What is your experience with planted aquariums?
Good Starting Point on Ferts?
Hi All,
Going into week two on the new setup and think it's time I get a fert plan figured out. I've been dosing but its been kinda willy nillyand the ludwigia new growth is looking like it's showing an iron deficiency.
My goal for dosing is to be a bit leaner than EI since I can only easily do a 40% water change at most. I can change more, but it requires manually emptying the sump with pitchers. I also was thinking a bit leaner since there aren't a ton of stems and will long term likely focus on crypts, buce, anubias, and the DHG carpet.
Tank details:
20 gallon long with 10-gallon sump - still cycling in the high nitrite phase
Substrated: Boiled and baked worm castings, and red clay mixed 50/50 with blasting sand, additional blasting sand cap over top. A light sprinkle of osmocote plus, KCL, and dolomite on the glass
CO2: injected via cerges to 1 ish drop - I think... I need to get a pH pen! (a bit more then 1 bubble per second)
Light: 36" Finnex Ray2 DS on 8 hours a day, about 5.5" from the water surface (no idea where this falls since I can't find a par chart anymore)
Proposed dosing plan:
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I am also planning to dose 1 cap of flourish trace a day since I have a bottle but did not include it in the above since its so dilute.
My tap water is bit on the alkaline side (pH around 7.6) so I am wondering if I should order some Fe-DTPA and possibly a trace mix with DTPA like GLA's micro mix. If I do order more ferts should I also consider getting some magnesium sulphate and/or Fe-gluconate (since I already dose daily)?
Going into week two on the new setup and think it's time I get a fert plan figured out. I've been dosing but its been kinda willy nillyand the ludwigia new growth is looking like it's showing an iron deficiency.
My goal for dosing is to be a bit leaner than EI since I can only easily do a 40% water change at most. I can change more, but it requires manually emptying the sump with pitchers. I also was thinking a bit leaner since there aren't a ton of stems and will long term likely focus on crypts, buce, anubias, and the DHG carpet.
Tank details:
20 gallon long with 10-gallon sump - still cycling in the high nitrite phase
Substrated: Boiled and baked worm castings, and red clay mixed 50/50 with blasting sand, additional blasting sand cap over top. A light sprinkle of osmocote plus, KCL, and dolomite on the glass
CO2: injected via cerges to 1 ish drop - I think... I need to get a pH pen! (a bit more then 1 bubble per second)
Light: 36" Finnex Ray2 DS on 8 hours a day, about 5.5" from the water surface (no idea where this falls since I can't find a par chart anymore)
Proposed dosing plan:
I am also planning to dose 1 cap of flourish trace a day since I have a bottle but did not include it in the above since its so dilute.
My tap water is bit on the alkaline side (pH around 7.6) so I am wondering if I should order some Fe-DTPA and possibly a trace mix with DTPA like GLA's micro mix. If I do order more ferts should I also consider getting some magnesium sulphate and/or Fe-gluconate (since I already dose daily)?
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Thanks for the link, I'll take a look to refresh myself on PPS Pro!That makes sense
If you want a leaner dosing schedule I would suggest you go with PPS Pro schedule, find info how to prepare and dose here: Planted Aquarium Fertilizer Guide, Fertilizer Dosing Calculator
You say your tank is 20gal with 10gal sump. I honestly don't see why you need a sump for such a small tank. I think it's just adding complication to your system, you should be fine with a basic hang on back filter or small canister.
Having active substrate is good but keep in might that it might be leeching nutrients especially in first couple month so you need be careful with dosing and stay on top with your water changes. One way to know how bad is your substrate leeching is to use a TDS pen. You measure the TDS every day and see how much it's increasing, keep in mind that when you dose ferts your TDS increases as weel.
That being said I do like the concept of non limiting nutrients for plants. I just don't know if full strength EI would be quite the right fit from an accumulation standpoint. In my last tank I had a dialed back version EI that worked well with 25% water changes. Of course I either didn't write it down or lost it so not sure what I was dosind back then.
As for the sump, kind of a long story that isn't even great answer for why. Pretty much I just decided I wanted one
. So far I'm really liking it and it's very easy to maintain aside from the water change volume. For better or worse I'm stuck with it unless I start over completely with a new tank since the current tank is drilled for the overflow. I am considering getting a small pump or putting a bypass on the main pump so I can use it to drain the sump quickly.The substrate is definitely a bit unusual and I've been trying to keep an eye on things. I actually used very little worm castings so the substrate is mostly sand. I do have a very old Hannah TDS meter that I will dig out. I suspect I will need to get a new sensing element and calibration solutions for it though. Might be good enough to monitor changes, not actual value, in TDS in the mean time.
