Help for Kochi?

If you already have a Hanna then you have one that you can rely on for being consistent 👍👍 that's reagent grade testing. Even if the values are off for fresh water, they will be off by the same amount every time so you can measure how your dosing is changing your levels.

Hanna support should also be able to tell you how to calculate that difference.

The trouble with the liquid tests including Salifert is that they are eyeball, color judgement, and you can get two different readings on two different tests on the same water.
 
Koan said:
If you already have a Hanna then you have one that you can rely on for being consistent 👍👍 that's reagent grade testing. Even if the values are off for fresh water, they will be off by the same amount every time so you can measure how your dosing is changing your levels.

Hanna support should also be able to tell you how to calculate that difference.

The trouble with the liquid tests including Salifert is that they are eyeball, color judgement, and you can get two different readings on two different tests on the same water.
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
Hanna customer service just said it was made for saltwater and had not been tested for freshwater. I found people in several forums though that said it worked just fine for freshwater +-2. One that did extensive testing looked like it was very accurate at the lower numbers (0-30) but got less accurate as numbers went higher (more like +-10), but that’s still probably better than the API test that’s so hard to read.

This morning I read through the gla website about dosing PPS-Pro with 50% water changes. It turns out I was actually dosing a little less macros for medium/high light, and right on it for micros. That’s only half of what they recommend for very high light/high tech tanks. I decided to go halfway between the 2 for now, and go back to dividing it daily instead front-loading half of it, just to try to actually follow their directions.

My API reading about an hour after the water change and adding 9 ml of the macros and 4.5 ml of micros still showed 5 ppm nitrates. The Hanna checker said 2.8.
I don’t know, I know those numbers are low. I just didn’t want to suddenly double the ferts before making sure the cyano was all gone, and I guess I better figure out that Photone app this week so I can find out the actual par. I cleaned all along between the glass and substrate, and then dosed the blue-green slime remover again after the water change. Hopefully that’ll be the end of it.
 
I tested with both API and Hanna for a week. It looks to me like Hanna is at least as accurate as API, and more precise. I’m just going to use it from now on, but only before and after the water change as I’m continuing to figure things out.

Monday. API 5. Hanna 2.8
Tuesday. API 5. Hanna 6.1
Wednesday API 5 Hanna 6.8
Thursday. API 10. Hanna 8.0
Friday. API 10. Hanna 9.0
Saturday. API 10-20. Hanna 9.7
Sunday. API 10-20. Hanna 10.7

I did a double daily dose right after the water change yesterday, and when I tested an hour or so later, Hanna said 8. something (I apparently forgot to record it). I think the Kochi is showing some signs of improvement, but it still has a long way to go. It hasn’t been very long though, and I think the nutrients will still go up some more before they stabilize. It’s weird to me that the stems don’t all grow at the same rate.

IMG_7064.jpeg
 
If youre doing the 'take it slow and see how it goes' approach, then it looks like youre on the right path since youre seeing incremental improvements.

Just for reference, and not counting for plant uptake, dosing my macro numbers with 50% water changes makes for 30-35 ppm NO3 in the water, full EI rolls with about 40. There's just not much difference between 5 and 8 (your results)

My logic is why take 2 months to slowly scoot it up, and watch the symptoms <hopefully> disappear slowly, instead of just getting there sooner? The only risk in overdoing macros is gda on the glass

And this is also why I dont worry too much about test numbers. Having a certain number on the test isnt going to help or even tell you anything really. We're still always looking at the plants to know whats good or not

Its just two different philosophies, not saying mine is the right one or the only one. And of course the problem could be something besides nutrients
 
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Burr740 said:
If youre going the 'take it slow and see how it goes' approach, then it looks like youre on the right path since youre seeing incremental improvements.

Just for reference, and not counting for plant uptake, dosing my macro numbers with 50% water changes makes for 30-35 ppm NO3 in the water, full EI rolls with about 40. There's just not much difference between 5 and 8 (your results)

My logic is why take 2 months to slowly scoot it up, and watch the symptoms disappear slowly, instead of just getting there sooner? The only risk in overdoing macros is gda on the glass

And this is also why I dont worry too much about test numbers. Having a certain number on the test isnt going to help or even tell you anything really. We're still always looking at the plants to know whats good or not

It’s just two different philosophies, not saying mine is the right one or the only one. And of course the problem could be something besides nutrients
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Thanks for the info! I take it slow because when I try to do it all at once I get a lot of algae/pea soup, not just on the glass. That’s how I killed that awesome lily I got from you.
 
Burr740 said:
My logic is why take 2 months to slowly scoot it up, and watch the symptoms disappear slowly, instead of just getting there sooner? The only risk in overdoing macros is gda on the glass
Click to expand...
Agreed. If I think I am low on nutrients I just toss a bunch in the tank for a couple of weeks.

Watch new growth carefully and you will see if it's having an effect. And pay attention to the entire stem. It can tell a story. Sometimes you will see a noticeable difference in size/shape/color of the new nodes compared to the old ones. Usually means you are on the right track.

This all goes to trial and error. We all have to do it.

Now if nothing much changes then start looking at other things. Intensity/duration of light. Fine tune pH drop from CO2. Clean filters and vac the gravel. Just saying it's not always nutrients.....but in your case I am guessing it is.

And FYI my Kochi would not be happy at that number.
 
GreggZ said:
...And pay attention to the entire stem. It can tell a story. Sometimes you will see a noticeable difference in size/shape/color of the new nodes compared to the old ones.
Click to expand...

Yep. You can see how wide it was when it was fat and happy, then something happened and it shrunk for a while, now trying to get right again..

IMG_7064.jpeg
 
Yeah, I have no idea why, not that it was ever completely happy. There used to be a lot more fish in there, but they’ve been moved out to other tanks. Maybe they were contributing more than I knew. I’ve just added 19 Rainbowfish, so maybe that’ll help some. Anyway, I’m not going to trim until it reaches the surface again. By that time there should be some better lengths to replant.
 
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