Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazymidwesterner
I used seachem prime to treat the tap water. I dosed KNO3 and KH2PO4 and seachem equlibrium per the article on non co2 methods. I also dosed a bit of excel just for the heck of it.
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Either use Excel (per bottle) or don't. A NON CO2 tank is just that, no C. Excel is a sourse of carbon. Depending on what you choose, Carbon or not, this will determine how much NPK you use. A NON CO2 tank only gets about 10:1/7:1 ratio of a CO2 tank. An Excel tank ratio is near 3:1 ratio.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazymidwesterner
I have 160 watts of NO t12's and the light is poorly reflected. No fish so far. I use cheapo test kits which is why I chose the EI method of dosing but here are the parameters that I'm getting.
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2 watts per gal is not bad for NON CO2 tank using NO T12's, They should have a reflector though. Excel lighting could be in the T8 to T5 range. New plants can shock and loose their leaves. Watch for new growth. Unless you calibrate your test kits it is hard to rely on them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazymidwesterner
There seems to be hair algae already growing on the tips of my vals, on my java fern, and ozelot sword. The lights have only been on a total of maybe a total of 6 hours so far so I found that a bit odd. I figured withour reflectors about 2 watts per gallon would be good but maybe I should lower that.
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Get your photo period up around 10 Hrs per day. You need to stabilize your fertz and lighting. Then start working that algae. Start looking at the LFS for Ottos and SAE's they will help with algae. Also KEEP reading in this forum. Alot of info to be had.
