Journal Sepp's Somehow Dutch

[Sepp0207]

Hello everyone,
for almost 10 years now I went through ups and many downs with my tank. Despite intensive research I have not been able tu get satisfying plant growth so far. So I decided to start my own journal in the hope of getting some helpful tips from you.

First the basic conditions:

• tank: 1,60m x0,6 x 0,5 - 480 Liter
• substrate: Tropica Soil, about 2 years old
• water: tap water kh 4, gh 5
• filter: Eheim 2080 + Jbl 1501, strong biological Filtermedia
• co2: 2x aqua medic reactor 1000, picture following, ph drop 1,2
• light: 2x skylight hypersot m
• ferts: Two weeks ago I switched from lean dosing to EI. After water changes I go for 25 ppm no3; 1,5 ppm po4; 35 ppm K. Then daily dosing 1 ppm po4, because soil is still sucking. I raise ca from 18 ppm to 35 ppm, mg is about 10 ppm. Since yesterday I am dosing burr740 recipe, bevore i was dosing Masterline 1.
• pictures will follow

I am grateful for any suggestions for improvement. Feel free to coment or ask for further information.

Regard
Sebastian

 

[Sepp0207]

 

[Koan]

Couple of questions :

- That's a big tank, do you have anything boosting the flow of your CO2 - injected water to dead spots?

- What is your water change routine? How much do you change and how often? How often do you fertilize?

- How long before lights on does your CO2 come on?

Excellent growth is predicated on as much stability as we can create, with fertilizers and CO2 for the plants. Here a couple of great conversations on "front loading" or timing your fertilizers to create as much stability as possible across each week:

Post in thread 'Greggz 120G Rainbow Fish Tank - Part Deux!' Journal - Greggz 120G Rainbow Fish Tank - Part Deux!

Front Loading and 50% Water Changes

Here's a great review on maximizing your CO2 during growth periods for your plants

(Credit: @Naturescapes_Rocco, see link)

Resource Thread 'Hanna CO2 Test Kit: My experience so far (and why you're probably not starting CO2 injection early enough)!'

Mar 27, 2025

The 2hrAquarist legend Dennis Wong tested the Hanna Test Kit vs a $3,000+ CO2 testing device and found accurate results in low kH aquasoil based tanks when compared. $30 for CO2 readings vs $3,000+!

It's a simple kit that comes with simple instructions, two differently sized vials for different detection ranges, a titration syringe phenolphthalein indicator, and an NaOH solution of some unknown concentration to titrate with.

For the range of detection on the Hanna CO2 test kit we want (0-50ppm):

• Add 10mL of aquarium water to the small flask. Add 1...

• Naturescapes_Rocco
• co2 co2 measurement hanna injection test kit titration
• Replies: 40
• Forum: Fertilizing and Aquarium Chemistry

• 
• 

 

[Sepp0207]

Hi,
for flow I have two big external filter. Each is running with a co2 reaktor. One outlet is on the left side in the front and one on the right side in the back.
Normaly I aim for 50% water change. Before introducing burr mix I did a big 70% water change yesterday. co2 starts 5 hours bevor the lights go on. Degased tank water has a ph of 7.2, when the lights go on there is a ph of 6 in the tank.
I went through a phase of co2 fluctuation in the last two weeks. Increasing co2 to a stable 1.2 ph drop took some time for me.

 

[Koan]

Your plants look very healthy! Is it the areas of algae that you're unhappy with, or quantity or compactness of growth?

Here are a series of articles on different kinds of algae in the tank and different plants.

Here are some recommendations on improving growth in stem plants.

Are you able to see gentle movement in plants in all corners of your tank? That gives you an idea how your flow is moving which is an indicator of how well each of the planted areas are receiving the CO2 you're putting in.

Here's a great visualization of an example of fluctuations in our fertilization over a week depending on how we schedule dosing

(Credit: @Naturescapes_Rocco, see link)

Nitrate in one dose

Nitrate in two doses

 

[Unexpected]

What's the weekly total of Fe from your Burraqua mix?

 

[Sepp0207]

I have a lot of stunting in rotalas and pogostemon erectus. Hygrophila polysperma is rolling its leaves and many species do have realy bad colour. There is also a lot of BBA and GDA on older leaves.
I only did one dose of Burr micro mix 0.07 ppm fe. Bevore I dosed Masterline 1 with 0.07 ppm fe per day.

