dantra;39449 said:
Thanks Tom, I will definitely add GH booster with my water changes. I'm curious though, do also dose trace mixes with water changes as well? I mean, I have mineralized soil so I was under the impression that I don't have to dose at all.
I running pressurized CO2, I have 2ft 4 bulb 96W Tek lights but only have all 4 bulbs on for 2 to 3 hours for noon burst. Anyway, If I do have to dose what exactly do I dose? I have TMG as well as KNO3, KH2PO4 and K2SO4. I got them before I decided to go with mineralized soil. My tank is about 18 gallons (60p ADA).
Today is the first day it was up and running... finally!
NYC water is excellent and really soft, like RO water.
So GH booster is required.
I'd run say about 1/2 EI dosing.
You can make a liquid 2-4 week's worth and then divide to do a daily dosing routine.
The light is really high.
The CO2 will need to be high.
Nutrients will be high in the sediment+ moderate in the water column.
Some of the issues with MS over time seem mitigated this way.
Water changes help.
Some like slower limited growth which if you do not dose, sediment rich can help(ADA does a similar thing).
The initial nutrients are very high however for ADA and MS, and much of it leaches into the water column as a result. Over time, that stops, and then grow rates slow down, often considerably. If that is the plan/goal, that's fine, but you need to account for that, and know that is what you want.
Some chose to restart and rip everything out.
Seems wasteful to me, just add water column ferts later or start that way to begin with to get longer life spans out of things, if you want to slow rates of growth, use less light(also extends the lifetime of MS).
Makes less sense to do the other way and is based on fear, not testing near as I can tell and or anyone been able to justify. Most fell back to "Because I want to do it this way" rather than stating why they really chose the method and did not add any N or P(this is not hard to add, I have to wonder why some suggest that it is or complicated, no more so than say adding traces or K+ or GH booster etc).
Results are better, last longer, makes logical sense, light is easier to manage to control rates of growth etc.
You do not NEED full EI, but adding full EI does not harm or hurt anything either.
Some really do their best to imply that it does, wasteful, cost more, bad for fish, complex(What? EI is complicated?) etc.........
I'm not sure why.
Still, with reduced light, good sediment ferts(ADA As or MS etc), 1/2 EI is generally non limiting to the water column.
Regards,
Tom Barr