# 38 gallon tank log



## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

Alright so I have a 5# co2 tank and a Milwaukee MA957 which is a dual guage regulator, solenoid, bubble counter, and needle valve in one package. (Pictured below) Anyone have one of these or had? Comments? Problems? Suggestions?








I am getting a lot of plants in tomorrow and will be setting it up to get runnin' then. I tested it last night and followed the dirs exactly but I had trouble getting the flow to stay constant. Any tips or tricks? 
I will take some pics tomorrow of my setup, I made Tom Barr's Venturi diffuser, which is pretty sweet by the way, 
Plants I will be adding: Hemianthus callitrichoides, more dwarf sag (will be about 50 total), 15 E. Tenenllus or would it be tenelli...?, 10 or so jungle vals (already have 5 or so but they are short!), an anubias barteri v. "Nana", and 1 Wendtii-Red cryptocoryne
I'll have 110 watts over this baby
Substrate will be flourite, tried to get soilmaster select but I can't find charcoal color in stores around me, I tried to order it but they never called me back...









Any help with the co2 setup would be GREATLY appreciated, thank you.

EDIT: Tank is 38 gallons, will probably be about 30 gallons of water and I am dosing with greg watson ferts.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

BigChuckP said:


> Alright so I have a 5# co2 tank and a Milwaukee MA957 which is a dual guage regulator, solenoid, bubble counter, and needle valve in one package. (Pictured below) Anyone have one of these or had? Comments? Problems? Suggestions?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have a TopGun regulator which is just a modified Milwaukee (added check valve). I had problems getting a constant flow by using just the knob on the regulator like the directions said. You have to use the needle valve too. Turn the regulator knob in slowly with the needle valve all the way open until it bubbles furiously, then close the needle valve (you probably shouldn't have it connected to your tank for this). Slowly open the needle valve then until you get your desired bubbles per minute. The whole point of the regulator valve is to eliminate as much back pressure as possible from the needle valve. My right gauge still reads zero, but my bubble supply is constant. Good luck!


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

BioTeach said:


> Alright so I have a 5# co2 tank and a Milwaukee MA957 which is a dual guage regulator, solenoid, bubble counter, and needle valve in one package. (Pictured below) Anyone have one of these or had? Comments? Problems? Suggestions?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have a TopGun regulator which is just a modified Milwaukee (added check valve). I had problems getting a constant flow by using just the knob on the regulator like the directions said. You have to use the needle valve too. Turn the regulator knob in slowly with the needle valve all the way open until it bubbles furiously, then close the needle valve (you probably shouldn't have it connected to your tank for this). Slowly open the needle valve then until you get your desired bubbles per minute. The whole point of the regulator valve is to eliminate as much back pressure as possible from the needle valve. My right gauge still reads zero, but my bubble supply is constant. Good luck!
[/quote]
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try that when I set it up...will probably be tomorrow.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

Alrighty so I got some orders of plants today, unfortunately Aquaticdepot was out of E. tenellus







so I just have jungle vals, red wendtii, anubias nana, lots of dwarf sag, and some HC.
Here is the tank before.
View attachment 94016


And five hours later here is the semi-finished tank
View attachment 94017

I am pretty happy with the outcome. Still a little cloudy but should clear up soon.
I have 150 watts over the tank, 3 inches or so of flourite, some black gravel mixed in I wish it wasn't but oh well. I am injecting co2 into an inline reactor, dirs were from Gomer on aquaticplantsdepot.com. 
I want the HC to eventually be the entire foreground with some of the dwarf sag making paths into it...Anyways comments, suggestions?

PS Anyone have some E.Tenellus they need to get rid of? Thanks again!


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

BigChuckP said:


> Alrighty so I got some orders of plants today, unfortunately Aquaticdepot was out of E. tenellus
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hi Chuck, -tank looks great!

About the regulator.. is it working right yet? I have that same one, and I may have some good tips for you.
About the HC.. It is from Cuba, the stuff really loves soft, acidic water.. Much like Ludwigia 'Cuba.' I seriously hope that you let it take root and start to spread lots before you add your fish.. the stuff is a real pain! Out of the corner of your eye you will see it float to the surface.. again and again.. if you have fish in there lol
BTW, I have some tenellus.. I have micro tenellus 'red' too LMK, I'll be glad to help


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## H4N (Nov 10, 2005)

haha ya thats what i didnt do lol, some of mine started to root finally.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> Alrighty so I got some orders of plants today, unfortunately Aquaticdepot was out of E. tenellus
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hi Chuck, -tank looks great!

