Supermassive Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 On 1/26/2024 at 11:33 PM, Mmiller2001 said: I do and I haven’t found a reason to use them in either scenario. I cant figure out what I'm missing. I think it might be the CO2 in my tap water not allowing my plants to adapt to the natural CO2 conditions in my tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 On 1/26/2024 at 9:43 PM, Supermassive said: I cant figure out what I'm missing. I think it might be the CO2 in my tap water not allowing my plants to adapt to the natural CO2 conditions in my tank. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 On 1/26/2024 at 11:52 PM, Mmiller2001 said: 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. It takes a few days for my tap water to off gas the CO2. Is it okay to sit out for that long? I need to do a better job keeping the tank clean. And what about the filter, also keep it really clean or not as much of a concern? Dang! How tall is that tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 On 1/26/2024 at 10:02 PM, Supermassive said: It takes a few days for my tap water to off gas the CO2. Is it okay to sit out for that long? I need to do a better job keeping the tank clean. And what about the filter, also keep it really clean or not as much of a concern? Dang! How tall is that tank? 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 On 1/27/2024 at 12:22 AM, Mmiller2001 said: 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. Your Quadricostatus is massive lol. Awesome. I don't actually use a bucket. Because I'm only dealing with 3 gallons I just use the 1G distilled water jugs to mix and pour it in. But I have been considering getting a submersible pump and pre mixing and dosing my water like you said. I will most likely do that in the next couple weeks. I will just aerate a bucket before WCs in the meantime. If I'm dosing EG is there any reason to be adding seachem comprehensive? I've been doing it just because it has some extra micros. Ill keep dosing the phosphorous and do a better job of keeping the tank clean and clean the filter monthly. I will also get a couple amano shrimp in the next couple weeks. Should I be removing the leaves with the most algae on them or just let them go? Will it have any impact on the algae in terms of slowing growth or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) On 1/26/2024 at 10:45 PM, Supermassive said: If I'm dosing EG is there any reason to be adding seachem comprehensive? 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. On 1/26/2024 at 10:45 PM, Supermassive said: hould I be removing the leaves with the most algae on them or just let them go? 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. Edited January 27 by Mmiller2001 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 On 1/27/2024 at 12:49 AM, Mmiller2001 said: 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. I'm also adding straight flourish iron. Should I just dose for the iron in the comprehensive and not use the flourish iron? SeattleAquarist informed me of the different iron chelates and recommended flourish iron so I wasn't sure if the comprehensive would work at my PH and have been using both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 On 1/26/2024 at 11:12 PM, Supermassive said: I'm also adding straight flourish iron. Should I just dose for the iron in the comprehensive and not use the flourish iron? SeattleAquarist informed me of the different iron chelates and recommended flourish iron so I wasn't sure if the comprehensive would work at my PH and have been using both. 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 On 1/27/2024 at 1:21 AM, Mmiller2001 said: 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. Okay then I will just dose the iron and stop using the comprehensive. Do I just dose for the .3ppm once a week? I've seen it recommended to dose iron once a week, a few times a week, and daily. Not sure what would be best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 On 1/26/2024 at 11:31 PM, Supermassive said: Okay then I will just dose the iron and stop using the comprehensive. Do I just dose for the .3ppm once a week? I've seen it recommended to dose iron once a week, a few times a week, and daily. Not sure what would be best. 2 or 3 times a week is fine and always right after a water change. So .1 3xweek or .15 2xweek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 On 1/27/2024 at 1:33 AM, Mmiller2001 said: 2 or 3 times a week is fine and always right after a water change. Okay will do. Thanks a lot for all the info and help. Last question. I've read iron is absorbed by plants almost immediately so I'm just dosing for .3ppm each dose and not trying to maintain .3ppm over time right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 On 1/26/2024 at 11:41 PM, Supermassive said: Okay will do. Thanks a lot for all the info and help. Last question. I've read iron is absorbed by plants almost immediately so I'm just dosing for .3ppm each dose and not trying to maintain .3ppm over time right? .3ppm per week divided by how many days you choose to dose. