planted tank + neutral regulator?

[rocklobster]

Hi, I have a freshwater, planted community tank with loaches/silver dollars/tetras, been using prime, stability and flourish for a few weeks now and tank is doing well so far, but my mates keep telling me not to use neutral regulator in a planted tank because it is phosphate based and may encourage excess algae growth.

Apart from the undesirable look of algae which I dont really have a problem with is this considered a bad thing? wouldn't the algae help in soaking up the excess nitrates that the plants may not keep up?

Lastly, i'm planning to use flourish excel, does this affect the PH in the water?

Thanks

[Tech Support LK]

Since Neutral Regulator is a phosphate based buffer, it
can contribute to algae growth especially if your organics
and other parameters are high. However, it is a very
stable buffer if you are looking to adjust your pH to 7.0.
Algae growth is considered a bad thing by many people for
several different reasons. Other than just being unsightly
in a tank, it can cause problems for your plants.
Excessive algae can take away a lot of the light and
nutrients that would otherwise be available for plants
possibly resulting in decreased growth of your plants. If
your organics and other parameters are at normal levels
for your tank, then it should be fine to use Neutral
Regulator. This product comes in both a liquid and a
powder form. We recommend using the liquid form for
planted tanks as the powder form does contain some
chloride that may build up over time without water
changes. Here is a link to the Liquid Neutral Regulator:

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/L_NeutralRegulator.html

If you are concerned about adding a phosphate-based buffer
to your tank, there is another option for you to obtain
your desired pH without adding phosphate. Using Acid
Buffer in conjunction with Alkaline Buffer in the
recommended quantities can get you to your pH also. These
are carbonate-based buffers. On our website it tells you
how to use them together in order to acheive your desired
pH. Here is the link to that:

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/L_AcidBuffer.html

As far as the algae taking up some of the unused nitrate,
it is much better to have the appropriate bacteria in your
tank instead. You need some anaerobic bacteria to take
care of your nitrate levels. Stability will add aerobic
and anaerobic bacteria which will serve
as biological filtration and remove any excess ammonia,
nitrite, and nitrate. You may also need some sort of
biological media that will serve as an environment for the
bacteria to live. Two products that would be good to use
are Matrix or de*nitrate. Matrix will support both
aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and can be used at any flow
rate. de*nitrate is specifically designed to support
anaerobic bacteria which convert nitrate to nitrogen and is best used with low flow (about 50 gph). If flow
is not an issue for you, de*nitrate would be a very good
option. Both of these products can be used with any other
filtration media that you may already have in your tank.

Flourish Excel will not alter the pH of your water in any
way.