About the regulator.. is it working right yet? I have that same one, and I may have some good tips for you.
About the HC.. It is from Cuba, the stuff really loves soft, acidic water.. Much like Ludwigia 'Cuba.' I seriously hope that you let it take root and start to spread lots before you add your fish.. the stuff is a real pain! Out of the corner of your eye you will see it float to the surface.. again and again.. if you have fish in there lol
BTW, I have some tenellus.. I have micro tenellus 'red' too LMK, I'll be glad to help
[/quote]
Reg is running great now, got about 20-25 bubbles per minute. 
About the HC, I decided to just dig a small small area and then put it in there and then put some gravel on top of it, not too much but enough as to where it isn't floating up. I already put vizzini in the tank and he doesn't get freaked out and kick up the gravel so I should be safe, plus it is on the left side of the tank and he RARELY goes over there, he mainly stays on the left. I'll send you a pm tomorrow when I have time about the tenellus, I would really appreciate any help, thanks Dippy.
Charlie


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

BigChuckP said:


> Alrighty so I got some orders of plants today, unfortunately Aquaticdepot was out of E. tenellus
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hi Chuck, -tank looks great!

About the regulator.. is it working right yet? I have that same one, and I may have some good tips for you.
About the HC.. It is from Cuba, the stuff really loves soft, acidic water.. Much like Ludwigia 'Cuba.' I seriously hope that you let it take root and start to spread lots before you add your fish.. the stuff is a real pain! Out of the corner of your eye you will see it float to the surface.. again and again.. if you have fish in there lol
BTW, I have some tenellus.. I have micro tenellus 'red' too LMK, I'll be glad to help
[/quote]
Reg is running great now, got about 20-25 bubbles per minute. 
About the HC, I decided to just dig a small small area and then put it in there and then put some gravel on top of it, not too much but enough as to where it isn't floating up. I already put vizzini in the tank and he doesn't get freaked out and kick up the gravel so I should be safe, plus it is on the left side of the tank and he RARELY goes over there, he mainly stays on the left. I'll send you a pm tomorrow when I have time about the tenellus, I would really appreciate any help, thanks Dippy.
Charlie
[/quote]
great news! glad 2 hear it's working for ya.. mine didn't flow too good at first, but now are working very good.
Keep asking questions if you need help! That is your best bet.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

So I went out and bought some fast growing plants today because I mainly have slow growers. I bought some hornwort and some E. Tenellus. I was starting to see some major algae coming in and I wasn't going to let that happen!!! One thing about this wall that sucks is that it attracts algae like that's it's job and I obviously can't use a magnet nor an algae brush, the wall tears it up and I'd have blue threads floating around so I used a toothbrush and scrubbed all over the walls to get it off. There was some bg algae showing up on the dw so I scrubbed that off too. 
Are there any good algae eaters that don't dig up plants? I have some ghost shrimp but they probably aren't going to do much...
Thanks


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

absolutely. Ghost shrimp are not true algea eaters. You have to get cherry shrimp, or amano shrimp. --Get a bunch of these guys..

SAE's are very good algea eaters, but you can't feed them, or they will get used to when it is feeding time, and ignore the algea.. Other than that, they are great.

Ottocinclus cats are excellent as well.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

Having some problems, I have some bg algae starting to grow on the rocks, one or two plants, and on the back wall.
My phosphates have been abonormally high since I set up the tank.
The first time I tested the water was the day after I set the tank up
NO3 20ppm
PO4 10ppm!!!!
ph 6.6
kh 4
co2 30.14

I took out 50% of the water
PO4 5ppm

Today(2 days after the last wc) I did 3 25% wcs (if I empty out too much the filter intake is above the water line and I have to burp my reactor which = no fun
PO4 still at 5ppm
might be from scraping the algae off of the back wall again, I'm guessing I need to do wcs after I do algae detail since it releases stuff into the water column, right?
co2 went really high today too, lil too high so I fiddled with the bubble counter to get a better br
ph 6.5
kh 4.5
co2 = ~41
The HC is pearling nicely though!

