A List of Recommended Levels and Parameters for Planted Tanks (1996)
Steve Dixon and SFBAAPS conferred to write this article.
This is a test kit version of a method to grow aquatic plants.
This was the first method that suggested and focused on PO4 dosing and the first method to acknowledge that PO4 excess did not cause algae blooms in planted aquariums. It is also the first method that seriously questioned the accuracy of Test kits and suggested using higher accuracy brands and calibrations.
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Many folks often wish to know what level should their CO2 be in a planted tank or pH or lighting etc. Many times they get very conflicting information. They get told four different things from four different people. They get frustrated and say “Forget the planted tanks, they are too hard and I always get algae!” Plants basically need three things: light, CO2 and nutrients. This is the “food” for the plants, not just the trace elements in the bottle. Many fish keepers often feel that adding more plant food (often just the trace elements) will help their plants grow faster. Nothing could be further from the truth unless you add more light and CO2 also. These things should be balanced with one another. Some folks can get away with lower light or more CO2 or less nutrients than someone else doing a different balance. If we have no O2 we also could not use the food we eat. The vitamins and trace nutrients would do us no good also if we did not have the protein, carbohydrates and fats along with the O2. It may help to think of the plant's N-P-K nutrients as those three food groups for you and fish. The O2 and the CO2 have a similar analogy comparing plants to humans and fish.
There is not one specific target but a range of parameters that allow plants to do their best. A careful eye on the plants is one of the best things you can do. The focus should always be on the plants, not the algae. A healthy growing plant is the single best way to retard alga growth. ***What to do*** if there's a problem is why I wrote this list of nutrient ranges and how to achieve them.
Lighting is not really an issue unless you just don't have enough but the color temps don't mean hay. I've gone through from 3050K with the QTL's (Quartz Track Lighting) to 6700K to 8800K MV (Mercury Vapor) bulbs and power compact fluorescent bulbs. They all work well but the 6700 to 5000k seem about the best, but many plants grow great at lower (redder) color temperatures. Some blue does help but to a lesser degree than red. Good lighting types are Metal halide, T-12 or T-8 standard Fluorescent, Power Compact Fluorescent and VHO lighting systems. Many folks add very high light since the advent of power compacts and the cost have dropped. This leads to more frequent need for dosing than lower light tanks. You can dose the same amount at lower lighting but just less frequently. The light drives the entire photosynthetic process and is the tank's "throttle". Lower light tanks are very suitable for CO2 and greatly benefit from it. While not such a critical requirement on lower lighting tanks, they do grow exceedingly well and have less algae than the higher maintenance (trimming, 1-2 more dosings a week, more glass algae) tanks with high light values. But once you settle on the lighting it will not be a large issue as you will not need to do any (or very limited) maintenance to it.
Sooooo all that is left is? CO2 and Trace/Macro elements right? If you have good lighting then the next item to master is CO2, which involves KH and pH. At a KH of 4 which is about the best range (mine's 5-5.5) all you need to do is dial the pH in with CO2 gas additions to about 6.6-6.8 and try to keep it in this "range" throughout the entire day. If it goes over or under somewhat it's OK. Add Baking soda to get the KH up to 3 at least (if you have very soft tap water). My tap water has a good range where I live. If my pH it starts at 6.4 or 6.5 in the morning and hits 7.0 later right before the light go off, that's fine. This might be a typical rise during a day depending on your tank's lighting and other factors. Folks should realize that in most shallow lakes and ponds with vegetation growing the pH can rise from 6 in the early morning to over 10 in the evening in some cases. A more normal range is about 1 to 2 units of pH. But plants are doing well in both locations. A rise of .2 to .4 is what you would like to hit on a daily basis. Of course if the plants are growing and looking fine don't mess with it. Do not ever use chemicals to lower your pH! Use CO2 gas only! Plants want the CO2, not the buffers. Give them what they need to grow. I do not add CO2 at night although you can with no ill effects. I see no need since it is only for the plants and they only use it during the day. The moderate rise in pH at night does no harm.
There is a nice table and a more in depth discussion on the web on [email protected] maintained by Erik Olson. By testing your KH and pH and adjusting each or both of them you adjust your CO2 levels in your tank. So a KH of 4 will give you a CO2 reading of 30 mg/l if you have a pH of 6.6. And if you raise the pH up to 6.8 you'll now have 19mg/l and if you take it up to 6.9 you'll have a CO2 content of 15mg/l all of which would do nicely for your tank. So just add something for KH and get it to 4KH and dial the pH in with CO2 till you have between 6.6 and 6.9 pH. This is all you need to do for CO2. Got harder water? Adjust based on the KH/pH table. It's cheaper/easier to add more CO2 than to soften your water or add RO water etc. Many folks assume they need RO soft water to grow plants. This is a myth. Both non-CO2 enriched and CO2 enriched tank do well (these non-CO2 tanks soften the water over time on their own) in hard waters. I have had extremely hard water at a KH 15 and GH of 24 and my plants all did great when I used CO2. Tap water rich in PO4 or NO3 is fine also since then you do not need to dose these to the aquarium after a water change.
I would move on to NO3 from here although Ca and Mg are very important components of GH. Many fertilizers add this or at least Mg. Several companies offer pre- made buffers that have GH and KH for this to get it up to about 4-5GH. It adds both Ca and Mg. You can also add Calcium carbonate to get equal amounts of GH and KH but this lacks Mg. Epsom salt, MgSO4~7H2O can be used for Mg.
