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Thread: How to Dose Flourish Excel

  1. #16
    Registered Member GrillMaster's Avatar
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    Default Re: How to Dose Flourish Excel

    Mike...He has over 4 wpg on his 50g tank...He is dosing probably a third of what he should be dosing of Co2. Should be prolly 2 bps...

    OK I will bite...Cut yer lighting in half. Have 2watts on 10 hours. Up the C02 to about 2bbs... Feed em like ya want em to get fat! Dose a lil iron, PO4. and N03. If ya have the plants...This will work for ya! If ya dont have the plants, algae will set in...
    Mark

  2. #17
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    Default Re: How to Dose Flourish Excel

    I would like to start by thanking you all for the wonderful advice! Is is nice to see so many people care so much about my discus, my plants and my success. This really is a wonderful community.

    Tacks I have domestics in my tank. They should be a little less sensitive than wilds. I do normally change 80% of the water per day. I will be careful with Excel. I use the beginner (minimum dose) with every product. I realize I am no professional. I try to keep things as simple as possible. The reason fro fertilization is because I change the water so much there is not much nutrients in it. I have tested for iron, chelated iron and phospate. They all read 0. I will look into some floating plants. Do you have any suggestions on any attractive floating plants that will work well in my particular situation?

    Bastalker I appreciate your concern, but I have too much money invested in plants, lighting, a CO2 system, fertilizers, etc. to back out now. If I would have known then what I do now I definitely would have done what you suggest. I also have met my water limit in my apartment so starting a new tank is, unfortunately, not an option. All I can do now is research and learn as much as I can in short order. What I do have going for me, however, is that I am determined, motivated and a quick learner. I have never not accomplished what I set my mind to. There is first time for everything though. You can rest assured that I care for my discus very much and if it come to my plants and my discus all my plants will be introduced to the trash can at the first sign of my discus being distressed. So far though, they are doing great. Their fins are erect, showing good color and are growing out nicely.
    I will slowly raise and monitor my CO2. I am hesitant to raise it too much all at once. While it is difficult or impossible to kill one's fish with too much light and the factory reccomended amount of fertilization, it is much easier to kill one's fish with too much CO2. How much would you suggest I raise my
    CO2 per day? Do you know of a good CO2 test kit? I have one, but I question its accuracy. What is the best way to raise my KH if needed ( preferably a way to raise KH without raising PH too much)? My KH is barely 3 degrees out of the tap. I believe I read that the KH is supposed to be at least 3 degrees before adding any CO2 so I am hesitant to add too much CO2 until I am confident I have a high enough KH to do so.

    Walter I will try to find people growing aquatic plants in my area, but, to be honest, there are not many. I did test for Iron and chelated iron and they both tested 0. I got the idea for 216 watts of light when I started to grow red plants, shorter foreground plants and Riccia. I read they grow best under at least three watts of light. My 50 gallon is 48" long. Most 48" lights are for bigger tanks so I had a choice of too little or too much light. I looked for a light that would give me 3 watts per gallon, but the lights I found were either just over 2 or just over 4 watts per gallon. I did have just over 2 watts of light per gallon and my red plants and my foreground plants did not do well. So I opted for the 216 watt light. I figured I could always remove bulbs if needed. I can add potassium to my tank if needed. I already have the correct fertilizer to do so. I only have the one tank so my electric bill is not an issue. I will slowly raise and monitor CO2 ppm and PH. It will be easy to monitor PH. I have a Milwaukee PH controller which shows me my PH and turns off my CO2 when my PH reaches a preset number. Do you know of a good test kit for CO2? I have one, but I am not sure of its accuracy. What is the best way to raise KH if needed (Preferably without raising PH too much)? My KH out of the tap is barely 3 degrees. As of right now, the back i heavily planted, but the front is substrate and low growing plants like dwarf grass. Right now the discus have plenty of room to swim and I will not let that change. BTW, your 50 gallon looked awsome!

