# A newbie wanting advice with numerous questions



## plooney (Nov 3, 2009)

I'm setting up a new tank (45 tall) 36" long x 12" wide x 24" tall. I have 2x 96w 6700k power compact lights and have ADA Amazonia 2 with power sand. I also purchased the red sea co2 paintball system. I am going to plant the following plants: HEMIANTHUS CALLITRICHOIDES, Micro Sword, Ludwigia repens, Myriophyllum tuberculatum and Bacopa monnieri. I have the following questions: What should my lighting schedule be? What should my CO2 adjustment be? What is the best all around fert I should use? How often should i use the fert?

Thanks in advance


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

plooney said:


> I have the following questions: What should my lighting schedule be? What should my CO2 adjustment be? What is the best all around fert I should use? How often should i use the fert?
> Thanks in advance


Start with 8 hours of consecutive light per day, 16 hours off to reduce algae.

CO2 should be roughly 3 bubbles per second. You may want to start with 1 bubble per second and wait a few hours to see if the fish start gasping at the surface. If they just breath a little faster then normal this is ok. Keep increasing the CO2 levels until the fish get stressed then reduce the bubble rate a little. After a few days you can increase the CO2 again since the fish will have adapted to the increased CO2 levels.

With high lights like you have, you will want to use ferts regularly, once, twice, or three times a week. Pick a dosing system, either PPS-Pro, or EI and stick with it. Stability is key in avoiding algae outbreaks. Above all, use your plants as a guide, if they show deficiency signs add more of the appropriate fertilizer, do not rely on EI or PPS-Pro if your plants are showing signs of stress, methods aren't always perfect, but plants never lie.


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## plooney (Nov 3, 2009)

Zapins said:


> Start with 8 hours of consecutive light per day, 16 hours off to reduce algae.
> 
> CO2 should be roughly 3 bubbles per second. You may want to start with 1 bubble per second and wait a few hours to see if the fish start gasping at the surface. If they just breath a little faster then normal this is ok. Keep increasing the CO2 levels until the fish get stressed then reduce the bubble rate a little. After a few days you can increase the CO2 again since the fish will have adapted to the increased CO2 levels.
> 
> With high lights like you have, you will want to use ferts regularly, once, twice, or three times a week. Pick a dosing system, either PPS-Pro, or EI and stick with it. Stability is key in avoiding algae outbreaks. Above all, use your plants as a guide, if they show deficiency signs add more of the appropriate fertilizer, do not rely on EI or PPS-Pro if your plants are showing signs of stress, methods aren't always perfect, but plants never lie.


I'm not going to add fish until a few weeks when the cycle process levels off.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

There is no nitrogen cycle in a planted tank. Plants will absorb the waste products (ammonia) before it is ever converted by bacteria to other chemicals in the cycle. You can add fish from day 1 as long as there are a few healthy plants in the tank with good lighting.

Just make sure you have dechlorinated the water


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## plooney (Nov 3, 2009)

Zapins said:


> There is no nitrogen cycle in a planted tank. Plants will absorb the waste products (ammonia) before it is ever converted by bacteria to other chemicals in the cycle. You can add fish from day 1 as long as there are a few healthy plants in the tank with good lighting.
> 
> Just make sure you have dechlorinated the water


ZAPIN DO YOU USE PPS PRO OR EI?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I have used and still currently use all the fertilization methods out there in various tanks (EI, PPS, Soil, High, low, my own dosage scheme). I started with EI and had good results. EI taught me what nutrients do and gave me very good results, it is also fairly easy to follow provided you do the weekly 50% water changes. I think it is probably the system you should start with. 

Now I dose by eye, I don't test anymore, instead I just read the plants and dose what they need. I also have a soft spot for soil tanks (with high light and CO2) since they are virtually maintenance free after the initial 3 month algae spurt.


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

Aquasoil is NH4 loaded at the start, so waiting a while probably wouldn't hurt given the substrate. I try to pull intense changes with the stuff off the start to keep the NH4 down. It's also nice to give plants a month of break-in time so you can fiddle with them before having to worry about the fish.

The rest of what Zapins is saying is dead on, and even the fish thing is unique to aquasoil and unmineralized soils. A calibrated test kit will answer things more definitely; perhaps with frequent water changes the NH4 will stay low enough that it isn't a toxicity issue. Precultured filter media is some nice insurance for a new tank as well. From there the typical order of adding fish will end up with the cheap schooling and bottom feeding stuff in first, so the risk to your central show fish (if any) will be minimal.

Keep an eye on your light, be prepared to reduce it. You may find that half of the light levels you're using are appropriate for your needs, or that an afternoon burst of both lights takes care of things.

-Philosophos


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## El Exorcisto (Aug 10, 2006)

I run 12 on/12 off with organic soil capped with sand and my algae woes are pretty manageable. I run 2 bps in my 55 and my plants are continuously bubbling, not just pearling. As for fertilization, I used EI for a while but when I started using dirt I stopped entirely. Look at what ADA suggests with Aquasoil, since it has a fair amount of nutrition in it.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I actually missed the fact that he has aquasoil  I thought he was going to do straight EI with an inert substrait. You may want to wait a little while with the fish since as Philosophos said, it will probably release a lot of ammonia initially which might stress/kill the fish. Large water changes will help, just keep your eye on the levels before adding fish.


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## plooney (Nov 3, 2009)

Zapins said:


> I actually missed the fact that he has aquasoil  I thought he was going to do straight EI with an inert substrait. You may want to wait a little while with the fish since as Philosophos said, it will probably release a lot of ammonia initially which might stress/kill the fish. Large water changes will help, just keep your eye on the levels before adding fish.


so philosophos and Zapins your saying hold off on the ferts and fish for about a month while conducting large water changes?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Yes basically. Come back to the chat! I just got home


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## plooney (Nov 3, 2009)

do i not place the active carbon in my filter or do I leave it in there?


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## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

Carbon tends to be a short-term answer. If you need to rip medications or impurities out of the water, it goes along with some heavy WC's nicely. Long term, you're better using it or RO as a prefilter to the water that you're using for changes. The longer term problems tend to call for a change in what you're adding, rather than what builds up; this means alteration in what's added in the tank rather than what's removed through filtration.

-Philosophos


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