Dosing schedule, 46 gal bow

[suep]

OK, I'e been reading the archives and based on the Non CO2 method thread from April 2005, this is what I've come up with so far.

I have a new 46 gal bowfront tank, heavily planted with swords, anubias, water wisteria, wendts, etc. I do want to add some more fast growing stem plants next week. I added a bunch of mulm from my established tank and am carefully adding fish. So far the cycle looks good, although of course I'll keep an eye on it. The fish are happy and healthy. Some of the new plants I added seem to be melting. I am assuming this is from transplant shock and/or changing from emmersed to immersed growth patterns. The cuttings from my old tank look great.

Light is a 6500K, 96 watt compact fluorescent, on 9 hours a day. That's a bit high wattage, but I hope I can pull it off. I'm double-dosing Excel, no CO2. (I'll go pressurized CO2 if I absolutely have to, but I'd rather not.)

I bought KNO3 and KH2PO4, based on you guys' advice. Now I need to figure out a weekly dosing schedule.

Today, Sunday, I added 2 caps Excel, and 1/4 tsp KNO3. Now what?

KNO3 1/4 tsp/week (once a week? twice? or???)
KH2PO4 1/8 tsp/week (once a week? which days?)
Excel 2 caps/day
Flourish ????
Equilibrium ????


Thanks!

 

[suep]

Sorry for the duplicate post , I can't figure out how to delete it.

 

[suep]

Help! I feel like I'm dosing blind here and its scary.

Today I added 2 caps of Excel (I've had good results 'overdosing' Excel in the small tank.) And I added 1/8 tsp KH2PO4. What do I do the rest of the week?

Quite a few leaves are melting, I am assuming that's transplant shock and the possible change from emmersed to immersed. I remember something similar happening last spring with the small tank. The trimmings from my tank look really good.

 

[fjf888]

Suep

There are others more qualified then me, who can chime in more definitively.

Double dosing excel is going to get quite expensive. I think you would get better results cheaper with CO2 injection. Excel is a fine solution for a 10G, once the tank gets larger the cost/benefit ratio shifts clearly to CO2 injection. Controlling the CO2 precisely will aid you greatly in controlling algae.

As for the leaves melting, certain plants, such as Vals will melt as a result of adding Excel. You are right some plants will go through a transition period. You should prune off the dead/dying leave so the plant can focus its energy on few good leaves, and producing new ones, just as you would with terrestrial plants.
Since your other cuttings from the prior tank are fine, I wouldn't worry too much. I'd continue dosing 1x a week as things grow in thicker you could increase your dosing.

 

[Tom Barr]

It's a bit high wattage for Excel dosing only, but you might be okay.

I'd go fairly light of the dosing, 2x a week(about the same as a EI dosed 10-20 gallon tank), do the large water changes, typically 50% 2-3x a week for the first 1-3 months till things get going well.

As the tank grows in more, you can add about 25-50% more ferts.
2 cap fulls = 20 gallons worth at water change.
I'd add this amount daily......sounds about right.

Vals, some other plants will not do well with Excel, Egeria etc.........

regards,
Tom Barr

 

[suep]

OK, thanks guys! I'll dose like the chart for EI Light 20 gallons and see how it goes. I know about vals and Excel. As far as I know, the plants I have should do OK with it.

I'll do my best on the water changes, it's hard in the winter because I have to pack all my water or turn the valve on & off at the barn. (I'm on well water, my gardening water has to come from purchased RO/DI or rain water from the cistern at the barn.)

Does anybody have a secret way to dose very tiny amounts? My measuring spoons go down to 1/4 tsp and I can estimate probably down to 1/8 tsp pretty accurately but below that it's just a wild guess...

My Pearl Gouramis are blowing a bubble nest and the two anubias have thrown up flower stems. The banana plant from my small tank sent a leaf to the top and halfway across the tank. Wow. I'll try to shrink a picture down so you can get an idea. This was from a few days ago. I've added some anarchis and elodea and a tall, very thin grass that reaches to the top in the back. Other things have grown in a bit since I took this 6 days ago. Landscaping is a bit rough but I'll play with that after I get things growing properly.

 

[Tom Barr]

Yep, those plants ought to be fine, do the water changes and dosing, keep up on things and be patient.
They will melt back and trim off the leaves before they rot etc.

Regards,
Tom Barr