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First High tech please help answer these questions

RyanH

New Member
Joined
13 Feb 2022
Messages
3
Location
Houston
Hello my name is Ryan I am currently 14 and have been keeping fish since I was 7 i love this hobby and it has brought me so much joy. I have kept aquarium plants in the past but i have never been serious about doing an aquascape i have always wanted to but i did not have the financial means or knowledge too. I have been working on this project for 4 months now and it is going to be a high tech, swiss alps themed tank. I have done lots of research but we all know you cant trust everything you read online. So I have narrowed down to these 7 questions that are really holding me back and i would greatly appreciate it if you could spend some time to answer these questions.

So I am using pool filter sand which is inert but underneath it i have bags of aqua soil. I am worried though that there may not be enough nutrients for plants like monte carlo. i am not putting any heavy root feeders like swords or crypts. What do you think i should do?

My substrate is super fine like extremely fine. I am worried that it might restrict the roots of plants such as monte carlo. But this sand is super light and i mean super light i blows very easily but not to the point where like i cant control it. I also have high flow. So there would be a lot of flow and very light substrate but would plants like monte carlo still be able to grow fine.

I am going to be dosing fertilizers into the water column and will be using the 2 hour aquarist line of products. The 2hr 1 is made for lower tech tanks and the 2hr 3 is made for high tech tanks. when i start and lots of people said to start dosing like this. "start out with 2hr 1, for 1st week of tank being setup with plants do not dose ferts. After 1 week start adding in 1 dose a week of 2hr 1. Then move up to 2 dose a week then 3 dose a week. After that dose the 2hr 1 as you normally would. once the plants start periling and the tank starts to settle in start dosing 2hr 3 as regular dosing on bottle as instructed." But i am worried since it is a new tank and the substrate is inert that my plants may start dieing from nutrient deficiencies.

(this is a question about a different tank)I am using denitrification media and my tank is cycled cause I can put in ammonium chloride and the ammonia will spike up to 3 and then 24 hours all ammonia and nitrite and nitrate tests zero. So I know my tank is cycled but it reads zero nitrates which is what I want cause that’s why I’m using denitrification media. But can the plants still grow good with zero nitrate even though I’m dosing fertilizers so the nutrients are good but the nitrates are 0. I know i am dosing nutrients good and there is so much nutrients and aquasoil but nitrate is zero cause of denitrification. Like do plants even need the nitrates to grow good? Do I even need nitrates in a planted tank as long as nutrients are good?

I have had so much problems with diatoms in the past. Everybody says diatoms will go away with time which is usually true but my tank has lots of limestone in it so the phosphates and silicates are decently high. Which phosphates and silicates causes diatoms. So i was wondering if i could use chemical media such as Phosguards or Clearmax or other chemical media that removes phosphates and silicates. Some people say they work amazing in a planted tank and some people say your tank will be destroyed if you use these. So what do you think i should do? could i use these chemical medias in a planted tank? although as a biproduct of removing the phosphate and silicate these chemical medias also remove some nitrates so i guess this question kinda ties in with the above question.

I am using about 60 lbs of seriyu stone in my massive mountain range 30 gallon aquarium styled after the swiss alps. Now i am worried about this amount of stone in a small body of water and it leeching just a ridiculous amount of GH, and KH and raising PH. Most people with these kind of tanks say you just have to really keep up with water changes which is why i will be running an Auto Water Changer that takes out about a gallon of water daily. Im not using any super difficult plants my plants are like monte carlo and hydrocotyl tripartia and anubias and stuff like that. Do you have any experience with these types of tanks if so how did it go long term? Any recommendations or advice or concerns?

Probably the one thing messing with me the most right now is phosphates. I am so confused with them. I know that you need some phosphates in a planted tank. But i am unsure how to introduce phosphates into my tank. Also when introducing phosphorus into a tank through fertilizers does that also introduce phosphates. When you remove phosphate does that also mean your removing phosphorus. Is phosphates even needed? How much phosphates are needed?



Thankyou, Ryan H
 
Welcome Ryan . Have a look at the tutorials and find one of the journals with what you want to achieve.
 
