Planted Aquarium Fertilizer Questions

[Manbearpig]

For a week now I have been dosing my plants and am happy to report that growth is starting to show and my floating and blue/green algae seems to be growing but at a significantly reduced rate. I have looked over the EI dosing method and justreally don't want to mess with weekly water changes to reduce the ferts back to low levels. I am 0happy with the growth rate dosing with my Flourish Excel and have bought in large enough quantities that the cost is very inexpensive.

Now my question is this I am currently dosing with 1.5 ml. of KNO3 & KH2PO4 3x a week and also putting in 15ml a day of Flourish Excel & also using Flourish (Micro) nutrients @ 5ml 3x a week. This leaves me with Sunday where I only put in
Flourish Excel, my thought process is that my dosing is right about if not a little above what my plants consume. Can I get by not dosing anything but Excel and expect the plants to absorb the excess on the no fertilization day and then again
restart my nutrient regiment? I would like to get away with bi-weekly or monthly 40%-50% water changes, as this fits my schedule much better.


Tank Specs:

125 Gallon Heavily Planted Aquarium

Lighting: Currently 204 Watts of T-5 Lighting (Currently have 2 54W bulbs pulled out of the 4' fixture to reduce overall lighting so Excel isn't depleted and gives way to algae growth) If you think i can get away with more please let me know.

Water Temp: 80 degrees

Bio Load: Light-Medium Stocking

Filtration: 2x Rena XP-3 Canister Filters

[jdgill]

I think it looks like a good plan. You may want to test your nitrate levels occasionally to make sure they don't get too high. Just see if it works and adjust as you go.

[Manbearpig]

Ok so happy to report that algae is all but gone. Plants are growing like gang busters and the method of Fertilization seems to be working about perfectly.

[Andy10115]

I'm glad I checked on this post before asking. I'm about to start a 125 planted. What plants and substrate do you have in there?

[J.Sipes]

For those of you trying to stay on a low budget try miracle grow. I decided a few years back to give it a try on the tip from a source I was buying plants from. You dose at 1/2 teaspoon for every 20 gallons when I do water changes, do not use more or without a water change or high nitrates will follow. I buy the household plant flavor. I still use it today with all my tub/pond plants.

HTH

[redkj38]

Sounds like a good money-saving idea, John. Have you noticed any effect on fish? I didn't want to assume that it was fish safe and end up with an abundance of (dead fish related) fertilizer. I could probably assume based on the nitrate comment, but always better safe than sorry.

[J.Sipes]

Sounds like a good money-saving idea, John. Have you noticed any effect on fish? I didn't want to assume that it was fish safe and end up with an abundance of (dead fish related) fertilizer. I could probably assume based on the nitrate comment, but always better safe than sorry.

I have not had any fish deaths with the miracle grow. I do change water as needed and do not over dose the ferts. If your plants are consuming the ferts at a high rate this will also keep levels correct.

[Manbearpig]

Hey everyone I just wanted to follow up on this posting. I have been following that regiment listed above for around the last year. I am happy to report that all of my algae problems went away. My levels all stay at zero except for Nitrate which never reaches over 10PPM. My water is very soft due to the driftwood, and PH levels hardly move. I have been doing water changes every 3 months and I usually change around 10-15 percent of the water. My angelfish are huge now with the largest the size of my hand. Thanks again for the help and info.