PPS Pro, High Nitrate, Algae on plant leaves

[ArashS1347]

Hello Guys,

I started dosing PPS-Pro two weeks ago, I contacted GLA directly for the recommended dosage for my 15-gallon tank with plenty of plants, UNS contra soil and medium light. They provided me with the following dosing amounts:

KNO3: 31 grams
KH2PO4: 3 grams
K2SO4: 12 grams
MgSO4: 19 grams
Micromix: 29 grams
They advised dosing 1.5 ml of Macro and 0.75 ml of Micro daily.

After two weeks, I lost all my Amazon frogbit floating plants, my Alternanthera reineckii melted completely, my Micro Sword Lilaeopsis disappeared, and my Anubias petite and golden developed algae all over their leaves as you see in the image. I have also Amazon Sword and some java fern with not much changes.

During this time, my nitrate levels rose from 5 ppm to over 20 ppm, and despite performing three 40% water changes within five days, the levels remain high.

I made sure to vacuum the aquarium thoroughly before the water change and I cleaned the canister filter as well, so I don't believe fish waste or anything like that caused the nitrate levels to rise, Ammonia and Nitrite are zero.

I've stopped dosing PPS-Pro and have been searching for solutions for the last two days, but haven't found anything helpful so far. I'm turning to you for advice: Is there a way to eliminate the algae and restore my plants to health? Should I reduce the PPS-Pro dosing to three times a week instead of daily, or do you have other recommendations based on your experience with these kinds of issues?

Thanks in advanced

 

[KrisReef]

I’m not sure about what went wrong but I thought those gram weights would be appropriate for a 150 gallon tank, just on my intuition and my minimal understanding of potassium and nitrogen fertilizers.


These sacks are more than enough to treat a 1/4 acre field

 

[Solo McReefer]

I’m not sure about what went wrong but I thought those gram weights would be appropriate for a 150 gallon tank, just on my intuition and my minimal understanding of potassium and nitrogen fertilizers.


These sacks are more than enough to treat a 1/4 acre field

 

[ArashS1347]

I’m not sure about what went wrong but I thought those gram weights would be appropriate for a 150 gallon tank, just on my intuition and my minimal understanding of potassium and nitrogen fertilizers.


These sacks are more than enough to treat a 1/4 acre field

Actually these are kilograms, each kg is 1000 gram, the dosage of the PPS-Pro is gram.

Thank you

 

[ArashS1347]

Anyone?

 

[teleportinghere]

I dose my freshwater setup with PPS pro. How long has the tank been setup? When was it planted? How many fish? What is your feeding schedule/what are you feeding your fish?

20 nitrate isn't the worst. People who do EI dosing end up dosing once to those levels and let the levels fall back down and/or do a water change reset. You might find that since you don't have any stem plants that dosing isn't necessary at all. You primarily now have slow growing plants. It sounds like you are also at the very beginning and things tend to melt away when adapting to a new environment. Some may come back, but you might need to buy more plants eventually. Specifically faster growing stem plants.

 

[ArashS1347]

I dose my freshwater setup with PPS pro. How long has the tank been setup? When was it planted? How many fish? What is your feeding schedule/what are you feeding your fish?

20 nitrate isn't the worst. People who do EI dosing end up dosing once to those levels and let the levels fall back down and/or do a water change reset. You might find that since you don't have any stem plants that dosing isn't necessary at all. You primarily now have slow growing plants. It sounds like you are also at the very beginning and things tend to melt away when adapting to a new environment. Some may come back, but you might need to buy more plants eventually. Specifically faster growing stem plants.

My tank is almost 3 months old, 15 gallons, with 8 CPDs, 1 betta, and 4 Julii corydoras. Nearly half of the tank is planted. I use a variety of foods but don't overfeed; they usually finish everything before it reaches the bottom. The corydoras are new, so I feed them with bottom feeder pellets and remove any uneaten food.

The bottom of the tank, even where the plants are, is clean and regularly vacuumed, with dead leaves removed. Overall, the tank is clean. I've noticed some yellow leaves on the plants, and I thought using PPS-Pro might help, even with these hardy ones. Thanks for the point about faster-growing stem plants; I understand that a mix of slow and fast-growing plants might help balance the nitrates.

Do you think a lower dose of PPS-Pro would be helpful?

 

[teleportinghere]

I personally do a leaner version of PPS-Pro just to allow the nitrates to zero out. Ex: if you're dosing the recommended amount for a high/medium light tank, try the amount for a low light tank instead. Or if you're low light dosing, maybe do it 2-3 days a week instead of daily dosing. It's annoying to do, but dosing and then testing the next day before you dose again will let you how much your tank will consume over a single photo-period (use a nitrate test). Then as plant mass grows you can maybe do the nitrate zero out testing again after a few weeks depending on how fast your plants grow or if you see them looking damaged from lack of nutrients.

