The tanks I keep are all dirted, no pressurized CO2, no liquid ferts, with medium to low bioload of fish and shrimp. I rarely have to do water changes on these tanks, because most of the nutrients is locked up in the substrate and plant densely enough to keep nitrates at bay.
In the interest of minimizing maintenance even more for my 30 gallon, I found a new home for my dollar sunfish a few months ago. Now my 30 gallon dirted scape is just plants and ~5 carbon rilis. I was hoping that this new super low bioload would reduce the need to perform water changes, but I've found myself in a bit of paradox.
My stem plants thrive in the dirt, but my non-rooted plants started to struggle in the mostly inert water column, which now tests very low, if at all, for nitrate. I found myself having to dust off my powdered ferts and start dosing the water column, something I have not had to do since transitioning to dirt. The routine I had learned for liquid dosing, and indeed the routine that seems to still be the prevailing doctrine, is to dose more than I think the plants might need and then perform frequent water changes to make sure nothing in the water column remains in excess. So as a consequence of reducing my bioload, I now have to perform more water changes.
Does anyone know a fert dosing regime that will allow me to actually benefit from my lower bioload? Hopefully I will eventually have a large enough carbon rili colony to keep the plants fed, but what should I do in the interim? As a dirt evangelist, this is a very embarrassing predicament to be in.
In the interest of minimizing maintenance even more for my 30 gallon, I found a new home for my dollar sunfish a few months ago. Now my 30 gallon dirted scape is just plants and ~5 carbon rilis. I was hoping that this new super low bioload would reduce the need to perform water changes, but I've found myself in a bit of paradox.
My stem plants thrive in the dirt, but my non-rooted plants started to struggle in the mostly inert water column, which now tests very low, if at all, for nitrate. I found myself having to dust off my powdered ferts and start dosing the water column, something I have not had to do since transitioning to dirt. The routine I had learned for liquid dosing, and indeed the routine that seems to still be the prevailing doctrine, is to dose more than I think the plants might need and then perform frequent water changes to make sure nothing in the water column remains in excess. So as a consequence of reducing my bioload, I now have to perform more water changes.
Does anyone know a fert dosing regime that will allow me to actually benefit from my lower bioload? Hopefully I will eventually have a large enough carbon rili colony to keep the plants fed, but what should I do in the interim? As a dirt evangelist, this is a very embarrassing predicament to be in.
