How to carpet monte carlo

[harryxing]

I am very very curious what affects monte carlo carpet so I use my 2 tanks to try.
light is 2ft Aquazonic t5h0 6500k
5 hours everyday
EI dosing of seachem fertilisers... still learning
I use daiso solution bottles
4 drops of N
4 drops of P
7 drops of Excel
Everyday and 30 percent change water on Sunday
Temperature 28 to 32 degrees

Tank A no CO2


Tank B add 1bps CO2


I want to see how different are the growth. I hope monte carlo is as easy as described by most.

Let me know if I'm doing anything wrong.
And I have monte carlo floating above in case the carpet fails I can try again.

[14litre]

great efforts.

Thanks for sharing while performing the test.

I'm also new to planted tank and i am curious as well. I'm subscribing to this thread.

Btw, does that mean both tanks have the same setup including fertilizers etc and the only difference is with/without CO2?

[harryxing]

Yup exactly the same set up for both tanks. I will report after few more days.

The Co2 tank should carpet faster. And I wonder how long the non CO2 tank will catch up.

[fireblade]

if you plant them strand by strand think will be better..
wish that your result is good

[harryxing]

if you plant them strand by strand think will be better..
wish that your result is good

I had a lot to play with that's why I was a little lazy but I agree it will grow better with more space

[Vernonplim]

camping, anxious and waiting to see the results also! LOL.

[harryxing]

Almost 1 week

No visible growth in both tank
No melting also so very sturdy plants

Tank A no CO2


Tank B with 1bps CO2


Occasional pearling in Tank B but still no visible growth after 5 days.

I have to wait longer I guess

[harryxing]

I'm thinking of increasing lighting from 5 hours to 7 hours to try for one week

[fireblade]

can see some longer shoots....

[ZIr]

Can see some stalks starting to 'lie' down especially those on the left side for tank B. I think that might be an indicator that they're getting ready to carpet. At least that's what I've experienced. Yes, increase lighting might help. My lighting was on for 8hrs with 1.5bps CO2 and they started spreading after 1st week.

[harryxing]

I see now I did notice some shoots in tank B are curling downwards

[golfball]

Tank B looks good!

[harryxing]

1 week after planting

Tank B with 1bps CO2 is starting to carpet. The stem are growing towards the soil and the roots are digging in from the stem.



Tank A with no Co2 remains the same after 1 week no melting.



So I think I m only capable to carpeting monte carlo using this formula for 1ft tank
Aquazonic T5HO with Osram 6500K bulb 7 hours a day
1 bps CO2 with simple diffuser 7 hours
Everyday
5 drops of Nitrogen
5 drops of Phosphorus
7 drops of Excel
30 percent water change every week


Daiso small bottles and I calculated the recommended dosage to be
Nitrogen 5 drops every 10 gallon twice a week
Phosphorus 9 drops every 10 gallon twice a week
Excel 7 drops every 10 gallons everyday

I will now try keep the monte carlo in tank A alive. I really respect anyone who can carpet monte carlo without Co2 because I tried and I can't. I will update weekly if possible.

[harryxing]

Tank B
Week 1

Week 2.5


Tank A
Week 2.5

[harryxing]

Big discovery for me.
Tank A no CO2 is starting to creep also but much much slower.

So it is possible to grow montecarlo without CO2 without chiller if you are very patient. I will wait and see how long it will take Tank A to cover the foreground of my 1ft tank.

[Dscheng]

With Co2 definitely much much faster !

[ZIr]

The leaves in Tank A with no CO2 .. seems to be yellowing? and is the fuzzy stuff algae or due to your camera.

Anyway I salute you for this experiment and your patience.. coz I learnt too heh heh

For tank B, did you crank up CO2 till your drop checker is lime green? Anyway just to give you some inspiration (not show off hor.. ), probably more for your Tank B.. my current monte carlo carpet taken last week. ( I think coming to about 3 months since initial planting)



closeup

[harryxing]

Yup tank A old leaves are yellowing but new leaves are green.
Those fuzzy stuff are all different moss I throw in.
For tank B I only use a cheap $4 dollars diffuser and put under the filter outflow to mist the tank. 1 bubble per second.

I like your montecarlo carpet! And your shrimps! I hope Tank B become like that after 3 months.

[Emperios]

i like informaions

[uglyduckling]

Without co2 this MC grows very very slow. I did try testing it, finally it got infected by algae and die slowly.
However after injecting co2 (1bps) for 1 week, those dying plant came back to life quickly. I could say that the difference was observed day by day.
The result is similar to other carpeting plants like HC, Glosso, hair grass and hydrocotyles.


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