Continued:
Steve Dixon and SFBAAPS conferred to write this article.
This is a test kit version of a method to grow aquatic plants.
This was the first method that suggested and focused on PO4 dosing and the first method to acknowledge that PO4 excess did not cause algae blooms in planted aquariums. It is also the first method that seriously questioned the accuracy of Test kits and suggested using higher accuracy brands and calibrations.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++==
Many folks often wish to know what level should their CO2 be in a planted tank or pH or lighting etc. Many times they get very conflicting information. They get told four different things from four different people. They get frustrated and say “Forget the planted tanks, they are too hard and I always get algae!” Plants basically need three things: light, CO2 and nutrients. This is the “food” for the plants, not just the trace elements in the bottle. Many fish keepers often feel that adding more plant food (often just the trace elements) will help their plants grow faster. Nothing could be further from the truth unless you add more light and CO2 also. These things should be balanced with one another. Some folks can get away with lower light or more CO2 or less nutrients than someone else doing a different balance. If we have no O2 we also could not use the food we eat. The vitamins and trace nutrients would do us no good also if we did not have the protein, carbohydrates and fats along with the O2. It may help to think of the plant's N-P-K nutrients as those three food groups for you and fish. The O2 and the CO2 have a similar analogy comparing plants to humans and fish.
There is not one specific target but a range of parameters that allow plants to do their best. A careful eye on the plants is one of the best things you can do. The focus should always be on the plants, not the algae. A healthy growing plant is the single best way to retard alga growth. ***What to do*** if there's a problem is why I wrote this list of nutrient ranges and how to achieve them.
Lighting is not really an issue unless you just don't have enough but the color temps don't mean hay. I've gone through from 3050K with the QTL's (Quartz Track Lighting) to 6700K to 8800K MV (Mercury Vapor) bulbs and power compact fluorescent bulbs. They all work well but the 6700 to 5000k seem about the best, but many plants grow great at lower (redder) color temperatures. Some blue does help but to a lesser degree than red. Good lighting types are Metal halide, T-12 or T-8 standard Fluorescent, Power Compact Fluorescent and VHO lighting systems. Many folks add very high light since the advent of power compacts and the cost have dropped. This leads to more frequent need for dosing than lower light tanks. You can dose the same amount at lower lighting but just less frequently. The light drives the entire photosynthetic process and is the tank's "throttle". Lower light tanks are very suitable for CO2 and greatly benefit from it. While not such a critical requirement on lower lighting tanks, they do grow exceedingly well and have less algae than the higher maintenance (trimming, 1-2 more dosings a week, more glass algae) tanks with high light values. But once you settle on the lighting it will not be a large issue as you will not need to do any (or very limited) maintenance to it.
Sooooo all that is left is? CO2 and Trace/Macro elements right? If you have good lighting then the next item to master is CO2, which involves KH and pH. At a KH of 4 which is about the best range (mine's 5-5.5) all you need to do is dial the pH in with CO2 gas additions to about 6.6-6.8 and try to keep it in this "range" throughout the entire day. If it goes over or under somewhat it's OK. Add Baking soda to get the KH up to 3 at least (if you have very soft tap water). My tap water has a good range where I live. If my pH it starts at 6.4 or 6.5 in the morning and hits 7.0 later right before the light go off, that's fine. This might be a typical rise during a day depending on your tank's lighting and other factors. Folks should realize that in most shallow lakes and ponds with vegetation growing the pH can rise from 6 in the early morning to over 10 in the evening in some cases. A more normal range is about 1 to 2 units of pH. But plants are doing well in both locations. A rise of .2 to .4 is what you would like to hit on a daily basis. Of course if the plants are growing and looking fine don't mess with it. Do not ever use chemicals to lower your pH! Use CO2 gas only! Plants want the CO2, not the buffers. Give them what they need to grow. I do not add CO2 at night although you can with no ill effects. I see no need since it is only for the plants and they only use it during the day. The moderate rise in pH at night does no harm.
There is a nice table and a more in depth discussion on the web on [email protected] maintained by Erik Olson. By testing your KH and pH and adjusting each or both of them you adjust your CO2 levels in your tank. So a KH of 4 will give you a CO2 reading of 30 mg/l if you have a pH of 6.6. And if you raise the pH up to 6.8 you'll now have 19mg/l and if you take it up to 6.9 you'll have a CO2 content of 15mg/l all of which would do nicely for your tank. So just add something for KH and get it to 4KH and dial the pH in with CO2 till you have between 6.6 and 6.9 pH. This is all you need to do for CO2. Got harder water? Adjust based on the KH/pH table. It's cheaper/easier to add more CO2 than to soften your water or add RO water etc. Many folks assume they need RO soft water to grow plants. This is a myth. Both non-CO2 enriched and CO2 enriched tank do well (these non-CO2 tanks soften the water over time on their own) in hard waters. I have had extremely hard water at a KH 15 and GH of 24 and my plants all did great when I used CO2. Tap water rich in PO4 or NO3 is fine also since then you do not need to dose these to the aquarium after a water change.
I would move on to NO3 from here although Ca and Mg are very important components of GH. Many fertilizers add this or at least Mg. Several companies offer pre- made buffers that have GH and KH for this to get it up to about 4-5GH. It adds both Ca and Mg. You can also add Calcium carbonate to get equal amounts of GH and KH but this lacks Mg. Epsom salt, MgSO4~7H2O can be used for Mg.
Continued:
