[yashua]

i have a 60g planted tank.i recently purchased a new light.a coralife with 4x65watt 6700k bulbs.i redid my sub with seachem flourite.i add supplements seachem flourishand seachem potash.i want to get some real ferts.what should i get?i can post a plant list if needed and or anything else if need be.thanks.

 

[FelixAvery]

are greg watson ferts like george foreman grilss?

just get some flourish excel and iron
the your pretty much set
you could also get some diy co2?

oh and run an airpump into the tank at night (will almost doulbe your growth!)

 

[yashua]

i do do iy co2 only about 25bpm though,if i run an airpump after lights out it increases my growth?how?so no dry ferts?

 

[eklikewhoa]

With that much lighting you will need more then just flourish and Iron..... you need to dose Micros and Macros.....

if you want to use Seachem's line then you will need pretty much the whole Seachem Flourish line..... Nitrogen,Potassium,Phosphates, Iron, Flourish, and possibly Excel since all you have is DIY co2.

If you go with greg watson then check out Rexgrigg's site for more info on lots of different things including dry ferts...http://rexgrigg.com/dosing.htm

 

[distrbd]

Defiantly go with dry ferts,and consider buying a pressurized co2 system soon.

http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/store/aquaticplantfood.php

 

[Rex Grigg]

are greg watson ferts like george foreman grilss?

just get some flourish excel and iron
the your pretty much set
you could also get some diy co2?

oh and run an airpump into the tank at night (will almost doulbe your growth!)

Can you back up this thing about an air pump at night doubling growth?

Since your first statement is so patently untrue I have serious doubts about the second.

 

[dapellegrini]

Running an air pump at night will do nothing for your plants.

You need :

Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) - Adding Nitrate
Potassium Phosphate (KH2PO4) - Adding Phosphate
Potassium Sulfate (K2S4) - Adding Potassium (may not need too much of this)
CSM+B - for Micros (or use Flourish Comprehensive).

I second the need for Pressurized CO2. I also strongly recommend you purchase Greg's new E-Book on dosing strategies.
http://www.aquaticplantnews.com/

 

[Hypancistrus]

Plants take in oxygen at night. Running an air pump at night will insure DO levels will not get too low. It will definitely not "do nothing."

Also, there is no such thing as "Greg Watson ferts". Greg Watson sells agricultural products manufactured by Plant Products USA.

 

[evercl92]

Can you back up this thing about an air pump at night doubling growth?

Since your first statement is so patently untrue I have serious doubts about the second.

I dont think I could agree more.

I dont run an air pump in any of my 5 tanks, and neither do any of my friends, planted or not.

 

[kkentert]

are greg watson ferts like george foreman grilss?

just get some flourish excel and iron
the your pretty much set
you could also get some diy co2?

oh and run an airpump into the tank at night (will almost doulbe your growth!)

Yikes- I'd say you need a bit more than those two things.... (Just me)

 

[Wingsdlc]

Try this. It works for me.

http://www.barrreport.com/articles/42-ei-light-those-less-techy-folks.html

 

[dapellegrini]

Yes, plants do use some O2 at night, but if they are receiving proper light and nutrients, they will produce more than enough O2 during your photo period to take them, and a substantial fish load, through the night with no issues. An airstone is not the right way to approach that issue in IME and will not help with plant growth. It can help if your tank is out of balance and your fish are gasping at the top in the morning though.

Adding an airstone during the night will also help drive your CO2 down, potentially increasing the difficulty of early photo period CO2 rebound with your already overstressed DIY CO2 system. Inconsistent CO2 levels are a leading cause of algae.

I see you are also on our local AZ board. I highly suggest you come out to a meeting or two. There are a lot of great folks here locally who would be happy to help you sort all of this out (me included)

Good luck - This can get addicting!

 

[ianiwane]

Yes, plants do use some O2 at night, but if they are receiving proper light and nutrients, they will produce more than enough O2 during your photo period to take them, and a substantial fish load, through the night with no issues. An airstone is not the right way to approach that issue in IME and will not help with plant growth. It can help if your tank is out of balance and your fish are gasping at the top in the morning though.

