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Thread: new tank, when do you start dosing?

  1. #1
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    new tank, when do you start dosing?

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    Hi all. When setting up a new tank, may I ask when do you start your fertiliser doing regime? Immediately, 1 month later, or even longer?

    Currently I've just totally re-scaped my 2ft by 1ft by 1ft tank. Planting 'pellia' stuck in between the gaps of the rocks and some dwarf hairgrass. The 2 * 36 watt PL light is hung 9 inch above water level. Lighting period from 5pm to 12pm. No dosing of fertiliser yet.

    This is only a few days old tank. But some of the hairgrass is turning brown and some 'pellia' dying too.

    BTW, I'm using canister CO2 injection 24 hrs a day, using ice-probe to cool the water below 28 degrees.

    Any advice on why the hairgrass is turning brown?Is this the norm for the initial stage of planting hairgrass? Is the light being hung too high?

    Thanks.

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    Hairgrass takes some time to regrow submersed, most of it dies, and after that it will regrow.
    I don't know about the Pellia.
    Regards, Lisette

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    Normally hobbyst dosing the fertilizer after 2 weeks. If you are having hairgrass or any carpet grass, it is good to have base fertilizer. Hairgrass is a slow grow plant. They do like warm temperature like 26C - 31C. But they will stop growing and going into "sleeping" mode if temperature is too low.

    Trim the hairgrass after a week you planted inside the tank. It will help to grow faster. (Which I learnt from Aqua Journal.)

    Have you check your PH and KH? Pelia prefer to have low PH and high KH water.
    My new blog about field trip, aquascaping, DIY and etc. http://dominicanrepublica.blogspot.com

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    I do have base fertiliser in the tank. PH is 6.6 and KH is 3.

    But is my lighting height ok?

    I intend to start dosing only in a month time.

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    The height of lighting is fine. I hanging mine around a feet away. Try to dose the fertilizer once a week after performed water change. And try yr best to get the temp between 25-27C.
    My new blog about field trip, aquascaping, DIY and etc. http://dominicanrepublica.blogspot.com

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    There are mixed views on this; some say you can start right away, some say wait first, give it time to settle down, and then start dosing.

    I'd start off with trace elements weekly, and then when I start seeing my plants show signs of growing, I begin full-scale liquid fertilisation.

    For the hairgrass, after planting it's advised to trim them to a height of about 4cm, because of the rotting issue.

    I don't know about the lighting, but I'd prefer it to be closer, because PL lights aren't that strong in penetration of depth in my opinion. Also, your lighting duration is 7 hours, not sure if that's temporary, but it's best to go 10 hours.

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    A trick I learned when I lived in Modesto. The water was dead soft, with mostly silicate buffers. I nearly killed all my plants and fish with the horrible imbalance of essential electrolytes. Adding sodium was lethal to even Java Moss and Fern.

    As soon as I added some Seachem "Equilibrium" to provide the missing potassium, calcium and magnesium, the plants turned deep green and took off growing. Now, my first reaction, when growing tips look feeble or turn brown, is to check the electrolytic balance with a measure of KH, GH, and pH. If any are too low (particularly the first 2 are below about 4 degrees), I dose with "Equilibrium" and see what happens.

    Wright
    01 760 872-3995
    805 Valley West Circle
    Bishop, CA 93514 USA

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    Quote Originally Posted by whuntley
    As soon as I added some Seachem "Equilibrium" to provide the missing potassium, calcium and magnesium, the plants turned deep green and took off growing. Now, my first reaction, when growing tips look feeble or turn brown, is to check the electrolytic balance with a measure of KH, GH, and pH. If any are too low (particularly the first 2 are below about 4 degrees), I dose with "Equilibrium" and see what happens.

    Wright
    I killed a lot of plants/mosses in Maine on combined hardness <35ppm
    using wellwater. EQ is a great product and fairly cheap: BigAlsonline sells
    300g (10oz) for $4.49USD. I've since gone to CaCl2 and Epsom Salts in
    a 4:1 ratio for dirt cheap electrolyte replacement. I'm using KNO3 and
    KH2PO4 for the potassium (largest thing in EQ) dosing it dry to the tanks.
    My trace mix has the manganese and soluble iron plus I dose a 10%
    chelated iron once a week and it has done wonders. My tapwater in
    Alabama has 110ppm KH so I don't have to dose any Sodium Bicarb.

    I'd definitely up the light duration to 10-12 hours per day. Having a
    relatively low plant mass in a new tank can be problematic versus cramming a lot of fast growers at the start. You can conserve CO2 (don't
    know how expensive it is over there) by running it during daytime only.

    Bill

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