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It's suggested that you review the EI Dosing article in the Tutorial section of the forum. This is what happens when folks make assumptions about a technique that they don't fully understand. In Post #18 Tim Harrison refers to a thread with an identical question. The guy who invented EI responds...

Hello DuyHung, If your older emersed leaves are failing then it means you have some combination of too much light, poor flow, and poor CO2. It's the same story if someone gives you a plant from their tank and you get problems when they are placed in your tank. Moving the...

There is a huge difference between a CO2 vs a non-CO2 tank. It is the same relative difference between a Formula 1 car vs a farm tractor. Although Paulo is correct that plants need light, plants in a non-CO2 tank do not need nearly as much light as most folks seem to think. There is a lot of...

Hi, You can simply leave the lights off and restrict dosing nutrients, assuming the tank is not in a sunny area. The plants will lose weight and the dim available light will help to reduce the chances of algal blooms. When you do restart the light, obviously make sure it's a lot less than...

Hello, BBA is a CO2 deficiency related algae. There are many BBA threads available, and in general, correct attention to CO2 techniques, as well as to flow/distribution is necessary. Cheers,

Hello, BBA spores are likely to be in every tank in the world, so there is no point worrying about that. BBA blooms occur because of what we do or do not do in the tank as explained in the post=> cleaning dry algae from a used tank So you'll need to get a full understanding of the...

Well, nothing drastic will happen. That will still be below the crossover point as shown on the chart, so most or all will be NH4. That is correct. The soft clay pellets are soaked in a nutrient solution. In order to mineralize the NH3/NH4 to NO3 the oven needs to be around 400 degrees.F. for...

Hello, It's not as simple as just lowering the pH. In toxicology a general rule is that the concentration determines toxicity. The majority of folks using Aquasoil are also using CO2, which does lower the pH and they may still suffer toxicity as there is a LOT of NH4. In any case...

Exactly. He's aware of EI but has he tried it? Don't know. His claim is easy to falsify, right? EI dosers add too much ferts and don't get algae. We can add the appropriate nutrient to a tank experiencing algae and the bloom is reduced or eliminated, further falsifying the claim. Cheers,

Yeah, this is just more pseudoscience from The Matrix. I love the part about phosphorous's limited solubility. I wonder if the municipal water companies who dissolve PO4 in the systems are aware of this so-called fact. I never knew it was impossible to keep lots of fish in a planted aquarium...

Hello, BBA is a CO2 related algae. It is not directly related to sediment waste buildup. Dirty sediments in a CO2 enriched tank however can contribute to some types of algal blooms since there is a high ammonia content in the sediment. If the sediment is disturbed at a time other than...

Hi erwin, This only happens when CO2 is less than perfect. I've kept tanks in a conservatory without even a speck of algae. Cheers,

These are classic symptoms of poor CO2. The DC should be green when the lights are first turned on. It would help to reduce the light intensity. Also, lowering nitrate in a planted tank is a really bad idea, although doing a lot of water changes is actually a GOOD idea, because that keeps the...

It's as Marcel mentions. There is no formula to determine how much light, what kind of flow/distribution and so forth will be required. You just have to experiment and see what you can get away with. You might get lucky, or not. Cheers,

Hello, Algae in planted tanks is always caused by too much light and either not enough nutrition or not enough CO2. The typical algae on glass is Green Spot Algae (GSA) which appears, as the name implies as groups green spots. Algae forms on hardscape because it is easier for them to...

As noted by the other posters, this is not something you ever need to worry about. Amazon swords do not really care where they are planted relative to the glass. Cheers,

OK, there is a video on that link with George waxing poetic about it, so I would have to assume he would only do so if it is an all-in-one. But still, why pay for water? Good call mate! More sense always works! :cool: Cheers,

Hello, A daily water change is not really necessary. A 2X-3X per week is all you need. No idea what "EA complete liquid plant food" is but you should ensure this product actually has, in fact NPK plus micronutrients. Always be wary of commercial fertilizers claiming to be "complete"...

Yep, it is a sight to behold when you get the salt tank set properly, but it's in the "just too hard" category. Hope your friend finds the info useful The sumps really do add a lot of water. I add up the volume of my four modules and they total about 100 US gallons versus the tank which is about...

Yes, it's just another subroutine which exists as part of a neural-interactive program we call The Matrix. Well, even though it's the reefers who drive the developments in this hobby the sump is relevant to any type of water. The sumps water volume adds to the tanks volume enhancing temperature...

