ACO Easy Green fails to raise my N even at extreme dose, yet dry mix ferts bring it up easily

[tooManyPumps]

conundrum: I have been struggling with chronically low N in my planted tank.

Not here to sell any other product, just to understand this conundrum. Why is it Easy Green consistently failed to raise my N levels toward my target, according to API test results, even when I progressively overdosed it up to 7x the recommended strength? I did the math on soluble N content and my target PPM concentrations, and I just can't seem to get to the target by using what would seem like plenty of pumps.

Today I added my first dose of a precisely measured mix-it-yourself macro+micro system at "normal" strength for a single daily dose and it made my API liquid Nitrate test read "hotter" than I have ever seen before. According to the instructions my additions should have added less PPM than the Easy Green 7x dosage I mentioned above.

Edited December 9, 2022 by tooManyPumps
adding background

[nabokovfan87]

@Mmiller2001 @Seattle_Aquarist  @gjcarew any ideas?

[Mmiller2001]

Inaccurate test kit or calculation error.

[JoeQ]

As mentioned above, my first assumption would be a bad test kit. Id see if an aquarium store gets similar results to what your test kit produces.

I've also read that chronically low nitrates can be from unseen blue green algea. I can't seam to find this information from any other sources except listed in the nilocg algea guide.

https://nilocg.com/blogs/news/algae-common-causes-and-solutions-for-different-types

 

 

Edited December 9, 2022 by JoeQ

[tooManyPumps]

Thanks for the ideas!

I originally suspected the test as well, which is why I bought a second one a couple months back. Both kits are unexpired, less than a year old, both give the same result. I follow the test instructions precisely and verified that my source at the tap is at 0ppm.

I think the leading suspect now is indeed calculations - I reread the manufacturer website and found somewhat confusing and possibly conflicting information across 2 separate guides. Possibly my dosage is stronger than I thought with the new dry mixed ferts. I'll be testing again with a fresh tap water dilution of the fertilizer solution, that should clear this up.

BGA was in my tank visibly after I moved the entire 120G system w/sump to my new home. It completely disappeared after 2 treatments with chemiclean, that was 3 months ago.  So while it's possible I would be quite surprised if it was present and not visible.  my tank is well lit with bright colored substrate, which made it obvious last time.

[JoeQ]

On 12/9/2022 at 10:13 AM, tooManyPumps said:

Thanks for the ideas!

I originally suspected the test as well, which is why I bought a second one a couple months back. Both kits are unexpired, less than a year old, both give the same result. I follow the test instructions precisely and verified that my source at the tap is at 0ppm.

I think the leading suspect now is indeed calculations - I reread the manufacturer website and found somewhat confusing and possibly conflicting information across 2 separate guides. Possibly my dosage is stronger than I thought with the new dry mixed ferts. I'll be testing again with a fresh tap water dilution of the fertilizer solution, that should clear this up.

BGA was in my tank visibly after I moved the entire 120G system w/sump to my new home. It completely disappeared after 2 treatments with chemiclean, that was 3 months ago.  So while it's possible I would be quite surprised if it was present and not visible.  my tank is well lit with bright colored substrate, which made it obvious last time.

Im intrested to hear what your test comparison shows.  I had something similar and could not pump enough All in ones (ive tried numerous) to raise my nitrates substantially; so I started supplementing nitrogen. That got old fast so I eventually switched to a EI Macro & Micro regimen,  which im much happier with.  Nothing against Ez Green, its a great product but it's not necessarily the right tool for every job.  Could be you just needed a bigger hammer! 

Edited December 9, 2022 by JoeQ
Added ed to make more correct grammars

[tooManyPumps]

Well I'm a little differently confused now, there's no way to account for the Nitrate reading on the API test given only the single daily dose of fertilizer I added. It's gone from 10/20->40ppm and I measured and added enough for only 1ppm. This was triple-checked.

Even if I made a small mistake in measuring or dosing, it would have to be off  by a factor of 20x, this is not possible.
So I must consider other sources!

My only plausible theory now is that while moving large amounts of substrate yesterday (fixing up the 'scape), I kicked up organic waste (ammonia and friends) and it is driving up the reading. 

I did a 25% water change and now the NO3- looks closer to 20ppm vs 40ppm. I'll check back tomorrow

[tooManyPumps]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:59 AM, JoeQ said:

Im intrested to hear what your test comparison shows.  I had something similar and could not pump enough All in ones (ive tried numerous) to raise my nitrates substantially; so I started supplementing nitrogen. That got old fast so I eventually switched to a EI Macro & Micro regimen,  which im much happier with.  Nothing against Ez Green, its a great product but it's not necessarily the right tool for every job.  Could be you just needed a bigger hammer! 

This post includes an assertion that 1 pump:10G leads us to 3ppm of Nitrates when using Easy Green.  I have not been able to measure this, or anywhere close. It would take me 5-10 pumps per 10G to get a noticeable change on the API liquid test of 5-10ppm.

Edited December 10, 2022 by tooManyPumps

[Mmiller2001]

Unless you calibrate your test kits, then you can't reasonable assume the information these tests are giving you are correct.

[tooManyPumps]

On 12/9/2022 at 7:33 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Unless you calibrate your test kits, then you can't reasonable assume the information these tests are giving you are correct.

Indeed, this is just the latest in a series of experiments confirming to me the limitations of all the API tests! At best we get "oh this is probably fine" vs "this is probably really high"

I'm going to standardize the TDS of my incoming water and measure conductivity to monitor nutrient buildup.

[Mmiller2001]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:50 PM, tooManyPumps said:

the limitations of all the API tests!

It's not just API, pretty much all hobbyist level test kits.

The work around is to get dry salts and use water changes to target dose.

[tooManyPumps]

On 12/9/2022 at 7:58 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

It's not just API, pretty much all hobbyist level test kits.

The work around is to get dry salts and use water changes to target dose.

exactly, this is precisely the approach I'm taking.

I was able to verify with a TDS meter that today's 1/2 daily dose of my DIY mixed macro solution had an impact of <5ppm total across the various constituent salts, measured one hour after it was added. While this cheap device is still not the epitome of precision, it gives me a lot more confidence than guessing at the colors in the liquid test tubes.

So the difference here is largely expected.  My solution has 3x or more Nitrate than Easy Green so of course it was a lot easier to measure a result, but perhaps the result was not as dramatic as I thought due to test inaccuracy.

Edited December 10, 2022 by tooManyPumps