2nd Phase Of Cycle Fully Planted, Seachem Fluorite Substrate

[ranjohns]

I have a 29 gal ~1.7W/gal tank fully planted in Seachem fluorite in the 2nd phase of a fishless cycle. I intend to have a slow growing tank without injecting co2. What indicators should I look for before adding macro/micro fertilizers.

According to an article by Dusko Bojic at http/www.aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/ my tank is considered a low light low tech tank that requires approx. 5 to 6 water changes per year. Does this sound about right?

Thanks,

Randy

 

[Ficious]

good article...best thing to do would be to buy a master test kit and all your co2 and kh and ph test kits. do what sounds right and keep an eye on your stats. youll get a good feel at whats going on and how to keep it balanced

 

[OldMan47]

5 to 6 water changes per year may be all that the plants require. I would monitor parameters and determine the water change amount and interval by how the nitrates in the tank are changing. The 5 to 6 may be enough but it is not a good assumption to make without supporting chemical test results.

My El Natural tank only gets about 3 changes per year but I know what the chemistry on that tank is doing. My high tech, low light tanks get a good sized water change about every 3 weeks. The others get more water changes. Even in the referenced article, the person posting said that each tank had its own water change frequency without saying so in so many words.

 

[ranjohns]

5 to 6 water changes per year may be all that the plants require. I would monitor parameters and determine the water change amount and interval by how the nitrates in the tank are changing. The 5 to 6 may be enough but it is not a good assumption to make without supporting chemical est results.

My El Natural tank only gets about 3 changes per year but I know what the chemistry on that tank is doing. My high tech, low light tanks get a good sized water change about every 3 weeks. The others get more water changes. Even in the referenced article, the person posting said that each tank had its own water change frequency without saying so in so many words.

Thanks to both of you for the reminder to rely on what the chemistry tells us.

Thanks, Randy