Yes, ferrous gluconate is a popular addition used as a component in some commercial mixes as well as in DIY mixes, but you're only adding small amounts to raise the iron by fractional amounts, like 0.4ppm. But no, as mentioned, plants cannot use this carbohydrate. The Rubisco molecule only...

Yeah.....duh, and guess what? Minnesota has at least 10,000 lakes. You would thinkthese people would be at the forefront of water management innovation and technology, but no. Having said that, I did buy my molded polystyrene modular sump from a Minnesota company, so this lack of innovation must...

Wow, do people still use buckets in 21st century? Why not just get a 50 ft. hose and a cheap submersible pump to get the siphon started? Use a spring clamp to affix the hose to the glass (or a Shepard's crook to hang it over the glass). Then use the pump on the other end if the fill water is...

Another mind freed from the tyranny of The Matrix.

Hello, Do whatever method is easiest. Everything are approximations and there is no penalty using whatever method you choose. That's why the word "Estimative" is used. For changing water you can simply use the height of the tank. Again, this is about 50% but you are not constrained to...

Hi Michael, Well, you maybe can get an idea of the amount of CO2 dissolved in the same way as the pH profile by looking at the difference in the CO2 values on the pH/KH/CO2 chart. Again, we would have to make the assumption that the rise in pH is due 100% to the dissipation...

I suppose there are those that will argue but the general consensus on this board at least is that BBA and red algae in general are CO2 related algae. DOC plays a role in just about all algal forms in a planted tank due to it's effects of lowering dissolved oxygen due to bacterial action as well...

Hello, I'm always leery of products being pushed for sale without any actual data to show it's benefits. It happens that the bacteria and archaea that we are already familiar with, such as Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter and so forth are themselves Chemoheterotrophs and Chemoautotrophs...

Hi Michael, Often, CO2 dissolves into the water supply simply due to the path that the water takes through aquafers on it's way to the municipality. Since it readily reacts with water to form the weak carbonic acid it is added by some water companies to reduce the pH (or the...

Hi Michael, Yes, CO2 molecule is too large to fit through the membrane, so if using RO water for the water change there will not be any CO2 present, so this can be taken out of the equation. Also note that not all municipal water supplies have CO2. As I'm sure you're aware it's...

Hello, The advice is a general rule that may or may not apply. For CO2 injected tanks it's better to do the water change before the light go on or just prior to the gas being turned on simply because most municipal water supplies have the water enriched with CO2. This CO2 is an added...

The real challenge is getting Blyxa to flower while submerged...:cool: Cheers,

Where is this rule written? There is no need to oversize anything, just use a couple of adequately rated filters. Here is a myth-busting 150 gallon tank powered by two Eheim 2180 Thermofilters. You can just make them out on the lower edges of the photo. Note the cheesy Eheim spraybars, two each...

It doesn't even matter if you have 15 DCs. The distribution of any of the dissolved gases, if it could be visualized, It would look like a vector field, with a different value and a different rate of change of value at every point in the field. So there is no point in using multiple DCs. Simply...

Yes. Cheers,

Hello, Tap water is fine for your plants and in fact may be better for the plants than filtered water, however, use whatever water you deem appropriate. I don't see any reason tap water should be a problem for your sediment. There is no excuse for not knowing what's in your water. Your...

Hello Aaron, While it's not an emergency I suggest simply turning down the lights until you powders arrive. Micronutrients are not really that important. I don't know why everyone gives them so much credit. The important nutrients are the macronutrients Nitrogen, Phosphorous...

Hello, This is one of the cardinal sins of plant husbandry. Plants do not care about acidity unless the acidity is being caused by some toxic acid agent, like pool acid. It's the same for the fish. Even more appalling is the fact that those fish originate from tributaries and streams...

Hello, This could be a flow/distribution problem. It appears you have a filter mounted in the rear right corner with the output pointed towards the front and then the lily pipe output is pointing to the left. You have not listed the total pump ratings but the two flows might be...

Hello, It is possible to have a moss carpet using the technique discussed in riccia carpet This is written for riccia but also equally applies to mosses. Superglue can be used to attach to the base material. Cheers,

Hi, It's best not to over-think sediments, which are complicated enough. Just wash your Aquasoil and carry on. Who cares if it's depleted? You'll dose EI, so what's the problem? I reuse Aquasoil all the time an I never worry about it because the price of new is ridiculous. It's a clay...

Hello, Green algae on rocks is a reliable indicator that your lighting is excessive. If your goal is to cultivate algae then this can be considered a success, however, there are a couple of early indicators of doom in a planted tank that hobbyists typically ignore. One is surface scum...

