I'm running both of my planted tanks low tech low-medium light and just wondered if I could get some advice on what kind of fert / dosing is actually going to help me or if I'm just wasting money?
Current set ups:
-55 gal
-eco complete (I think I bought 4 bags, so I think about 60lbs = about 2" deep?)
-4x54W T5HO light fixture, currently running (1) 10000K and (1) actinic for about 4 hours in the morning, about 2 hour break in afternoon followed by about 6 hours lighting in the evening (I know this is the wrong color combo for planted tanks, but have read that color spectrum didn't make a huge difference, more important is PAR out of the lights...).
-water wisteria, purple caromba (CABOMBA PALAEFORMIS), creeping jenny, java fern, some sort of Anubis, DHG, dwarf water lily
-guppies, mollies, cory cats, clown loach
-10 gal
-miracle grow potting soil, capped with gravel, capped with Tahitian moon sand (made a mess of the gravel when planting, so capped with a thin layer of Tahitian moon sand to make it look better)
-2x18W spiral CFL bulbs in stock hood, currently running from the time I get up in the morning until the time I go to bed at night - once I move it to work I'll put it on a timer to have it on 8 hours a day or so.
-Vallisneria Spiralis, Dwarf Onion Plant, Cryptocoryne undulata, Hygrophila corymbosa, DHG, HC
-undecided on fish, probably just fry from the 55
I'm not running CO2 on either tanks (well I have a DIY CO2 wine set up on the 55, but haven't been keeping up with adding new bottles so doubt it is producing anything, and think I had too many leaks to get any CO2 to the tank anyways...) so I've bought
-API CO2 booster
-Flourish
-Excel
I'm reading now that Excel and CO2 booster are the same thing (oops, guess I double dosed carbon last night... luckily I had forgot I had bought the CO2 booster so hadn't been dosing it since I bought the excel... will just take one of them to work when I bring my 10 gal work tank in).
Will this be enough for the plants? Do I need to add anything else to help my plants grow better?
Current set ups:
-55 gal
-eco complete (I think I bought 4 bags, so I think about 60lbs = about 2" deep?)
-4x54W T5HO light fixture, currently running (1) 10000K and (1) actinic for about 4 hours in the morning, about 2 hour break in afternoon followed by about 6 hours lighting in the evening (I know this is the wrong color combo for planted tanks, but have read that color spectrum didn't make a huge difference, more important is PAR out of the lights...).
-water wisteria, purple caromba (CABOMBA PALAEFORMIS), creeping jenny, java fern, some sort of Anubis, DHG, dwarf water lily
-guppies, mollies, cory cats, clown loach
-10 gal
-miracle grow potting soil, capped with gravel, capped with Tahitian moon sand (made a mess of the gravel when planting, so capped with a thin layer of Tahitian moon sand to make it look better)
-2x18W spiral CFL bulbs in stock hood, currently running from the time I get up in the morning until the time I go to bed at night - once I move it to work I'll put it on a timer to have it on 8 hours a day or so.
-Vallisneria Spiralis, Dwarf Onion Plant, Cryptocoryne undulata, Hygrophila corymbosa, DHG, HC
-undecided on fish, probably just fry from the 55
I'm not running CO2 on either tanks (well I have a DIY CO2 wine set up on the 55, but haven't been keeping up with adding new bottles so doubt it is producing anything, and think I had too many leaks to get any CO2 to the tank anyways...) so I've bought
-API CO2 booster
-Flourish
-Excel
I'm reading now that Excel and CO2 booster are the same thing (oops, guess I double dosed carbon last night... luckily I had forgot I had bought the CO2 booster so hadn't been dosing it since I bought the excel... will just take one of them to work when I bring my 10 gal work tank in).
Will this be enough for the plants? Do I need to add anything else to help my plants grow better?