plantnoobdude
Member
I would suggest not adding the edta. tenso's fe:mn ratio is 10:7. I would suggest raising yours to atleast 2:1.
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Lean dosing pros and cons
- Thread starter Riverside Scaper
- Start date
Garuf
Member
So to get this down for sake of brevity, can it be summarised as: lower uptake in hard water makes lean dosing difficult/impossible without running into deficiencies even if offset with a low temp?
MichaelJ
Member
Hi @Sudipta,
As for temperature I think I am going for somewhere between 73-74 F (~23 C).
Cheers,
Michael
How long is your photoperiod?
That makes sense to me. I am not planning to switch out the substrate in the tank I'm using for this experiment. It is inert gravel, but being over 2 years old now I would assume it hosts enough microbial activity to make up for it - if needed I could supplement with occasional root tabs.
As for temperature I think I am going for somewhere between 73-74 F (~23 C).
Cheers,
Michael
Michael, you will need something that will decompose in the substrate, the bacteria need to eat something that will produce some Co2 in Return. root tabs are not going to do this job, unless you add some organic soil into those capsule and then burry them into your substrate, or something similar. you can repeat this process every few months. lets see what @Sudipta thinks about this
Could you outline exactly what type of substrate you are using?
MichaelJ
Member
Hi @Happi, Sure thing, and thats kind of what I was alluring to with my 2 year old substrate with lots of organic material presumably decomposing in it already. The question of course, if its enough...
... Yes, some soil or capsules with organic matter to enrich the substrate, that might be a good idea.
Cheers,
Michael
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MichaelJ
Member
That’s a great link, thanks for posting @Happi
I can’t seem to find it online. We do have Westland Aquatic Compost - I don’t know how different they are though:
Westland Aquatic Planting & Potting Mix Peat Free - Garden Health
Westland Aquatic Planting & Potting Mix peat free compost is specially formulated to support the healthy development of all aquatic plants.
www.gardenhealth.com
yes this one could be used in the aquarium as well. the one I posted have a really high content of organic carbon, would have been perfect for the Non Co2 project. not saying the other one wont work, but they have slightly less organic carbon content, which is still high enough.That’s a great link, thanks for posting @Happi
I can’t seem to find it online. We do have Westland Aquatic Compost - I don’t know how different they are though:
Westland Aquatic Planting & Potting Mix Peat Free - Garden Health
Westland Aquatic Planting & Potting Mix peat free compost is specially formulated to support the healthy development of all aquatic plants.
Hello Michael,
The photo period is 7 hours. However, my lights turn on around 4 PM (I prefer to see my tanks when I am back from work). The tanks don't get any direct sunlight during the daytime but they do receive the ambient light for the entire day.
You can definitely try inert substrate (I saw in your other comment that the substrate is quite old and should have decent amount of organic matter trapped). This is something I have never tried, so I am also interested to see the results. Try to keep the light intensity lower for the first couple of weeks after planting and then slowly increase the light intensity as plants start to grow (while keeping an eye on algae).
MichaelJ
Member
Hi @Sudipta,
Where do you get your plants from? Online or locally here in twin-cities? Almost all my plants I bought in recent year I've purchases from aquariumplantfactory.com out of California.
Cheers,
Michael
The photo period is probably something I will try and tweak 🙂 but initially I will stick to the 7-8 hours
Yes, that was another thing I believe I noticed on your TPT journal that it looked like you started out quite low with the intensity and gradually increased it? A very sound approach.
Where do you get your plants from? Online or locally here in twin-cities? Almost all my plants I bought in recent year I've purchases from aquariumplantfactory.com out of California.
Cheers,
Michael
I have bought plants from multiple sources in the past including APF, Buceplant.com, pet stores, FB auction page, eBay, Liquid creations, pearling plants from Florida and also from local hobbyists. There is a Facebook group called MN planted tank aquatics buy/sell/trade where you can get plants at significantly cheaper prices.
If you are not in a hurry then I can give you few plants in couple of weeks (I keep mainly stem plants though).
Thanks,
I think the biggest reason why I struggled with my hightech tank initially was my inexperience in the hobby; irregular water changes, high light while the tank is not mature and the biggest of them was my inability to optimize CO2 injection. I haven't mastered this aspect of the hobby quite yet but I am definitely heading in the right direction. I made this video about 8 months ago and I have reduced the number of fishes by more than half.
Now coming to your next question regarding less issues with non-CO2 supplemented tanks;
Although all the factors I mentioned earlier regarding my setups are very important such as good flow, soil based substrate, good lighting and regular maintenance, however low KH (pH) and temperature are probably the biggest reasons for the better forms of the plants in these systems.
If there is any detectable KH in the water then the pH of the system is going to be close to 7 or higher. This simply means less CO2 for the plants (as shown in the picture below).
This is probably one the biggest reasons why most people get a lot of algae with medium/high light in non-CO2 systems. I am not saying that I don't get algae but I can keep it manageable because my system's low pH keeps most of the available CO2 in the form of dissolved gas (CO2/H2CO3) rather than bicarbonate (very low water column nutrients also help significantly to slow down algae growth). Although many aquatic plants can use bicarbonate as a carbon source but it is not energetically favorable for them. So all aquatic plants including the so called bicarbonate users will prefer CO2 as carbon source even in the presence of bicarbonate.
Non-CO2 supplemented tanks are already limited in terms of CO2 availability and if you keep very low lights then the plants are now limited in terms of light as well. That's why most people can't keep many of the harder to grow species in non-CO2 environment. Higher lights will allow the plants to focus more on CO2 assimilation rather than investing a lot in their light harvesting system.
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@Sudipta
Did you find link between higher nutrient levels and algae growth?
Can high light with low nutrients increase algae growth?
You have high light with low nutrients and no injected CO2. Is it working because of active substrate and cold temperature, or is there more conditions?
Did you find ammonium to be preferred nitrogen source?
Did you see connection between PO4 and green spot algae?
What do you think about nutrient toxicity?
Edited the Post
Did you find link between higher nutrient levels and algae growth?
Can high light with low nutrients increase algae growth?
You have high light with low nutrients and no injected CO2. Is it working because of active substrate and cold temperature, or is there more conditions?
Did you find ammonium to be preferred nitrogen source?
Did you see connection between PO4 and green spot algae?
What do you think about nutrient toxicity?
Edited the Post
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