I'll take another look at my water report but last I looked it was pretty useless as there wasn't any values for Ca or Mg reported.
Thanks again for all the feedback so far, it is very helpful in getting me back up to speed on things!
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
You might better of just buying a new TDS pen from HomeDepot for 15$Thanks for the link, I'll take a look to refresh myself on PPS Pro!
That being said I do like the concept of non limiting nutrients for plants. I just don't know if full strength EI would be quite the right fit from an accumulation standpoint. In my last tank I had a dialed back version EI that worked well with 25% water changes. Of course I either didn't write it down or lost it so not sure what I was dosind back then.
As for the sump, kind of a long story that isn't even great answer for why. Pretty much I just decided I wanted one. So far I'm really liking it and it's very easy to maintain aside from the water change volume. For better or worse I'm stuck with it unless I start over completely with a new tank since the current tank is drilled for the overflow. I am considering getting a small pump or putting a bypass on the main pump so I can use it to drain the sump quickly.![]()
The substrate is definitely a bit unusual and I've been trying to keep an eye on things. I actually used very little worm castings so the substrate is mostly sand. I do have a very old Hannah TDS meter that I will dig out. I suspect I will need to get a new sensing element and calibration solutions for it though. Might be good enough to monitor changes, not actual value, in TDS in the mean time.
I'll take another look at my water report but last I looked it was pretty useless as there wasn't any values for Ca or Mg reported.
Thanks again for all the feedback so far, it is very helpful in getting me back up to speed on things!
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
ISPRING 3-Button Digital TDS Meter/Thermometer with Automatic Calibration, Temperature Button and Leather Case
ISPRING 3-Button Digital TDS Meter/Thermometer with Automatic Calibration, Temperature Button and Leather Case TDS3 - The Home Depot
The ISPRING TDS meter is a digital instrument that measures the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids), in the scale of ppm (parts per million) which indicates the amount of solid dissolved in the water. The lower
www.homedepot.com
Perfect, I think I'll pick one of those up!You might better of just buying a new TDS pen from HomeDepot for 15$
ISPRING 3-Button Digital TDS Meter/Thermometer with Automatic Calibration, Temperature Button and Leather Case
SKU# 206466760ISPRING 3-Button Digital TDS Meter/Thermometer with Automatic Calibration, Temperature Button and Leather Case TDS3 - The Home Depot
The ISPRING TDS meter is a digital instrument that measures the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids), in the scale of ppm (parts per million) which indicates the amount of solid dissolved in the water. The lowerwww.homedepot.com
I snapped a few pics of the yellowing on the ludwigia that I mentioned
I also checked my water report again and it's a bit strange since the county buys its water from a water wholesaler. If I checked the correct report from the wholesaler my tap water has 28 mg/L of Ca, 7 mg/L of Mg, and 2.1 mg/L of K.
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Took some pics prior to usual lights on so the ludwigia species are still folded closed for the night. Figures this would show the top and bottoms of leaves better. I apologize for the poor quality. All I have is my phone. Luckily its waterproof so taking some pics from inside the tank seemed to be better.
Things I'm seeing, the ludwigia seems to be pale but I'm not sure if it's lacking nutrients or changing color due to getting closer to the light.
The anubias is putting up a weird gray pink leaf, might be normal but its been so long since my last tank I don't remember what the new leaves look like. The anubias also has browning on old leafs, I suspect this is due to it previously being grown emmersed.
Frogbit doesent look great but I have suspicions its because of the amount of flow its getting hit with. It also gets a bit beat up during water changes I think.
Seeing some brown algae (diatoms?) on a few leaves of hydrocoytle and older crypts leaves. Pretty minor all in all.
Some recent growing of the DHG, might be diatoms or a die off. I did dose the tank once with excel over the weekend since I thought I saw some thread algae but now I think I imagine it. Might have made the DHG mad?
Pale leaves on the buce, not sure this is new growth since they've only been in the tank for a week or so. Might be bleaching?
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Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
Things I'm seeing, the ludwigia seems to be pale but I'm not sure if it's lacking nutrients or changing color due to getting closer to the light.
The anubias is putting up a weird gray pink leaf, might be normal but its been so long since my last tank I don't remember what the new leaves look like. The anubias also has browning on old leafs, I suspect this is due to it previously being grown emmersed.
Frogbit doesent look great but I have suspicions its because of the amount of flow its getting hit with. It also gets a bit beat up during water changes I think.
Seeing some brown algae (diatoms?) on a few leaves of hydrocoytle and older crypts leaves. Pretty minor all in all.
Some recent growing of the DHG, might be diatoms or a die off. I did dose the tank once with excel over the weekend since I thought I saw some thread algae but now I think I imagine it. Might have made the DHG mad?
