Quote:
Originally Posted by aman74
How would you deal with water changes in the non CO2 approach though? As I've learned here that approach usually requires you to not do frequent water changes.
Say you are just JoeSchmoe fish keeper and don't want CO2 and Ferts, but you want plants in your community tank.
What would be the best approach for lighting and plants? I'm wondering if you can use the really easy species like java moss, java fern, anubias, some crypts, watersprite, etc... I'm guessing you would still battle algae since all of those except the watersprite are slow growers. Maybe add some other stem plants?
Reason I ask is because like the original poster said there's alot of people out there who aren't interested in getting heavily involved in the learning curve and hassles of a CO2/fert. approach. But maybe there is still a way for them to do it?
Reason I ask is because the more I read about the shrimp I want to keep, the more hesitant I am about CO2/Ferts. and yet I will still need to do weekly water changes.
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I typically just suggest water sprite floating.
The deal with no water changes using non CO2: the plants, if you have the tank packed, remove all the fish waste. As new waste is produced, the plants nab it asap.
So you do not measure much if any NO3/PO4 etc, one might be up, but the other is typically near zero.
You do not need to do water changes if there's no nutrient build up.
I suggest adding a small amount of ferts for a fully planted non CO2 tank about once a week and about 1/10th or less of the EI dosing rates.
This small amount relieves the nutrients stress on the plants and lets them grow better with less competition with eachother.
Fish waste alone can keep most tougher species going pretty well, adding a little bit more allows you to grow most species though.................
The plants do well, slow, but well.
The key is the growth rate.
Why do some plant species fade out and others do well?
The ones that fade are not getting enough nutrients.
They are not as strong as the other hardy species.
Even some hardy species will die off if there's not enough fish waste.
Note, this is for a fully planted non CO2 tank.
Since the light is low and the CO2 is as well, the plants downregulate NO3/PO4 demand etc, they just do not need much since they are limited with these other nutrients/energy source.
So they do not get the deficiency issues like in higher light tanks with CO2.
Even if they do, you have weeks instead of days to respond and add more fish food etc, prune out some of the more aggressive plants etc.
I'd not know any of this unless I first did high light CO2 tanks and then took what I learned there and apoply it and look for things with this method.
The method and uptake is so slow.............and levels are also low, that is makes predicting things harder unless you know what to look for and have a general idea.
It also makes the method have a great deal of wiggle room in your routine.
Potted plants work well if you have to have them in a tank, but they generally serve no useful purpose other than rotting lettuce if you do not allow them to grow well, they slowly turn brown and rot after 6-8 weeks till you replace them again. May as well use Water sprite and be far more successful and get some utility out of the plants.
Regards,
Tom Barr