barturas said:
What strategy of fertilization are you using?
Hi,
I normally dose EI. You can have a look at our EI tutorial
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=1211
barturas said:
What amount of macro in ppm are you trying to keep?
Well, it's always a good idea to start with the basic EI dosing plan which does have some baseline ppm numbers. However, because it is difficult or impossible to determine exact uptake rates or even to determine specific uptake requirements I don't really worry about PPM. Worrying about PPM is the same as worrying about ratios. I simply react to the changes and evolution of the tank as the plants grow. Also, test kits are never accurate or consistent so I avoid all the stress associated with trying to maintain some PPM level. See my comments at the tail end the thread
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=8501
barturas said:
Are you using any algicides such as Exel, EasyCarbo, glutaraldehyde?
No, and this is another point which I think is important. Although I have used Excel, I never think of these products in terms of their algicidal properties, even though I do recognize that they have these properties. I always refer to them as liquid carbon because the fact that they deliver CO2 to the plant is 1000X more important than the fact that they have algicidal properties. In fact, you'll find that these products are most effective against CO2 related algae and are much less effective against algal species which are not related to poor CO2 uptake. This is an important detail in that the reason a tank suffers thread, hair, and BBA blooms is specifically because the hobbyist is using an incorrect technique with their CO2 application. Excel and Easycarbo primarily work by fixing this issue in that they deliver extra CO2 to the plant thereby improving the health of the plant. As far as i'm concerned, it is only a secondary benefit that the CO2 related algae react negatively to their application. Killing algae does not fix your plants, but fixing the faults associated with plant nutrition, such as poor CO2 uptake will always help avoid incurring algal blooms.
barturas said:
What is your water pH? dGH, dKH?
I never worry about pH GH or KH. I allow these parameters to fall where they may. The only time I think about what the numbers are - or think about adjusting them, is when I'm interested in breeding particular species of fish. Most plants don't really care - although there are a couple that do care about KH/GH but I've had tanks with anywhere from [pH 3, GH 3, KH 4] all the way to [pH 7, Gh 25, KH 15] and everywhere in between. As long as nutrient/CO2 are paid attention to then there really has not been much difference in performance. With some of the sensitive species that do care there is performance falloff at the extreme upper limits as discussed in the thread
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=16479
barturas said:
What do you think about treatment against green algae with Cu2+ (0.125ppm)?
I've never really played with copper algecides to tell you the truth. I refuse to turn my tank into a toxic waste site.
For green water you can just use a UV sterilizer and fix that issue within a couple of days. It works like a charm. Toxins and algaecides are simply not in my inventory, because whatever kills algae also damages plants, and I know that if you do not fix the fundamental causes of algae then using a toxin will only be a temporary solution which will always backfire if you continue to depend on it. The correct path is to simply not get algae, and that's done by maximizing plant health and by keeping the tank scrupulously clean.
barturas said:
If you could squeeze into one sentence what would be your basic rule to keep aquarium without algae? ...
Oh, that's easy. Fatten up you plants by feeding them as if they were hogs, do not go overboard with megawatts of light, keep your tank pristine by massive and frequent water changes and pay attention to CO2, filter flow rate and flow distribution.
Cheers,
