# What else should i be dosing?



## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

Right now im dosing all seachem ferts..i know that dry ferts are better but this is a low-medium light setup so all that work wouldn't really be worth it. Im gonna mix my tahitian moon sand with some flourish subsrate this weekend for the swords and im also getting some crypts, some different java ferns and some other low lights plants.

I currently dose...

-Flourish Excel...recommended dose daily

- Florish Iron..recommended dose every 3 days

-Flourish Potassium..a little bit more than reccomended because i have a 25 and a full cap is for a 30 so i just throw the whole capful in...every three days

-Flourish Comprehensive every 3 days

What other stuff should I get or am I good? My swords have come back big time from the dried up yellow pieces of crap and they are doing well very nicely green and lush..but some of the older plants have almost dark red veins..any idea whats going on with that?


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

You can start dosing Fluorish Nitrogen and Fluorish Phosphorus once or twice a week. Seachem liquid ferts are good stuff, they just end up costing a little more than dry ferts.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

awesome thanks. Any idea why my swords have dark red veins?


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

Trig, I got nervous...I thought you were going to ask about dosing for your Geri!!!


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Trigga said:


> awesome thanks. Any idea why my swords have dark red veins?


Probably the variety...pics?


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

ill have some up in a few hours.


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

BioTeAcH said:


> You can start dosing Fluorish Nitrogen and Fluorish Phosphorus once or twice a week. Seachem liquid ferts are good stuff, they just end up costing *a little more than dry ferts.*


Try a lot more...

but he's right, those are the full circle of ferts you'd need. some people dose magnesium too (epsom salts)


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

the red veins are pretty much gone (knock on wood) i have no clue what happened.

So theres nothing really wrong with the liquid ferts right? They work just as well? I know eventually i will have to get a co2 kit instead or in combination with excel but i just prefer them for some reason and the coin isn't that big of a deal for me anyways.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Trigga said:


> the red veins are pretty much gone (knock on wood) i have no clue what happened.
> 
> So theres nothing really wrong with the liquid ferts right? They work just as well? I know eventually i will have to get a co2 kit instead or in combination with excel but i just prefer them for some reason and the coin isn't that big of a deal for me anyways.


Seachem's line of liquid ferts is the best you can get without mixing your own. It's all I use and I looked into mixing my own...the supposed cost savings didn't seem to offset the hassle. I have a lot of tanks, so I buy the 2l bottles and usually get them when on sale online. Even with all my tanks, since I only dose about once a week, I'm not buying ferts very often. Drs. F&S and Big Al's are 2 great places to get the 2l bottles when on sale, and Big Al's is the only place I've seen that sells Excel in 4l bottles!


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

Dry ferts and a liter of Gluteraldehyde is a lot cheaper than the seachem line. $20 worth of dry ferts will last you a year, and the Gluteraldehyde is half the price of excel. Its all the same except seachem puts it in bottles and give you some directions.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

maknwar said:


> Dry ferts and a liter of Gluteraldehyde is a lot cheaper than the seachem line. $20 worth of dry ferts will last you a year, and the Gluteraldehyde is half the price of excel. Its all the same except seachem puts it in bottles and give you some directions.


I wouldn't mess with straight Gluteraldhyde (nasty stuff)...SeaChem uses an isomerized version.

$20 of dry ferts won't last me a year...I priced out Greg Watson's line to get a comparable dosing to what I do with SeaChem and the cost difference wasn't impressively less.


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

BioTeAcH said:


> Dry ferts and a liter of Gluteraldehyde is a lot cheaper than the seachem line. $20 worth of dry ferts will last you a year, and the Gluteraldehyde is half the price of excel. Its all the same except seachem puts it in bottles and give you some directions.


I wouldn't mess with straight Gluteraldhyde (nasty stuff)...SeaChem uses an isomerized version.

$20 of dry ferts won't last me a year...I priced out Greg Watson's line to get a comparable dosing to what I do with SeaChem and the cost difference wasn't impressively less.
[/quote]

Really? I am surprised that you wouldnt save that much.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

i dose excel almost everyday and either way 500ml bottle lasts me about a month..its 14 bucks a bottle but its still not that bad...there having a big tent sale though on oct 3-5 so im gonna try and grab everything in the big jugs.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Trigga said:


> i dose excel almost everyday and either way 500ml bottle lasts me about a month..its 14 bucks a bottle but its still not that bad...there having a big tent sale though on oct 3-5 so im gonna try and grab everything in the big jugs.


You can get a 2l bottle for under $25 and a 4l bottle from BigAl's for under $36...Most of my tanks (big and small) get dosed with Excel up to twice the amount and a 4l bottle last me several months.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

BioTeAcH said:


> i dose excel almost everyday and either way 500ml bottle lasts me about a month..its 14 bucks a bottle but its still not that bad...there having a big tent sale though on oct 3-5 so im gonna try and grab everything in the big jugs.


You can get a 2l bottle for under $25 and a 4l bottle from BigAl's for under $36...Most of my tanks (big and small) get dosed with Excel up to twice the amount and a 4l bottle last me several months.
[/quote]
not in Canada lol...it runs about 50 bucks. I should go to Big Als next time im in the states and pick up my flourish from there. Im going to go get some eco complete in a few weeks though. Two 7kg bags should be enough for a 25 gallon? Or could i just mix it with my tahitian moon sand.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

2 bags should be more than enough, or just mix one bag with your sand. The sand will eventually settle to the bottom, but that's okay.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

thanks man. next im planting my 75 gallon. Is it still worth going excel or would i better off going c02 on that one?


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Trigga said:


> thanks man. next im planting my 75 gallon. Is it still worth going excel or would i better off going c02 on that one?


It all depends on how long and how into planting you are going to get...CO2 is cheaper in the long run.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

i dunno the wattage yet since im gonna have to see what they have at the tent sale but after what wpg do you think i should stop using excel and move over to co2 because i heard co2 is better for algae control.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Trigga said:


> i dunno the wattage yet since im gonna have to see what they have at the tent sale but after what wpg do you think i should stop using excel and move over to co2 because i heard co2 is better for algae control.


You really can use CO2 with any light level, but I don't think it becomes necessary until you hit 2wpg or so. It really depends on tank depth and lighting type along with plant requirements.


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