Haa okay, didn't realize people will be so interested. The tank is 35 inches long, 16 inches wide, 23 inches tall.
The tank used to be lit by 2 X 150w industrial metal halides. 1st hour right side one turns on, next six hours, both, last hour only left side.
Now using 2 X BML Led fixtures, 1st fixture runs for 8 hours, 2nd fixture only runs for 4 hours. Because visually I find the color still a bit cool, I suspend a 20w CFL on top of the tank as well.
The filter is some Eheim Ecco, rated for around this tank size, I forgot exact model. Using ANS's CO2 system with an inline diffuser. Using 2 very small pumps(smallest pump in shops) to circulate the water, one of them blows upwards for some surface agitation. CO2 starts 1.5 hours before lights come on.
The substrate is a layer of peat about 1cm + red iron rich clay, followed by dirt (1 inch in front of tank, 3-6 inches at the back), and topped off with ANS planted substrate.
This is a shot of the tank side; the dark band on the bottom is the peat/red clay, followed by dirt/garden soil, then ANS substrate. I used some of the ANS substrate from the previous tank, so the older substrate is lighter in color. In this shot the ANS layer is quite thick, whereas for most of the tank, its around 2 inches or less; perhaps only 1 cm in front glass. Basically the ANS substrate's purpose is to cap the dirt.
Water parameters-wise, the kH keeps rising because of CO2 reacting with the stones, so kH fluctuates between 6-9. (6 after a 25% water change, 9ish after a few days)
This is my exact dosing sheet for the first 2 months:
1st column is date. The next 5 columns for tests done on that date. (usually only test N, PO4, and KH) WC % indicates water change on that particular date.
The 6 columns after that are what I dosed in PPM.
So for example, in the 3rd row 28/7 - 25%WC is 25% water change. Followed by dosing 7ppm(3+4) nitrates, 0.7ppm PO4 (in the form of KH2PO4), 5ppm K (K2SO4) and 0.3ppm Mg (MgSO4)
Excel, TDS, or other notes are in the last column. Fe & traces I dose in the form of CSM + B, and Iron chelate 11% EDTA
There are many water changes in the first few days; prevents algae from gaining momentum and suppresses KH, allowing plants that come from normal tap water to adapt more easily.
Eventually I adopted a 5 day schedule, where 25% water change is done every 5 days to keep the kH fluctuating in an acceptable range. After I spotted an Mg deficiency in Hemianthus glomeratus, Mg dosing became more frequent. After spotting spot algae appearing, I increased PO4 dosing. So in some sense my dosing is reactive rather than fixed.
Nitrates are generally very safe so from the start to the end I try to keep levels between 10-30, dropping to the lower range to get more reds if taking photographs
Phosphates can exacerbate algae if present, so I usually aim to dose heavily only after plants have stabilized, and aim for a 5-7ppm range. (tank dependent, some tanks have species that require more or less, dose till no more improvement is seen)
Potassium is safe, but I get K from K2SO4 and my nitrate fertilizer, so dosing of K2SO4 is at lower levels.
Fe & traces could exacerbate algae if present(although a higher level can kill algae & Plants), so similarly I dose more heavily only once plants are settled in.
Ca - because of limestone in the tank, there is an abundance
Mg - Ca/Mg ratio gets skewed because of limestone, usually only a low level 1-3ppm is needed, but in this tank I dose it to about 5-10 ppm. (only seen in very late stages when I spotted magnesium issues in plants)
Thats about everything I guess. For the geeks that actually measure PAR levels, each BML Led strip gives about 100 PAR within a 6 inch distance from center-line at 18 inches depth. At the peak 4 hour window when both lights are on, there is about 200 PAR at substrate level, about 300 PAR at 12 inch depth and around 600 PAR at 6 inch depth. Its actually alot of light and I'm still raising/lower the lights to find a balance. So far the downside of running too much light is spot/dust algae on glass and stones, but if the tank balance is good, this should be the only issue. Frankly, I still think that 80-100 PAR on substrate can grow anything, but I was rushing to complete this scape in 2 months cos I know I'll be busy in octobe; higher light does achieve this.
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