonia (NH3): 0.0
3. Nitrite (NO2): 0.0
4. Nitrate (NO3): 0.0
5. Phosphate (PO4): 0.0



Lights are still on 24/7 and algae is growing well.

[amwassil]

Weekly update Jan02/15 (frog tank)

1. pH: 7.2
2. Ammonia (NH3): 0.0
3. Nitrite (NO2): 0.0
4. Nitrate (NO3): 40+
5. Phosphate (PO4): 2.0



Lights are still on 24/7 and algae is growing very thick.

[amwassil]

Jan06/16

We made some changes over the weekend. Moved the two dwarf gouramis into a small bowl for permanent residence. The wife is going to take care of them. I am thinking to get a 2.5 gallon Aqueon Betta Bow which holds about a gallon more water. Right now the primary issue is we have to turn the 5watt heater on/off to maintain the temperature and I hope that more water will eliminate that. Also, the Aqueon unit comes with a built-in filter that sits in the hood right under the LED light source. This is notorious for growing algae!

Yesterday we purchased 5 gouramis (2 gold, 2 blues and 1 pearl) for the 15 gallon tank with the drop in it. One of the blues is a male, all the others are females. These are not dwarfs but they only grow to about 4-6 inches. They are mine to care for. As of yesterday water params are:

1. pH: 7.0
2. Ammonia (NH3): 0.0
3. Nitrite (NO2): 0.0
4. Nitrate (NO3): 0.0
5. Phosphate (PO4): 0.0

I added a little vinegar to bring the pH down from 7.6. Although I later read that these gouramis are fine with pH 7.6 and even higher. So I'll let the pH go up a bit to keep the algae growing well.

Jan08: bought a second pearl gourami, a male, to keep the other pearl company. He's a real beauty. So now there are 6 juvenile gouramis, plus 3 large and 1 medium sized apple snails in this aquarium. The gouramis will outgrow this tank by summer and I'll have to replace with a 25 or 30 gallon tank.

[amwassil]

Weekly update Jan09/15 (gourami tank)

1. pH: 7.6
2. Ammonia (NH3): 0.0
3. Nitrite (NO2): 0.0
4. Nitrate (NO3): 0.0+
5. Phosphate (PO4): 0.0

[amwassil]

Weekly update Jan09/15 (frog tank)

1. pH: 7.0
2. Ammonia (NH3): 0.0
3. Nitrite (NO2): 0.0
4. Nitrate (NO3): 40+
5. Phosphate (PO4): 2.0

[amwassil]

Weekly update Jan16/15 (gourami tank)

1. pH: 7.2+
2. Ammonia (NH3): 0.0
3. Nitrite (NO2): 0.0
4. Nitrate (NO3): 5.0
5. Phosphate (PO4): 0.0



Jan10: both nitrate and phosphate became measurable: Nitrate 5.0 and Phosphate 0.25. I thought, "OK, I probably cleaned the drop a little too vigorously" and it will take a couple days for the algae to start growing again.

Jan11: Nitrate 5.0 and Phosphate 5.0! Immediately after testing, I changed 1 1/2 gallons of water in order to clear debris from the bottom of the tank. I replaced with new filtered water.

Jan12: Nitrate 5.0 and Phosphate 0.25. OK, diluted the phosphate when I added the new water. But didn't affect nitrate, why not?

Jan13: Nitrate 5.0+ and Phosphate < 0.25. Nitrate UP a bit(!) and phosphate down a little.

Jan14: Nitrate 10+ (!) and Phosphate < 0.25. So now what's going on here? After this test, I changed 2 gallons of water. Later in the evening I changed 2 gallons more.

Jan15: I found my female pearl gourami dead. I immediately changed 2 gallons of water. Tested after the water change: Nitrate 5.0+ and Phosphate < 0.25. So it looks like something caused a nitrate spike and I managed to dilute it with yesterday's and this morning's water changes. Later in the evening I changed 2 gallons more water.

Jan16: I changed 2 gallons of water a couple hours before testing. Today's test results are above.

So I'm quite confused and just a bit discouraged by all this. Lesson #1 (I guess): don't clean the drop much! So today I only pulled out what I could with my fingers, then rinsed a few times under tap water.

Question #1: how can the drop grow so much algae in a week (see photo) and nitrates and phosphate RISE?

Question #2: how can I change so much water (2 + 2 gallons on the 14th, 2 + 2 on the 15th, and 2 so far today and not dilute nitrates? This in a 15 gallon tank with about 10-12 gallons of water.

Question #3: could the attached Eheim be generating all this nitrate? The tank?

Question #4: at what nitrate concentration is the algae growing in the drop unable to reduce nitrates to zero? 5ppm? 10ppm?

Question #5: if I stop feeding the fish for a couple days (Oh! they won't like that much!) will that help the algae to get back in control of the nitrates? I would prefer doing that rather than a 50-75% water change.

By the way, my source water contains 0.0 nitrates.

[amwassil]

Weekly update Jan16/15 (frog tank)

1. pH: 7.2
2. Ammonia (NH3): 0.0
3. Nitrite (NO2): 0.0
4. Nitrate (NO3): 40+
5. Phosphate (PO4): < 2.0

[SantaMonica]

It's growing more because there are more nutrients; but still more than can be absorbed. And since there is only one, cleaning it removes your filter for a few days.

Stopping/reducing feeding would help but sort of defeats the goal. Can they eat the growth?

By the way, now you can see the thick growth mostly just on the rocks, because it can't hold on to the smooth plastic.

[amwassil]

Stopping/reducing feeding would help but sort of defeats the goal. Can they eat the growth?

Yes, the gouramis all like to eat algae. I keep my weekly 'harvest' in a plastic food container in the fridge and feed daily not only the gouramis, who eat all the algae I give them, but the other fish as well. The platys seem to like it, the rosy barbs like to play with it and I think they eat some. The golden barbs eat some but not much. Interestingly, I've never seen the corys eat the fresh algae, although they seem to like the dry wafers, especially when I grind them into a coarse sand for them.

Not much algae finds its way out of the drop while it's sitting in the gourami tank. I suppose I could pick up the box a couple times each day and let the water drain out. Some algae comes out with the water. Is something like that what you had in mind?

[SantaMonica]

Or you could enlarge the holes, and let the fish eat constantly. My goldfish has learned to pull the algae out by himself. My cory does not care.