# Spec V



## hartdesignstudio (Nov 9, 2015)

Hey! I'm trying to get this same tank started myself. Any tips? I had it going for a good while, but had an issue with Cyanobacteria and just gutted and disinfected it tonight.


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## DMAXNAZ (Sep 30, 2015)

Mine ran good for 2 years until I removed the fast growers. Then algae set in like crazy. I just used the stock light and nothing more. I changed water once a month. Super simple. Maybe I just had a good run.


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## hartdesignstudio (Nov 9, 2015)

Thanks for the info!!


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## iadubber (Jan 23, 2012)

Thinking about setting mine back up. Do you plan to keep the stock light?


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

A lot of people swap out the light. 

However, if you're only planting low light plants the stock light is enough. Why waste it unless you have more light-hungry (and therefore nutrient and CO2 hungry) plants?

It's a bit too white a light for me, so I tinge the water very slightly with a catappa leaf piece. Just my pref.


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## DMAXNAZ (Sep 30, 2015)

Since I cleaned out my old substrate and reused it, will I need to add ferts to kick off the plants growth? Or will they be fine? I reused by bio, sponge and carbon and did a slight rinse of the tank. I didn't clean the walls of the tank or the filtration area in the hopes to leave as much bacteria as possible. I was just thinking about all of the algae that was in the tank before, is it still lingering around?? When I broke the tank down it was only all over the substrate, nowhere else. Did I make a mistake by not doing a thorough cleaning of the tank and adding new substrate, because I kind of feel like I'm kicking myself in the rear end right now.

Bump:


iadubber said:


> Thinking about setting mine back up. Do you plan to keep the stock light?


Yes. I want to keep this low pro just like the first go around.


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## LRJ (Jul 31, 2014)

Looks like a good start. I like that driftwood.



DMAXNAZ said:


> Since I cleaned out my old substrate and reused it, will I need to add ferts to kick off the plants growth? Or will they be fine? I reused by bio, sponge and carbon and did a slight rinse of the tank. I didn't clean the walls of the tank or the filtration area in the hopes to leave as much bacteria as possible. I was just thinking about all of the algae that was in the tank before, is it still lingering around?? When I broke the tank down it was only all over the substrate, nowhere else. Did I make a mistake by not doing a thorough cleaning of the tank and adding new substrate, because I kind of feel like I'm kicking myself in the rear end right now.


A clean restart would have been nice, but realistically algae spores are going to get into a planted tank one way or another. So keeping the algae at bay is going to be more about proper management than starting with a sterile environment. Increasing the plant mass and adding some floaters should help keep algae in check while the tank is becoming established. I would lightly fertilize the water column.


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## DMAXNAZ (Sep 30, 2015)

LRJ said:


> Looks like a good start. I like that driftwood.
> 
> 
> 
> A clean restart would have been nice, but realistically algae spores are going to get into a planted tank one way or another. So keeping the algae at bay is going to be more about proper management than starting with a sterile environment. Increasing the plant mass and adding some floaters should help keep algae in check while the tank is becoming established. I would lightly fertilize the water column.


I bought some Excel a few weeks ago, but have never used it. What would a light dose be?


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

A normal Excel dose for five gallons of water is a half ml (8 drops). I wouldn't go much less than this tbh, as far as a regular dose goes.


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## DMAXNAZ (Sep 30, 2015)

Daisy Mae said:


> A normal Excel dose for five gallons of water is a half ml (8 drops). I wouldn't go much less than this tbh, as far as a regular dose goes.


How often?


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

The recommended is daily, but I only dose at the same time as micros which is twice a week around WC day. Sometimes I do a third dose. 

I think a lot of low tech tank keepers don't do daily. 

Excel only lasts about twelve hours in the tank IIRC, that's why it needs to be that frequent.


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## end3r.P (Aug 31, 2015)

Daisy Mae said:


> The recommended is daily, but I only dose at the same time as micros which is twice a week around WC day. Sometimes I do a third dose.
> 
> I think a lot of low tech tank keepers don't do daily.
> 
> Excel only lasts about twelve hours in the tank IIRC, that's why it needs to be that frequent.


I dose Excel daily for that reason in my low-tech tank, but that's partly because I have what probably counts as medium lighting, so I want to try to stave off algae by offering more carbon (and Excel's algacidal properties).

Given that Excel is gone after 12-ish hours, though, is there a reason other than cost or Excel-sensitive plant species to not dose it daily?


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## LRJ (Jul 31, 2014)

DMAXNAZ said:


> I bought some Excel a few weeks ago, but have never used it. What would a light dose be?


In my Spec Vs, I dose 1/16 tsp Equilibrium and 1/32 tsp of KNO3 once per week, and 1/32 tsp of KH2PO4 once per month. This dosing regimen is based on Tom Barr's non-CO2 method (which I would highly recommend searching and reading up on). However, I do not dose Excel. If you dose Excel, then you may want to go higher with the ferts (2-3x more according to Barr).


