fertilization regime for newly setup tank (4 weeks)

[aqua]

Tank size: 4 by 2 by 2 (feet)
Lightings: 216W
Duration: 9 hours
PH: 6.6
KH: 3.0

Plants:cripus, hair grass, java fern, nana, moss tied to drift woods, crypto wendi, crypto balansae

Fish: 20 espei, 3 chocolate guarami, 4 oto, 20 yamatos

Fertilisation: serra base fert (3 boxes)
40 ml of easylife liquid fert, 2.5 tsp k2s04, 0.5 tsp kN03 once per week
water change: 40% weekly

Hi there,

do i need to increase the dosage for the fert? what more do i need to do to ensure that my plants can grow healthy?

thanks

[juggler]

How are your plants doing now? Any algae problems?

You may also be interested to dose PO4 using KH2PO4. About 0.5-1.0ppm per week is a good start.

[aqua]

hi

plants ok but not much pearling.
some moss infected with hair (brown?) algae.
some patches of hair grass browning.
some cripus leafs melting, some grow very well, but most didn't seem to grow

so do i need to dose KN03, K2SO4, and KH2PO4 twice weekily or once weekily is enough?

thanks

[juggler]

Your lights of 216W over a 120g tank works out to be less than 2W/g. Not really enough to see pearling, in my opinion. You might like to increase your lighting to get close to 3W/g.

For dosing frequency, it is up to you how you want split the dosing in a week. Some people dose once, others 2 or 3 times a week.

[PeterGwee]

Add more CO2. Drop the pH down to 6.4-6.5 using CO2 only and keep it there for the entire photoperiod. Check the am and pm readings for a couple of days to ensure that the delivery system is consistent.

Increase the KNO3 dosage to about 1 teaspoon once a week should do for the type of plants in the tank. Add the 1/8 teaspoon of KH2PO4 once a week as suggested by juggler. For the easylife stuff, add 24ml 2x per week should more or less cover things up. All this needs the CO2 to be in good shape for uptake to occur. Make sure you keep a close eye on the CO2 and do weekly large water changes. 40% and 50% doesn't make much of a difference..you might as well do more to correct errors in dosage to prevent buildup.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[aqua]

thanks guys for the valuable advice!

btw is it the same if i do water change say 10% three or four times a week? should be equivalent to 40% water change at one go??

cheers

[balacam]

[quote:bace142f8f="aqua"]thanks guys for the valuable advice!

btw is it the same if i do water change say 10% three or four times a week? should be equivalent to 40% water change at one go??

cheers[/quote:bace142f8f]

Maybe you should tell us why you want to do more frequent water change.
Wouldn't it be less troublesome to do weekly water change?

[Plantbrain]

Easy to maintain nutrient levels, less need for testing and relying on test kits which are often inaccurate.

Doesn't take long, fish and plants love it.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[aqua]

hi plantbrain,

so daily partial water change is ok? ya the reason i do that is because it is less troublesome that a weekly big water change.

cheers

[juggler]

It should be fine with daily water changes. But I thought once weekly saves a lot of time too. With a hose and a water changing gadget, I can watch TV while the water drains out and refilled.

It's the pruning that takes more time.

[aqua]

hi

found some algae growing on my moss. the algae is brown in colour and bushy, i suspect it came together with the moss i bought and is now thriving !! also found some bba growing on the bolbiti leaves which are near to the water surface and thus receiving most lighting.

co2 readings : kh3, ph 6.4
lighting : 9.5 hours
dosing : 3 cups of easy life weekend, 1.5 cups mid-weekdays
2.5 tspn k2sp4 weekend, 1.5 tspn mid-weekdays
1 tspn kn03 weekend, 0.5 tspn mid-weekdays
10 ppm Hh2PO4 weekend, 5 ppm mid-weekdays
light : 216w
the reason i dose 50% less during mid-weekdays is to compensate for fert loss during WC, i do 5-10% WC daily.

what can i do to eliminate those algae? more light?

cheers

[Heuer]

The brown in colour and bushy algae you mention may not be algae but part of your moss. I see these stuff growing on my erect moss as well unless they are something else that you are describing.

[ms]

Hi, where can I buy KNO3 and KH2PO4? What is the common name for these? I have the same 4ft tank and I think my plants are missing out on these.

Thanks.

MS

[budak]

They can be bought from Dr Mallick or Eco Culture shop. The common names for these substance are: "stuff that will make your plant grow" or "plant food". But you can also say: Potassium nitrate and Potassium dihydrogen monophosphate respectively.

To understand why you should add this stuff, please read the "Articles on Dosing" in the Aquatic FAQ section of the forum.

[kc]

[quote:19a1c665ef="juggler"]It should be fine with daily water changes. But I thought once weekly saves a lot of time too. With a hose and a water changing gadget, I can watch TV while the water drains out and refilled.

[/quote:19a1c665ef]

No price for guessing what happen the last time I watched TV while draining the water..I forgot about it.

[Plantbrain]

I suppose water changes daily would work okay for a small tank, but then you'd need to dose dily as well.

I just do 50% weekly, takes 15 minutes including refill on a 75 gal tank with no buckets, python style water changes.

I add the same fert's perhaps a little lighter the first wek or two, but full dosing afterwards.

Regards,
Tom Barr