Ferts questions

[Deaths Sting]

my question relates to fertilization and if this will be enough for my 15 gallon set up.

in addition i plan to use DIY Co2
my lighting is 1X6700K 65 watt 24'' coralife

fish are
1 Flash Pleco (L204) - Panaque sp.

6 guppies

10 cherry shrimp

im also using ADA aqua soil and eco-complete so that probably counts for something. im also aware of the EI method, i don't understand it fully...

heres my question:

would flourish and flourish traces be enough to maintain the health of my chosen plants? im already using flourish excel for the extra carbon.

would these 3 additives plus the DIY Co2 be enough?

thanks.

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

You did not specify your plant list. Chances are you do not need CO2 at all.

ADA soil is a devil's brew. Follow your kH closely (daily). Make water changes until is remains stable at tap water level. This can take weeks !!! DO NOT add fish until the water chemistry is stable, even with an old filter and everything. ADA soil creates an immediate hazard of pH crash. Besides, you will get tons of red algae during the beginning phase.

Also, it is my experience that ADA is not easily compatible with other ferts brands. Just FYI.

Your light is excellent. Good choice.

Happy Planting,
HarleyK

 

[Deaths Sting]

Howdy,

You did not specify your plant list. Chances are you do not need CO2 at all.

ADA soil is a devil's brew. Follow your kH closely (daily). Make water changes until is remains stable at tap water level. This can take weeks !!! DO NOT add fish until the water chemistry is stable, even with an old filter and everything. ADA soil creates an immediate hazard of pH crash. Besides, you will get tons of red algae during the beginning phase.

Also, it is my experience that ADA is not easily compatible with other ferts brands. Just FYI.

Your light is excellent. Good choice.

Happy Planting,
HarleyK

plants are as follows:

- java moss
- java fern
- Hygrophila Polysperma.
- Crypts
- vallesneria
- anubias
- amazon sword

you the first person to hate ADA aqua soil! i wasn't aware of everything u mentioned about it. however, i did wait over 4 weeks before adding my fish, i also monitored Ph, GH KH. everything stabilized after 3 weeks. ada lowers ph but eco-complete raises it.. my Ph has constantly been 6.8 for last 2 weeks. KH is 75PPM and GH is 100PPM both of these are also constant.

could u address my question about what ferts to use and the right regime for my situation?

i really appreciate ur help! it so hard to find help on planted tanks on MFK!

 

[velanarris]

What did you use to get those kH and GH numbers?

The only thing of note here is, this is a very small tank for excel to be a regular fertilizer. How're you dosing your fertilizers? Also remember nitrogen is an essential for plants. If you don't have much in the form of livestock you may have to dose nitrogen.

 

[Deaths Sting]

What did you use to get those kH and GH numbers?

The only thing of note here is, this is a very small tank for excel to be a regular fertilizer. How're you dosing your fertilizers? Also remember nitrogen is an essential for plants. If you don't have much in the form of livestock you may have to dose nitrogen.

i used jungle labs test strips to test my GH PH KH.

right now im only dosing excel, im using a pipette.

 

[oOMO3NOo]

small tanks are usually the best for excel as it wont cost you millions of dollars in the long run. any fertz you want to use will work fine...i know alot of people use normal dry fertz. with your plant list alot of the nutrients will come right from the soil. you have good soil so you should be fine. if you really want to start dosing i would start with some liquid fertz and dose as instructions say... and test alot. for smaller tanks you can get buy with liquid fertz. but if you want the cheapest way possible dry fertz are the way to go. dont know if that answered all you questions but there you go.

i would start with no fertz at all and start adding them once you see you need them aqua soil has alot of nutrients from the start and you can get to much very quick.

 

[Deaths Sting]

small tanks are usually the best for excel as it wont cost you millions of dollars in the long run. any fertz you want to use will work fine...i know alot of people use normal dry fertz. with your plant list alot of the nutrients will come right from the soil. you have good soil so you should be fine. if you really want to start dosing i would start with some liquid fertz and dose as instructions say... and test alot. for smaller tanks you can get buy with liquid fertz. but if you want the cheapest way possible dry fertz are the way to go. dont know if that answered all you questions but there you go.

i would start with no fertz at all and start adding them once you see you need them aqua soil has alot of nutrients from the start and you can get to much very quick.

good advice man!!!

thank you!

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

plants are as follows:

- java moss
- java fern
- Hygrophila Polysperma.
- Crypts
- vallesneria
- anubias
- amazon sword

For these plants you do not need any special care, and ADA soil will not be an advantage, either. If you like the looks - okay. But these plants will grow in any substrate and any water just fine. HYgrophila is the only one that might enjoy special attention. As for ferts, my Java moss seems to like Tetra PlantaMin (cheap). But as said before, any ferts will do. Echinodorus will do better with substrate fertilizer or heavy iron supplementation (monitor parameters)

HarleyK

 

[jcardona1]

for that plant list, i would ditch the co2 and try adding some Excel once every few days, the plants will love it. but if youre going to start adding co2, youll want to run a complete dosing routine. you cant randomly start dosing different ferts, you have to be complete and consistent, varying the amount of each nutrient to achieve a balance.

a complete fert routing would include potassium, phosphate, nitrates and the mircro/trace nutrients. and of course, carbon, which comes via co2. and pretty much with any tank size, the most cost effecient way of doing this is via the EI method using bulk dry fertilizers. i dont like using the bottled stuff. its just the same stuff. except companies dilute it in water and slap it in a pretty bottle, marking the price up 500% at the same time.

and in my opinion, i think that light may be a little intense for a non-co2 setup, but theres only one way to find out wanna read more? see here: http://rexgrigg.com/ articles on the right

 

[velanarris]

You buying your bulk dry from rexgrigg? I've seen his site, but the paypal thing tends to keep me away.