New 55

[jrneuzil]

So over the weekend I go into a fish shop that I have not been in before. Nice shop on salt water stuff and they were holding a drawing for a new 55 gallon setup. I filled in the card and low and behold they called yesterday and I won.
So, I am thinking of setting it up for my plants. I am currently running a 20gal long with great success after following guidence here and would like to do the same with the 55 and transfer everything from the 20 to the 55. The 20 will end up being a nano reef.

I was hoping you all could save me the time and math of searching and coming up with the needed dosing values and light.
Starting out with light, what amound has worked well for you 55 gal owners.

I dose Gregs stuff dry and mix Gregs Traces. How much of each element have you 55 gal owners found to work well for you with CO2, high light and heavy plant load ?

Thanks.

 

[matpat]

Re: New 55

For my 55g with ~ 4wpg, I used to dose 1/2tsp of KNO3, 1/8 tsp of KH2PO4 3x a week and 15mls of CSM+B (1tbsp to 250ml water) 3x a week opposite the macros. Weekly 50% water changes. This worked very well for a long time.

I now dose ~ 2ppm of KNO3 daily, 0.7ppm of KH2PO4 every other day and 15 mls of CSM+B every other day (opposite the PO4 dosing). I keep track of the TDS in the tank and do a water change when it rises more than 100ppm or I notice a decrease in pearling. This is usually in the 2-3 week range.

Why the dosing change? Well, since moving, I no longer have a source of water near the tanks. I am too lazy to drag out the Python every week and do water changes on four "larger" tanks so I dose smaller amounts of NO3 more often

 

[Cornhusker]

Re: New 55

matpat,i also have a 55 with 4wpg. i've been dosing 1/4 tsp kno3,1/16tsp po4,and 15ml of trace .this tank has been a pain to respond.your dosage sounds better,as i change water 50% every week on all my tanks.before i had a good water changing system and fewer tanks ,i know where your coming from.water changing can be a pain in the a"" . my wife complains about the smell when i'm draining the tanks,but i know its the right thing to do. "cleanlyness is next to godlyness" . it's certainly not for everyone.regards,cornhusker