Edit: The hornwort is massive and I'd like to spread some stems out around my tank, how should I cut it to be able to replant the cuttings, do I cut the top off some of the branches(probably the wrong word here...?) and replant them or what?


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

BigChuckP said:


> Having some problems, I have some bg algae starting to grow on the rocks, one or two plants, and on the back wall.
> My phosphates have been abonormally high since I set up the tank.
> The first time I tested the water was the day after I set the tank up
> NO3 20ppm
> ...


Hi Chuck!!
glad to hear from ya!

You will have algea problems in the beginning, that is no cause for alarm!







Hang in there you are doing great..
It is a good idea to do the major algea scraping before water changes, yes. but it isn't to say that you can't do daily maintenance without them.. regular maintenance without the water changes is fine.
41ppm CO2? awesome lol.. there is really nothing wrong with that IMO.. some will say it is a waste of CO2, but I would say that is the only thing wrong,, sometimes i let mine get up there.. maybe check if the co2 is getting enough circulation in the water.. that is a good idea.. sometimes there are pockets that never get the CO2 from bad circulation..

If you have Eco-Complete, there were some batches that were messed up, and were leeching PO4 into the tanks.. they were offering free replacements, but im not sure about now..

You can cut the hornwart any way you want too.. you wont hurt it no matter what you do! lol ..the stuff grows like crazy!

Any other aquestions you may have, i will be glad to help you!

did I cover all you asked lol??


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

Thanks for the reply dippy, I'm using flourite which is unfortunately mixed in with some black gravel so it's not the substrate. I'll just keep on monitoring the params and fighting the good fight.
I'm going to do some cuttin' of the hornwort cause my lil brandtii is able to just hide behind it and I never see him anymore.







He used to attack my foot at night when I moved it in bed...lol
and yeah you answered everything thanks!!


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

My plants are serving my lil brandtii wonderfully...as a lil piranha pillow.
I thought he was dead yesterday when he was doing this but apparently he's just all tuckered out from chasing the new ottos, danios, and the 1 molly.
Anyone else seen their piranha(s) do this?
View attachment 95276

View attachment 95277


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

Have a very very small amount of blue green algae growing on the gravel so I read around at aquaticplantcentral.com They suggested to increase nitrates and co2, so I added some KNO3 and opened the needle valve a bit...at about 1.5 bps now.
Out of 5 ottos 4 are left. I came back from climbing and one was just dead on the gravel, perhaps the ph fluctuation of when the lights and co2 came on did him in...? Oh well. Of 5 danios 1 is left, just lost one as I was writing this lol! 
Anyways, perhaps this log of my tank can help others learn what it is like to keep a co2-enriched tank.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

BigChuckP said:


> Have a very very small amount of blue green algae growing on the gravel so I read around at aquaticplantcentral.com They suggested to increase nitrates and co2, so I added some KNO3 and opened the needle valve a bit...at about 1.5 bps now.
> Out of 5 ottos 4 are left. I came back from climbing and one was just dead on the gravel, perhaps the ph fluctuation of when the lights and co2 came on did him in...? Oh well. Of 5 danios 1 is left, just lost one as I was writing this lol!
> Anyways, perhaps this log of my tank can help others learn what it is like to keep a co2-enriched tank.


Don't worry about the ottos, they are really sensitive! it is common for them to out of the blue..croak lol

I agree, higher nitrates works well, and the higher CO2 that people shy away from for some reason. I pump my tanks full of CO2, 45ppm sometimes, and absolutely no problems.

Looks like your P has gotten some exercise! lol


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

So I am curious if my gh is at a good level. I believe that it is neither high nor low, rather neutral, no?
GH: 8
PH: 6.7
KH: 5
CO2: ~32
Also I'm curious why my E. Tenellus is turning yellow and clear, is that a sign of a lack of iron, micros, potassium, ...? 
The hornwort is growing like something that grows unbelieveably fast, it doubles in only a few days. The dwarf sag looks good, there are some yellow and clear leaves but they seem to be disappearing, going to cut them all off and such them up at the next wc. 
I also put in some watersprite which looks good, just need to position it better.
Thank you for any help!

EDIT: Also I have seen little or no pearling, is this a bad sign?
EDIT2: I added the powerhead on the left to help circulation, looks bad and such but will hopefully help fight the bga.
View attachment 95550

View attachment 95554


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## 33truballa33 (Oct 18, 2004)

wow very nice tank.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

33truballa33 said:


> wow very nice tank.


