# Missed a carbon dosing



## Aqua360 (16 Mar 2016)

Hi all,

I had a rough night last night, no sleep etc; and forgot to inject my usual dose of liquid carbon into the aquarium at 7am.

Co2 is on a timer so not worried about that aspect.

Is it advisable to resume as normal tomorrow? or inject when I get back from work around 4?

Thanks


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## ian_m (16 Mar 2016)

Just carry on. Liquid carbon in your tank is an extra carbon source (and keeps algae down ?), as well as using CO2, so a bit missing won't be an issue.


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## Aqua360 (16 Mar 2016)

ian_m said:


> Just carry on. Liquid carbon in your tank is an extra carbon source (and keeps algae down ?), as well as using CO2, so a bit missing won't be an issue.



thanks


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## darren636 (16 Mar 2016)

Say 10 hail Marys
And watch 
1 episode of house of cards as punishment


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## JamieB (16 Mar 2016)

darren636 said:


> Say 10 hail Marys
> And watch
> 1 episode of house of cards as punishment



Watch only 1 episode because the show is so good you just have to watch more?


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## Aqua360 (16 Mar 2016)

darren636 said:


> Say 10 hail Marys
> And watch
> 1 episode of house of cards as punishment



Being atheist and not watching episodes of anything, this is a harsh punishment haha. 

I'll just cross my fingers that my tank doesn't spontaneously combust overnight


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## darren636 (16 Mar 2016)

JamieB said:


> Watch only 1 episode because the show is so good you just have to watch more?



Its laugh out loud bad.

Not even the great keV spacey can redeem the utterly diobiolical script and story with his comical overacting.

The chief of staff, off out in the countryside , running people over.

The presidents of Russia and America choosing to meet in the centre of a war zone to 'work things out'

Just terrible.
And I don't mean 80's cheesy nonsense terrible.


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## Straight Shooter (17 Mar 2016)

I'd stop the Glut dosing unless it's absolutely necessary. If you're getting algae, other factors need to be explored instead of a band-aid solution. It just shouldn't be needed in a balanced CO2 enriched tank................


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## Aqua360 (17 Mar 2016)

Straight Shooter said:


> I'd stop the Glut dosing unless it's absolutely necessary. If you're getting algae, other factors need to be explored instead of a band-aid solution. It just shouldn't be needed in a balanced CO2 enriched tank................



I'm a bit of a beginner to the planted tank game, so it's possible I'm overdoing it on the carbon dosing...I currently run co2 injection for 5 hours a day, lighting 4 hours due to the light intensity; anymore and i get quite bad hair algae.

Would you suggest fading out the glut? I'm interested in hearing thoughts behind this etc if possible please


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## Straight Shooter (17 Mar 2016)

Any ability to reduce light intensity?

You can enrich with heaps of carbon but if the light's too strong you'll always have an uphill battle. If you're just starting out with CO2 consider running medium light until you get the hang of things, then increase intensity slowly over time.

When you run high light and CO2 plants grow 10-20x faster compared to without. This is like driving a formula one car compared to a VW Beetle. Much easier to skid out of control when you're pushing the limits. If you're inclined to forget doses or regular maintenance, medium light is way more fun.

You should be able to hold a photoperiod of 6-10hrs in the average high light CO2 injected tank. If you can only achieve 4hrs your light is driving things at warp speed.


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## Aqua360 (17 Mar 2016)

Straight Shooter said:


> Any ability to reduce light intensity?
> 
> You can enrich with heaps of carbon but if the light's too strong you'll always have an uphill battle. If you're just starting out with CO2 consider running medium light until you get the hang of things, then increase intensity slowly over time.
> 
> ...



sadly I have no way to dim the lights at the moment, the problem is compounded by my tank height being 11 inches.

I'm looking into a dimmable LED set that another member on here suggested, so hopefully i'll be able to get that running at the end of this month; which is when I'll start my next challenge on how to set the timer, levels of red, blue, white lighting etc lol.

I do wish I'd gone for slightly lower lighting when I purchased the fixture, but I'm very much picking up the pieces as I go along lol


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## Straight Shooter (18 Mar 2016)

We can always reduce light without a dimmer by using black electrical tape to cover some of the LEDs. Just place the tape over say 1/4 of the LEDs and see how you go there. Add/remove tape as necessary until you're happy with the light strength.


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## Aqua360 (18 Mar 2016)

Straight Shooter said:


> We can always reduce light without a dimmer by using black electrical tape to cover some of the LEDs. Just place the tape over say 1/4 of the LEDs and see how you go there. Add/remove tape as necessary until you're happy with the light strength.



good suggestion, thanks


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