Dosing Carbon

[Rcguerra]

Here are two pictures of my 7.7gallon aquacube, before and after I traded some plants and did some trimming.

I don't believe we should dose carbon based on water volume as the direction of Excel recommends. I was using 2.5ml/ day after Wildcats recommended that instead of 5ml every other day. My tank was growing really well, even though my ludwigias were not getting any more red than when I got them (yes, I am dosing iron as recommended once a week).

Based on the lower volume of plants seen on the attached picture, can someone recommend a good dosage of excel (or any other ferts for that matter) so I can have a nice aquascape?

Thank you in advance

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Lol... I believe you meant to say Rivercats?

I don't think excel is responsible for the lack of coloration in your plants. I think it has to do with the lighting (since you're dosing iron). You might want to test for phosphates too. Rivercats thinks my issue with my 26g is phosphates; and I'm running the ray 2 but at a long distance.

Although, plants in my 6g are coloring up nicely. I think it partly has to do with light intensity (PAR value vs. distance) to get you in the medium to high light range. As it stands, i believe with a single Fugeray, you're good for low light plants, maybe some moderate ones too (depends on distance, not just vertical). If you add a second fixture you might see some difference. I know finnex just came out with their Fugeray-R clip light with 7000k and red (660nm) LEDs. Maybe you can shoot them an email to see if they'll be producing one like your fugeray but with some reds too? The reds might help in a different aspect of growth (someone correct me if I'm wrong) by helping plants color and elongate. Just a thought... I'm still experimenting on my 26g. Might pick up a second fixture and report back my findings.

 

[Rcguerra]

My second finnex fugeray has been purchased.

 

[Rcguerra]

Lol... I believe you meant to say Rivercats

When I noticed that I thought about going back and editing, but I believe now it makes more sense just to leave it as it is.

 

[Rcguerra]

Would 1ml/day be enough?

 

[aqua_chem]

With such a small tank, there's really not very many good reasons not to use DIY co2. It will let you get away with higher levels of light and potentially add more color to your plants than they would be able to achieve in an Excel-based regimen.

 

[Rivercats]

I get excellent color using only a liquid carbon and even better color now that I changed my bulbs to Geisemann and am running my tank with low nitrates and high phosphates.

 

[Rcguerra]

I get excellent color using only a liquid carbon and even better color now that I changed my bulbs to Geisemann and am running my tank with low nitrates and high phosphates.

I have no intentions to use anything different than liquid carbon. Rivercats has been very helpful sharing her findings with other sources of liquid carbon (other than excel). Unless I get results below my expectation with liquid, I am not planning on playing with CO2 cans.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Just to play devil's advocate, I think DIY co2 is a fantastic option -- especially in a tank your size. So I agree with both Rivercats and aqua_chem. So if you're not getting the results with excel, try DIY co2 (or both). It's simple to make and cost very little to make and operate. It just takes sugar, yeast, and small amount of baking soda every two weeks to keep it running. I use it on my 12g with very satisfactory results. I use the Excel when my co2 is tapering off towards the time I need to remix the recipe. I also just use Excel for spot treating. Mixing the DIY co2 recipe bi-weekly beats dosing daily... although I dose ferts daily (so just one less thing to dose).

 

[Rcguerra]

I will complete the cycle of excel that I have, then I will evolve to the more cost effective glutaraldehyde and if I still don't get where I want (based on Rivercats tank, I believe I will), I'll consider CO2.

Thank you for all contributions.