ForestDave
Member
Hi.
I thought I'd take the sometimes-given advice to put a small handful of Osmocote underneath my substrate when setting up the tank. I estimate I put about 17g over a 40x100cm base. The base has inch-high gravel/egg crate plastic keeping the rocks off of the glass and the substrate is about 3" to 4" deep. This was obviously too much as some fast-growing stem plants like Hygrophilla sp difformis and Pogosternon erectus are growing really slowly and don't look particularly happy. Ludwigia repens diamond red is growing although I cut the top half from one stem the other day and stuck it in the substrate only for it to wilt as I presume it hit a hot spot of fertilizer. On the plus side Hygrophila polysperma and Rotala H'ra are happy, although the latter is bright green and has no hint of redness. The tank overall is looking ok although it's aquascaping masterpiece or anything. My 30 shrimp and 2 nerite snails are perfectly happy. My rabbit snails don't look happy and are not as active as they should be though as I think they are hit with the over-fertilized substrate the most.
Is there a way out of this mess, please?
I am EI dosing at the moment and adding CO2 using a reactor.
-Could I stop EI dosing for a while and allow the plants to use up the excess ferts in the substrate or would the epiphytes not get enough fertilizer?
-Would the ferts gradually dissipate over time or will the Dennerle scapers soil aqua soil retain the ferts as they are not being used because of the EI dosing?
I really, really don't want to rescape if possible, if there is any other way to sort this you would make my year!
Cheers
Dave
I'll post a tank shot in a minute. The Rotala and ludwigia repens were cut last week and is not that high at the moment.
I thought I'd take the sometimes-given advice to put a small handful of Osmocote underneath my substrate when setting up the tank. I estimate I put about 17g over a 40x100cm base. The base has inch-high gravel/egg crate plastic keeping the rocks off of the glass and the substrate is about 3" to 4" deep. This was obviously too much as some fast-growing stem plants like Hygrophilla sp difformis and Pogosternon erectus are growing really slowly and don't look particularly happy. Ludwigia repens diamond red is growing although I cut the top half from one stem the other day and stuck it in the substrate only for it to wilt as I presume it hit a hot spot of fertilizer. On the plus side Hygrophila polysperma and Rotala H'ra are happy, although the latter is bright green and has no hint of redness. The tank overall is looking ok although it's aquascaping masterpiece or anything. My 30 shrimp and 2 nerite snails are perfectly happy. My rabbit snails don't look happy and are not as active as they should be though as I think they are hit with the over-fertilized substrate the most.
Is there a way out of this mess, please?
I am EI dosing at the moment and adding CO2 using a reactor.
-Could I stop EI dosing for a while and allow the plants to use up the excess ferts in the substrate or would the epiphytes not get enough fertilizer?
-Would the ferts gradually dissipate over time or will the Dennerle scapers soil aqua soil retain the ferts as they are not being used because of the EI dosing?
I really, really don't want to rescape if possible, if there is any other way to sort this you would make my year!
Cheers
Dave
I'll post a tank shot in a minute. The Rotala and ludwigia repens were cut last week and is not that high at the moment.