By William St.Cyr

      Having a planted tank does not have to be very complicated or very expensive. After a couple years in the hobby I have settled on a system which I enjoy very much both for it’s ease and for it’s simplicity.  I am a fan of medium light planted  tanks which use Excel as a carbon source. I currently have five of them. I have tried pressurized CO2, DIY CO2 and I have tried not using any carbon source at all but this is the system I enjoy the best. The primary source of the technical knowledge behind the system I use is Tom Barr’s article “Non CO2 Methods” at the “barrreport.com”.  Please check it out if you want more detailed information.

     I always start with the lighting. There is a generally accepted maximum amount of lighting which you can use on this type of a system. Anything over this seems to be asking for an algae bloom unless you add CO2. That maximum is 2 wpg of  twin tube type compact fluorescents in the 5k to 10k Kelvin range with good quality reflectors. Now if the reflectors are not very good or if the bulbs are regular fluorescents then you could get away with more wattage because the effective light output is going to be lower anyway. The rule also tends to break down on tanks below 10 gallons because the size of the tank skews the formula allowing a higher watt per gallon ratio without CO2.

      All my tanks are right at this maximum level. I like this level because it allows me to grow almost anything anyone else is growing – just more slooowly. The main limitation I have seen is getting the kind of red colors out of the plants that you see in the aquascaping contests. So I can grow Limnophila aromatica, Ludwigia repens and brevipes, Rotala indica etc. but I don’t get the intense reds and purples that some other can. I do still get some color just much less intense and sometimes it’s even only a touch of red. I have accepted this limitation and aquascape my tanks accordingly. There are some plants like Alternathera reinecki aka red temple and Myriophyllum heterophyllum aka red foxtail that do produce beautiful colors for me and there may be others out there that I have not tried.

     You can use less light than 2wpg but then you do start to develop more limitations in your plant choices. If you do have lower light levels then you can use  the “Plantfinder” at “aquaticplantcentral.com” which can be sorted by light levels so you can choose your plants accordingly. Remember that many of the plants can be grown at lower light levels than stated. They will just grow slower and without the intense reds.

      The simplest way to dose is to base your plan on Tom Barr’s recommendations. Here is a sample dosing plan for a tank with a light fish load. This is from a thread on the “barrreport.com”:

So a 20 gal using excel would get:

2 w/gal light

Dose 1/8 teaspoon KNO3 1-2x a week

KH2PO4, 1/16th, 1-2x a week

Traces, 2mls 2x a week

SeaChem EQ 1/8th once a week

50% weekly water change

Dose 1.5-2x the rec dosing for Excel.

     The KNO3 and KH2PO4 cover the macrunutrients of Nitrogen, Phosphates and Potassium. The traces and Seachem EQ cover your trace nutrients. The Excel gives you a liquid source of carbon. All of these are available at “gregwatson.com”. You can adjust these amounts based on the size of your tank. So a ten gallon would get half as much, my 37 gallon would get twice as much and my 75 gallon would get four times as much. Yes I know the math is not exact but it doesn’t have to be.

     The 50% weekly water changes keep the dosage from adding up to more than twice what you are dosing. This frees you from having to do any testing.

     Personally I currently use the regular dosage of  Excel and do once a month water changes. Because of this I test once or twice a month for NO3 with a Hach test kit which I have tested against a fixed solution to check for accuracy. I adjust my dosing plan up or down based on those test results and my observation of the aquarium.

     For substrate I have used Seachem Flourite and Seachem Onyx Sand. Both products have worked well for me but I definitely prefer the Onyx Sand. I like the color and the smaller size is a little easier to plant in. Whatever you use make sure you rinse it well. My initial use of fluorite was marred by massive cloudiness that required extensive filtration to clear up.

     For filtration you can use whatever you like because you don’t have to worry about off gassing CO2 because you are not adding any. I like the hang on tank power filters for their ease of use and minimal expense. I use them with a sponge filter on the inlet and sponge material as media in the units. The initial sponge provides mechanical filtration and I clean it of debris every couple weeks. It also prevents baby fish or shrimp being sucked up by my filters. The other sponge media provides biological filtration. I like to size them so that I get plenty of circulation in the tank which keeps debris from building up and becoming a breeding area for algae. I find the HOT Magnum does well for this in my 37 gallon and my 2 55’s. I also have used this filter with diatom powder when needed to clear up green water or cloudy water.

     While I wouldn’t guarantee that your tank will be algae free this system does safeguard you in several ways. The lower light limits and slows algae growth. The fertilizers encourage the plants to grow fast enough to outcompete algae. Excel seems to be able to limit and sometimes eliminate algae particularly at higher doses.

By Mustafa Ucozler

     Greg often gets questions about shrimp and using fertilizer in a planted aquarium and asked me to briefly talk about some of the important issues to be aware of when keeping shrimp in planted tanks.