Pale leaves on the buce, not sure this is new growth since they've only been in the tank for a week or so. Might be bleaching?
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
Thanks Greggz! Means a lot cominf from an expert. If you want to follow along I do have a journal here (shameless self promotion
)I'm pretty happy overall, there's just a few things that I can't stop thinking about. The pale/white growth being foremost. I have a suspicion that it might be Fe/trace related since my pH before CO2 is 7.6~7.8 but might be totally wrong.
The other one is speed of growth, everything just seems slower then I remember. The tank is almost a month old and I don't feel like I've seen much growth. I suppose running the tank unheated might have a hand in that.
Other then that it's just little things like bubbles escaping the reactor, loud overflow box, pump surging, cycle that won't finish, etc. I really need to force my self stop stressing and fiddling and just let things rub!
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
Again new tanks take time.Thanks Greggz! Means a lot cominf from an expert. If you want to follow along I do have a journal here (shameless self promotion)
I'm pretty happy overall, there's just a few things that I can't stop thinking about. The pale/white growth being foremost. I have a suspicion that it might be Fe/trace related since my pH before CO2 is 7.6~7.8 but might be totally wrong.
The other one is speed of growth, everything just seems slower then I remember. The tank is almost a month old and I don't feel like I've seen much growth. I suppose running the tank unheated might have a hand in that.
Other then that it's just little things like bubbles escaping the reactor, loud overflow box, pump surging, cycle that won't finish, etc. I really need to force my self stop stressing and fiddling and just let things rub!
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
If you are still cycling then when you have a more mature bio field that will help.
Pale/white usually is a nutrient issue. Could be Fe/micros, could also be macros as well.
Slow growth at start up is not unusual. Same thing can happen when plants just go from one tank to another. I've had plants sent to me that just seem to sit there for the longest time. Not dying but not growing. Then all of the sudden it seeems lke they figure it out and adjust to the new environment.
I'll check out and follow the journal.
Well algae finally reared its ugly head. A bunch of very fine clear/white threads or hair appeared on one my buces litteraly overnight (top in the picture). As far as I can tell it's only affecting the one plant.
I will remove it manually and might hit it with a little excel.
Is this indicative of an issue or imbalance or just the tank still being new.
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I will remove it manually and might hit it with a little excel.
Is this indicative of an issue or imbalance or just the tank still being new.
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
I did end up getting some FE DTPA to work into my dosing and the plants all seemed to improve for a while. However, the past few weeks I have been seeing necrosis on my Ludwigia leaves, both old and new growth. The leaves turn pale grey and sorta translucent then fall apart. The plants as a whole still seem to be a bit pale. I tried to grab some pics but they aren't the best. I'm also seeing some dead/yellow leaves in my DHG carpet, necrotic patches on my frogbit, and clear tips on some of the java fern babies. Any thoughts on what I might be missing?
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Decided to up my potassium dose starting on Sunday to rule it out as a possibility. Since then the tops of some of the taller ludwigia stems have started turning a nice orange and I think I am seeing heavier pearling. However, I am hesitant to say it's due to the potassium since I also added a second layer of screen over my weir box teeth to prevent shrimp from getting sucked up. As a result of the second layer of the screen, the water level rose slightly which reduced surface ripple. The screen also impedes the skimming of the weir so I am getting a little protein film build-up in the tank which might be leading to higher CO2 levels.
I also wonder if I might be a little low in light, at least at the edges of the tank. It seems like the plants that are higher in the tank and directly center under the light seem to look better. The stems also seem to increase their speed of growth once they hit the top third of the tank and look healthier while the shorter stems look bad and/or melt. The plants under shaded by the hydrocolyte also don't look the happiest so perhaps I should wack it back some more. Lighting this tank is probably the trickiest part for me, I have no idea if I am pushing too much or light or not enough.
As a whole, the tanks look pretty good so I know I should be happy but every time I look at the tank from close up I get frustrated by how the plants are looking so any help would be very much be appreciated!
New dosing and some more pics are below.
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I also wonder if I might be a little low in light, at least at the edges of the tank. It seems like the plants that are higher in the tank and directly center under the light seem to look better. The stems also seem to increase their speed of growth once they hit the top third of the tank and look healthier while the shorter stems look bad and/or melt. The plants under shaded by the hydrocolyte also don't look the happiest so perhaps I should wack it back some more. Lighting this tank is probably the trickiest part for me, I have no idea if I am pushing too much or light or not enough.
As a whole, the tanks look pretty good so I know I should be happy but every time I look at the tank from close up I get frustrated by how the plants are looking so any help would be very much be appreciated!
New dosing and some more pics are below.
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