Hi Tim, Yeah Dr. Axelrod was my hero as well. I used to read his books on the racks in the pet shops when I was a kid because I couldn't afford to buy them, haha. A shame what happened to him though. He was hiding out in South America and cannot return to USA because he was charged...

Yes, but again we are not growing plants outside the hobby. We are growing plants within the context of our hobby and in so doing it turns out that there are so many more factors that affect the growth and health of aquatic plants that the effects of spectral distribution are rendered...

Hello, There is no difference between any color light that you may choose to use. As mentioned, the subject has been thoroughly discussed and no one has any evidence in our tanks that spectrum has any value other than an aesthetic one. Plants simply adapt to the lighting provided and...

Hi Steve, I agree with three-fingers mate. As far as plants go, calcium is a micronutrient, so it's content merely needs to non-zero. If your water is soft, or if using RO, you can always used the crushed-coral-in-the filter routine. If using hard water from tap then yeah, it's...

Why bother? Whatever plants you have, plant them, fill the tank and carry on. When new plants arrive either plant them directly, or if you find it easier, drop the water level and plant. This should never be an issue. No one ever has all the plants they will obtain at one time. Cheers,

Hello, The good result is that you get better gas diffusion by sending the gas through the filter. The possibly bad result is that depending on the injection rate, the gas can get trapped in the impeller housing and case cavitation. It's necessary to experiment with the bubble rate by...

Yes, you should stop worrying about KH or GH. Neither livestock or plants really care about these numbers. Of course, that assumes your fish are from South or Central America where the KH and GH of those habitat waters are notoriously low anyway. If your fish are from the Rift Valley where the...

Hello, It is highly doubtful that your fertilizer at that dosing level can be responsible for that much ammonia, especially if the reading is the same after you have changed the water. What you should be asking is whether your ammonia test kit readings are reliable, to which the answer...

Well, yes there is a war between algae and plants, but it is not a war of who can eat the most nutrients because algae do not care about the nutrient level. Algae are predatory and they can get all the nutrition they need by simply attacking and collecting the nutrients from dying and unhealthy...

Hello, These statements are completely incorrect. Plants and algae do not and cannot possibly compete. As mentioned by other posters, doing water changes and keeping the tank clean is always a good thing. Organic waste produced by plants and animals accumulate and reduces oxygen...

Hi Andy, Perhaps I phrased it inadequately. I did not mean that CO2 is bad for plants. There is no such thing as too much CO2. What I said was that NOT ENOUGH CO2 is bad for plants. Using a yeast based system is a very bad way to apply CO2 because it does not produce a sufficient amount of...

Hello, That is why the second half of the "...must..." statement is to start the tank with lots of fast growing cheap plants which can be easily propagated. Everyone seems to forget this part. Starting the tank with expensive plants is folly. The cheap, ugly plants can be discarded...

Hi Ady, Yes, I highlight poor oxygen because it exacerbates the problems caused by poor CO2. CO2 is critical as it's consumption produces food in the form of carbohydrates (sugar). Having produced sugar the plant then can only produce energy by using Oxygen to burn the...

Hi Nick, Well, you're right. it's a combination of poor CO2 during the day and poor oxygen at night. Doing a dry start doesn't really save you when the plants are flooded. This is a gas exchange issue and so it doesn't take long to suffocate, or to drown. Who knows how much...

Hello, These are all symptoms of poor CO2. The lighting might be too strong, the injection rate may be too low, or the timing of the injection relative to the light on time may be incorrect. There may also be a flow/distribution problem. CHeers,

Hi, Yes, sorry, as pointed out by wookii this is completely wrong. Oxygen, CO2, Nitrogen and other gases coexist in the water and none can affect the concentration of the other. Despite what many think, air bubbles do not actually add any oxygen by the mere fact that they are air bubbles...

Hi Nick, Well, I mean, you could ask that question of just about any plant and the answer is always that if the newly submerged plants do not get enough gas due to errors in CO2/Oxygen/flow/distribution, then yes, the leaves can die off rather quickly. If you previously had not had...

Hi Nick, I might be misinterpreting the photos but it looks like you have two spraybars at right angles to each other? If so then not the best configuration for getting good flow as there will be some degree of flow cancellation. The bars really ought to be on the same wall...

OK, thanks for that. I can see the DC looks more reasonable now. Nice video! The tall plants do disrupt flow a little bit and yes, I can see in the video that the plants in back are being blocked. You can try moving the DC to the very back of the tank just to see if you can get that nice color...