 

[Unexpected]

I have a lot of stunting in rotalas and pogostemon erectus. Hygrophila polysperma is rolling its leaves and many species do have realy bad colour. There is also a lot of BBA and GDA on older leaves.
I only did one dose of Burr micro mix 0.07 ppm fe. Bevore I dosed Masterline 1 with 0.07 ppm fe per day.

Same .07 after your water change?

 

[Sepp0207]

yes right after the water change.

 

[Unexpected]

yes right after the water change.

I think this is the issue. What I'm seeing is a micro issue. Others will correct me if I'm wrong here. I would condense the micro dosing to 3 days. His mix is 2ml per 10 gallons, so roughly a 18 to 20ml dose of his micro mix. After your 50% water change, double dose micros then 2 more regular doses over the week. With the daily .07, after the water change, you want to get back to roughly what the levels were before the water change. With your current dosing, week start is pretty low on micros.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

View attachment 10917

WOO another Skylight user! I'm not alone anymore!

 

[Sepp0207]

WOO another Skylight user! I'm not alone anymore!

 

[Sepp0207]

I really like this light. Could have a little bit more power for me.

 

[Sepp0207]

Hey folks,
here are some actual fotos of the tank.

I started dosing burr micro mix on Sunday. 0.05 fe on Sunday, then 0.07 every day. Macros are at 25 No3, 1.5 Po4 and 35 k. I have a stable ph drop of 1.3.

I see pale tops on P. Erectus. Bacopa also has not its best colour. Meta tops look horrible and Hygrophila is rolling its leaves. GSA and BBA still present.
Could this still be a kind of adaptation stress? Looks like there is missing something. My guess is micro. What du you guys think?

Greetings
Sebastian

 

[SkaleyAquatics]

Could this still be a kind of adaptation stress? Looks like there is missing something. My guess is micro. What du you guys think?

It will take a couple weeks for the plants to "reprogram" to the new numbers. I would give it a few weeks and see how the new leaves look before I changed anything else.

 

[Sepp0207]

Hey folks,
did 60% waterchange today and dosed 10 ppm No3, 1ppm Po4, 15ppm K, 12ppm Ca and 0.15ppm burrmix for micro.
Here are some pics from the top of the tank.

 

[Sepp0207]

Hey guys,
after two weeks of dosing micros according to burrs recipe I went back to Masterline. Plant groth realy went bad in my tank. No changes in macro dosing. Here are some pics from the tank.








Main issues are extrem small new leaves, bad colours, rolling leaves, GSA, interveinal chlorosis on middle leaves on some plants.

I would appreciate your ideas and opinions!

 

[Phish Tank]

I thought you had also recently changed from lean dosing to EI (in addition to Burr Aqua micros). Maybe both those changes in the same month mean the plants are still adjusting?

 

[Burr740]

You need more macros. Pogo erectus tops look fine. Theyre supposed to be bright like that. Other issues are all on the older leaves, a few down from the top. Thats where the algae is, which means those are the unhappy leaves. Theyre unhappy because the plant is pulling mobile macro nutrients from them to fuel the new growth, because theres not enough elsewhere. Meta/pantanal tops are stunted. All this is textbook low macros

Dose my micros at no more than .45-.5 ppm Fe per week. Split it up in 3 equal doses, or daily 6x week is ok too. Its macros that need double dosing after the water change. Their constant level is what matters, not micros. I couldnt tell exactly what your current macros are, whatever they are Id raise them about 50%. Get PO4 up to about 1/4-1/3 of what NO3 is. Dose half the weeks total after water change. Split the remaining half in two equal doses and add those through the week

 

[Sepp0207]

Thank you for your post @Burr740. I really appreciate your opinion.
For Makros I frontloaded K at 35 ppm and No3 at 25 ppm. Po4 I dose 1 ppm per day because soil is still absorbing. At first I doubled po4 to a daily dose of 2 ppm and di two extra doses of 5ppm No3 every second day. Let’s see how it works.
There is an other interesting thing that’s been bothering me. I commissioned a icp analysis of my tank. For Makros it confirms what @Burr740 already said. It’s low in No3 and Po4. But look at the Mikros. There is 0 ppm Mn. The same thing I observed in previous icp analysis. Plenty of Fe and 0 Mn. Did someone observe something similar to that?