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## DMAXNAZ (Sep 30, 2015)

Daisy Mae said:


> The recommended is daily, but I only dose at the same time as micros which is twice a week around WC day. Sometimes I do a third dose.
> 
> I think a lot of low tech tank keepers don't do daily.
> 
> Excel only lasts about twelve hours in the tank IIRC, that's why it needs to be that frequent.


Does it hurt do do it less? Like once a week or so?? Or is it just a waste to do it that infrequently?


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

I think it helps for those particular days only. That's why I do it same time as micros. My thoughts are that since I'm dosing micros, might as well give the carbon enrichment same day. 

For low tech everything's growing slowly enough that macros tend to be covered by the fish food and poop. Unless you have potassium hogs like wisteria. I just waited to see how things were going then eventually dosed potassium (because of wisteria showing deficiency after maybe three months). Even then I'm only dosing twice a week same time as micros. 

Of course, a simpler way of doing it would be to put in osmocote tabs in the substrate and call it a day except for excel as desired/needed. That's where I'm heading now for this tank (only this one because it has a completely inert substrate).

Bump:


end3r.P said:


> Given that Excel is gone after 12-ish hours, though, is there a reason other than cost or Excel-sensitive plant species to not dose it daily?


Nope, other than forgetfulness (for me anyway).


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## DMAXNAZ (Sep 30, 2015)

Added some nano balls and pennywort last night. The wood is leaching tannins into the tank more than expected. It really cuts down on the amount of light reaching the plants. I upped my light time to 8 hours a day. I still haven't used ferts either. I did a 50% water change this morning, replaced the charcoal with Purigen and added some filter floss. Hopefully it will clear up sometime in the near future. This is my first experience with Mopani wood.


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## Rushdoggie (Jan 14, 2015)

Purigen is da bomb for tannins.


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## ohheywhatsuphello (Sep 22, 2015)

LRJ said:


> In my Spec Vs, I dose 1/16 tsp Equilibrium and 1/32 tsp of KNO3 once per week, and 1/32 tsp of KH2PO4 once per month. This dosing regimen is based on Tom Barr's non-CO2 method (which I would highly recommend searching and reading up on). However, I do not dose Excel. If you dose Excel, then you may want to go higher with the ferts (2-3x more according to Barr).


Thanks for this! I was doing some research on how much to dose for a Spec V. May I ask how come KH2PO4 only once a month?


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## LRJ (Jul 31, 2014)

ohheywhatsuphello said:


> Thanks for this! I was doing some research on how much to dose for a Spec V. May I ask how come KH2PO4 only once a month?


Strictly a matter of convenience. I wanted to stick with dry dosing, and 1/32 tsp is the smallest quantity I can measure with my spoon set. Using that as a constraint I just worked out the dosing interval to roughly hit Barr's non-co2 EI levels. 

Keep in mind this is for non-co2. If you inject pressurized co2 or add Excel you will need to add more ferts.


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## ohheywhatsuphello (Sep 22, 2015)

LRJ said:


> Strictly a matter of convenience. I wanted to stick with dry dosing, and 1/32 tsp is the smallest quantity I can measure with my spoon set. Using that as a constraint I just worked out the dosing interval to roughly hit Barr's non-co2 EI levels.
> 
> Keep in mind this is for non-co2. If you inject pressurized co2 or add Excel you will need to add more ferts.


Ah I understand now. Do you have any ideas on how much iron to dose? I don't think its mentioned. I'm also using non-co2 EI level and it is hard to find info on it.


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## LRJ (Jul 31, 2014)

I do not dose iron separately. I just use the Seachem Equilibrium for traces. This thread has all the information you need: Non CO2 methods - Aquarium Plants - Barr Report


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## DMAXNAZ (Sep 30, 2015)

Update. The plants appear to have algae growing on them now, and wood wood is still leaching. I have purigen in the filter which helps a little. I can tell that the light doesn't seem as bright now as it did before I added the wood. All water parameters are fine. I have four Texanus dwarf cray, six ghost shrimp, one amano shrimp and one black racer that escapes every other day in here. Any ideas on what to do with the algae?? Snails, ferts, etc?? I run the light either 7 or 8 hours a day. I can't remember what time I have it set to come on at.

Bump: I do have a bottle of flourish excel I have never opened. I've never dosed so have no idea which ferts to use. I just added this onto another order because I saw people using it on here. Is it much different than the just the flourish??


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## DMAXNAZ (Sep 30, 2015)

It's been awhile since I posted. Here are some recent pics. I've had different fish, craw, snails and shrimp all through this tank since my last pics. Just a bunch of RCS now. They are some funny little guys.


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## DMAXNAZ (Sep 30, 2015)

The shrimp have really multiplied!!


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