totally agree with you sir jctasoga.

Hi, your tank with current lighting is alright for non co2. maybe you can dose some fertilizer once a week. that might help you.

just bear in mind the minimum requirement for photosynthesis is 4 hrs..

if you change to a higher wattage lighting you will have to add co2 system to your tank. if you dont, you will starve the plants to death. and algae love strong light and low co2 environment.

the minimum requirement for lighting is 4 hrs. you can go up to 12 hrs. but personally i prefer 8-10 hrs.

It depends on what belief you are following. one belief says nutrients in water column will promote algae growth. another belief says limiting nutrients in the water column will promote algae growth. Hornwort sucks nutrients a lot from the water column. so it will go hand to hand with the first belief. as for me, i vote for the later.

but to answer your question, yes it has a benefit for a newly setup tank. it will suck the ammonia good from the new soil.

Mr. Jiejian, yes you are totally correct about EI. Once you dose EI, you will have to manage only the lights and carbon. I also cant wait to see your tank's result bro! . Thank you for your support. But a disclaimer: Im not responsible for your tired hand due to the constant trimming you have to do especially for your stem plants! LOL!

This post has been edited by kiminha: Mar 22 2013, 07:34 PM

cool!! a clean tank it shall be. . btw liquid carbon wont work on some plants. riccia included.

nice bro! envy your skill in aquascaping.

Hi miss Emily,
The watt/gallon rule is just a general guideline. for me it is a guideline to check whether i need to supply extra co2 or not. for a lowtech tank without co2 injection the maximum i can go is 2 watt/us gallon. above 2 watt/us gallon i will need co2 injection. the maximum i can go is 5 watt/ us gallon. above that, my plants will not have any benefits from the extra wattage.

But as you can see, its only applicable best for a 2 feet tank and above. like your tank size, if we were to use 1.2 usg x 2 watt/usg = 2.4 watt which is unacceptable. there is a minimum amount of energy required for photosynthesis. for small tanks like yours, 7 watt might be enough. maybe you could go higher as you are providing them co2. and regarding you staghorn issue, it is due to ammonia/ low co2.

FYI, many ferts are safe for shrimps. actually many death are due to overdosing co2.

You are most welcome ms Emily. Thank you mr jiejian for the kind words. it is true as he said, you will need the macro and micro nutrients. you can buy the BW ferts as Mr arrow suggested. or you can also use Seachem ferts or even ADA ferts.
BW fert = try BW Lush
ADA = try Brghty shade/lights
Seachem = Flourish comprehensive

or you can also try dry ferts. its all up to your preference and budget.

hi. nicely done there bro. i think you have gsa and a litle bit of bba.

the bba is due to low co2. gsa is due to low co2 or low phosphate. maybe it was caused by your earlier setup that restrict the water flow. for the time being maybe you can just crank up the co2.

you are welcome sir.

Hello sir jctasoga, my goodness. i would like to visit you house one day rather than going to the countryside to have the extra oxygen. LOL.
btw, nice bro to see your plants in that condition!!

Hi there. comparing btw co2 and liquid carbon in performance, plants will take less energy to use the carbon from c02 diffused in water compared to liquid carbon. some plants do not respond to liquid carbon.

Woweee.. DW heaven.. thanks mr pixelated for the info.

+1 for not spending on test kit.

Estimative Index Dosing was never about combating algae. It was designed to give the plants unlimited supply of nutrients. Even algae will get their shares of nutrients. However, with healthy plants, and with high plant biomass, algae would eventually go away. If you think by limiting the nutrients, you will starve algae, you are wrong. Algae can live with very limited supply of nutrients. With low nutrients, you plants will fail. Their membrane structure will rapture, and will leak nutrients. This is why in an unhealthy planted tanks (limiting nutrients), you will find algae attached to your plants.. Be wise to embrace nutrients.