Possible change in ferts

[peteypob]

Hi everyone,
I have been playing with the idea of changing from GW dry ferts to ADA liquid ferts. There is no particular reason just curious and wanting to try something new.
I have been using GW ferts since I started with planted tanks(4-5years) and have been completely satisfied.
I am not quite sure which of the ADA liquid ferts I would need. My tank is a high light, deep, heavily planted, and co2 injected set up.

Would these be what I would be needed to supply my plants with the needed nutrients?
Brighty step 2
Brighty K
Brighty special LIGHTS

I have anubias, ferns, stems, and moss in the tank.

Any input would be great!
Thanks!
-Pete

 

[Tom Barr]

I'd go a mix of these two:

Aqua Design Amano USA/ADGshop.com- now available in the U.S.A, prouldy offered by Aquarium Design Group. The finest planted aquarium products.

Green Brighty Special LIGHTS 500ml

For traces and mix of ECA and this:
Green Brighty Step 3 500 ml


This gives you a diluted mix of NPK and traces.
Alternate between the shade and brighty with your tank.

The dosing routines call for daily dosing.
You can also try and diluted version of EI, say 1/2 and add to liquid and dose daily as well, and get similar results.

some find that when they start adding lowered amounts of nutrients, that they have slower growth, but less algae, this is due to reducing the CO2 demand.

The best method for reducing CO2 demand however is by reducing the light.

So I'd suggest to get the most out EI/ADA etc, use less light, then lean things up after.

EI works more broadly than ADA for a simple reason, it assumes high light/lots of CO2.

Now adding nutrients at higher levels will do no harm with EI, but at less it can.......unless you reduce light then CO2 then NO3 etc etc so on down the line.

The problem some face with EI, they assume that thier high light and CO2 are not to blame.

They blame their algae issues on EI.
Yet many folks have no issues using EI as well.

So something else other than nutrients alone are playign a role, CO2 is tricky and high light is common,.

It does not take a genius to figure out the light can cause a lot of headaches for folks.

More light is not better, it is just more work and hassle for many.
When you limit say PO4/Mg/maybe NO3/maybe Fe etc, then you reduce the CO2 demand, so if you had a CO2 issue and some algae prior, slowing down the CO2 demand would give you a positive benefit.

But if you had been adding good CO2 all along and had a nice stable tank, it would likely give you an algae bloom........

But some are very unclear on this idea and have not tested things on both sides of the parameter/s.

Hope this helps.
BTW, use the ADA aqua soil in conjunction, this will help to mitigate lower levels of nutrients.


Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[sherry]

so if you want to throttle back, but still grow the traditional high light plants, like ludwiga glandulosa, tonina fluviatilus, how far back can you go without melt?? 2 wpg ? 3?

 

[Tom Barr]

I'm not sure, I do not use variable light routines and testing yet.

I have done lighting using micromols/m^2/sec but I have not varied it with a specific response to growth for various species.

I do know most all plants will do pretty well at 2w/gal, that is about 150-200 micromoles with a good e-ballast and reflector about 2-3" off the water's surface.

So below that, you get down into some pretty low ranges for many species.
Algae also, they get into the 20 micromole ranges, Hydrilla and Egeria can live at those levels also. Pretty dark.

It's general hard to generalize about the unit of precise measure for lighting even though it's the starting point for everything to do with Photosynthesis.

I think that lighting is the last thing most planted Aquarists really test and I've not met any that measure it well. I have not done an intensity curve for a specific species for uptake of nutrients, CO2 demand etc.

Lots of stuff one could measure and do if they chose, you can simple lower anr raise an open top pendant light to change the intensity.

The test would not be hard, the light meter is about 300$.
I have one but I got other things to do at the moment.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[peteypob]

Sorry for the late get back! So:
1 bottle of Brighty green LIGHTS
1 bottle of Brighty green SHADE
Traces:
1 bottle of brighty green Step 3

Do I also need a bottle of the ECA? I didnt completely understand the part about traces and ECA.

I forgot to mention that I have ADA aquasoil in my tank.

 

[Tom Barr]

You can use ECA if you want to stick with the ADA line up.
I liken it to Seachem's flourish Iron.
Add some hummics(not much, humic acids: peat moss juice), some hormones, such as Super Thrive, you have pretty much the same thing.

So you can make up a batch of DIY poor man's ECA for about 10% the cost if you want.

Given the plant choices, it's not likely you need it, but it'll certainly not hurt and should help a little/a tad.

I'd not want to try and prove it does anything however.
I think the effect is subtle, many of the traces are for that matter.

When you have severe limitations, then you can get big effects, but you have traces in the soil, in the other Brighty series ferts also.

Regards,
Tom Barr