It sounds like you're doing the right stuff generally and your tank is still maturing. One thing, your source water might contain things like silicates/nitrates/phosphate which will increase your algae every time you do a water change. I now use RODI and add in shrimp salts to match my parameters mainly to avoid the silicates/phosphate. I used treated tap water for my first few big water changes and it exploded in algae because of those things in the water(and I even had CO2 running). At this point, no water changes, just topping off with RODI.

Snails will help you! I slacked on adding them for 5 months and it made a MASSIVE difference to have those in there. I was afraid of it being covered in snails, but the fear was unfounded. Turns out they do some heavy lifting when it comes to cleaning and a pinks ramshorn's are an eye catching creature. I love having lots of them and they are easy to remove with cucumber bait if it's "too much".

And finally. Anubius can be a little finicky in substrate, even though they are an "easy plant". Check this thread. Plantedtank.net has TONS of great info. They are a reef2reef equivalent for planted tank things.

How do you plant anubias in substrate?

www.plantedtank.net

 

[ArashS1347]

I personally do a leaner version of PPS-Pro just to allow the nitrates to zero out. Ex: if you're dosing the recommended amount for a high/medium light tank, try the amount for a low light tank instead. Or if you're low light dosing, maybe do it 2-3 days a week instead of daily dosing. It's annoying to do, but dosing and then testing the next day before you dose again will let you how much your tank will consume over a single photo-period (use a nitrate test). Then as plant mass grows you can maybe do the nitrate zero out testing again after a few weeks depending on how fast your plants grow or if you see them looking damaged from lack of nutrients.

It sounds like you're doing the right stuff generally and your tank is still maturing. One thing, your source water might contain things like silicates/nitrates/phosphate which will increase your algae every time you do a water change. I now use RODI and add in shrimp salts to match my parameters mainly to avoid the silicates/phosphate. I used treated tap water for my first few big water changes and it exploded in algae because of those things in the water(and I even had CO2 running). At this point, no water changes, just topping off with RODI.

Snails will help you! I slacked on adding them for 5 months and it made a MASSIVE difference to have those in there. I was afraid of it being covered in snails, but the fear was unfounded. Turns out they do some heavy lifting when it comes to cleaning and a pinks ramshorn's are an eye catching creature. I love having lots of them and they are easy to remove with cucumber bait if it's "too much".

And finally. Anubius can be a little finicky in substrate, even though they are an "easy plant". Check this thread. Plantedtank.net has TONS of great info. They are a reef2reef equivalent for planted tank things.

How do you plant anubias in substrate?

www.plantedtank.net

My tap water has very low nitrate levels, but I've never tested it for phosphate. That's a good point. I live in a rented apartment, so installing an RO water kit isn't an option for me. However, I bought two 2.5-gallon containers of Fritz Aquatics Fresh Aquarium Water, which claims to have no phosphate and is balanced for other elements. I'll use this for my next water change to see if it helps; with two containers, I can do a 35% water change.

The only reason I haven't added snails is that my aquarium is rimless with no lid, and I've heard they might crawl out. I'm thinking of adding at least two Amano shrimp, assuming they won't cause overstocking, to see how they help.

Thanks again for the very useful and detailed information!

 

[teleportinghere]

My tap water has very low nitrate levels, but I've never tested it for phosphate. That's a good point. I live in a rented apartment, so installing an RO water kit isn't an option for me. However, I bought two 2.5-gallon containers of Fritz Aquatics Fresh Aquarium Water, which claims to have no phosphate and is balanced for other elements. I'll use this for my next water change to see if it helps; with two containers, I can do a 35% water change.

The only reason I haven't added snails is that my aquarium is rimless with no lid, and I've heard they might crawl out. I'm thinking of adding at least two Amano shrimp, assuming they won't cause overstocking, to see how they help.

Thanks again for the very useful and detailed information!

OK, good! That water change should drop them to a healthy level and the plants will do the rest of the work.

Anecdotally, I have a rimless setup and I have yet to have a snail leave the tank. I did however, have 1 out of my 10 Amanos decide to find a new home on the carpet. I think it's entirely up to the personality of the specific animal if they want to find a new "river" to live in. Amano's are a great idea for your level of algae.

You're welcome, I have a feeling you're going to see a nice healthy turnaround in the next month!

 

[ArashS1347]

OMG! I had no clue shrimps can get out of the tank lol!

Thank you very much again

 

[ArashS1347]

OK, good! That water change should drop them to a healthy level and the plants will do the rest of the work.

Anecdotally, I have a rimless setup and I have yet to have a snail leave the tank. I did however, have 1 out of my 10 Amanos decide to find a new home on the carpet. I think it's entirely up to the personality of the specific animal if they want to find a new "river" to live in. Amano's are a great idea for your level of algae.

You're welcome, I have a feeling you're going to see a nice healthy turnaround in the next month!

OMG! I had no clue shrimps can get out of the tank lol!

Thank you very much again