Thanks!


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

BigChuckP said:


> So I am curious if my gh is at a good level. I believe that it is neither high nor low, rather neutral, no?
> GH: 8
> PH: 6.7
> KH: 5
> ...


Your KH and GH are completely fine. You have no worries there. Ya, the yellowing comes from a lack of iron or potassium, possibly micros.. mine did that after I put them in my tank for about a month--it was the wierdest thing.. now, they are bouncing back like crazy, after I trimmed the tank way down.
It seemed to be a lack of light, or a lack of nutrients ..Im not sure, but they are comming back with a vengance!
Hornwart is an excellent plant to have in your tank to develop carpet plants, and helps get your tank balanced.. I got rid of mine after my tank grew in..lol it gets to be a real pain trimming it all the time lol
How is the algea problem since you got the fast growers? did it help? where are you at with it now? any questions or concearns? 
I would love to see your tank grow in, and be healthy.. seems like it is! 
Nice pics


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

BigChuckP said:


> Of 5 danios 1 is left, just lost one as I was writing this lol!


I've found the danios to be a good indicator that something is wrong in my tank. They headed for the surface when the Co2 is too high and when my tank got all screwed up 2 weekends in a row.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

Dr.Zoidberg said:


> Of 5 danios 1 is left, just lost one as I was writing this lol!


I've found the danios to be a good indicator that something is wrong in my tank. They headed for the surface when the Co2 is too high and when my tank got all screwed up 2 weekends in a row.
[/quote]
The danios are not simply dying rather gettin' eaten! None are left, Vizzini ate all of them







I'll keep that in mind though, thanks!


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

Small update on my tank. Took all the water sprite out except for a small stem that you probably can't see in the pictures. As stated before the hornwort is a crazy grower! It could easily take my tank over in a months time. I have had it for maybe a week and a half and I have trimmed it 3 times or so, I'm just going to plant my 75 with all the trimmings.
I have a 36" 192 watt strip coming next week with one 10,000K bulb and one 6,700K bulb. I'm going to do 3 hours of 96 watts (2.52 wpg), 4 hours of 192 watts (5.05 wpg) and then 4 watts at 96 watts again. This strip is sweet it has 3 power cords, one for each pc light and one for moonlights that can be dimmed or brightened, therefore I can control all lights with timers. 
The bga has almost disappeared since I uped the KNO3 and added the powerhead but the brown algae is unrelenting. I have brushed the back wall with a toothbrush (I need something bigger!!) at least 4 times now, each time it comes back. I have read that to tackle this algae one should continue to scrape it off and through water changes the excess silica and diatoms will be removed. Also that it will peak and then fade away quickly.
2 small patches of BGA
View attachment 96040

Anyways my jungle vals are not growing too rapidly or at all, the anubias nanas are doing well, the dwarf sag is doing pretty good, don't know if I have any runners yet but I expect it to explode here soon. The HC isn't doing great, most of the plant is brown so probably dead, but there are some little green parts growing out of the brown mass. My E. Tenellus is very sad looking...so basically the only three plants (out of 8) that are actually truly growing are the anubias, hornwort, and the single crypt...I hope to change that here soon, I might just take the HC out and let the dwarf sag or hopefully the E. T. take over that area.

Sad looking HC with a few green leafs, and very sad E. Tenellus which I will soon trim a bit.
View attachment 96045

The tank itself
View attachment 96043


Lil Vizzini hiding in the hornwort mass
View attachment 96039


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## H4N (Nov 10, 2005)

ya, i'm having hard time with the HC als. Its bene in my tank for over 2 months. i just got some excel is seem to be bring it back to life. I see little green leafs poping out of the susbtrate.


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

I have a planted tank at home with guppies, a kuhli loach, 2 cory cats, and a ram. somewhere along the way I inherited a massive ramshorn snail and it took care of every bit of algae in the tank. Yes, from time to time I have to throw its children out to the birds (I just grab as many snails as possible and toss them underneath the bird feeder, they're gone in less than 60 seconds), but I think snails make for a very natural tank because they also handle cleanup.


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## divine (Jan 3, 2005)

nice tank. background looks great.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

HaN said:


> nice tank. background looks great.


