I have offered to help my LFS get their plant tank healthy. They have a tank they keep their plants in that they sale and it really needs help. I have offered to assist them set up a dosing regime so they can improve the quality and longevity of the plants they offer for sale.
The current set-up gets no fertilization and the plants are clearly nutrient deficient. The manager is honest with the fact this tank is low priority as far as maintenance and how they care for the plants. I'm hoping if they get the plants growing better and improve their sales, they will see the benefit of maintaining the tank.
The tank is:
48.5" long
45" wide
13" deep
Also has a 20gal sump underneath
Based on these measurments I calculated the capacity to be ~130g (including the sump. The tank has a single 250w metal halide over the center of the tank. They do have pressurized C02 set-up but the diffusion method is lacking. I am going to help them set-up a reactor to make that more efficient as well.
The plant stocking levels vary based on inventory and sales but typically it is heavily stocked. There are a few, less than 10, small fish in the tank. The substrate looks like a mix of inert gravel and red which I assume is laterite
I discussed the EI method of dosing with them and they like the dry fertilizer approach. They do have concerns they will be able to do the 50% water changes weekly.
Based on the EI guidlines (100 to 125 gal), the starting point for this tank would be:
1 1/2 tsp KNO3 3x week
1/2 tsp KH2P04 3X week
1/2 tsp CSM+B 3x week
Questions:
1) Assuming they only get the water change done once a month. What would be a good starting point for the micro and macro dosing? Is there a way to make the EI method work (minus the weekly water changes) or is this a disaster waiting to happen? Their plants look like crap andf I am hoping once they see the improvement in their plants, and sales, they will commit to putting more effort into the plants.
2) Since they do not consider this tank a priority in the store, I have concerns about them being consistant with dosing 3x per week. Would it work to have them dose the weekly dose of macros once per week and the weekly dose of CSM+B once per week?
I am not being paid for helping them but I have a good relationship with the staff.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Mike
The current set-up gets no fertilization and the plants are clearly nutrient deficient. The manager is honest with the fact this tank is low priority as far as maintenance and how they care for the plants. I'm hoping if they get the plants growing better and improve their sales, they will see the benefit of maintaining the tank.
The tank is:
48.5" long
45" wide
13" deep
Also has a 20gal sump underneath
Based on these measurments I calculated the capacity to be ~130g (including the sump. The tank has a single 250w metal halide over the center of the tank. They do have pressurized C02 set-up but the diffusion method is lacking. I am going to help them set-up a reactor to make that more efficient as well.
The plant stocking levels vary based on inventory and sales but typically it is heavily stocked. There are a few, less than 10, small fish in the tank. The substrate looks like a mix of inert gravel and red which I assume is laterite
I discussed the EI method of dosing with them and they like the dry fertilizer approach. They do have concerns they will be able to do the 50% water changes weekly.
Based on the EI guidlines (100 to 125 gal), the starting point for this tank would be:
1 1/2 tsp KNO3 3x week
1/2 tsp KH2P04 3X week
1/2 tsp CSM+B 3x week
Questions:
1) Assuming they only get the water change done once a month. What would be a good starting point for the micro and macro dosing? Is there a way to make the EI method work (minus the weekly water changes) or is this a disaster waiting to happen? Their plants look like crap andf I am hoping once they see the improvement in their plants, and sales, they will commit to putting more effort into the plants.
2) Since they do not consider this tank a priority in the store, I have concerns about them being consistant with dosing 3x per week. Would it work to have them dose the weekly dose of macros once per week and the weekly dose of CSM+B once per week?
I am not being paid for helping them but I have a good relationship with the staff.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Mike