# survey, do you dose ferts in your low tech tanks? if so how much?



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Hey everyone,

I been thinking about my weekly dosing regimen and starting to wonder if I am still putting too much into my tank. I was hoping that by getting some info from all of you fine aquarists that I could come to some kind of conclusion of how much uptake really exist in a low tech non co2 or excel tank.

So here is the info I would like to gather:
- what size tank
- what lighting
- estimated stock level eg. 100% or 55% stocked
- substrate
- root tabs? Yes or no.
- photoperiod
- water change schedule
- what ferts if any do you dose? how much do you dose? how often do you dose?

Optional information:
- what fish you actually have
- what plants do you keep
- age of tank
- picture of your tank

My goal is to gain a better understanding of plant uptake in a non co2/excel tank. I plan to compile all the data into a table and make it available for everyone. The idea is to be able to find similar setups and see what people have done and been successful with without having to search all over the internet. This would especially be helpful for newer hobbyist and still be useful for those who have been in the hobby.

I thank everyone in advanced who takes the time to help to contribute


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## fishyfishy101 (Nov 12, 2014)

what size tank - 46gal
what lighting - 36" beamswork led
estimated stock level - I'm new to the hobby and don't know how to estimate that.
substrate - sand
root tabs? - no
photoperiod - 7-9 hrs 
what ferts if any do you dose -Greenleafaquriums EI 
how much do you dose? - half of the recommend dose (if I dose the full amount I get CRAZY ALGAE)
how often do you dose? - daily 
what fish you actually have - 3 Boesemani rainbows, 2 pearl gourami, 1 flying fox, 15 neon tetras, 6 serpae tetras, a multitude of pond snails.
What plants do you keep - 1 large amozon sword, 1 medium amozon sword, 6 baby amozon swords, approx 4 jungle vals, 6 java ferns, a partial carpet of dwarf sag.
age of tank - 2 & 1/2 years approx 
I think it's worth mentioning that I do a 15% water change every two weeks, not weekly. 
picture of your tank


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

thank you for contributing, great tank.


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## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

- what size tank: 10 g
- what lighting: 2x 10W CFL
- estimated stock level eg. 100% or 55% stocked: 90%
- substrate: yes (just kidding) MGOCPM/sand cap
- root tabs? Yes or no. yes
- photoperiod: 8.5 hours
- water change schedule 50% per week
- what ferts if any do you dose? how much do you dose? how often do you dose?: NPK, CSM+B

Optional information:
- what fish you actually have: 5 Pristella Tetras, 1 cory
- what plants do you keep: mostly stems right now, with a small Java Fern and some Java Moss that has been in the tank before.
- age of tank: three years
- picture of your tank


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Tank 80 US gallons
Lighting 4 x 54 watt T5 bulbs approx. ten inches above the water's surface.
Lighting period is 9 hours.
Substrate miracle grow organic choice,peat, cat litter, capped with black diamond blasting media .(four inch depth)
Osmocote pot shot's root tabs under crypt's.
Dosing 3/4 tsp KNO3,3/4 tsp KH2PO4,1/2 tsp K2SO4,1/2 tsp CSM+B once a week .
50% water change weekly or bi-weekly.
Fauna = One dozen Rummy nose,one dozen red serape, half dozen cardinal tetra's,half dozen neon tetra's,six sterbai corydoras,four melanistius corydoras,three bristlenose,cherry shrimp,amano shrimp,unknown numbers of trumpet snails.
Plant's = approx twenty assorted Anubia's attached to wood,Crypt balansae, Red crypt,Ludwigia, water sprite,Leopard vals.
NON CO2 ,excel,glut,metracide etc.
Photo of tank under my threads and avatar.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks folks, hoping to get a lot more info over time.


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## Mariostg (Sep 6, 2014)

- what size tank :75g
- what lighting: Fluval LED Full Spectrum 48 inches
- estimated stock level eg. No idea. See fish list
- substrate : dirt, sand caped
- root tabs? No.
- photoperiod 12h
- water change schedule : Never
- what ferts if any do you dose? K2SO4 half a pea size ervry 3 days or so, iron chelate a pinch when mu gut tells me (weekly?). 

Fauna: 4 adult angels (reduecd from 7, 3 days ago), 4 corys sterba, 8 corys pygmy, 4 otos, 3 sewellia-lineolata, some ghost shrimps, ponds snails, nerite snails

Plants: Amazon Sword, Hygrophila corymbosa angustifolia, Ludwigia repens, Rotala rotundifolia,Anubias barteri Var. Nana, Anubias barteri Var. barteri, Sagittaria subulata, Hygrophila difformis

Age: 8 months








75 Gal tank
Additional note:
Tank is by a large window. Removed background some days ago to see how that does.

Have 3 more smaller thanks that I could describe eventually.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Took me a while to adjust to the calculator. But just kept trying.
I would suggest you use the regular EI, but only one dose of it per week.
Then after a few weeks start looking for deficiencies.
You could adjust the amount of the dose larger if needed or just do two
of the same doses per week if you do find any deficiencies.


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## Ryan83 (Feb 6, 2015)

20g long
finnex stingray
100%
eco complete
no
9 hours, split into two 4 1/2 hour periods
20% every friday
Dry ferts once a week: _K2SO4 377 mg (approximately 1/16 teaspoons)
KNO3 926 mg (approximately 1/8 teaspoons)
KH2PO4 141 mg (approximately 1/32 teaspoons)
Plantex CSM+B 580 mg (approximately 1/8 teaspoons)

About 4 months old
Stock:http://www.aqadvisor.com/AquStockIm...200909300088:,1:200912101014:,5:200909300161:

Tank pic:








_


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## jart (Jan 17, 2003)

In my low tech 10 gallon, I simply use the regimen laid out here.

I dose once weekly as outlined... fish load is very low.


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## micheljq (Oct 24, 2012)

I dose half EI in my 65G tank. Light must be low/med level. Injected CO2 but not much, maybe 6-9ppm. Keeping easy plants, anubias, echinodorus, h. polysperma, java fern, crypts.

Michel.


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## adive (Oct 30, 2013)

philipraposo1982 said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I been thinking about my weekly dosing regimen and starting to wonder if I am still putting too much into my tank.


If you are putting too much into your tank, the tank will tell you so in the form of algae and other bad things happening.

Anyway, my dosing:
Tank 1: 15g, walstad: macro and micro nutrient liquid ferts which I bought at my LFS: I try to dose at least once a week, 2-3 drops each - dont know to how much that translates in terms of EI. WC once a week, 10%. Lighting: natural daylight, sometimes direct sunlight (tanks on patio)

Tank 2: 42g, lowtech: same liquid ferts, 4-5 drops twice a week, Sera root tabs once in 2-3 months, WC twice or thrice a week, 30%, lights: 8 hours/day

Both tanks doing great.


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## adive (Oct 30, 2013)

fishyfishy101 said:


> I think it's worth mentioning that I do a 15% water change every two weeks, not weekly.
> picture of your tank


I would like to suggest that you try more frequent water changes and see how your bosemanis respond to that, in fact all your other fish. I said bosemanis because you should see immediate improvement in color. You could try 10% x twice a week. Cheers


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I have been cutting back on my ferts more and more, realizing that in a true low tech tank uptake can be as low as 10x less than a high tech setup..

I have also go ahead and increase my water changes to two times a week at 50-60%. I feel like this will ensure things like GH oh and pH don't have a chance to waver and will allow for more stable conditions. It will also allow me to feed heavily and still maintain low levels of nitrates.

Less organics means less algae.


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