What Water Supplements Do You Use? CO2?

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Clogstonian

New Member
flo77 said:
EI means no need for testing. However I use test kits if I suspect something went wrong . The ph is continuously monitored. Also I use a digital TDS meter. The only tank where I often test the waters is the 55 gal planted and CRS tank.
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do you strictly follow the guidelines for dosage? I find I'm getting good results in my 40g (moderate fish load) with cutting the dose in half, helps to cut down on pruning.

do you dry dose the Plantex or use it in solution?

thanks
 
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flo77

New Member
Re: What Water Supplements Do You Use? CO2?

clogstonian said:
do you strictly follow the guidelines for dosage? I find I'm getting good results in my 40g (moderate fish load) with cutting the dose in half, helps to cut down on pruning.

do you dry dose the Plantex or use it in solution?

thanks
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Since the targets for nutrients have a wide range I can say I follow the guidelines. However I choose and modify my targets and sometimes that means cutting the dosage in half. I think you did the right thing by cutting the nutrients to a level that's convenient for you and for the plants.
I prepare solution for all nutrients and I dose them according to the targets. This means some extra effort in doing the calculation but it offer me more control and flexibility. And the fish will not try to feed on the fertilizer powder.
For Plantex I choosed a target of .33 ppm Fe weekly and I use DI water to prepare the solution. Of course I don,t folow strictly the target, in some tanks I may dose less or more Plantex.
 
C

Clogstonian

New Member
each litle encapsulated world has it's own unique parameters, my regime works fairly well for me but not without issues; I get the occasional brush algae outbreak a few times a year when I've gotten lazy - I get it under control with Excel and/or nutrient level adjustments. i also have a type of fuzz algae which grows on plant stems and gravel, the chia pet look (dating myself here) from what I've read that appears to be a nutrient inbalance and the plants leach nutrients due to lacking other nutrients . . hey, a certain amount of algae is natural and gives my grazers something to snack on, I count on algae for them actually so I don't want it completely absent.
The one thing I consider my top priority to manage is a hazy I seem frequently, not sure if it's a bacterial type bloom or what but I don't have crystal clear water , not bad mind you but a dull hazy develops, seems to drop off in the evenings when the champagne glass effect takes place.
 
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flo77

New Member
I also have small issue with algae, mainly thread algae due to overfertilization and high light levels and sometimes GDA, GSA. Also in the tanks where I use sponge filter I have BBA around sponge and hoses due to high levels of O2 and low CO2. BBA is the most annoyng type of algae but since is located in a small area I don't use Excel to kill it because I don't want to destroy the usefull bacteria. However I remove it manually when I have time to do it.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Injected CO2
Seachem Flourish , about once a week.
Potassium nitrate, =.
time release iron supplement, with iron converting properties(?,lol- converts ferric iron to ferrous iron)
Comprehensive carbohydrates,=.
Phosphorous,=
water changes, = (replaces trace elements)
substraight, fluorite (iron supplement, trace elements)
 
B

binbin9

New Member
Everyone has a different approach. For my 12G I stopped testing parameeters and use a drop Checker for Co2 regulation and let the Plants tell me if they are lacking in any nutrients.

plant-deficiency-labeled.jpg


EI and Seachem for ferts. Not everything is exact but I try to follow this chart I've made. It is definitely a lot of ferts but if everything is in balance with lights, co2, and ferts you shouldnt have any algae issues.

FertsDosing_zps9176cb63.png


The fish are fine with all the ferts even the shrimp were breeding up until my recent rescape, which caused an ammonia spike and killed almost all of them off. Stirring up the substrate is a bad idea with shrimps still in the tank.

I got tired of DIY CO2 and have a 5lb tank and aquatek regulator coming. There was a memorial day sale I took advantage of =)
 
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Lamental Jester

New Member
In my 75 gallon I do no dosing, the dirt and clay pretty much do all the work for me, all I do is an occasional water change.

My 15 gallon I was doing DIY co2 until I got shrimp put in there, now I dose with Excel to grow the phoenix moss in there. This tank also is dirted with clay.

My 29 gallon isn't being dosed and doesn't have dirted subtrate. The tank only has java ferns and java moss in it, so I only do water changes and everything is peachy in there.

My 20 long is dirted with clay and is dosed with Excel. No fish in this one, just have it to grow plant trimmings
 
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nick_76

New Member
I used to run a c02 system I accumulated. maybe at some point ill revisit it. hysteresis was an issue. so was short probe life. both may be traced back to he cheap Chinese probes I was using, but it could also be the monitor. maybe eventually ill play around with it again and figure out what a good offset is to accommodate the lag, but until then the fish are doing fine and the plants are growing like gangbusters...

ive got a mix of new&used fluorite in one tank, lane mountain sand in the other. root formation is a bit better in the sand, since ive done a number of recent thinnings itll be a minute until I can compare growth rates
 
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Anonymous

Guest
binbin9 said:
Can someone suggest a good iron supplement for the substrate?
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binbin9,
You might be able to mix a bit of Flourite sand with your preexisting substrate. Just laying the sand on top, eventually it would work itself into your substrate.  What I use is Flourish's new root tabs. They are sold in bulk @ Aquarium Coop. These little blocks last quite a while and seem to work super with all my rooted plants. However, the root tabs are more than just iron supplements, they are a full out root fert.
 
Cory

Cory

Administrator
Staff member
At the shop we use root tabs in show tanks and flourish comprehensive in selling tanks.
 
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fishloverRon

Member
I'm using root tabs, Flourish Comprehensive, and Flourish Excel in my planted tanks. No CO2. Good combination for me. I experience algae when I remove too many fast growing plants at once.
 
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sea1

New Member
I have mineralized top soil mixed in with red pottery clay as a substrate that's topped with Eco Complete. I also dose with Flourish Excel and Flourish Comprehensive.
 
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