     Shrimp are the perfect compliment to a planted tank. They are interesting creatures to observe climbing around in your plant garden and are useful as algae and detritus eaters.  There are several things however that one has to consider to keep these shrimp happy.  Below is a  short list of helpful information for the current and future shrimp enthusiast:

1. Buy shrimp from reputable breeders or exchange shrimp with other hobbyists who are breeding shrimp in their tanks. This will make it more likely that your shrimp will be healthy and in top condition. Imported shrimp rarely last more than a few days if they happen to arrive alive at all.
2. Use a dechlorinator with every water change. Shrimp are extremely sensitive to chlorine and chloramines build-up in a tank. Even if your plants are doing fine, your shrimp will start dying “mysteriously” one by one once chlorine and chloramines build up. I recommend using Seachem Prime for this purpose since it has proven completely shrimp safe in my tanks.
3. Never use the hot water tap to adjust the temperature when refilling water during water changes. This is especially important in older buildings with old, corroded pipes. The hot water pipes release higher levels of copper, lead and possibly other heavy metals into the water.  Fish are not as sensitive to this, but shrimp will die within a few days.
4. Do not feed your shrimp too much. You should only feed enough that the shrimp can consume within a few minutes. Do not let food sit around for hours or overnight as it will pollute the water enough to have adverse effects on your shrimp, even if you cannot measure any pollution.
5. Rinse any new plants you buy from stores thoroughly.  Especially plants that look like they were grown emerse tend to have traces of pesticides and other chemicals lethal to shrimp on them. Again, even if your fish do fine, the shrimp will die.
6. Do not medicate your tank with medication that contains copper, as the copper will kill your shrimp. If you need to treat ick and cannot take the fish out of your tank to treat them separately, “Quick Cure” has proven to be a shrimp-safe, copperless  ick treatment option.

      Finally, one of the most common questions that planted tank enthusiasts ask is if it is safe to fertilize shrimp tanks as most trace element fertilizers contain minute amounts of copper.  I have personally used both Seachem Flourish and CSM+B on all of my shrimp tanks and I can guarantee you my shrimp are not adversely affected by these fertilizers. Recently, I have bought chemicals from Greg and mixed my own plant fertilizer solutions, which I am now using to fertilize all of my shrimp tanks and it is working wonderfully. Aside from the fact that there are really minute amounts of heavy metals in our fertilizers, the reason why heavy metals like copper or iron do not affect the shrimp is because fertilizers contain them in their chelated  form.  Chelated metals are a lot less toxic to living organisms than free metals. In fact, all of the commercial “detoxifiers” that I am aware of use some sort of chelation to “detoxify” heavy metals. Your fertilizers have this detoxification already built in!

     Once you understand what it takes to properly care for shrimp, you can safely enjoy a beautiful planted aquarium with shrimp as inhabitants.

      I always recommend that people buy juvenile, domestically bred shrimp because they adapt more easily to the new water conditions in your planted aquarium and are in top shape compared to the half-dead, imported shrimp frequently offered for sale. My favorite shrimp variety for first time shrimp keepers is the Red Cherry Shrimp (Neocaridina denticulata sinensis).  They are great “first” shrimp because they have a high adaptability to different water conditions, are a beautiful bright red, and they reproduce readily to keep your shrimp population going indefinitely.

      To read more about shrimp, how to keep them, and to learn about different shrimp varieties, visit my website: http://www.PetShrimp.com

The traditional PMDD recipe doses both Macro and Micro nutrients together.  However, many of us are used to dosing macro nutrients separately from micro nutrients.   You can "roll your own" micro nutrient solution by simply creating your own micro nutrient solution using Plantex CSM+B and Magnesium Sulfate.

How to roll your own PMDD Micro-Nutrient Solution with Plantex CSM+B

Plantex CSM has no Boron in it, so it must either be added, or purchased from a supplier who pre-mixes Plantex CSM+B.  To add Boron to Plantex CSM, add 10.5 teaspoons of Plantex CSM plus 1 teaspoon of Boric Acid.

To make your dosing solution, mix in 1/2 litre of water:

     1 tablespoon of Plantex CSM+B and
     1 tablespoon of Magnesium Sulfate in 1/2 litre of water.

A 1/2 liter of Plantex CSM Dosing Solution is a lot of solution for the typical aquarium, so you may wish to experiment by reducing the quantities to make a smaller batch.  To reduce, you may wish to try 1 teaspoon of Plantex CSM+B and 1/6th liter of water (167 milliliters).

How to Dose your own PMDD Micro-Nutrient Solution with Plantex CSM+B

The traditional dosing method of dosing the complete PMDD receipe is to dose to reach a target Iron level of 0.1 ppm.  You can use the same guide to dose your PMDD Micro-Nutrient Solution.  See instructions on TheKrib.com.

For those that are used to dosing commercial liquids, the traditional PMDD Micro-Nutrient Solution with Plantex CSM+B is not as concentrated as commercial alternatives such as Flourish.  A good approximate equivalent is 1.25 to 1 – or 1.25 ml of your PMDD Micro-Nutrient Solution to 1 ml of Flourish. 

If you are used to dosing 1 tablespoon of Flourish (15 ml), try dosing approximately 1.25 tablespoons of your Plantex CSM Solution.

Why consider "rolling your own PMDD Micro-Nutrient Solution?

There are many wonderful commercial liquid alternatives available.  One of the underlying concepts of the PMDD philosphy is to meet the uptake requirements of your aquarium in a cost effective manner.

	Certainly try the various commercially available products – most of us started out using them and were perfectly happy with them.
	PMDD ingredients are relatively cheap in the long run.
	PMDD allows you to adjust the dosing ratio of various ingredients to better meet the uptake requirements of your plants.

AquaticPlantCentral.Com 2005, PlantFinder [On-line] http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/