Probably the one thing messing with me the most right now is phosphates. I am so confused with them. I know that you need some phosphates in a planted tank. But i am unsure how to introduce phosphates into my tank. Also when introducing phosphorus into a tank through fertilizers does that also introduce phosphates. When you remove phosphate does that also mean your removing phosphorus. Is phosphates even needed? How much phosphates are needed?
phosphates are needed as plant nutrients. you do not need to remove them, algae can thrive off much lower levels of P than plants, it is futile trying to limit algal growth by Phosphorus. APT complete (the one with N,P) contains a fair amount of Phosphorous, so you do not need to dose extra.
nitrates in a planted tank as long as nutrients are good?
nitrogen compounds ARE nutrients (nitrate included), and plants need all essential nutrients to grow. APT zero (APT1) does not contain nitrates or phosphates so that is why you do not see nitrate readings, on top of that hobbyist grade test kits are not too accurate so I would take what they say with a fair spoonful of salt.
So I am using pool filter sand which is inert but underneath it i have bags of aqua soil. I am worried though that there may not be enough nutrients for plants like monte carlo. i am not putting any heavy root feeders like swords or crypts. What do you think i should do?
dose APT3 with N and P, It is recommended to dose apt 1 at tank start up because most 2hr tanks use aquasoil, that leaks a lot of N and P in the first few weeks, that's why they recommend to dose APT 1. I would start with dosing apt 3 if you are no longer seeing nh4 readings.so called heavy root feeders will grow well in inert or rich substrate.
I am using denitrification media and my tank
I and many other hold the opinion that biological filtration can be de-emphasised in planted aquariums, as plants will uptake all forms of Nitrogen in the water Nh4, Nh3,No2,No3. I would recommend you to swap your filter media to something that does not clog easily so that you can ensure good flow and circulation. I do not use any filter media myself.
Which phosphates and silicates causes diatoms
this is not true, while phosphates and silicates are important in the growth of diatoms, many many people have High levels of Si, P in their tanks that are diatom free. diatoms have more to do with tank maturity than nutrients, co2 or any other factor.
So i was wondering if i could use chemical media such as Phosguards or Clearmax or other chemical media that removes phosphates and silicates
you do not need these, look at all the nice tanks running large amounts of seiryu they do not have this issue, you probably won;t either.
I am using about 60 lbs of seriyu stone in my massive mountain range 30 gallon aquarium styled after the swiss alps. Now i am worried about this amount of stone in a small body of water and it leeching just a ridiculous amount of GH, and KH and raising PH. Most people with these kind of tanks say you just have to really keep up with water changes which is why i will be running an Auto Water Changer that takes out about a gallon of water daily. Im not using any super difficult plants my plants are like monte carlo and hydrocotyl tripartia and anubias and stuff like that. Do you have any experience with these types of tanks if so how did it go long term? Any recommendations or advice or concerns?
high GH, Kh levels will not have much appreciable affect on easy plants such as yours, continue with large water changes or small daily water changes if you wish.
I am worried though that there may not be enough nutrients for plants like monte carlo. i am not putting any heavy root feeders like swords or crypts. What do you think i should do?
dose the water collumn, you will be fine.

sorry for the mismatched order which I answered the questions in! hope this helps.
 
So I am using pool filter sand which is inert but underneath it i have bags of aqua soil. I am worried though that there may not be enough nutrients for plants like monte carlo. i am not putting any heavy root feeders like swords or crypts. What do you think i should do?

My substrate is super fine like extremely fine. I am worried that it might restrict the roots of plants such as monte carlo. But this sand is super light and i mean super light i blows very easily but not to the point where like i cant control it. I also have high flow. So there would be a lot of flow and very light substrate but would plants like monte carlo still be able to grow fine.
20220116_163501.jpg
This is Sagittaria subulata grown in 0.1 - 0.5 millimeter grains of sand. As you can see the root growth is healthy.
These plants were fed using only fertilizer in the water column.
How deep is the sand layer that you have over your aqua soil? Some plants put out deeper roots than others.
I think you will probably be fine as long as you also use liquid fertilizer.

