Fertilization regime suggestion needed

[madnugget]

hi bros,

now i'm able to bring my attention back to my tank and i need some help on fertilization regime to max the growth as well as keep algae low

the ferts i have are wondergro macro, micro and excel

Tank: 1.5ft cube
Filter: Eheim 2226
Lights: 4x24w (6700K) on 1730-2300
Co2: like firecrackers during photo period (1700-2230) + NA type of reactor
Temp: 28~29 with fan

currently facing minor thread algae and dust algae, + abit of BBA on my rocks and green brush algae on my driftwood.

Plants: in the process of making marsilea hirsuta lawn, mini nanas, willow moss, vivipara and gujing x2

Not much livestock. During my exam period, i restarted the tank which is around 1month now. Added in guppies during that period. Tried to net out all my cherries when restarting, but surprisingly that a few are still growing strong! Introduced a few yamatos a few days back, but all KO when i start to dose more ferts (macro and excel)

hmm.. what else do i need to provide?

[madnugget]

anyone can give me some help? =)
i read that thread/hair algae is due to insufficient co2 or nutrients, considering the amount of co2 i have, means i have to dose even more?

[Plantbrain]

You only need 1 of those 4 bulbs running on this tank.
Wasting and overdosing light.
Cut in 1/2 immediately.

This is a light issue(too much).
The CO2/nutrients will be fair easier from there.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[barmby]

Me can't help much as I don't use wondergro macro, micro. No experience

[madnugget]

hmm thanks for the advise, i'll reduce the light tomorrow. but if i provide high light + high co2 and enough nutrients, shouldnt it be promoting fast growth? or it had reached a saturation point. or that solution is to stop the algaes..

[Plantbrain]

hmm thanks for the advise, i'll reduce the light tomorrow. but if i provide high light + high co2 and enough nutrients, shouldnt it be promoting fast growth? or it had reached a saturation point. or that solution is to stop the algaes..

Well, it's like driving 150km/h, vs 75km/h............it's easier and safer, if you overlook anything and if something goes wrong, you are in far less trouble.
Less light is much wiser.

It is not all about driving faster and faster growth using more and more light.
Management becomes more difficult as well. Unlike plants, algae are rarely/virtually never CO2/nutrient limited in aquariums, so the only thing holding them back really is light.

More Light increase => CO2 demand which increases=> nutrient demand
Likewise, less reduces CO2/nutrients and so on.

This is well stated and explained in this article from Tropica:

http://www.tropica.com/article.asp?t...aristic&id=142

Read this carefully.
You get much high light use efficiency when using lower light.
More is not better, it's more work and problems for many.

This is a big problem here in the USA, land of Hummer and the Atom bomb, but more are coming around and using less and having much better management.



Regards,
Tom Barr

[madnugget]

thanks for the enlightenment! management wise, can i slowly introduce back the lights according to the growth of my plants? for example when my mosses grew to a certain amount and i got my lawn?

hmm what about how much should i dose? i didnt see light as an issue initially instead because i thought it was more on the amount of ferts i add. In the past i dose whenever i remembered to. current ferts i have are wondergro macro,micro and excel

i've been using that amount of light since day 1 when starting my HC lawn and didnt have much issue. except the issue where i used additional 36W and i can see algae creeping in.

[barmby]

land of Hummer

haha .. i cannot help it ! I laugh..

madnugget, the only thing I can think of is .. your plants are really slow plants. Therefore, a higher chance for algae to capitalize.

[Shadow]

Same goes to any plants including algae, more light they grow faster.

Treat light like an aquascaping tools. For example, if competition date line is near and you want your plant little bit more mature, so you add more to speed up the growth of course nutrient dose must also increase. I might be wrong on this, if I remember correctly, the Dennerle guy was mention that plant have slow response to light intensity change but so far it work for me. I can even do spot grow ... .