[mmccarthy781]

Ok so my tank has been up for about 2 months, and only has amanos, moss, and anubias. I don't want to try ad grow anythin crazy hard like dwarf baby tears, but I still want the plants in there to thrive. But how do I fertilize when shrimp are so sensitive to certain elements? Also, I use two sponge filters, can I substitute CO2 with Seachem excel? i think tht with the surface agitation I have will prevent me from injecting CO2. Thanks

 

[jkan0228]

I've heard that shrimp don't do well with excel.
Here's what I have planned for my 11.4g shrimp tank:
Roottab ferts and a paintball co2 system.
I only have crypts and mosses so I don't need any high ferts or co2 etc.

 

[10galfornow]

i add seachem trace and iron, i have a little bit of algae cause i'm sure they aren't getting all that they need, but it's not a big deal.

 

[jkan0228]

With just root tabs, it keeps it pretty simple since all of your ferts are in your substrate and just a little bit a CO2 so that only leaves your light as your factor which leaves it easier to adjust your conditions that won't grow algae.

 

[mmccarthy781]

Are there any ferts that don't have copper? I want super happy shrimp

Also CO2, Im still not sure how to do it with surface agitation?

 

[freph]

I just dose EI and forget about it. AFAIK, it has no copper in it...just the chemical compounds on the bags. No negative effect on the shrimp that I can notice. Haven't had a single loss since I moved them from my low tech 20g tall to my 20g long. Ferts, aquasoil, lower pH, much higher light vs lower light, less plants, miracle grow organic+pfs cap and dosing flourish. Also, from what I've read people have killed many a shrimp with excel so you might just use CO2. Keep it on all the time (I do this as well) to keep the pH constant instead of turning it off at night and having the pH swing.

 

[mmccarthy781]

hey freph thanks for the reply
But i'm a noob when it comes to fertilizers so this may sound stupid, but what is EI and AFAIK? Also, just so i'm understanding you correctly, I can inject CO2 even with a lot of surface agitation?

 

[freph]

You can inject CO2 if you have a boat propeller as your water agitation source as long as it stays within a safe range. Sure, you'll have to increase the CO2 injection a little bit but it's not really like putting gold in your tank. EI dosing is the Estimative Index dosing method created by Tom Barr. I use this chart for dosing my ferts and the Micro & Macro Package from greenleafaquariums. They'll last quite a while on most tanks. I also suggest you get a drop checker if you don't have one or if you want to be cheap about it (and I know someone's going to hate me for this) just steadily increase your CO2 until your fish seem stressed then knock it back until they act normal and you've more or less got your ideal CO2 range. AFAIK is just an acronym for "as far as I know".

 

[krishnapriya]

how can prepare a shrimp shell fertiliser