new plants now for ferts/algae

[crystalview]

Since my plants are new it will be a bit before the tank stabilizes.

keep my water at O, O , .4 with weekly water changes of 50%. I would like to use a dosing schedule such as EI but I would also use Excel. It say's that I would not have to do water changes. What if I want to continue to WC's? I have put more plants (see sig) in my tank.
My diatoms are clearing up. I have patches of what I think is GDA or could it be just a lot of GSA? Which I have had a slight amount for a long time. You say to leave GDA alone and scrape GSA. Is this right? I will start adding micro's on Wed. and continue with excel and flourish. The older plants never had Micro's so that will be new also.

I get confused with the term low tech. I guess I am using what ever will work for me. So for now I am non-CO2 with excel, med low light. I hope the light is not to much. Time will tell

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

I have a 55G with an estimated 100w of T8 light(2 bulbs at ODNO 2x so a guess on wattage from research). Currently I am using Excel also.

I dont have a lot of fishload at this time, just 5 Oto's,5 Baby BN plecos(1" max"), 8RCS and Some snails.

I dont like doing water changes b/c from my experience CO2 gets added from it which seems to cause algae(BBA, ect). THat is what they talk about in the non co2 methods.

You need to test your nitrates, this will give you an idea of your fishload compared to plant load/growth. If your nitrates fall to 5ppm or 0 then you need to dose ferts. Try keeping them at 10-20ppm.

I plan on following the non co2 methods and making adjustments as needed. So far I dose very slightly every week or so.

When I do water changes I make sure to let the water sit for a long time and/or run a pump/air stone/ect.. in the bucket to off gas CO2 so it doesnt mess with my tank as much. I also like to do the WC after the lights are out, to lessen the effects IMO.


Your light is just fine for non co2 or excel.

 

[Carissa]

My 30g is non-co2 now and is doing very well, I dose EI 1x/weekly after my 30% water change. I use spring water which is loaded with co2 (plants pearl like crazy for a day afterward) and haven't had any problems with algae due to this yet. I'm going to start Excel soon (as soon as it comes in) and will probably bump up EI to 2x/weekly and see how it goes from there. I also have a fairly high plant load, the tank is over a year old and my java fern continues to multiply exponentially. I have 2 wpg. Sometimes I go 2 weeks without a water change. That seems to be working for me. I go heavy as opposed to light on ferts, keep nitrates at at least 10ppm.

 

[crystalview]

I started Seachems ferts today. With there dosage regime I will run out of their product in a month. I have seen where people are buying from someplace like PMMD not sure what that means. Or they buy in mass and divide with others. I can't imagine using the amounts you use. I only have one tank. It looks like I will need Phosphorus, nitrogen, and Iron along with the excel. Is there anything else I am forgetting? Where is the best place to get them?


Do Phosphate tester work? Or the chems to get rid of it? It says that it and silicates are what causes the diatoms. I thought water changes would do just as good. What do you think?

 

[jeremy v]

Crystalview,

Here are some good links for buying the dry fertilizers. PMDD stands for "Poor Man's Dosing Drops". There are many sites that explain that technique for dosing online. Just do a google search. It is not really the same thing as EI dosing.

Fertilizers For The Planted Tank | Ferts

Shop online at AquariumFertilizer.com

Dosing your tank with dry fertilizers like these will save you a lot of money over buying liquid fertilizers. They last a long time. They each come in one pound increments so that will be about perfect for a 45g tank. I usually buy more at once though, because since the fertilizers are very inexpensive the shipping is almost as much as the cost of a few one pound bags of fertilizer, haha.

Have a good one, Jeremy

 

[Gerryd]

BTW,

Aqarium.fertilizer.com gives you an extra 1 lb for any 5 of the same that you buy.

I agree with Jeremy that buying a bigger supply is more cost effective. I just keep mine in the bags, or transfer to tupperware for easier storage...

I just got 5 lbs each of ferts (K and P), plus the 2 extra, so have plenty for a while

I gave some to a friend.......You can do a share order with others if cost is an issue to share the overall expense.

 

[Carissa]

I picked up the 'combo pack' from the first link there when I started straightening out my plant issues. A year later and I'm not even close to running out. I have a 30g tank which I've been running co2 on up until very recently, plus I've had at least one or two other smaller tanks most of the time. As I recall, it cost me under $20 including shipping to Canada.