[Ckalisz]

I hope I'm not breaking any rules but I posted this in the low tech forum also. Just want as many opinions as possible.

All right I'd like to get your opinions about dosing ferts and excel. Here's my setup



Standard 55g. USA sat+ 48" light.

Black sand substrate

4 albino Cory's

2 spotted cory

2 julli cory

6 zebra danio

6 odessa barb

7 neon tetra

4 sunburst plat ties

4 amino shrimp



I'll say I have a medium to low planted tank. I'm just starting out so I'm sure over time I'll have more plants. Mostly root feeders but have one Anubis and one java fern on driftwood. Will eventually get some moss.



Currently I dose excel and iron daily and flourish comp every two or three days. Also use root tabs.



My question is with this amount of livestock should I still consider ei or pps pro? Should I be concerned about not enough co2 with just a capful of excel daily?



Basically I want low tech plant growth to be decent but do not want to go over or under board.



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[OVT]

Eh, generally, if nothing is wrong then why fix it?
If you started this thread then you have some concerns. What are they?

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[Ckalisz]

None really, just like to stay on top of things. Plus I'm new to aquarium plants so other than plants staying alive or dying I wouldn't truly know if there was a problem.


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[OVT]

Then maybe post some pictures, get some opinions. Knowing your water params won't hurt either. Otherwise, the worst enemy of good is better - leave good enough alone.

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[Raymond S.]

More specific info is needed. I dose Excel every day is only half of the info.
A capfull is the other half of the info.
That is enough if used each day. But I have high lights in a 10g and use twice the recommended doses each day. Those ferts are incomplete BTW and depending on the light level(there is no PAR chart on this light as it is too new) there will be deficiencies sooner or later. The more quick to develope would be pin holes in the leaves or
misshaped top leaves.
PPS Pro would be a good choice as you can both add more ofany deficient nutrient to it or just add more of it as the level of plants gets higher. But I would start/w a reduced rate at first. Funny how it seems to work as well/w ferts as most anything else is the fact that following the directions provided/w the product usually works best and if you are dosing iron every day... I would check the directions on whatever kind you have. And most of the ones like EI or PPS Pro are designed for a tank/w lots of plants in them.
So what hrs on the light would be the next question.
P.S. The more plants you add, the more likely for a deficiency to show up due to higher consumption of the ferts.

 

[Ckalisz]

The light I believe was rated at 28 par at 18 inches. As far as excel yes I dose the capful daily. It is flourish iron that I'm dosing daily.

Lighting hours would average 10 per day. I'm not currently using my timer because I like playing with the different settings on the light.

What would be causing the pin holes or poor top leaves?


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