I am going to be dosing fertilizers into the water column and will be using the 2 hour aquarist line of products. The 2hr 1 is made for lower tech tanks and the 2hr 3 is made for high tech tanks. when i start and lots of people said to start dosing like this. "start out with 2hr 1, for 1st week of tank being setup with plants do not dose ferts. After 1 week start adding in 1 dose a week of 2hr 1. Then move up to 2 dose a week then 3 dose a week. After that dose the 2hr 1 as you normally would. once the plants start periling and the tank starts to settle in start dosing 2hr 3 as regular dosing on bottle as instructed." But i am worried since it is a new tank and the substrate is inert that my plants may start dieing from nutrient deficiencies.
APT 1 (Zero) doesnt contain Nitrate or Phosphate, so it is probably not a good choice for a CO2-injected tank. APT 3 (EI) is pretty rich, you could go for this or for APT 2 (Complete), Complete is maybe the easiest for beginners.
Unless your soil is leaching large amounts of ammonia I would suggest you start dosing from day 1.
Often when you get new plants their roots are small and not prepared to take up nutrients. Water column dosing is important for these plants that are mostly leaves, especially until they get rooted in. Invitro plants have less reserves than big plants and need nutrients sooner.

(this is a question about a different tank)I am using denitrification media and my tank is cycled cause I can put in ammonium chloride and the ammonia will spike up to 3 and then 24 hours all ammonia and nitrite and nitrate tests zero. So I know my tank is cycled but it reads zero nitrates which is what I want cause that’s why I’m using denitrification media. But can the plants still grow good with zero nitrate even though I’m dosing fertilizers so the nutrients are good but the nitrates are 0. I know i am dosing nutrients good and there is so much nutrients and aquasoil but nitrate is zero cause of denitrification. Like do plants even need the nitrates to grow good? Do I even need nitrates in a planted tank as long as nutrients are good?
Plants will struggle to grow in this tank. You can safely avoid most chemical media, they are made to make the salesman at the store rich and are not necessary and sometimes directly unhelpful.
Remove the denitrification media is my advice.

I have had so much problems with diatoms in the past. Everybody says diatoms will go away with time which is usually true but my tank has lots of limestone in it so the phosphates and silicates are decently high. Which phosphates and silicates causes diatoms. So i was wondering if i could use chemical media such as Phosguards or Clearmax or other chemical media that removes phosphates and silicates. Some people say they work amazing in a planted tank and some people say your tank will be destroyed if you use these. So what do you think i should do? could i use these chemical medias in a planted tank? although as a biproduct of removing the phosphate and silicate these chemical medias also remove some nitrates so i guess this question kinda ties in with the above question.
Dont worry about diatoms. Sometimes they stick around a while, but as your tank matures they will disappear on their own. No need to worry about phosphates and silicates. Save your money, dont buy chemical media and instead spend the money on more plants :thumbup:

I am using about 60 lbs of seriyu stone in my massive mountain range 30 gallon aquarium styled after the swiss alps. Now i am worried about this amount of stone in a small body of water and it leeching just a ridiculous amount of GH, and KH and raising PH. Most people with these kind of tanks say you just have to really keep up with water changes which is why i will be running an Auto Water Changer that takes out about a gallon of water daily. Im not using any super difficult plants my plants are like monte carlo and hydrocotyl tripartia and anubias and stuff like that. Do you have any experience with these types of tanks if so how did it go long term? Any recommendations or advice or concerns?
The stone will raise your water hardness but then stop at a certain level. Its probably best not to fight this, just try to adapt around it. Will you be using tap water or RO for this tank?
If you change water with moderately hard tap water, the levels will probably remain steadier than if you were to change with RO water.
I dont have monte carlo but Hydrocotyle tripartita is an absolute weed and a very easy plant to grow. Anubias likes a shady spot but is also very easy 😊

Probably the one thing messing with me the most right now is phosphates. I am so confused with them. I know that you need some phosphates in a planted tank. But i am unsure how to introduce phosphates into my tank. Also when introducing phosphorus into a tank through fertilizers does that also introduce phosphates. When you remove phosphate does that also mean your removing phosphorus. Is phosphates even needed? How much phosphates are needed?
A complete fertilizer like APT Complete or EI (APT 2 or 3) will take care of this for you. No need to stress about it :) Just dose according to instructions and watch the plants.

Lastly, welcome to UKAPS! :wave:
 
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