Hello, The only time RO water is "needed" is if you intend to breed soft water fish or if you municipal water report shows high concentrations of herbicides or other toxic components. As mentioned above, it is a far easier task to simply use the water from your tap. There are only a...

Hi kschyff, Well, I can see that there is algae on the hardscape which is an indication that there is too much light. I wouuld try turning of one of the lamps for a while in order to arrest the spread. If it is not possible then you can always obscure the light by placing something between the...

Yep! Some companies sell their kits with the 4dKH water and bromothymol blue already mixed in. If you have a KH test kit definitely confirm that it is in fact 4dKH. OK, that'll be fine. Just be aware that as the plant mass increases you'll have that option to give yourself some room to improve...

Wow, really? I would have thought you could find it online anywhere, some of our sponsors and even on Amazon or flea-bay. I'd just wait. No point in buying two things, however, sure, if you follow the instructions in the thread then go for it. Yeah, low flow rate is really problematic, not...

Hi, no worries, life gets in the way sometimes. Yes, for the life of me I'll never understand why companies continue to give such terrible advise regarding the DC. If you take a look at the CO2 article in the Tutorial section of the forum, you'll see an explanation of why using tank water is a...

Hello, Everyone thinks that their CO2 is good and so they look elsewhere for a solution that most likely doesn't exist. Were you aware, for example that at 32 deg.C the it's solubility in water is about 50% less than it's solubility at 20 deg.C? The same goes for oxygen, which causes...

Hello, While freshwater plants do not like salt, looking at the tank, it doesn't seem to be too much of a problem right now. The pH of the water has nothing to do with the water inside the dropchecker - unless you are putting the same water in the DC as the tank. DC water should be...

Hello, By the way, Carbonate Hardness is referred to as KH, not CH (which can cause confusion). In any case, as mentioned above, Calcium and Magnesium , which comprise your GH reading, are plant micronutrients, which means you don't need a lot, but some should be present for best...

Hi, if you'll not use a filter then there is no need for a pump. Obsession over flow is only appropriate for CO2 injected or possibly Excel/Easycarbo tanks. Cheers,

Hi, It's always unclear when analyzing damaged plant structure whether it's due to animal predation or to CO2, but the presence of hair algae as well as biofilm leaves no doubt that there is a CO2 issue happening. It might be due to your agitation, but it also might have been inevitable...

On the other hand, think about how much damage you are doing when you chuck food into the tank. That alone does 10x more harm to the tank inhabitants than these particular chemicals can do. Uneaten food fouls the tank with decay and eaten food is converted to urine and poop. Why are folks so...

Hello, Hair algae and BBA are classic symptoms of poor CO2. My advice is to concentrate on fixing this by reducing the lighting and ensuring that you have good injection rate, good timing of CO2 application and good flow/distribution. The issue regarding "proof of nutrient depletion by...

Hello, yes, definitely, all other things being equal, tanks with higher temperatures are more prone to algal blooms. Algae can survive in temperatures high enough to kill most plants. As noted by other, high temperature alone is usually not a sole factor in algal blooms. Excessive lighting...

Hi, As Zeus mentions, It's very difficult to compare two different tanks. Often, we assume we have control of the environment but more often than not, this is an illusion. Just a degree or two difference in the water can result in differences in CO2 content. Differences in the amount of...

Yes - for some plants such as stems and carpet plants. Shrimp react poorly to this substance though, so best to be careful. This is an expensive fix if your tank is a CO2 injected tank. It's a better solution to reduce the CO2 demand by reducing the light intensity as mentioned above, and by...

Hello, Holes in leaves or any form of translucency is a classic symptom of poor CO2. Potassium will never fix this problem. Cheers,

Hello, I think it's really important to understand that plants are not robots. They cannot respond immediately to a change in their environment. It is necessary for them to acclimatize to any new environment as their chemistry is usually optimized for the environment that they had been...

Hi, Grass cuttings will also provide extra ammonia and nitrite as they rot, so I don't think this is the best way forward. If you want to use a natural method then it would be better to put a living pond plant in there. Also be very careful with any nitrogen compound test kit. They are...

Well, this is a difficult question to answer definitively. Scientific journals do not address nutrient deficiency in aquatic plants because the journals will only address issues that are within the context of natural environments. Quite to the contrary, scientist attempt to determine the causal...

Focusing on ratios is another path that leads nowhere. The idea of using ratios to analyze plant health came from someone ascribing the Redfield Ratio to plants. Again, in land plants ionic ratios in the soil may be relevant, however, aquatic plants morphology differs significantly due to the...

