Got some liquid fert for cheap!!!

[BfishLpond78]

Ok so my LFS was giving these away basically...all 5 for 20 bucks...and i just started my first planted tank.

Its a 55 gallon with 3x54w catalina grow fixture. 6500k, 10000k and a pink grow bulb (which isnt turned on at the moment) Each bulb had individual reflector. I have wisteria, amazon sword, dwarf hair grass, java fern, java moss, narrow leaf hydro, and a anubias nana...

Any idea on a dosing plan or is someone already made one? Also if i use these should i have the third bulb turned on?

 

[jetajockey]

Nice. As far as dosing plans go, I've not tried using the flourish line because of the cost, but I'd just play it pretty safe to begin with.

If you plan to go high tech the bottles won't last very long, and I'd switch over to dry ferts just for cost efficiency at that point.

Are you running co2? If not, you could still try the third bulb when dosing Excel daily, just try not to overdo it, some plants and creatures can be sensitive to excel.

To start out I'd probably dose the micro 3x a week and the nitrogen/iron/phos twice a week. You can use your master test kit to guesstimate how much/how often to dose the N, but you'd need other test kits to test for the other stuff to get an exact amount, so I'd just be guessing at it personally. Remember to do a big (~50% wc) at the end of the week to kind of 'reset' the tank, so to speak.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Ok so the micro is the comprehensive? Im gonna need a white board to make a schedule and document changes and effects of weekly dosing.

No CO2 at the moment. What will

 

[BfishLpond78]

Sorry...what will happen if i just use two bulbs for now while dosing?

 

[jetajockey]

yeah the micromix is comprehensive.

Using 2 bulbs is probably all you will want to use anyway, a 3 bulb high quality fixture is way more than that tank needs IMO. If you wanted to keep it low/medium tech you could just use 1 bulb even, that's all I use on my shrimp tank, and since I made the switch I've not seen a speck of algae on anything.

All that would happen with 3 bulbs is the plants will possibly grow faster and require more ferts and Co2. If algae starts growing it will grow faster as well, especially if you can't meet the demands of the plants co2-wise.

 

[Deckape]

I am following. I am getting ready to do the same thing with the same tank and light. Jeta advised me on this yesterday. So thanks for posting

 

[BfishLpond78]

Going to get a dry erase board so i can track my dosing. I wish they made an aquarium app for tracking this stuff....lol

 

[Deckape]

Going to get a dry erase board so i can track my dosing. I wish they made an aquarium app for tracking this stuff....lol

Droid does actually have trackers for this. Just search the market, there are many. That's how I found AA in the first place.

 

[BfishLpond78]

So did i did my first real dosage of thr ferts per the bottles instructions...maybe a smidge less...i'll try and take daily pictures to track progress.

 

[jetajockey]

So did i did my first real dosage of thr ferts per the bottles instructions...maybe a smidge less...i'll try and take daily pictures to track progress.

Looking forward to it.

 

[Deckape]

Nice job. Will be looking forward to the progress pictures

 

[BfishLpond78]

I have a question though. I wasn't sure how to physically add the first, so i took a solo cup of tank water and mixed all of the ferts into the cup, mixed it around and then added it evenly throughout the tank.

Is it bad that i mixed em all together?

Is there a correct or better way to add them to the tank?

 

[BfishLpond78]

Also, went to a family party this weekend (irrelevant, but i figured you'd want to know what sparked my idea...lol) My cousin does alot of sculptures with rock and he had alot of interesting rocks so I took a few, cause as you can see the left side of my tank is a little bare, so i wanted to add some rock work.

How should i go about cleaning the rock?

What test should be done to make sure it is safe for my tank?

 

[Coleallensmom]

Ok so my LFS was giving these away basically...all 5 for 20 bucks...and i just started my first planted tank.

Its a 55 gallon with 3x54w catalina grow fixture. 6500k, 10000k and a pink grow bulb (which isnt turned on at the moment) Each bulb had individual reflector. I have wisteria, amazon sword, dwarf hair grass, java fern, java moss, narrow leaf hydro, and a anubias nana...

Any idea on a dosing plan or is someone already made one? Also if i use these should i have the third bulb turned on?

NICE! I use Flourish for my planted tanks. I add extra iron, etc. only as needed (if I see a deficiency in any of the leaves) and sparingly when I do. IMO, You don't need to dose the nitrogen unless your tank is bottoming out with Nitrates and it's pretty easy to keep an eye on that with your master test kit. I've found that Flourish Comprehensive and Flourish Excel are enough to keep my tanks healthy. Don't overdo it; I pretty much just follow directions on the bottles. Dosing Excel every other day and the Comprehensive 2x per week seem to do well for me.

 

[BfishLpond78]

What do you look for in the leaves that would show a deficiency? Brown spots, holes? Sorry i'm very new to this.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Yep, any yellowing or browning of the leaves or appearance of holes would signal a deficiency of some sort. I normally only have issues with my swords and on the rare occasion that that happens, I usually just throw in a little Tetra Florapride (iron and potassium) and that's all it takes to get them back on track.

If it were me, I'd start out dosing the Excel and Comprehensive as per instructions on the bottles. You can add more from there if needed.

Some links you might want to glance at-
Nutrient Deficiency
Identifying Aquarium Plant Deficiencies | AquaticMagic Blog

 

[BfishLpond78]

Update...so i came home from work today and noticed some green algae on the front glass. I have too much of something. Any ideas?

 

[Coleallensmom]

Lights+ferts can do that...algae likes the same things your plants do. Did you dose nitrogen/iron/phos? Like I said above, those might not be needed. As long as you're not over dosing and your light period isn't too long, you should be fine.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Ya i did i guess i wanted to "try it" live and learn type thing. Ill just stick with excel and comp for now like you suggested in the first place...(embaressed face)...lol. so excel every other day and comp 2x a week?

 

[BfishLpond78]

Also the room does get a bunch of natural sunlight cause i have no curtains...new house. And how long should i have my lights on for the photo period?