Journal Fluval Spec build

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Water change info from Rotala Butterfly.
Think I did it right
Dosing all 3 KNO3, KH2PO4 and Millers MicroPlex every other day right after about 75% water change every other day.

I’ve be never used this accumulation calculator before, that’s neat.

 

[BigWave]

I’ve be never used this accumulation calculator before, that’s neat.

Its a part of Rotala Butterfly.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Its a part of Rotala Butterfly.

Haha yeah I know I just meant I’ve only used the dosing calculator. I haven’t yet mastered the dosing/accumulation process yet

 

[BigWave]

Some progress. Things are settling in. Not much algae anymore. Have been diligent keeping up on tank maintenance. Doing a 65%-75% water change every other day. Still dosing full ei. Most plants are starting to do great. A few grow slower than molasses.

 

[FrankZ]

Looks good buddy. Are you gassing the emersed growth to? Always wonder how that would grow the plants, hydroponics do it all the time so I’d imagine it would work. Humidity levels might be a major factor though.

 

[BigWave]

Are you gassing the emersed growth

I am not. I need a dual needle valve manifold and its not that high on the priority list. Yes your right I bet it increases growth like crazy. Right now its almost painfull looking at it daily and not seeing much going on. Im sure under the substrate has all kinds of life.

 

[BigWave]

This guys got character. If I didnt know better I would say it was making faces at the camera.

 

[BigWave]

A few new tank pics. I upped the dosage to 15mL every other day. So thats about 11-12ppm NO3 per dose. Was 7.5 classi IE. Plants seem to like it a lot. My theory was most of these name brand fertz suggest you dose a few squirts right after water change then also the normal, typical dose. Growth is steady now. To the point it is outcompeting algae. I am still doing 75% water changes every other day.

The Purple Knight standing tall. Its growing in nicely. Quickly turning in to one of my favorites.

If you look closely down the bottom in the middle front are 3 little peices of growth.
That growth is some of the rarest plants around in the USA right now. Actually I have not heard
of anyone even Asian or European thats got it growing sucessfully. They have been throwing out
a new leaf every week or so now and its fully submersed. This is Lobella Cardinals Mini Platinum!
As for growth rate its about the same as the Toninia lotus blossom.

 

[GreggZ]

I upped the dosage to 15mL every other day. So thats about 11-12ppm NO3 per dose. Was 7.5 classi IE. Plants seem to like it a lot. My theory was most of these name brand fertz suggest you dose a few squirts right after water change then also the normal, typical dose. Growth is steady now. To the point it is outcompeting algae. I am still doing 75% water changes every other day.

So if you were dosing 7.5 ppm NO3 classic EI every other day, then doing 75% water changes every other day........that is pretty low dosing. Max accumulation is only 10 ppm. And now lets say 12 ppm every other day, max accumulation is 16 ppm. So plants are liking some extra NO3 in the water column, but really aren't at near EI levels in the water column......which may be your intention?

You might want to start think about how much ppm you want in the water column. Then dose the new incoming water to that level. So let's say you remove 4 gallons, then dose the new 4 gallons to your target. Might be easier way to think about keeping the water column where you like it.

 

[BigWave]

@GreggZ I'm trying to push growth but dancing that fine line due to all the delicate, sensitive species in here. So doing a water change then dosing and repeat every other day. Maybe Ill try daily dosing and go from there.

 

[HardeeParty]

Wow this looks awesome. What a turnaround!

 

[FrankZ]

@GreggZ I'm trying to push growth but dancing that fine line due to all the delicate, sensitive species in here. So doing a water change then dosing and repeat every other day. Maybe Ill try daily dosing and go from there.

By sensitive do you man sensitive to high water column fert levels or other stuff? I’m trying to learn more about the sensitive nature of these difficult plants and different methods of growing

 

[BigWave]

We really dont see too many good tonnia, erio or syng tanks here in the USA. Its mostly oversease in Europe where they are dosing mostly with Masterline. So its daily dose is (1.2ppm NO3, 0.2ppm PO4, 0.75ppm K, 0.2ppm Mg, and 0.07ppm Fe). By sensitive I mean ultra clean and stable water parameters. These plants thrive in 0dKH and lower gHs. Change usually causes stunting, leaves falling off or melt.
No one really knows about the hybrid platinum plants except that their extremely hard to grow due to the lack of chlorophyll and ultra slow growth. Its why they havnt taken off and we dont see any except the the anubias types.

 

[BigWave]

The overall goal for this tank is that when it starts growing good to slowly remove the more commons eg rotala's and few others and replace with rares. Maybe Rotala red cross and a few others we dont see often.
My hunch is that all these plants need that root zone and once that has grown out they will start doing their thing. Now having a mature nutrient rich root zone takes time lol.

 

[BigWave]

Updated pics.
Plants are starting to grow like weeds now. Did up dosage like Greggs said to 25mL 3x week. So thats 2.5x more. So thats 18.75ppm NO3 3x week. More plants in the mail lol.

 

[BigWave]