    Black Water Aquaria I will measure my iron and chelated iron and dose accordingly. I will add trace elements on a weekly basis as you mentioned. I also have my C02 on the same timer as my lights. I do still have juveniles and feed them 6 times per day so doing fewer water changes is not an option, however, I look forward to the day when they are mostly grown and I can do less water changes.

  3. #18
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    Smile Re: How to Dose Flourish Excel

    Hi Rogge listen nothing is easy in this hobby. Planted tanks are hard and discus are not easy. I would try and reduce your lighing for now, I would increase my co2( get a drop checker) it will tell you if you have a safe amount of co2 in your tank. Get some stem plants they grow fast and will help use up nutrients so algae cant. Put fert tabs in your gravel near the plants. As for floating plants go to Aquabid the plant section under floating plants. Try a site called Plant Geek or Planted Tank these are great plant forums. Hope this will help you get going. It takes time. Ed

  4. #19
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    Default Re: How to Dose Flourish Excel

    Quote Originally Posted by tacks View Post
    Hi Rogge listen nothing is easy in this hobby. Planted tanks are hard and discus are not easy. I would try and reduce your lighing for now, I would increase my co2( get a drop checker) it will tell you if you have a safe amount of co2 in your tank. Get some stem plants they grow fast and will help use up nutrients so algae cant. Put fert tabs in your gravel near the plants. As for floating plants go to Aquabid the plant section under floating plants. Try a site called Plant Geek or Planted Tank these are great plant forums. Hope this will help you get going. It takes time. Ed
    When I do finally get everything going right, it is going to be thanks to people on this forum. I can not believe how helpful everyone is.
    I already have a drop checker, but it keeps saying I have enough CO2 when I have 30 bubbles per minute. I am thinking there is no way that can be true, although, that was before I added my new light. It could be different now. I will test it again. It is one of those drop checkers that you leave in you aquarium for days so you have a constant idea about where your CO2 is at. It does not give a ppm. It has three colors yellow, green and a lighter green. Do you know of one that is more accurate? Preferable one that will give resuts in ppm? What are some good stem plants you would reccomend? I already have some fast growing stem plants; swords and various other stem plants. I will check out the sites you mentioned and get some floating plants. I have Riccia, but I do not think I would like that floating in my tank. It looks much better submerged and I know it would clog my filter.

  5. #20
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    Smile Re: How to Dose Flourish Excel

    Hi first swords are not really stem plants. Second if yo know your PH and KH you can go to a site called Chucks Planted Acquarium you willfind a place to use your PH and KH to find out your co2 ppm. There are also many articles there to help you. thanks Ed

  6. #21
    Registered Member Wahter's Avatar
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    Default Re: How to Dose Flourish Excel

    Here's the chart that Ed is referring to:

    http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

    HTH,


    Walter
    Last edited by Wahter; 07-25-2008 at 11:43 PM.
    Walter

  7. #22
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    Default Re: How to Dose Flourish Excel

    Quote Originally Posted by Wahter View Post
    Here's the chart that Ed is referring to:

    http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

    HTH,


    Walter
    Thank you Walter and Tacks. You both have been very helpful. I went to the webpage and entered my values into the chart. My KH is pretty low right out of the tap so with my PH and KH, my target PH should be 6.4. I have a PH monitor that controls my CO2 system so this will not be hard to maintain. I will adjust my bubble count until I reach my target PH. CO2 problem solved. Thank you so much for your very valuable advice.

  8. #23
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    Default Re: How to Dose Flourish Excel

    I took everyone's advice and purchased some stem and some floating plants. The stem plant I chose is Ludwigia Repens. After researching various stem plants, I decided this is the best plant for my application. The floating plant I chose is Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum). I believe these two plants together will use much of the light and absorb any extra nutrients in the water column. Thanks everyone for all your help and let me know if anyone sees a problem with any of my plant choices or has anymore advice to offer me.

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