Jeremy,

Thanks for filling in the details.....You are exactly right in where I was going/thinking..

Aaron,

I am not suggesting that you need to dose the amounts that I am.

I was publishing them so you would have a comparison basis for the same size tank, and to let you know that you wouldn't poison the tank by doing so.

Thanks for the explanation Jeremy. Very detailed and articulate.

Gerry, does this mean that you do daily or every other day water changes?

Hi,


I completely agree and also wish that I had said it


Nope. Still weekly or bi-weekly at most, unless I am testing or having issues....
Mostly weekly for the most part, weekly 95% of the time?

The large WC for you right now are for the algae, to add more c02, to remove more waste products, to reset your nutrient levels, etc.

You may want to do at least bi-weekly while you are playing around and until you hit your levels. It will be beneficial overall......

All as stated so eloquently by Jeremy in his last response......

They also make you feel more comfortable with the increase in dosing lol

I got to my current levels by taking the basic advice I am giving here.

I increased X% EI weekly and observed. Did a lot of large (70-80%) WC several times a week over several weeks time as I was initially afraid as well of OVERDOSING (cue scary music lol).

Adjusted c02 and flow/current in conjunction as a holistic approach.

This really helped a lot. The fish were pretty happy as well

Now that I am getting excellent growth (for me) and established a HIGH LEVEL BENCHMARK, it is time to start reducing a bit at a time to establish the lower end that would cause a deficiency.

This should give me a good low-high range for what my tanks needs at these light levels, bio-mass, etc.

Keep at it.

I hope this helps.