Mmiller2001

GH and KH look real good and I would definitely add more plants. I will make this recommendation, Hygrophila Polysperma.

Yes, return the tank to your target totals each water change.

.3ppm per week divided by how many days you choose to dose.

2 or 3 times a week is fine and always right after a water change. So .1 3xweek or .15 2xweek

That’s probably a good idea as EG has other micros too. Flourish iron would be my choice over comprehensive so you aren’t over dosing the others. Unfortunately, there’s no great micro mix except BurrAqua and he may not be able to ship to Canada and would require NPK dosed individually. If you are interested, here’s my per dose totals on micros, I dose this 3 times a week. Fe DTPA - .12 ppm Fe gluc - .03 ppm Mn - .025 ppm B - .023 ppm Zn - .02 ppm Cu - .0021 ppm Mo - .001 ppm Ni - .00011 ppm

That's fine for the extra iron, try targeting .3ppm Fe weekly, then water change. May have to go lower if you are not doing 50% changes. When you have good healthy new growth, then remove the algae filled lower sections. If you have good leaves now, go ahead and remove the old ones.

Only 16 inches, I would put an air stone in your tap water bucket and let it roll a few hours then change water. A spare pump will work too. Another trick, and one that I use, is I dose my water change water to the totals I want then change water. This way (front loading) keeps the tank always at my target numbers no matter how little or how much water I change. I do dose micros separately though, but that's not possible if using an all in one fertilizer. 1st goals, dose the extra and keep at it that you have started doing. Do good size water changes and keep the substrate free of any mulm and such. Clean filter once a month and that should be just a gentle sponge squeeze in dechlorinated water. Do this for a few months and see what happens, only watch new growth and make sure it stays free of algae. If there's no improvements, then other changes should be made. 90% of problems is underdosing and not keeping the tank clean and fresh.

Patience, and yes...let the water sit out for a while before using it or do more frequent smaller water changes. Keep the tank very clean and dose after a water change to get levels back to what they need to be. The whole "heavy root feeders" is nonsense and root tabs are not needed. An aqua soil will give you better results than a root tab will but I only use inert substrates and my plants grow just fine without tabs. Look at my Quadricostatus on the left, no tabs there I assure you.

I do and I haven’t found a reason to use them in either scenario.

I would go Chihiros, more adjustability.

Ideally you want one near to or full length but you could raise it higher to spread the light. And if you working with lower light plants, I see no issues if it was shorter.

Yes

Seriously, if I had a smaller tank L series WA would catch my eye. Bit more narrow and a bit less watts but basically the same as the Pandora series. Take your time though, dont rush it. Google Aqua rocks Colorado and see what shipping they have.

S series is the better option with Twinstar . Look at the WeaknAqua L series before going all in on Twinstar.

It makes everything easier. I’m trying to find it but he says to cut EI dosing down to a quarter to 1/3 for non co2 injected tanks. While reading, remember it was written a while ago but still great information.

https://barrreport.com/threads/the-estimative-index-of-dosing-or-no-need-for-test-kits.52/

I agree with @JoeQ completely, these higher end lights are for aesthetics but able to push insane PAR at the same time. You won’t need a lot of PAR with low energy tanks, but if you went with WA, it will handle anything you could want as you grow in the hobby. I will say lights is where I’ve wasted the most money. Had I just gotten the WA or Chihiros the first time, I would have saved hundreds of dollars.

You definitely can use them with lids. And most come with legs to use them on rimmed and rimless tanks. Is it a waste with low light and no CO2? For me, that answer is no, but everyone’s budget is different. That said, if I was staying easy easy plants and no CO2, I would go Finnex Planted ALC on a simple timer or dimmer like @Pepere uses. I think they have a bit more contrast than the others, gives you a bit of adjustment and are much cheaper and more bang for the buck.

The 3.0 is not on that list. Weak Aqua is the best budget light as of now.

I’d ask which plants you are using that need an aqua soil.

😆

No, that’s some years away. Nowhere to put them.

Ha, that myrio grows 12 inches in 7 days. There’s no way I’m keeping up with that as a foreground plant 😆 I would imagine less clear water as the substrate is so immature, but who knows.

It’s the lighting. Quality RGB lights are a must to have the colors really pop. Clear water helps too.

Not too much to report as of late. I’m pretty much just changing water and moving things around while propagating. GDA showed up again but I think it’s just going to be a short phase of it. Plants are looking decent and my water is crystal clear. I added a ton of 30ppi sponge and wonder if this is why.