Cheers Tom,
That's such a nice tank, also Hydrocotyle tripartita seems nearly the same as Glosso which is odd, well according to Google images.
I think I understand your low tech approach much better now and I've read some of your journal again, I also have already read post #10 but like mentioned I didn't know how to tell what deficiencies are what as the terrestrial deficiency diagrams are irrelevant which I learnt from Clive so would have no idea how to figure which is which but you answered when you mentioned the all-in-one fert.
I'm not to sure if low tech is what I want or not as I only have one tank and this is kind of my only hobby, so I enjoy getting my hands in scrubbing, pruning, tampering around... obviously yours is very low tech indeed and this is what your goal was, I'm not sure how someone can speed up the growth on a low tech tank other than adding liquid carbon / co2 / light etc. Also did you ever find out the answer to CO2 and surface agitation? is it better to have hardly no ripple and use the CO2 content inside the tank? or in the end did you go with full surface movement? I see Darrel mentions he uses a venturi for gas exchange so I presume the latter is the best option to provide CO2 to the tank?
For now I think I will stick to my 50% water change's, Keep CO2 off, but I will use my liquid carbon, as I would like to see how things go with that approach and see how my fish / plants respond, At least I would have tried that approach, I will keep doing some research on how much to dose ferts wise, and how much water changes I should do with liquid carbon and EI, as obviously that's my concern right now as I don't want raising nutrients, or any other issues.
If I don't see much or any improvement in a month, then maybe I will take a leaf out your book and just go pure low tech, and kind of copy your approach, with out the soil etc. I presume I would still do the 10% water changes as well and let leafs rot etc? and then just dose via the duckweed index, also do you use duckweed personally? or you just wait for a plant to show yellowing etc then you dose your all in one?
I presume your approach will be safe to do even with many fish in my tank? I see you have some fish, and odd inverts, so I guess your not heavily stocked etc. I would just be concerned about the rotting organic waste? and only the 10% water change a week when with clown loaches etc its recommend to do 50% a week just with them.
Thanks for everyone's help, I might sound stressed out or come across like I am confused as I am most the time, but I do want to learn!, and I enjoy it once I understand it, I've learnt a lot here in the last couple of weeks so I don't mind the CO2 route, I would rather have a headache than just chuck in the towel. Pressurised CO2 has worked for me in the past, just when things go wrong they seem to go wrong, and this time my tank has not recovered, especially after the diatom outbreak, so I'm now at the beginning of a new road, and I'm sure I will get there in the end, hopefully with out losing any more fish or dying plants.
That's such a nice tank, also Hydrocotyle tripartita seems nearly the same as Glosso which is odd, well according to Google images.
I think I understand your low tech approach much better now and I've read some of your journal again, I also have already read post #10 but like mentioned I didn't know how to tell what deficiencies are what as the terrestrial deficiency diagrams are irrelevant which I learnt from Clive so would have no idea how to figure which is which but you answered when you mentioned the all-in-one fert.
I'm not to sure if low tech is what I want or not as I only have one tank and this is kind of my only hobby, so I enjoy getting my hands in scrubbing, pruning, tampering around... obviously yours is very low tech indeed and this is what your goal was, I'm not sure how someone can speed up the growth on a low tech tank other than adding liquid carbon / co2 / light etc. Also did you ever find out the answer to CO2 and surface agitation? is it better to have hardly no ripple and use the CO2 content inside the tank? or in the end did you go with full surface movement? I see Darrel mentions he uses a venturi for gas exchange so I presume the latter is the best option to provide CO2 to the tank?
For now I think I will stick to my 50% water change's, Keep CO2 off, but I will use my liquid carbon, as I would like to see how things go with that approach and see how my fish / plants respond, At least I would have tried that approach, I will keep doing some research on how much to dose ferts wise, and how much water changes I should do with liquid carbon and EI, as obviously that's my concern right now as I don't want raising nutrients, or any other issues.
If I don't see much or any improvement in a month, then maybe I will take a leaf out your book and just go pure low tech, and kind of copy your approach, with out the soil etc. I presume I would still do the 10% water changes as well and let leafs rot etc? and then just dose via the duckweed index, also do you use duckweed personally? or you just wait for a plant to show yellowing etc then you dose your all in one?
I presume your approach will be safe to do even with many fish in my tank? I see you have some fish, and odd inverts, so I guess your not heavily stocked etc. I would just be concerned about the rotting organic waste? and only the 10% water change a week when with clown loaches etc its recommend to do 50% a week just with them.
Thanks for everyone's help, I might sound stressed out or come across like I am confused as I am most the time, but I do want to learn!, and I enjoy it once I understand it, I've learnt a lot here in the last couple of weeks so I don't mind the CO2 route, I would rather have a headache than just chuck in the towel. Pressurised CO2 has worked for me in the past, just when things go wrong they seem to go wrong, and this time my tank has not recovered, especially after the diatom outbreak, so I'm now at the beginning of a new road, and I'm sure I will get there in the end, hopefully with out losing any more fish or dying plants.
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