Thanks


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

BigChuckP said:


> I have a planted tank at home with guppies, a kuhli loach, 2 cory cats, and a ram. somewhere along the way I inherited a massive ramshorn snail and it took care of every bit of algae in the tank. Yes, from time to time I have to throw its children out to the birds (I just grab as many snails as possible and toss them underneath the bird feeder, they're gone in less than 60 seconds), but I think snails make for a very natural tank because they also handle cleanup.


I wanted to keep snails out just because I've heard of them breaking filters by crawling up into them and getting around the impeller but I think it is almost impossible to keep those lil buggers out. I just don't see how they can eat enough algae to make an impact...?
[/quote]

I didn't think so either, but the gup tank has been sparkling ever since we introduced them. A really good testament is my betta tank. Its a 2g hex and has a UGF. The tube where the bubbles came out was COATED in BGA and no amount of scrubbing would get rid of it because it had gone from the outside in and then came up through the gravel making the tank a greens slimy mess from top to bottom. I threw 3 of the snails that were about 1/2 the size of a dime in and within 24-48 hours 95% of the algea was gone. They'd even cleaned the inside of the tube. Watching them do it was kind of cool too. Wherever they went, there was a clean little trail behind them.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

More BGA showing up so I added 10ppm of KNO3 again and moved the powerhead closer to the bottom of the tank, hopefully that will help water movement. I tested my water to see where things were at and have noticed that my tank is absorbing a lot of nutrients!!...hopefully I start to see more growth!

EDIT: Checked phosphate and it is out of control again! I added 2ppm on the 25th and 2ppm today and it is DARK blue, thus over 10ppm. Before I dosed this week it was at about 1ppm. I obviously need to do a wc to get rid of all this extra po4 and change the po4 dosing schedule.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

Not a really interesting update, have a few problems but some good growth has been going on.
I tested my water today to see where things were at
PH: 6.8
KH: 6
CO2: 28
Nitrate: 40ppm
Keeping them high because I have some bga
PO4: +10!!!
I have no idea why my phosphates are always so high, it's ridiculous! I have not dosed them for over a week and when I did I dosed 2ppm. Is it possible there is something in my tank releasing po4? I don't have eco-complete so I don't have one of those bad batches, I have flourite and some regular black gravel.
There has been an explosion in snail population lately, they are the only algae eaters that will survive with Vizzini so I'll let em stay, I'll take TInkerbelle's advice and just grab a handful occasionally and toss em out.
I cut all the dead leaves off the tenellus and replanted it, should be some new guys sprouting up soon!
My dwarf sag looks great, have a good carpet starting to form but I have some bba growing on my dwarf sag, there is some on my anubias as well. I have ordered some excel which will get rid of that crap and I have upped my co2, say goodbye bba!
View attachment 97104

The lil guy patrollin'
View attachment 97105


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

the carpet is looking good!! Great job! once it fills completely in, it will look great!
yes, i have heard of things leeching PO4 into the tank.. the last I heard was Eco Complete doing that..
Keep up on your water changes, and don't dose it.. and keep your eye on it.
check your tapwater for PO4 too, so you know it isnt your test kit.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> the carpet is looking good!! Great job! once it fills completely in, it will look great!
> yes, i have heard of things leeching PO4 into the tank.. the last I heard was Eco Complete doing that..
> Keep up on your water changes, and don't dose it.. and keep your eye on it.
> check your tapwater for PO4 too, so you know it isnt your test kit.


Thanks for the compliments! 
I should just calibrate the kit and see where it really is. I'll check my tap water too. 
Should I cut off all the bba infected leaves or will the excel kill it all off?
Thanks.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

BigChuckP said:


> the carpet is looking good!! Great job! once it fills completely in, it will look great!
> yes, i have heard of things leeching PO4 into the tank.. the last I heard was Eco Complete doing that..
> Keep up on your water changes, and don't dose it.. and keep your eye on it.
> check your tapwater for PO4 too, so you know it isnt your test kit.


Thanks for the compliments! 
I should just calibrate the kit and see where it really is. I'll check my tap water too. 
Should I cut off all the bba infected leaves or will the excel kill it all off?
Thanks.
[/quote]
might as well wait and see.. Mine came off with just excell, (wasnt bad) but i have heard of algea growth just stopping, and not going away.


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