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 @Mmiller2001 If excess nutrients don't really cause algae how come its so important to keep the surface of the substrate and the filter clean? Will it cause very small amounts of ammonia which will cause an algae bloom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 On 1/30/2024 at 9:57 AM, Supermassive said: @Mmiller2001 If excess nutrients don't really cause algae how come its so important to keep the surface of the substrate and the filter clean? Will it cause very small amounts of ammonia which will cause an algae bloom? Yes, it causes excess organics and some break down (creating ammonia) feeding instability and opportunist algae. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 @Mmiller2001 What N level would you recommend I target from easy green? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 On 1/31/2024 at 9:43 AM, Supermassive said: @Mmiller2001 What N level would you recommend I target from easy green? 20 to 25ppm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Here is a good site for information on dosing. I linked to the specific section where it talks about how many ppm(s) plants take up per day of each element. https://sites.google.com/site/aquaticplantfertilizer/no3-too-low-high 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 I cleaned my filter and syphoned more detritus out on Wednesday. The filter had very little debris. It was basically clean except for the filter floss and the intake sponge. I'm using Aquarium Coop coarse sponge and the normal AquaClear sponge but I think I should just be using two of the normal AquaClear sponges. The coarse sponge was literally spotless. On 1/27/2024 at 12:22 AM, Mmiller2001 said: Do this for a few months and see what happens If I am making the correct changes will I notice improvements before then? I thought you should start seeing improvements in 2-4 weeks. Do you just mean it might take a few months for it to completely clear up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 On 2/2/2024 at 11:35 AM, Supermassive said: I cleaned my filter and syphoned more detritus out on Wednesday. The filter had very little debris. It was basically clean except for the filter floss and the intake sponge. I'm using Aquarium Coop coarse sponge and the normal AquaClear sponge but I think I should just be using two of the normal AquaClear sponges. The coarse sponge was literally spotless. If I am making the correct changes will I notice improvements before then? I thought you should start seeing improvements in 2-4 weeks. Do you just mean it might take a few months for it to completely clear up? New growth should look better as it comes in. A month or 2 to see the overall picture. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 I got my tap water tested for calcium at my LFS and they said it was below 20ppm. My GH out of the tap is ~120ppm so I'm not sure what to make of that. They didn't have a magnesium test kit so I still don't know about that. I can get a Ca/Mg test kit on amazon for about $20. Would that be useful to know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 I’m not sure of how good they are but could be used for a range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 They claim it can test Ca from 0-200ppm at 20ppm per drop and Mg from 0-960ppm with 12.15ppm per drop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 On 2/2/2024 at 5:39 PM, Supermassive said: They claim it can test Ca from 0-200ppm at 20ppm per drop and Mg from 0-960ppm with 12.15ppm per drop Couldn’t hurt to try it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 I did end up getting the test kit. I tested my tap twice and It says I have 60-80ppm calcium. In my tank it said 40-60ppm which adds up. I guess the test they have at my LFS is expired or he didn't do it properly. The magnesium test says I have less than 12ppm in my tap. I think its essentially zero. There is only about 5ppm in my tank from what I'm adding. From what google says I should have it at 10ppm minimum. Should I go ahead and bump up my magnesium dose to level off at 10ppm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 On 2/3/2024 at 4:49 PM, Supermassive said: I did end up getting the test kit. I tested my tap twice and It says I have 60-80ppm calcium. In my tank it said 40-60ppm which adds up. I guess the test they have at my LFS is expired or he didn't do it properly. The magnesium test says I have less than 12ppm in my tap. I think its essentially zero. There is only about 5ppm in my tank from what I'm adding. From what google says I should have it at 10ppm minimum. Should I go ahead and bump up my magnesium dose to level off at 10ppm? I keep mine at 8, but 10 would be fine. I’d try to lower that calcium though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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