Stopping the easy carbo

[Mattant1984]

Hi all,
I daily dose 1.5ml of easy carbo along with 4ml TNC complete into my 70 litre and all plants are doing really well with next to no algae.

I was thinking about stopping the easy carbo as it's just something extra to remember daily and also is it really good for the fish?? (I don't think so)

My question is if I stop dosing it will it have any negative affect as I have been using it for a while??

 

[PARAGUAY]

I did do away with it altogether and am using TNC Complete on my low techs. No issue really. Still got some in case of a BBA issue (treat the BBA with a brush)could arise. Have you soft water,if so your adding "background" CO2 anyway at water change

 

[Mattant1984]

I did do away with it altogether and am using TNC Complete on my low techs. No issue really. Still got some in case of a BBA issue (treat the BBA with a brush)could arise. Have you soft water,if so your adding "background" CO2 anyway at water change

Thanks for the reply and glad you didn't really get any issues, my water is actually fairly hard so will that make a difference??

 

[PARAGUAY]

What l understand is soft water has more CO2, that's one of the reasons as plants prefer soft water and water changes is adding CO2, the need for adding things like example easy carbo is not even needed. I assume adding it in your water may be helpful but others may a have different take on it but is it really necessary , l doubt it myself

 

[Mattant1984]

What l understand is soft water has more CO2, that's one of the reasons as plants prefer soft water and water changes is adding CO2, the need for adding things like example easy carbo is not even needed. I assume adding it in your water may be helpful but others may a have different take on it but is it really necessary , l doubt it myself

I am also doubting it does anything via water column dosing myself to be honest, I think I will stop adding it and see how it goes. Thanks for the help

 

[Connswater]

fairly hard

Your tank currently looks very attractive.

I would think your water is in reality very hard, I used to live down the road from Canterbury. The the Amazon swords will using biogenic calcification to get CO2 so regular water changes will be very helpful to supply CO2 indirectly, to stop your water being changed by the plants as they crack the bicarbonate, to stop limescale deposits and to keep Nitrate levels low but watch out for Nitrate spikes in your tap water, particularly in the summer when run off is high in farming nutrients and concentrated as the reservoir levels fall - Bewl reservoir. You will need to add chelated iron - which TNC products have - and make sure they have enough nutrients available overall, swords grow extensive roots and like a rich substrate.

By easy carbon I guess you mean glutaraldehyde. It is not CO2 and does not in any meaningful way increase CO2 levels, happy to be put right by the more scientific. It is a disinfectant. In much of Kent hornwort is about the easiest plant, loves hard water and grows across the surface and extracts CO2 from the atmosphere. Lilies and egeria also do well. Some crypts also thrive in hard water but the species that really like hard water are not that commonly commercially available, especially ciliata.

Good luck.

 

[Mattant1984]

Your tank currently looks very attractive.

I would think your water is in reality very hard, I used to live down the road from Canterbury. The the Amazon swords will using biogenic calcification to get CO2 so regular water changes will be very helpful to supply CO2 indirectly, to stop your water being changed by the plants as they crack the bicarbonate, to stop limescale deposits and to keep Nitrate levels low but watch out for Nitrate spikes in your tap water, particularly in the summer when run off is high in farming nutrients and concentrated as the reservoir levels fall - Bewl reservoir. You will need to add chelated iron - which TNC products have - and make sure they have enough nutrients available overall, swords grow extensive roots and like a rich substrate.

By easy carbon I guess you mean glutaraldehyde. It is not CO2 and does not in any meaningful way increase CO2 levels, happy to be put right by the more scientific. It is a disinfectant. In much of Kent hornwort is about the easiest plant, loves hard water and grows across the surface and extracts CO2 from the atmosphere. Lilies and egeria also do well. Some crypts also thrive in hard water but the species that really like hard water are not that commonly commercially available, especially ciliata.

Good luck.

Thank you for your reply it's much appreciated, I keep the tank well fertilsed and use root tabs for the swords and they seem to be growing well.
Will TNC complete contain enough Iron or should I be adding that separately?
I have only really been using the easy carbo to help with algae forming however not really sure it does much??
I do have a lot of success with crypts in my tanks they seem to love the hard water

 

[Connswater]

Regular chelated Iron in hard water I found to be the most important additive, but TNC is good, but in your water, you may have to add more Iron separately, garden centres sell boxes of Iron supplement cheaply, a box of five packets will last years, a tiny pinch with a weekly water change would help keep the swords happy, just don't stain the water, that is far too much.
Glad to hear the crypts are doing well, they also like a good rich substrate and many species are hard water tolerant.

 

[Mattant1984]

Regular chelated Iron in hard water I found to be the most important additive, but TNC is good, but in your water, you may have to add more Iron separately, garden centres sell boxes of Iron supplement cheaply, a box of five packets will last years, a tiny pinch with a weekly water change would help keep the swords happy, just don't stain the water, that is far too much.
Glad to hear the crypts are doing well, they also like a good rich substrate and many species are hard water tolerant.

Thanks again I will look into that, is there a way of knowing how much of the iron you need for tank volume etc as I'm assuming the stuff you have mentioned is for gardens??