Adding an airstone during the night will also help drive your CO2 down, potentially increasing the difficulty of early photo period CO2 rebound with your already overstressed DIY CO2 system. Inconsistent CO2 levels are a leading cause of algae.

I see you are also on our local AZ board. I highly suggest you come out to a meeting or two. There are a lot of great folks here locally who would be happy to help you sort all of this out (me included)

Good luck - This can get addicting!

I would not say that is totally true. Your tank can be well in balance running well. If your stock load is high they will gasp at night. This is esp true with running a external reactor when co2 gets built up durring the photo period. Even when the co2 turns off with the lights, co2 may be difussed into the tank for a couple more hours. For this reason, just as a back up I run an airpump at night. For DIY co2 you might want to gas off the co2 at night. Or a better option would be to put a solenoid on it, split the single co2 to two lines one line to the tank one the the solenoid. Open the solenoid at night to release co2 out of the tank.

 

[dapellegrini]

... Well I have been wrong before... But to be clear, it sounds like we are now talking about using an airstone for gasping fish, not better plant growth... right?

IME running a heavy fish load, lots of plants and 24/7 pressurized CO2 through a reactor, I have had no need for an airstone at night. When I first got going, dealing with less plant mass and still trying to understand nutrient dosing, I did have problems with gasping fish and also used an airstone for that reason. Once the plant mass was up and I was seeing heavy pearling every day the problem went away and the airstone was removed. Never heard of plant growth issues due to lack of O2 during the night... but I don't mind being proven wrong... fish gasping is a slightly different question.

 

[eklikewhoa]

Yeah I don't notice much growth at night.

I think I have a heavy fish load too but it's open top and I haven't notice much problem with it.... the drop checker doesn't change much over night so I don't think the co2 in the water decreases or what ever happens at night.

 

[yashua]

i am doing diy co2 at the moment but i just got a coralife 260watter 4x65w 67000k.that puts me over 4watts per gallon .i am not up on the lumens/spectrum thing.if i added like a 10000k or 18000k with my 67000k would my plants benefit more??anyways thediy co2 will not do now with my high light so i ordered pressurised today .oh yeah im a happy camper my friends.

 

[dapellegrini]

Congrats on the CO2 system!

I run 5,000k and 10,000k with great success. I have heard of others running 15,000k with success here locally, though I have never tried that. From what I have gathered, temp is not horribly important if the bulb is "full spectrum". I don't know about 18,000k bulbs - never seen those used in FW.

 

[Rex Grigg]

I would not say that is totally true. Your tank can be well in balance running well. If your stock load is high they will gasp at night. This is esp true with running a external reactor when co2 gets built up durring the photo period. Even when the co2 turns off with the lights, co2 may be difussed into the tank for a couple more hours. For this reason, just as a back up I run an airpump at night. For DIY co2 you might want to gas off the co2 at night. Or a better option would be to put a solenoid on it, split the single co2 to two lines one line to the tank one the the solenoid. Open the solenoid at night to release co2 out of the tank.

Sorry but that's not correct. The CO2 rich water in a reactor is gone in minutes at the most. If your reactor is not dissolving all the CO2 then that's a hardware problem. I have never had a problem with CO2 building up in my DIY reactors.

 

[yashua]

oh rex,you just love to bikker dont you .rex can you break down the lumens thing in a nutshell for me.dont send me to your guide though,just in a nutshell.thanks man.

 

[ianiwane]

Sorry but that's not correct. The CO2 rich water in a reactor is gone in minutes at the most. If your reactor is not dissolving all the CO2 then that's a hardware problem. I have never had a problem with CO2 building up in my DIY reactors.

I think my tanks have higher CO2 needs than yours. I have 324watts of t5HO lighting over a 65 gallon tank. I need to inject over 5bps into a rhinox 5000 and the same into my external reactor to get good CO2 levels. I know others who also have experienced the same thing. I do not believe I am wrong. And how would you know yours don't build up? I've never seen you use clear plexi on your reactors.