First attempt. Please advise

**deltarun1** · 24th May 2012, 22:38

forgot to mention, the guideline is about 2.5 - 3 wpg.

im also using flourish excel. find that using the cap is a very troublesome way to dose. i use a syringe instead. i does 1.5 ml for my 1ft tank every day.

**wongce** · 24th May 2012, 22:54

oh, i see, since you already added the fish, then whats done can't be undone... cory are hard to resist...haha

3.5wpg should be enough,you check your tank capacity using the calculator links; if your tank is 60 x 30 x 45, your are having only 2.57wpg which may not be enough... i am using 4 x 24w for carpeting my microsword in my 2 feet tank... SP Power likes me very much...LOL..by the way, are the light tubes new??

whats your co2 level? for now, don't worry too much about HC as its quite hard to judge HC growth now...it takes approximately 2 weeks for it to convert grow properly, change the light regime to 6-8 hours straight, lights need to be at least 4 hours straight to be effective. Monitor it and see hows the condition. if you want easy carpeting plant and willing to spend more time waiting, microswords is a great choice as a beginner carpeting plant...

**deltarun1** · 24th May 2012, 23:00

Originally Posted by wongce

oh, i see, since you already added the fish, then whats done can't be undone... cory are hard to resist...haha

3.5wpg should be enough,you check your tank capacity using the calculator links; if your tank is 60 x 30 x 45, your are having only 2.57wpg which may not be enough... i am using 4 x 24w for carpeting my microsword in my 2 feet tank... SP Power likes me very much...LOL..by the way, are the light tubes new??

whats your co2 level? for now, don't worry too much about HC as its quite hard to judge HC growth now...it takes approximately 2 weeks for it to convert grow properly, change the light regime to 6-8 hours straight, lights need to be at least 4 hours straight to be effective. Monitor it and see hows the condition. if you want easy carpeting plant and willing to spend more time waiting, microswords is a great choice as a beginner carpeting plant...

oops sorry i had just readily assumed 60 x 30 x 30 rather than 60 x 45 x 30. better listen to the expert and not me!

**grantlow** · 24th May 2012, 23:18

how to check co2 level? i only dose excel once a week enough? on top of that my co2 is 2bps

**grantlow** · 24th May 2012, 23:20

anyway i also dont use any test kit or what, only pH, just tested it was 6, probably because the co2 is running.

**Shadow** · 25th May 2012, 07:27

Originally Posted by grantlow

how to check co2 level? i only dose excel once a week enough? on top of that my co2 is 2bps

Excel oxidise after 24 hour, once a week is not enough. 2bps mean nothing, it does not telling how much co2 in the water. You can inject 10bps using airstone and still not enough co2 disolve in the tank. Use drop checker to measure co2 but make sure use kh4 solution to dilute.

Gex soil is not that fertile, nutrient depleted very fast. You might want to get ready for fert dosing

**deltarun1** · 25th May 2012, 08:22

Oh gex nutrient deplete vs fast? Do u know roughly how long then need to restart tank?

**Shadow** · 25th May 2012, 08:29

My experience with gex green and elatine triandra depleted within 3 months. You can see major nutrient defficiency. It setup dependent, different plant different intake rates

**felix_fx2** · 25th May 2012, 08:34

Originally Posted by deltarun1

Oh gex nutrient deplete vs fast? Do u know roughly how long then need to restart tank?

It will depend on if additional ferts are provided. Some folks instead of restarting they add root ferts.

Do note, sms lingo not allowed.

**grantlow** · 26th May 2012, 21:22

Okay I think it's the snails that's biting my floating plants. Small tiny *** snails are starting to emerge. So tiny you can't even see them unless you put your face against the tank lol