Sorry, but this has nothing to do with aquatic plants. One cannot unilaterally apply causal factors or relate symptoms in terrestrial plants to aquatic plants. A few symptoms are similar but there is a limit to the number and type of symptoms that can be applied. Correct. The first step is to...

No we cannot. Terrestrial plants do not live under water, do not have aquatic structure and the problems related to aquatic plants in no way are related to the problems experienced by terrestrial plants. It has been estimated that 95% of problems in aquatic plants are as a result of poor CO2...

This is exactly why it would be best to abandon the Ca deficiency idea. Ca deficiencies are almost a myth as the plant does not not need much of this micronutrient at all. This is a CO2 deficiency. I can only speculate that the reason it has not reared it's ugly head previously is because the...

Hello, Leaf deformity and stunting are classic symptoms of poor CO2. You need not look any further. Having said this trying to understand the origin of a CO2 failure is the most difficult task. Try thinning out the bunch and hopefully the new leaves will grow normally. Tightly bunched...

Hi, As noted above the structural differences of leaf and stem allow terrestrial plants to have rigidity whereas aquatic plant leaves can be compared to a non-rigid contact lens. Typically, land plants have a network of gas channels which connect to openings on the leaf underside called...

Hello, Basalt will be fine. There are sediment products such as Caribsea's Eco Complete which are reportedly basalt based. Iron Oxide will also be fine as this will provide Iron for plants. For many years, Laterite clay sediments were prized for their Iron Oxide content. The sources...

Yes, for certain, light causes algae. Almost all of us have had to discover this fact in a painful manner. Although not impossible, it is very difficult to grow carpet plants without the addition of CO2 or without the alternative using exclusively Excel type products. Carpet plants are found in...

Hello, It really doesn't matter whether you clean the plants or not, or whether you cut, or trim, or restart or whatever scheme you imagine. Algal blooms occur in the tank as a direct result of poor health due to nutritional deficiency. In the case of hair algae, this is a direct result...

I agree with kezzab and zozo. Asking what is best filter or best filter media is like asking what is best ice cream. Who cares? Use whatever filter or media you find most convenient or most sexy. They all do essentially the same thing and use the same principles. There's a pump, with a bucket...

Hi Karl, The elongation is triggered by a combination of O2 and CO2 shortfall. As you mention, other things are happening during the blackout as carbohydrates are consumed and are not replaced, so there are some structural issues going on as well as a fall in Oxygen production. The...

Yeah, for sure mate. What I do is to buy a length of cheap PVC tubing and then to try different lengths with different hole sizes. I try to get away with as short a length as I can with as large a hole size as I can. Sometime I use variable hole sizes along the bar. So for example you can try...

The primary purpose of the ceramic rings is actually to slow the flow so that the larger particles of debris fall out of solution and to be trapped within the maze of rings. They do house bacteria, like any whetted surface but that is not their main function. That's why it's so critical to avoid...

OK, well, I mean generally, when you have that symptom of bubbles collecting on the surface, it means that the flow rate is poor and the bubbles are not making it to the bottom of the tank. The result is that the CO2 concentration is high near the water's surface, but is low in the plant beds...

This is a flow distribution problem and has nothing to do with light. Leggy growth is a symptom of poor flow/distribution. As Ian points out, there is a severe lack of energy coming from the spraybar. Additionally, it's position is too far to the right and the powerhead is too far to the left...

Hello, If I were you I would simply fill a shallow bucket of water and float the plants in the bucket until you are ready to plant them properly. Keep the bucket out of strong light and just carry on. Cheers,

Any auxiliary pumps should be placed at the center just below or above the spraybar in order to augment the flow/distribution patterns from the spraybar. Tall tanks are always problematic because the energy required to evenly carry the water down to the bottom is high. If you place the pump at...

Hi, Check first to see if the the cause is predation by snails or other vermin. Holes in leaves or any structural fault which is not due to predation is caused by a CO2 deficiency. Cheers,

General rule of thumb is that the worst thing you can do when starting a planted tank is to focus on how much light you have. Plants growing fast have nothing to do with plants being healthy and it is much more likely that if you have so much light that plants grow fast then algae will also grow...

No, all types of spores eventually find their way into the tank and bloom as the opportunity presents itself. As I mentioned, if the plants are healthy the spores just sit and wait. Yes, you are right, there is much fuss made. It's much more important to have the tank healthy than to dip...